Dear Ramesh Iyer,

I agree with many of your statements:

"Such scams and mega-scams as CWG, 2G, and what-not "G" are coming to light due to the 24X7 news and media exposure."

"Coming back to the issue of corruption, I feel there is no point merely throwing mud at the politicians, who are after all one of us, and duly elected by majority of us. Never mind if the supposedly educated huge middle-class by-and-large abstains from voting, preferring to take the family out for a break."

"Criminalization of politics has ensured that no do-gooder with less-than-enviable bank balance can stand and win elections. In fact, such noble souls end up losing even their deposits. So much for cleaning the system..."

And your points 1. to 5.

And I disagree with quite a few of your statements too (with my responses in bold), like:

"I shall not comment on M.K. Gandhi and his contribution to the country...and shall save it for another day.". I'll also reserve my answers for the same day, if per chance, I happen to read your comments.

"However, the neo-gandhism which we are witnessing of late, with the emergence of people like Anna Hazare, may well be short-lived."
I believe you're wrong, and fervently hope too that you're wrong.

"With Baba Ramdev also having resorted to Anna Hazare's unpatented style of protest - of fast-unto-death - this mode may soon lose its importance and sting."
I believe imitations will lose their shine, not the original.

"I wish Anna Hazare, with all his good intentions, hadn't embarked on this crusade with such a flawed alternative to the Lokpal Bill drafted by the govt."
If we'd let go of this opportunity, we may have had to suffer even more, longer. Since the situation was reaching a flash point, it was just waiting for someone to step in and do something about it. I'm glad no less a person (than a simple Anna) took the place; had it been someone much less, she/ he may have spoiled the opportunity.

"On the face of it, it appears that certain people who have been wanting to push the Jan Lokpal Bill have been using Mr. Hazare's clean image and long record of public service to further their own hidden agenda... I can't say the same about his new-found coterie and clingers-on."
This is the most damning part of your post. Pray tell us, what could be the hidden agenda of the inner circle members of Anna (like Justice Hegde, Kiran Bedi or Arvind Kejriwal)? We shouldn't sling mud on good, honorable public-spirited people. In my view, each of these persons is as good, noble and honourable as Anna, only less charismatic and with less media-acceptable-image. I can understand that they don't pass your test, since M.K. Gandhi himself didn't. (I mean no offence to you or your views.)

Persons like the Bhushans do not belong to the inner circle, and are in the panel on a special purpose, and the other members are smart enough not to allow the Bhushans to misuse the forum. (To be fair to the Bhushans, I'm not implying that they are dishonest and want to misuse the forum; I really don't know enough about them to comment.)

"Instead, it would have been wise of Mr. Hazare to start his crusade against corruption by seeking proper implementation of the dozens of laws we already have to fight this menace."
This is a fallacy. The suggested proposition can't become a rallying point for people, whereas Jan Lokpal Bill has proved to be. This is NOT the only or main raison d'etrefor supporting Jan Lokpal Bill, but this has played an important role as well. Even as you have a cause, you need an idea, a slogan, that people can relate to. This is one. And a perfect one.

"You only need to read the draft of the Jan Lokpal Bill (I believe the 26th draft is the latest !!) to know why it will fail, or in my humble opinion won't even see the light of the day in its current avatar."
What's the basis of this statement? Are too many drafts indication of how bad it is, or how op[en minded the drafters are?

"Sure, I sound cynical, but that's because I believe that systemic and sustainable change should always come from within the system, not without. The answer to failed legislation is not more legislation."
What is the basis of this profound statement? If this were true, we need to just maintain the "status quo" always. Not a good sign of a good, vibrant democracy. There's another word for "changes brought about from within": "in-breeding"; not a positive word, is it? And I dread to think of us, the people, as those "outside the system", though I agree we've been reduced to just that. Should we remain so, esp. when our system has reached the lowest ebb?

"Hence, let the change start from the grass-roots and it will transform India into an enviable nation one day."
Macro political, social, economic and business changes always start from the top, never from the bottom. We could do experiments/ models at the grassroot levels, but the goal is to replicate the model in as many places as possible.

Is it at all practically possible to make all people good, honest and non-corrupt voluntarily? Remove the police and you'll know. How many people can you show me, who has been absolutely honest, and flawless?

Like you rightly said, "I feel there is no point merely throwing mud at the politicians, who are after all one of us...". In their positions, most of us would behave exactly the same way. So, they are not the villains, but the system that takes them to their positions. Once there, surely, they want to hold to what they have got.

With the right systems in place, if the risk of corrupt practice is made much higher than the returns, the politicians will start behaving. And only those who have no interest in corruption but only public service will come to politics, bureaucracy, judiciary, etc.

It is NOT by making us honest that we could solve the problems, but by creating an environment that won't permit corruption.

Are you saying that that is the way to cleanse our politics? How many 1000's of years do we have to wait for that to happen? Fish rots from its head. Yata Raja (pun incidental), tata Praja. The world over, in all the places where corruption has been minimized, you'll see that effort started from the top.
Thanks,

Ganesan.