Sad End to India’s Anti-Corruption Bill

Despite months of protests led primarily by Gandhian campaigner Anna Hazare, the Indian government failed to pass a new anti-corruption bill on Thursday 29^th December. The bill had been passed by the lower house on Tuesday 27^th, but needed the consent of the upper house as well before becoming law. Instead, the upper house indefinitely delayed the proposal.

The country’s disappointment was increased by the premature finish to Hazare’s third hunger strike. Previously, Hazare had attracted much public support. A survey run by the Delhi-based Shyam Vyas MARC found that 68% participants believed Hazare’s efforts would help to pass the bill. Indeed, many supporters went so far as to join in with his first two hunger strikes. However, partially due to criticisms about his own leadership, his third strike did not receive the same amount of support or backing. Furthermore, due to health concerns 74-year-old Hazare was advised by doctors to curtail his fast. This has resulted in an anticlimactic end to his anti-corruption campaigning, and doubts as to the future of his movement.

India is well known for the endemic corruption of its systems. Anand Giridharadas, an Indian citizen and a columnist with the New York journal, claims that it “touches everything,” being prevalent in all sectors of society, regardless of social status. Given this background, many political commentators are claiming that this negative outcome is unsurprising, and that such a simple solution to the country’s problems was a facile belief.

The Church in India has long decried the systematic corruption of the state. Earlier this year, the Lausanne Movement published a statement noting the “deep desire of the nation of India to free itself from this malaise” and held a conference entitled ‘Operation Nehemiah’ which aimed “to create a united movement with a vision to making the Indian Church corruption-free.” They noted moreover that the Church had a responsibility to lead the way in anti-corruption efforts.

The failure of the anti-corruption bill in India only serves to depict once again how urgent the fight against corruption is. Learning from the mistakes of Hazare’s career, campaigns such as EXPOSED need to ensure that their momentum is kept up by focusing on their own integrity, so that this scourge is ended as soon as possible.

To read more about the anti-corruption bill’s postponement, click here.
To read the reaction of Shashi Tharoor, former Indian Minister of State for External Affairs and UN Under-Secretary General, click here.

To find out more about Anna Hazare, click here.

To watch a video on the state of corruption in India, click here.

To read more about Operation Nehemiah and the anti-corruption work of the Church in India, click here.