New Delhi: Renowned psycho-analyst Ashis Nandy on Thursday commended Team Anna for bringing corruption to the forefront of social discourse but said he did not share a "starry-eyed optimism" about Lokpal as it has all the features of becoming an "apex body" of graft.
Delivering the 32nd Bhimsen Sachar Memorial Lecture, he said corruption has been institutionalised in India through media-management and populism and claimed that parties are trying to control voters by "buying allegiance of media".
He said there is still hope as there are many who are crusading against corruption in India.
"I admire Team Anna for bringing corruption to the forefront of India's social struggle. Yet, I do not share its starry-eyed optimism about Lokpal. With its present features, Lokpal can itself become the apex body of corruption," Nandy said delivering a lecture on 'Corruption and Censorship'.
Noting that the roots of corruption and censorship lie in the "search for control", he alleged that parties have highly paid lobbyists to "manage" the media.
He also said a prominent Chief Minister has a lobbyist in the US which is important for his political impact in India.
India was one of the world's least corrupt societies till the 1970s, he said adding in a lighter vein, "as things look today, future of corruption is very bright in India."
"We have inherited corruption from the Raj. It is a misconception that corruption was the least during the Raj. The first Governor-General of British India, Warren Hastings, was tried for corruption in England," he said adding the thread has not been broken, more than 200 years after.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, May 03, 2012, 21:18