Has anti-graft campaign learnt lessons, asks Khurshid

Law and Justice Minister Salman Khurshid Saturday said the government had learnt its lessons after Anna Hazare's protest last year but wondered if the anti-corruption movement too had done the same.

“We have learnt and learnt a lot of lessons... (but) has the anti-corruption movement,” asked Khurshid at the India Today conclave here on “Is Citizen Activism the Only Way to Cleanse India”.

Stating the need for differentiating between the various civil society groups, the  minister said the country required a set of rules for the same.

“We need rules for disagreement, which is part of democracy, and for conflict resolution,” said Khurshid.

Earlier, saluting Hazare's campaign, Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Brinda Karat said she disagreed with his view that politicians had no place in taking the country forward.

She also took a dig at the government for its handling of the anti-corruption movement and said there had to be more clarity whether people could take to the streets if they wanted to participate in law enactment.

Activist Binayak Sen said the country's resources were being hijacked by the corporate elite and democracy meant governance with the consent of the common man.

Maleeha Lodhi, former high commissioner of Pakistan to Britain and former ambassador of Pakistan to the US, said the present times were challenging for her country which was witnessing a transition from military rule to democracy.

“There is re-balancing of power in Pakistan as democracy gathers pace,” she said, adding that “this is recasting the way people relate with the government”.