Are we all corrupt?

Recently we have witnessed perfect examples of how anybody can be framed and proved to be corrupt using the laws tailor-made by those who have kept this handle purposely with them. Tell me why I should not have an option of travelling on cycle and ask for a payment for the luxury ride that I am entitled to if I wish to help a cancer patient to get some life-saving medicine with that money. Can anybody explain that what is wrong if I want to sacrifice my entitlement/luxury in favour of a good/noble cause. The only wrong is that the rules do not allow. But who has made these rules and more importantly why is such a rule made. The purpose of framing a rule in such cases is to stop a misuse of one’s entitlement for his/her greed. But is this greed? Shouldn’t we encourage such sacrifices?

There is another rule that states that if I avail a paid leave from an organisation where I am working then I should come back and serve the organisation for a specific duration linked to the period my absence. But why did we need such a rule? Isn’t it only because if someone becomes eligible for a higher remuneration due to the work that he has done during his/her paid absence then he should be discouraged from acceding to this temptation and in case if one does so then he/she should pay back the money that was received during the absence with an appropriate penalty? But is this rule not assuming that the person leaving the job after a paid leave must be doing so by falling for a greed for higher remuneration? Would you justify asking a person to pay back the money paid to him/her with penalty even if he/she decides to provide free consultancy in a remote village after acquiring an MD degree on a paid absence from a government hospital where he/she was working as an MBBS?

And what about him who has given hope to innumerable patients who do not have the money to avail costly allopathic treatments. Shall we allow a ‘profit’ to be considered as ‘income’ if it is not used for personal greed and luxury and is re-invested for a good cause?

And the worse is that they have been able to equate these noble deeds with the greed of Kalmadis, Rajas, Rahuls, Sonias, Dixits, Vadheras and many more. The response to Anna's recent call against corruption has emboldened these forces. However we should remember that unlike us who do not have the authority to make rules, all these people are corrupt in accordance with the rules that they themselves have the power to frame.

Let us ask our parliamentarians

What did you all do in the last two decades after for the first time some media outside this country unveiled that kickbacks were paid in the Bofors’ deal? Who did you punish when you were told that a suitcase containing crores of rupees entered the then PM house? Who did you nail when a journalist tried to expose manipulations and money transactions in arms’ deals? Give me one politician’s name who was put behind bar for Hawala transactions. Whom did you hang for paying money for voting inside the parliament? How much of the lacs of crores that have been lost in the 2G scame have yet been recovered? What plans have been executed for recovery of the loot done during CWG preparations? When did you set a deadline to bring back the illegally deposited Indian money in Swiss bank? And for God’s sake who had stopped you to table and pass your version of Lokpal bill for all these years? And now you still need time?

Please admit that you have no face left to ask for time and no trick left to execute your age-old delaying tactics. You have already put the integrity and sanctity of parliament to shame and placed our democracy at stake. You have played with our patience. You always believed that you get a license to dictate your terms once you get elected. Do not put our patience to test. You have already tested our patience by taking turns to exploit us at your will. All these years we have been given only a choice of whom we would prefer for our own exploitation.

At this juncture please do not tell us how a law should be framed. The arrogance with which you handled the Ramdev agitation and intent that you are exhibiting while tackling the Anna movement only confirms our apprehensions that once voted to power you consider yourself as if you have joined the ranks of British Rulers. Your deeds have started shaking our confidence in democracy. It is not solely our duty to save democracy but it is also in your interest to reestablish our faith in democratic set-ups. Himalaya will not explode if a ‘non-critically analyzed’, ‘ill-prepared’ Lokpal bill is passed. Heavens will not fall if you accept the Jan Lokpal bill in the present form. There are so many rules waiting for modifications but lying unattended before you for years’ together. Can you yourself claim that all rules in its existing form are absolutely perfect and would never require a change? Please add one more to that list even if you do not agree with all the formulations of the Jan Lokpal bill. As you must realize that you only have put us at such a logjam that only this can put our faith back into democracy with some certainty and for this a 72 year old is on fast for last so many days. I would not like that the government awakes on this issue only at a point of no return when the crowd decides to pay the arrogance back to our parliamentarians. The time is surely slipping by…………

Caught in the Web of Corruption

(Published in the April 25 issue of the Governance Now. Please visit the following link to access the article. http://governancenow.com/views/columns/blame-it-our-corrupting-system)

I feared for this since the time Hazare started mobilizing us against corruption in the corridors of powers. It happened to all earlier torch-bearers against any kind of corruption in India. Those who showed courage to question the powerful have themselves ended up falling on the side of sufferers. Be it the Tehelka-expose, cash-for-votes revelation in the Parliament, the L. N. Mishra-whispers, the Bofor issue, unveiling of the fodder scam, JMM payment case, Radia-gate expose and other such innumerable cases – we have witnessed blatant attempts to shut the mouths of the source itself. Due to this, we as a nation have lost faith in everybody. We will look for no reasons to believe in the latest Bhushan – duo expose; we will never seek any proof to establish the relation between Gandhis and Italian-Q’s Bofor-payments; we will effortlessly assume a connection between Binayak and Maoists; irrespective of the verdicts, we will never be able to acquit Afzal or Professor Geelani in the Parliament-attack case; we have already hanged Modi many times for his supposed involvement in the Gujrat riots; it is impossible to reject a link between any unknown Indian-muslim and terrorism; and nobody needs to be convinced for a connection between RSS and saffron-terror; in fact we require absolutely nothing to believe in any such negative expose and will be extremely hesitant in accepting that Anna Hazare, Swami Ramdev or Swami Agniwesh have innocent intentions. The power uses this state of our mind to prove that all are corrupt. This helps them in achieving their win ultimately.
In addition to this, corruption has assumed such a large proportion that people feel pride in displaying their corrupt intent. Corrupts are ruling the nation and belong to ruler-influential class. We take pride in moving in a tinted-glassed-car if that is banned, we feel proud in moving without helmet, we proudly cross a red-signal or boast of our connection in manipulating a decision in our favor that was otherwise not allowed within rules – be it admission of your ward; be it a place in an Indian/IPL team; be it winning a tender; be it selection for a post or promotion in your rank. On the other hand a law-abiding or a rule-observer is generally looked down upon by our society. We measure the status of an influential person and respect him as much as he shows courage to violate/manipulate rules and norms. The power-brokers in India have helped in creating this state by enacting laws that are simply un-observable. Bill Gates can rise from ashes using regular means but it is simply unimaginable to even dream for any such rise in India by any law-abiding individual. You necessarily need to be a Harshad/a Ketan/a power broker politician/a shrewd bureaucrat/a corrupt administrator/a manipulating Judge/a tax evading businessman or a professional who is not honestly true to his/her profession. Believe me they can prove anyone corrupt not only because we require little to get convinced about this but also as they have ensured that nobody can remain a law-abiding citizen in India.
I am afraid, unless you are an ostrich it is impossible to find a way to get out of this mess.