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Mainstream, VOL XLIX, No 24, June 4, 2011

People can No Longer be Hoodwinked Easily

Editorial

Thursday 9 June 2011, by SC

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While the situation in our neighbourhood, specifically Pakistan and Afghanistan, continues to worsen (witness the horrific terrorist attack on the Mehran naval base in Karachi, besides the alleged abduction, torture and killing by the ISI of a well-known Pakistani investigative reporter who had not only exposed some Pak Navy personnel’s links to Al-Qaeda operatives but also revealed in his book how the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai were scripted by the ISI and cleared by the Qaeda), the UPA Government has come under the shadow of yet another scam. The latest one, sensational details of which have come out in the newsmagazine Tehelka, involves Union Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran; like his DMK colleague in the Manmohan Singh dispensation, Telecom Minister A. Raja, Maran too is charged with having allotted 2G spectrum to a company that invested in his family-controlled Sun TV.

With Maran becoming the third DMK leader—after Raja and party patriarch M. Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi, a Rajya Sabha member (both are now lodged in the Capital’s Tihar Jail)—to be embroiled in the 2G spectrum scam, the BJP has raised the heat on Maran and its chief spokesperson, Ravi Shankar Prasad, asked probing questions to the Textiles Minister based on the aforementioned publication’s exposé. Prasad also urged PM Manmohan Singh to clarify his position on the issue as he was well aware of the fact that the authority of determining the pricing of the spectrum was taken out of the purview of the Group of Ministers at Maran’s own insistence when the latter was in charge of the Telecom portfolio in the Union Government.

After remaining quiet for a long time Maran finally broke his silence to deny the allegations against him and affirmed that he was in the political wilderness when the so-called scam took place. Despite this assertion the Textile Minister is clearly on the backfoot especially when an united Opposition is demanding his resignation from the Union Council of Ministers and exhorting the PM to sack him if he declines to step down voluntarily.

The Congress, however, is seeking to steer clear of this latest controversy; this was evident from the party spokesman’s response to relevant queries—he said the JPC could look into the matter if its members so desire. Party sources too are of the view that the judiciary could take a call on the allegations. That is how the UPA’s principal constituent is declining to stand by a valuable ally and thus trying to deflect any direct attack on itself. However, the Congress cannot shirk its collective responsibility even if the improprieties have been committed by its ally in the ruling alliance at the Centre. At least that is the public perception. And it is because of this growing public perception that the government reluctantly agreed to include non-official representatives belonging to the civil society in the committee set up to draft the Lokpal Bill, the primary task of the Lokpal being tackling corruption at high places.

Against this backdrop has come the news that the government nominees and the civil society representatives in the Lokpal Bill drafting panel are sharply divided over the latter’s demand to bring the PM and higher judiciary within the Lokpal’s purview and the non-official members in the committee are learnt to have even threatened to dissociate from the process in case of rejection of their suggestion. As one of them explained, “what the government is proposing is even less than what the Bill drafted by the Law Ministry says”. This, according to them, is patently unacceptable.

Meanwhile the government is busy attempting to drive a wedge among civil society activities. Hence the strenuous moves to court Baba Ramdev who has planned to go on an indefinite fast on the issue of unearthing black money, especially the amount stashed away abroad. Suddenly Union Ministers, including the Finance Minister, have become pro-active in the matter—as many as four of them accorded a red-carpet welcome to Ramdev when he arrived in the Capital to start his fast (an eyesore which has been aptly criticised by the Congress party leaders too). The government’s objective seems to be to placate Ramdev and desist him from undertaking the fast by making oral promises which have little value in reality (the ulterior motive being to isolate Anna Hazare and his associates). It was also conveyed that Ramdev had publicly voiced a different view on bringing the PM and higher judiciary within the Lokpal’s ambit (but the ploy didn’t work as the Baba himself refuted reports on that score). Till now the yoga-guru has refused to oblige the government and declined to give up his proposed fast; nor has he said anything that could suggest his dissociation from Anna Hazare. But the government’s exercise in winning him over to its side continues although it has yet to bear fruit.

It is interesting to find, in this context, publications close to the government counselling caution and urging the authorities not to remain rigid in their opposition to the civil society representatives’ suggestion. However, the moot question is: would these have any impact on the Manmohan Singh dispensation? They would, provided Sonia Gandhi sheds her indecisive posture and intervenes. As of now, that seems a distant possibility.

Nonetheless, it would be foolhardy for the government to take a obdurate position in the matter. Bringing the PM and higher judiciary within the Lokpal’s purview solely on the issue of corruption would not make them dysfunctional or have an adverse effect on governance. In fact the stubborn opposition to such a rational proposal would further alienate the authorities from the people thereby engendering mass disenchantment that is currently on the rise and threatens to assume alarming proportions.

Of course, the BJP can hardly be expected to exploit the UPA’s discomfiture over the unending scams to its advantage after its own “performance” in Karnataka where it still enjoys power. As for the Left, its drubbing in West Bengal (wherein corruption in varied forms, like encouraging promoter-raj, did play a contributory role in its decline), has brought out its feet of clay; it can doubtless boast of V.S. Achuthanandan, a person of impeccable integrity, in Kerala but then wasn’t he overshadowed by the acrobatics of the Lavalin scam-tainted Pinarayi Vijayan, the party Secretary in that province, who also had the CPM’s central leaders behind him?

As far as the ruling UPA is concerned, it should be aware by now that any deceptive oral assurance to hoodwink the public and civil society members will not work. (That is precisely why Anna Hazare has correctly harped on the need for ‘written commitment on affidavit’ from the powers that be.) People have become more vigilant than ever before and their mounting revulsion against corruption cannot be glossed over. If the authorities still choose to underestimate the magnitude of this revulsion they are free to do so, but only at their peril.

June 2 S.C.

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