POLITICAL DIARY

New Delhi, April 20 2007

The Increasing Malaise

POLITICS OF PAISA AND CRIME!

By Poonam I Kaushish

Phew! It has been a real busy week for the media. Keeping track of the tamashas of the poweratti, glitteratti and chatteratti. Forget the speculation over kaun-jeetega-kaun haarega in the ongoing Assembly polls in UP or those who made it to the golden  birthday bash of ‘reliable’ corporate honcho Mukesh Ambani and the big fat ‘Abhiash’ wedding in Bollywood, what to say of the BJP’s ‘derecognition’ bashing by the Election Commission over ‘controversial’ Election Commissioner Naveen Chawla. After all darlings, it has everything to do with the power of politics and the politics of power!

However, all this pales in front of the latest garam-garam-teekha-teekha horrifying scandal to surface from among our netagan. Of forgery and human trafficking by some MPs. It all started with the arrest of a two-term Lok Sabha MP Babubhai Katara, at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport while trying to allegedly smuggle a woman and a child to Canada on the diplomatic passports of his wife and son last week.

Not only that. Katara is being suspected by the Police as a serial offender operating as part of a large human trafficking racket cutting across several States including rural Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka. Who had reportedly smuggled several people across to the UK, USA and Canada in the last three years by using the diplomatic passports of his family members to beat the immigration authorities. A diplomatic passport invariably gets cursory scrutiny and questions are hardly asked.

Initial police investigations reveal that the modus operandi was simple. A travel agent would scout potential customers who did not mind paying around Rs 30 lakhs per person to be smuggled out. It is further revealed that once the advance was paid, the Right Honourable would take them out by using the diplomatic passports of his family members. Once the “couple” or “family had reached their destination Katara would return to India alone. The return stamps on his family’s passport would be forged to be used for another “family trip”.

Some agents, subsequently arrested by the police have revealed the involvement of at least two other sitting MPs and one ex-MP, suspected of direct involvement in the racket. Further investigation progressing at the time of writing may open a can of worms exposing involvement of several other political leaders.

What’s new? Aren’t we accustomed to an immoral, corrupt, criminal and unaccountable polity who could stoop to anything for paisa and gaddi. Wherein scams no longer shocks, leave alone worry anyone. So what if it is a double whammy and big embarrassment for the ‘Kamal’ Saffron Sangh. Never mind that the Party has suspended him. Don’t we know that there is something rotten in the State of Denmark. With unscrupulous manipulators emerging as the new rulers --- of politico-criminals, feudal lords and mafia dons flaunting their “bullet-proof” MP and MLA jackets.

What troubles one is the new dimension to this age-old malaise. That it does not strike any chord among our Right Honourables. Our netagan largely continue to drift along smugly as if nothing disreputable has happened to one of their tribesman, which besmirches all with a tainted brush. Merrily dismissing it as “the House (Parliament) can’t be blamed for a few black sheep,” by the Government. 

Most distressing is that there is no sense of outrage or shame. And that human trafficking is one of the most heinous crimes. Stupid, why expect this from a polity which tries to justify the inclusion of tainted ministers in the Cabinet by arguing that there is no such law or any Parliamentary convention. And the expulsion of 18 errant MPs in the cash-for-question scandal and the MPLADS (Local Area Development Fund) was another attack on the poor-have-nots and illiterate MPs. Besides, at least something percolated down to the actual user. Sic.

Tragically, India downslide has been rapid. With every passing year and election, the barometer of corruption and immorality is steadily rising wherein it longer shocks or causes mass protests. It is slowly becoming an accepted norm, part of one’s routine. Curse all, but when push comes to shove the majority willingly lumps it. Shrugged of as a price one has to pay for democracy. The polity washes its hands off by calling it a “systemic failure.” Are they kidding? In plain English this translates into a fig leaf to cover their shocking incompetence and scandalous failure.

The fact is none at the top wants a change. They are happy to continue to be a law unto themselves. Shorn of all the political legalese and efforts to find faults, a favourite pastime of our netagan, the truth is that they don’t want to be accountable. Not even to the almighty God. Transparency is a far cry. The tragedy is that the private face of our netas is ugly. It wins hands down over their public mask.

Why should they? They created the criminals --- and they need them. One hand washes the other. The proud founders of C&M Polity India Limited ---- dream merchants of crime and corruption, money and mafia. Liberally interspersed with malice, selfishness, greed for power, back-stabbing and coarse language. The most enterprising and lucrative industry in India today. A lethal dhanda which has ensnared a captive people.

Look at the benefits. One, mafia power greatly adds to their political clout. Two, parties put up mafia to strengthen own hands. This works on the premise --- that you scratch my back and I yours. Three, muscle power comes in handy to settle scores with opponents and use for partisan political ends. So far so good. But when governance and power demand at least outward projections of piety, morality, goodness et al they don their public mukhota and drone endlessly about eradicating this scourge. All talk, no action. Remember, politics is all about sounding good.  

What is new? The reader may well ask. Wasn’t this overpowering stench of political decay exposed by the Vohra Committee report in 1995. Spotlighted in all its ugly dimensions of the “networking” of money, muscle and crime. It pointed out how political leaders “became leaders of these gangs and armed senas and, over the years, got themselves elected to local bodies, State Assemblies and Parliament. Thus, all concerned operate with impunity.”

That’s old hat. Over the years, their hold on the polity has become stronger. At the last count, there were at least 60 MPs and over 1000 MLAs allegedly facing criminal charges, including rape, dacoity and murder. These figures, collated by the Election Commission are, however, just a tip of the iceberg. The number of politico-criminals roaming free at all levels is a lot more.

The on-going UP poll is another case in point. If truth be told, political goons have emerged as the biggest threat to society and the nation, as spotlighted in some courageous Bollywood films. Some of these goons (or their sons) even kidnap and rape, commit murder to cover their tracks, threaten the police to suppress evidence and make a mockery of legal proceedings and the Judiciary. Recalling the old saying: “Sayian bhaye kotwal, to dar kis ka.”

Has all this stirred anyone’s conscience? Tragically, “no”. All parties harbour and promote criminals. Right Honourables and MLAs being brought handcuffed by the police to the entrances of Parliament House and State Assemblies is a given. The procedure is simple. The cuffs are removed at the gate, so that the person can take oath of office as an MP or MLA. Prior to that the person has to seek the Court’s permission to go to Parliament or Assembly. After his swearing-in, he is again handcuffed and taken back to jail.

Not only that.  So cleverly have our netagan perfected the art of self-deception that corruption, ineptitude and inefficiency have reached new heights of a well-scripted political nautanki.  Nothing illustrates this better than the political gang-up, cutting across party lines of amending the Office of Profit Bill to save their brethren from being expelled and ‘going-slow’ on the sealing drive of illegal construction in the Union Capital ordered by the Supreme Court.

One can go on and on about hedonism in the year gone by. Of scams which have been reduced to one-day cricketing wonders. And argue that the rules of the game have got changed recklessly without a thought to the future and a premium put on criminality and immorality. But the moot point is: Will profligacy be allowed to become the bedrock of our Parliamentary democracy? Basically, is it good for our democracy to have such people represent the voters? When those who are supposed to lead become saboteurs, it is time to call a spade a spade. Above all, we need politicians who are men of conscience, integrity and credibility. Not comrades in crime.

Importantly, India is today at the moral crossroads. More so, in our present all pervasive decadence interspersed with growing public distaste, cynicism and despair. If not stopped now it could result in a total breakdown of institutions, society, culture and ethical values. Which, in turn, could be the cause of a socio-political revolution. Time to give serious thought to changing the qualifications and norms for those contesting Parliamentary and State Assembly seats.

In sum, let us face the moment of truth and reckoning. What is it that our people want at the end of the day? They wish to be assured of probity and morality in governance and administration. Are they asking for too much? Or have we decided willy nilly to surrender shamelessly to horrendous corruption ---- and kiss goodbye to honesty and accountability. ----- INFA