Last week, if Indian Government had desired, then the next Telecom policy could have been formulated inside the Tihar Jail!!! Don’t believe me? Consider this – Ex Telecom Minister A Raja, Bigwigs from Telecom companies like Reliance, Unitech, Swan Telecom, all were in the jail for their roles in the 2G scam!!!
Suddenly, the Indian jail has seen celebrities like never before. Ramalinga Raju, Shiney Ahuja, A Raja, Vinod Goenka, Sanjay Chandra, Suresh Kalmadi, all normally found in the Page 3 every week, found themselves in the jail. Not to forget the Mumbai Shooting Star – Ajmal Kasab, who has, unfortunately turned into a celebrity over the last 2.5 years, sponsored and endorsed by our spine-less Government! And going by the media reports, Kanimozhi, daughter of Tamil God-like CM Karunanidhi could be the first female high profile figure to grace our jails by next week!!! The petty criminals must be partying and rejoicing to be brushing along with such who’s who in Indian sociality. God, they can’t believe their damn luck!!!
What brought about this? I thought I heard people say that in India, the rich and powerful are always above law. That they might get charge sheeted, but arresting them is completely different kettle of fish!!! India is a Democratic Republic. It is ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’. But tragically, it had become a Republic ‘of the elite, by the elite, for the elite’. If you were rich and powerful, no one could touch you. Legislators and Polity circles work hand in hand with Executives to toss the system upside down for their own good!!!
But events in the last 3-4 months have defied that logic. What has happened to our corrupt executive? How come the same investigative agencies which behaved as a Government’s and rich man’s pimp got their acts now? Well, the answer lies in the people. Things have changed!!! Don’t know how much has changed or for how long? India is still for the elites. But what has changed in the last 6 months has been the perception of the general people – the ‘aam aadmi’!!! People are tired of being ignored; they are tired of being taken for granted. An Indian man wants a simple life. He has a ‘4-point agenda’. He needs a good family, a safe accommodation, good food and a stable source of income. If he has all the above, he does not bother if there is rampant corruption around, if his chosen legislators are ripping off money for their benefits, even if there is politician-criminal nexus around - as long as it does not harm him. You might say that it’s an ignorant attitude, but to me, he does not have many choices. Either he stands up against the system and risks losing everything mentioned above or he chooses to be a meek spectator. He chooses to be the latter more often than not. He plays loser to survive. For him, for his family!!! Believe me it takes a lot of guts to do that, to constantly fight himself, to accommodate, to sacrifice, to pretend ignorant!!!
The last one year has actually affected his life in a subtle way!!! Huge scams. As huge as 40 billion USD. That’s the figure India lost due tom the 2G scam. CWG, Adarsh, Karnataka land scam, Black Money scam, etc. have made the ‘aam aadmi’ sit up and take notice. Prices have multiplied, Inflation has shot up, systems have rotten, and he has been sucked into those to make him even poorer and more susceptible. He felt angry. He felt his ‘4-point agenda’ at risk. He felt betrayed, humiliated, ashamed and angry!!! Believe me combination of fear, anger & shame can be productive at times!!! Media also has to be lauded for its role. They have, for once, played a constructive role. Perhaps, they too felt threatened by the same system which they had become corrupt part of!!! And then, we have had numerous civil movements, of which ‘Anna Hazare’ movement became a huge success.
The result – Executive and the Legislature have been forced to act. Even if, it’s a mere token response at present, getting some hot shot guys in jail to prove that they are serious and can act. Indian public is happy. We are Happy to see the elite being taken to task!!! I hope this gathers momentum and we are able to lessen the epidemic called Corruption. Make no mistake; we ourselves have to play our parts too!!! It’s a long way ahead!!!
For now, let’s rejoice and appreciate the fact that our Republic is being seen to make a statement ‘of the people, by the people, for the people’. It’s certainly a jolly good statement. Let’s make the most of it - while it lasts!!!
The petty criminals in jail might be thinking on similar lines too!!! With all the celebrities around!!! :-P
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