How Online Movements Are Shaping the Fight Against Corruption in India

Indian anti-corruption movement finds inspiration in California march

By Matt O'Brien

Contra Costa Times

Posted: 03/27/2011 12:00:00 AM PDT

A movement to curtail political corruption in India is finding inspiration in California, where six men on Saturday completed a 240-mile protest march across the state.

The anti-corruption protesters strolled through the Bay Area suburbs this week amid heavy downpours and cold weather. They attracted local curiosity but are making bigger waves abroad.

"I firmly believe that all these things, which seem so small in their initial stage, can become a big movement," said 70-year-old marcher Kewal Parnami, of Tucson, Ariz. "If they can keep the fire ablaze, something will come of it."

Parnami was following in the symbolic footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi, whose 1930 Dandi March against a colonial salt tax was a turning point in the movement for India's independence. The California journey, called Dandi March II, was for a different cause: ending the systemic corruption that has stunted India's otherwise remarkable economic growth.

"There is so much corruption going on," Parnami said. "It's like cancer, eating the vitals of the economy."

The retiree moved to the United States from India in 1979 and remained mostly apolitical until just over two weeks ago when he heard about the planned march from San Diego to San Francisco and packed his bags.

"Mahatma Gandhi is my idol," Parnami said. "I just wanted to become like him, a guy who has such great discipline, such deep faith."

The march, and the hundreds of Indian-Americans who have come to watch and cheer it, reflect a growing frustration with the status quo of Indian politics. It also reflects a growing awareness that the hundreds of thousands of Indians abroad can have a role in doing something about it.

"The diaspora is more conscious because they've seen something different, they've lived something different," said Ujjal Dosanjh, a member of Canada's Parliament and the former premier of British Columbia. "They have something to contribute. They have perspective. They can say how things should be."

Dosanjh was scheduled to greet the marchers when they reached San Francisco on Saturday, but the Vancouver politician dropped out after Canada's ruling government was toppled by a parliamentary vote Friday.

Like many immigrants who were born in India, Dosanjh said he is deeply attached to his native land and wants to see it prosper. But it is going to take tremendous change from the Indian people and their leadership, he said.

"When more than half your economy is underground and not accounted for, when everything from buying railway tickets to seats in college to government jobs and grants -- when everything you have to do involves bribery and corruption -- it can't be a nice place to live," Dosanjh said. "I believe you can make all the laws, you can create institutions but ultimately you actually need to change the human beings. You need to change the values."

Though corruption is a longtime problem in India, a flurry of high-profile scandals has infuriated the Indian public in the past year. Last week, U.S. diplomatic cables leaked by the WikiLeaks group revealed another involving an alleged cash-for-votes scheme.

"The corruption, both in India and across the world, has risen to such an extent that it's started affecting the common man's life," said Cupertino resident Sreekanth Godey, a march organizer, and Microsoft engineer. "This is a walk to let the government know enough is enough."

The marchers are pushing for legislation that would bring more transparency to government and protect whistleblowers. Their march has already inspired dozens of other protests planned this weekend in 75 cities worldwide, the organizers said.

Unlike Gandhi's legendary 240-mile march from the city of Ahmedabad to the seaside town of Dandi, the California route was not contiguous. The crowd was also a lot smaller: six full-time walkers as opposed to the tens of thousands who joined in Gandhi's civil disobedience.

Dandi II began on March 12 in San Diego, where the marchers met two days of polite resistance from a counter-protesting group called Organization for Minorities of India. The counter-protesters believe Gandhi, who came from an upper-caste heritage, did little to improve the lot of those at the lowest rung of India's caste system.

After reaching Los Angeles County, the Gandhi-inspired marchers skipped the 400-mile stretch between Southern California and the Bay Area, renting a van to get from Artesia to Berkeley.

Then, they walked south through the East Bay, stopping at the Indian Community Center in Milpitas, where they delivered a message to a prominent visitor: Meera Shankar, India's ambassador to the United States, who was there to give a talk.

"She said, 'We're going to look at it.' That's the standard government answer," said march supporter Kal Raman, of Foster City. "At least she was civil. She was noble about it."

The marchers continued north through the Peninsula, singing a Hindi phrase -- hum honge kamyab, which means, "We will succeed" -- as they were drenched by a rainstorm.

"Blisters are there, but the body got used to it," said Orange County marcher Srihari Atluri, 33, speaking after he reached downtown Burlingame. "It bothered us more in the first five days, but now it doesn't bother us anymore."

The march ended with a rally Saturday afternoon at the Gandhi statue outside San Francisco's Ferry Building.