Quick Edit | Ramdev’s fast lane

They don’t.

Yoga guru Ramdev’s fast should be viewed in this light. If anything, his threat to go on an indefinite fast from Saturday is part of the competitive politics between different civil society groups on corruption. On surface, they maintain a facade of respect towards each other; in reality, there is a no-holds-barred race for leadership in the crusade against corruption.

That is not all.

Had these individuals understood how corrupt practices work, they would have championed a different course of action instead of believing that one law can eliminate or greatly reduce corruption. If anything, their remedy comes close to primitive medicine: kill the disease faster than the patient. An “empowered" Lokpal, as they understand it, is bound to be a threat to democracy and can become a fount of corruption itself.

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