The Congress leaders have a reason to dance with joy over the news of Kiran Bedi’s expense fudging allegations which has put this fire brand member of Team Anna into back-foot. Her justification that ” I used it for my NGO” is untenable. Can it be inferred that as long as one’s motive is altruistic, such actions are justified? Anna Hazare himself is running an NGO “Hind Swaraj Trust” in Ralegan Siddhi to spearhead development works in village. Does she mean that tomorrow Hazare can fudge expenses to raise capital for the development of his village and yet people would rally behind him if he orchestrates his voice against corruption?
In this context it is worth noting what the American Community organizer and writer Saul Alinsky wrote . “Moral dilemmas are powerful inhibitors to success. They are often introduced by the opposition in order to confuse, frustrate and consequently cripple your attempt to accomplish your goal.
Therefore, if you are going to get involved in any kind of direct political action, you need to have your morality straightened out, otherwise you will be undone.
You need to have your internal moral compass set for success, or you will crash on the rocks of your moral doubt and drown in the sea of your moral confusion”.
Alinsky also said ” One’s concern with the ethics of means and ends varies inversely with one’s personal interest in the issue, and one’s distance from the scene of conflict”.
When we are not directly concerned, our morality overflows: as La Rochefoucauld put it, “We all have strength enough to endure the misfortunes of others”. The further away we are from the conflict, the more we fuss over the moral delicacies.
If you are going to get involved in any kind of direct political action, you need to have your morality straightened out, otherwise you will be undone.
The controversy which has erupted over the action of Bedi is unfortunate because there is no doubt that she has been one of the most outstanding women in our country. When she was in the police she earned the sobriquet of Crane Bedi . The reason behind calling her by this name is that, she dragged the car of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi due to violation of parking rules.
During her tenure as the Inspector General of Tihar Jail, she brought about several reforms in the way the prisoners were treated. She introduced , meditation, redressal of complaints made by the prisoners etc.
Bedi also transformed one of the largest prisons in the world, Tihar Central Jail, from a hell hole to a reformatory. Among her innovations was meditation sessions for the prisoners which helped calm the violence in the jail. She has also initiated treatment for drug addicts and opened vocational trade schools for the slum dwelling poor. But notwithstanding her achievements, this action of inflating her travel expenses while charging the institutions and NGO’s inviting her for seminars has raised eyebrows.
It has not only put her into discomfiture but also put the whole Team Anna into defensive. It has given the Congress party a stick to beat the India Against Corruption which is hell bent on ensuring that the government is forced to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in the ensuing winter session of Parliament. It has come at a time when another of the team member Arivind Kejriwal is being accused of being remiss in reimbursing the government for salary drawn while he was on study leave.
Members of IAC would do well to remember that when Anna Hazare launched the anti-corruption movement , the people supported him as saw in him a man whose ethics and morality were as clean as his Gandhi cap and dhoti. If the IAC is keen that their movement should keep getting the public support in their campaign then they have to ensure that their own houses are spotlessly clean or else they have no right to point finger against others. For those living in glass houses should not throw stones.
