DR. S. AUSAF SAIED VASFI discusses the moral rot that finds expression in the behaviour as well as the expanse of our elected representatives, swamis and bhagwans, and suggests the tried and trusted solution.
Corruption, as a fatal disease, appears to have overtaken plural Bharat. This multi-dimensional malaise has been fast approaching the vital organs of the body politic. The tentacles of this octopus are now not confined to urban or rural younger generation. The people of all ages and regions are succumbing to the baser instincts in a big way.
That, however, is not the news. The news is that each and every formula in the book is being used by some political personages to provide stout defence for errant members. Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao, literally purchased majority in Parliament. Did the Congress Working Committee or any of its other effective organs censured him or punished the guilty? Mr. N.D. Tiwari, a very senior leader of the party was caught on camera with pants down. Did the party, see to it, that the lascivious old man was arraigned before justice? Now he is, it is alleged, facing the charge of fathering an illegitimate child. That child is now a grown-up gentleman and is fighting a legal battle against his biological father, who refuses to give his son his name. How many grey cases normally fail to come up to the surface because of the effective use of political pressure on the executive?
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and several regional parties have not been found immune to the deadly but delicious virus that ultimately succeeds in utilising the prone-to-corruption bureaucrats, as one sees in the illegal mining cases in Andhra and Karnataka. To cap it all, loopholes in the law come running to the aid of corrupt politicians, officials and police personnel.
This nexus does not hesitate in – if the threat of transfer doesn’t work – just liquidating the honest officials as had been, not long ago, seen in UP.
THE MADHU KODAS
Where would you place Mr. Madhu Koda, the former chief minister of Jharkhand, found knee, nay neck-deep in a multi-crore scandal? What he has successfully used in his favour is the similar weakness of others. Whenever he threatens to spill the beans, the speed of the proceedings against him gets slow. Let us recall identical was the fodder scam, involving Mr. Lalu Prasad.
Only recently, on March 9 to be exact, cropped up a vociferous protest against the use of marshals in showing the doormat of Parliament to reluctant MPs where they had not only torn the Women’s Reservation Bill but also menacingly advanced towards the Chair.
Before demonstrating sympathy with the seven irresponsible parliamentarians, the critics should tell the nation what the apex-legislature should, in unhelpful circumstances, do. The parliamentarians invited trouble and got it in turn. Protest is alright but protest coupled with gestures bordering on threats, punctuated with disrespectful shouting, is not and shall not be permitted by any civilized society unless the word “civilized” is redefined. Every MP is first a responsible and accountable citizen and icon for at least his constituency if not the whole country. How is it that our legislators do not take much time in saying good-bye to grace, dignity and decency? To quote Mr. Amar Singh, a former front-ranker of the Samajwadi Party: “Unruly members enter the well of the house, shouting slogans and even slap and kick fellow legislators, hurl chairs and microphones, insult the Chair and cause forced adjournments.”
BJP RECORD
But the record of the BJP has yet to be broken in holding Parliament to ransom. After the 2004 general elections, they successfully turned Parliament into a totally dysfunctional organ of the democracy. Is anybody today concerned about the even-falling standards and erosion authority of Parliament? None, perhaps.
In fact, it is not the Parliament alone, it is not the state legislatures alone whose standards have recorded a gradual decline rather erasal. The Zila Panchayat is setting up a milestone in ridiculous, barbarous and outlaw verdicts. Take the garland-case of Ms. Mayawati which shall be considered a trail-blazer or classic after a few decades. Too fond of celebrating her and her mentor’s birthdays, the lady in question celebrated this time in a big way. The main highlight of the function was a garland made of thousand-rupee currency notes, totalling to around a cool rupees five crore.
BUDDHA & MAYAWATI
As a neo-Buddhist, Ms. Mayawati has learnt little from Prince Siddhartha, who had renounced his entire world including family, and decided to lead a life of a wandering mendicant. So he did in search of Enlightenment. Ms Mayawati, his unworthy devotee, is today wallowing in money, cocooning in power and sloshing in luxury. We as citizens and those living in UP as taxpayers, do not and should not, challenge the lady’s faith or ask her how great a Buddhist she is. But the citizens of this great democracy as well as people at large have failed to appreciate her childish hobby of multiplying golden coins. Rupees eight crore is in her spacious kitty today. Why did it not occur to her to gracefully distribute this huge sum of money to some of her “poorest of the poor” among her co-religionists or party workers?
Now she has once again invited income tax authorities for her alleged disproportionate assets of wealth.
Her umpteen admirers, including Mr. Naseemuddin Siddiqui, they say, are willing to sacrifice their lives for her. But the average UPian doesn’t see any sterling qualities of head and heart in the state chief minister. Her cynical followers want the nation to believe that this garland was a poor gesture of great admiration for the lady.
CONG VS MAYAWATI
On the other hand, she has been frequently charged with greasing her palm after routine, official tasks, like transfer of individual properties to the legatees. It is said, the monies like the one used in the currency-garland had been forcibly collected by her minions from the workers of divisions of UP. Mr. Digvijay Singh, the AICC general secretary, has termed her “daulat ki beti”, not “dalit ki beti”. He has drawn the attention of the country towards Ms. Mayawati’s earnings: “It is brazen show of wealth, a brazen show of corruption. A brazen show of how money is being collected through an organised network of criminals, centralised at the chief minister’s residence.” The Congress leader has also alleged that central funds are being misused and mis-utilised in Uttar Pradesh. “We will take the fight to the masses to expose Mayawati who loves only wealth and not the downtrodden.” The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party, he added, in the state is extracting money from miners, public works department, Noida and public distribution system in the name of party fund.
THE QUESTION
You would ask why the Congress is not taking action. The counter question to you is: Does the Congress ever take action against the erring? Did it take action against Narendra Modi, against Balasaheb Thackeray and his son and nephew? Did it implement the recommendations of the Srikrishna Commission Report? Did it ever respond to the Mandal Commission’s recommendations? Leaving the questions unanswered right now or postponing it for posterity, the fact is: the Congress is not taking action against Ms. Mayawati because it needs her MPs’ votes for the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament.
Has the womb of mother India gone dry, that she no more produces moral giants, upright, honest and sincere servants of India?
Bharat is currently passing through graver moral crisis. No political party gives priority to the rectitude of moral degradation. The much-talked of swamis and bhagwans are too busy in expanding their harems. At least three high religious priests of our majority brethren are under the scanner, charged with promotion of promiscuity and exporting sex to foreign countries and multiplying money through illegal means.
GROUND REALITY
This is the ground reality. The godmen are indulging in ungodly acts. The messiah himself is suffering from several terminal diseases. Is it not time for the thinkers and nation-builders to rise to the occasion?
We as Muslims feel: Belief in Allah, His Prophets and the Last Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) and the Day of Judgment can reverse the process. It can ensure a safe and dignified life, brimming with joy here and in the Hereafter.