A sucker punch for the corrupt

An online campaign on Facebook has people from all parts of the world protesting against corruption in India

Within five days of its launch, Choosna Bandh Campaign Fight Corruption! Act NOW, an online campaign on Facebook has attracted over 600 people from all walks of life to support a Delhi-based ex air force officer and his son in their fight against corruption.


Get even: Gaurav Bakshi and his father were physically assaulted at the
registrar's office, when they objected to pay a bribe for the adoption procedure
of Bakshi's stepdaughter

The campaign was started by Gaurav Bakshi, Indian representative of a US-based multi-national company, on November 24. Bakshi and his father Wg Cdr (retd) B S Bakshi were physically assaulted at the registrar's office at Noida on November 19, when they expressed their objection to pay a bribe of Rs 6,000 for the adoption procedure of Gaurav's five-year-old stepdaughter.

The camera with which Bakshi was recording the clerk's admittance of taking a bribe in presence of the sub-registrar was also damaged. In response, Bakshi founded Bharat Jagran, a platform to address various issues and introduced the online campaign.

Explaining that the name Choosna Bandh is symbolic and shows how some government officials suck the blood of citizens through bribery, Bakshi said, "It want to highlight the deep entrenchment of corruption in different layers of society and that the common man has had enough, and wants a change."

It seems that that many on Facebook agree with him.Appreciating the effort, Khushnooma Mohan, a homemaker from Bangalore, who joined the group on the Face book said, "It is good to see somebody has the courage to say no to bribery. We expect proper steps against the accused officials."

There are others who do not expect for a miracle to happen but agree that the online protest may become powerful as social networking sites are a platform for various discussion and interactions.

"We are not sure if this will have an end result. But it is creating awareness and telling the government that people want to take a stand," said Suparna Chadda, a Delhi based author.