[Reader-list] Honest is, who honest does- Madhu Purnima Kishwar

[Anuradha Banerji]

*Honest is, Who Honest Does*



*Madhu** **Purnima** **Kishwar*



Today, the Indian media--both print and television—is focusing on the recent
corruption scandals involving the UPA Government with unusual zeal. However,
I fail to understand why almost every commentator, every TV anchor, every
editorial writer feels compelled to pay ritual obeisance to the “personal
honesty and integrity” of Dr Manmohan Singh while dealing with the scandals
emanating from his Cabinet colleagues. They do so even when there is clear
evidence that the Prime Minister was well aware of various shady deals, as
in the case of Telecom scam, and that he did nothing to stop the brazen
economic crimes indulged in by his ministerial colleagues over the last 6
years.



Corruption is not only about personally accepting monetary bribes and
stacking them away in hidden bank accounts overseas, buying
*benami*properties or accepting diamond sets for your wife. Corruption
can come in
insidious avatars, such as knowingly turning a blind eye to the misuse the
entire machinery of governance to serve private ends of a few individuals,
even to the point of endangering national security. For example, not a
single person has been punished thus far for supplying sub standard bullet
proof jackets to the police handling the 9/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai.
Not surprisingly, we are right now witnessing yet another scam involving sub
standard bullet proof vests.



In recent weeks, some of our most respected columnists have been warning us
that we should look at institutional reform rather than target individuals
because it can lead to loss of faith in democratic institutions. But how do
you retain faith in democratic institutions if powerful individuals use
their office to systematically subvert the autonomy and credibility of
institutions meant as watchdogs of democracy? The best of institutions take
no time in becoming slavish instruments of partisan agendas if you plant
subservient and heavily compromised individuals at their helm.



Dr Manmohan Singh cannot escape responsibility for appointing people with
dubious credentials to occupy key positions of power—starting with the
appointment of Pratibha Patil as the President of India. This despite the
fact that that Congress leaders of her own District protested vehemently
against her appointment because of her and her close kin's direct
involvement in criminal cases. Thereafter, all key institutions, including
the Election Commission, the Central Vigilance Commission have been filled
with people whose credentials have been questioned not just by the
opposition but also the media and respected public figures.


He has also provided key portfolios to people with a proven track record of
brazen corruption. For example, IAS officer, Mr Lalli the CEO of Prasar
Bharati that manages  Doordarshan--India's national TV channel--has been
guilty of countless corrupt deals and practices. Despite numerous agitations
by the staff of Doordarshan to get him punished, he continues lording over
the institution because he is supposed to have the PM's backing.



This regime has also gone out of its way to protect those judges of the High
Courts and Supreme Court who have such serious corruption charges against
them as to merit impeachment and criminal trials. Justice Dinakaran of the
Karnataka High Court was saved from the wrath of and boycott by the legal
fraternity of Karnataka by being transferred to Sikkim High Court despite
loud protests by people in Sikkim. Judges who are alleged to have shared in
the loot of Provident Fund of class 1V employees in UP have not been subject
to investigation, leave alone punishment. One of them retired after serving
a full term in the Supreme Court. The kingpin of the scam who later provided
evidence of the complicity of the judges died under mysterious circumstances
in jail.



Supreme Court Justice Sabharwal was likewise protected from prosecution even
though the allegations against him during UPA’s first term were no less
serious than that of Kalmadi. He is alleged to have ordered demolition of
numerous commercial centres and complexes in Delhi in order to benefit his
son’s investment in high end malls, causing havoc for lakhs of small and big
commercial property owners of Delhi.



The CWG scam is not just about misappropriation of funds through inflated
bills and money being paid to bogus companies. It all started with the
politician-contractor mafia being allowed to violate all environmental laws
to convert Yamuna floodplains into prime real estate by building luxury
apartments in the name of Games Village. This happened despite the High
Court ban on all construction activity on the floodplains. It needed the
influence of people far more powerful than Kalmadi to persuade the Supreme
Court into over ruling the considered view of the High Court and ensuring
that Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh looked the other way when all
environmental laws were being brazenly flouted right under his nose to build
high rise apartments and other commercial structures on the floodplains. The
game plan behind building luxury apartments on the forbidden land became
obvious from the fact that the builders had to be whip lashed into
completing at least half the apartments before the Commonwealth Games. They
were obviously given to understand that the CWG was merely a fig leaf for
converting floodplains into prime real estate in the heart of Delhi.



The choice of the company that built the Games Village, the names of its
real owners, its unknown and known partners, and the list of its known and
unknown beneficiaries will reveal a scam more insidious than the Adarsh Housing
Scam of Mumbai which involved Congress Party CM and other politicians, top
ranking officials of the armed forces and bureaucrats cornering luxury
apartments in a prime location in a housing society set up in the name of
Kargil widows. In this case too, the only visible action taken by the Prime
Minister is to replace the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. No sign of any
heads rolling as yet.



Or take the example of the most politically sensitive state of Kashmir.
Manmohan Singh allowed an anti Omar agitation to turn into an anti India
agitation much against his own counsel, all because he dare not sack Omar
Abdullah from the CM’s post even when the entire Valley rose in revolt
against his high handed, corrupt and callous regime. Senior Congress leaders
admit in private that Omar cannot be touched since he is a buddy of
Rahul Gandhi.
Dr Singh knows well that Omar’s continuation has given a new lease of life
to the Pak inspired separatist and terrorist movement in Kashmir.



People attribute his pliability to the fact that the prime minister was
appointed and not elected. He has never won a Lok Sabha election. But that
cannot be used as an excuse to justify overlooking such
gross mismanagement and loot as well as the political drift one witnesses
even in areas involving national security.



In fact, his defeat in the one and only election he ever fought is related
to his lack of personal integrity. He was defeated in the predominantly
middle-class South Delhi constituency because *people in general and Sikhs
in particular were enraged when Manmohan Singh denied the role of the
Congress in the 1984 anti Sikh carnage* and instead attributed the 1984
massacre to the RSS. The RSS may well be guilty of many other communal riots
but the credit for the 1984 massacre goes entirely to Congress politicians,
including Rajiv Gandhi who even justified the killings saying: "when a big
tree falls, the earth is bound to shake." The Congress Party also ensured
that those who masterminded and executed the 1984 pogrom did not get
punished.



Similarly, in the case of Gujarat riots, the Prime Minister  happily joined
the chorus initiated by his boss pillorying Narendra Modi as "Maut ka
Saudagar" even though it is well known that Congress party cadres merrily
joined the riotous mobs unleashed by BJP--RSS combine in Ahmadabad and
elsewhere. This failure to own responsibility for the conduct of his party
men and passing the entire responsibility on to Modi is in large part
responsible for the lack of credibility of Congress Party in Gujarat and the
severe erosion of its political base in Gujarat.



Likewise, getting a Rajya Sabha seat from Assam claiming he is a resident of
the state when he has never had any such connection with Assam is a definite
indicator of questionable political integrity.



A PM who compromises national interest, as in Kashmir, just to indulge the
personal fancy of the PM in waiting, a PM who looks the other way while his
Cabinet colleagues brazenly loot public funds and get away with extorting
thousands of crores by way of kickbacks, a PM who is widely perceived and
lampooned as a “rubber stamp” does not merit being called “an honest man” or
a “man of integrity” because integrity in his job demands putting national
interest above partisan politics and personal loyalties. Integrity also
involves taking full responsibility for all his acts of commission and
omission which have earned UPA II the dubious distinction of being publicly
named as the most corrupt and rudderless government in post independence
India.



-- 
-- 
Madhu Purnima Kishwar
Founding Editor, Manushi Journal,
Founder, Manushi Sangathan--Citizens First Forum
Senior Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies.






--



-- 
Anuradha Banerji,
Research Scholar,
Department of English,
University of Hyderabad.
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh 500046

Ph: 9573705541