Corruption is the sole lifeline of existence of Indian polity. It governs their ability to earn a livelihood, their ability to win elections, the ability to come to power and even their ability to retain power. And all this under the garb of politics. As it is the word politics was and has never been a very honorable word in the society. Its connotations have always been far from positive. From time to time it has been defined in a very polished but realistic manner
"It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first". Ronald ReagenNo guesses for naming the oldest profession, it is well known to every individual but what is the role of a politician in this profession. Is it that of the client, broker or the sex worker. One dare not hazard a guess for all the three will take exception to being compared with a politician
"Politics is the last resort for the scoundrels"George Bernard Shaw
To what extent these statements are true in the other countries but in India it is not last but first refuge of any and every scoundrel. It is not a coincidence that out of 776 Members of Parliament (MP's) and 4120 state legislatures ( MLA's), more than 30% have criminal cases regarding murder, attempt to murder, robbery, dacoity, etc pending against them. And why not? For this is the only profession that can make a hero out of an antisocial element, let his illegal wealth grow, provide some dignity to such impudent louts possessed of almost no virtue and help them tremendously in hoodwinking the law of the land and allow them going scot-free on technical grounds or through benefit of doubt. There are a number of occasions when MLAs and MPs from jails were brought to legislative houses and parliament so as to save the Government of the day. Such is the value and importance of these elements (with their tonnes of black money, goonda power, and vote garnering capabilities) to even the saints in politics that these saints not only close their eyes to their black deeds but let them grow exponentially in their black deeds.
In recent times the nation has been a mute witness to the absolute unholy alliance of almost entire polity of the country to defeat following watershed decisions that could have have changed the corruption scenario in a very big way which in turn could have revolutionized the course of development of the country and above all the poverty alleviation which is ironically the sole declared aim of each and every political worker.
- Lok Pal Bill
- Political parties under the Right to information act
- Supreme court directions on banning criminal elements for contesting of elections and continuing as legislatures
- Giving autonomy to Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI )
The agony of the nation lies in the fact that instead of doing something concrete to find an end to this malaise of corruption, the entire polity of the country has come together, in fact to find ways and means/ flimsy excuses to
not let anything happen in the right direction. For them the guiding principles are that
- No harm should come to even a single imaginary righteous man ( righteous not because he is honest but because he could manipulate to escape conviction for lack of evidence or legal loopholes) even if 100% of legislature gets occupied by corrupt and criminals.
- And once a powerful man manages to hoodwink legal process, his integrity becomes impeccable and he can occupy even the most sensitive position.I wonder why the same yardstick is not applicable to bureaucracy where even an iota of doubt on one's integrity can have far reaching consequences.
