There are NGOs and other bodies trying to fight this cancer in Indian society. Can we imagine how many poor people can be fed, taught, treated with this public money illegally cornered by the people meant to look after our interests. Why can’t we whip them in public and confiscate all their wealth when it would not be so difficult to prove how they created their wealth if someone had the will to take action. We as people cannot be demoralized. We the educated ones should desist from bribing our way through for convenience or to get away. Unless we start becoming intolerant in our day to day lives to this kind of corruption, we cannot teach a lesson to the big fish. INTOLERANCE is the only answer. Let us not sit quietly and wait for someone else to take action. Work begins at home no matter how small the step.
The Koda case splashed around in the newspapers in the last weeks is the latest in the series of scams in the country. This one at 4000 crores is humongous but will probably hold the readers’ interest for a few days till the media moves on to a bigger story. The apathy or lack of concern of the people of our country towards corruption is terrifying. It goes to show that in India people accept corruption as a way of life. Every bureaucrat, politician, government servant is expected to have some upar ki kamai and it is hardly considered bad. Every single day we read in the newspapers about the smallest of officials who have openly amassed so much of wealth that it is not even hidden. The flashy lifestyles and real estate accruals of all politicians from Mr. Deve Gowda, Mayawati, Jayalalitha, Sharad Pawar, Pramod Mahajan, Karunanidhi, YSR Reddy and almost all runs in multiples of crores. Even more alarming is that their good-for-nothing kids like Ms. Poonam Mahajan and Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy have unaccounted wealth of crores and no one even bats an eyelid. The entire country was indignant when the 45 crore Bofors scam broke out which is still talked about and on whose investigation over 250 crores has been spent so far (ironically !). Just see comparatively how there is no hue and cry over the latest scam. Should we not be out on the streets demanding the end to this corruption and better utilization of public funds. No, because the common man is despairing. He knows that right from the MPs in the Parliament, the Judiciary, the Bureaucracy; everyone is mired in corruption and hence who will initiate action against whom. Like we say in Hindi, sab ek hi thaali ke chatte batte hain (all are partners in crime).
Why don’t we take to streets to demand better usage of public funds?
Because the common man is more concerned that:
1. Local language be more pervasive than other languages.
2. Nobody insults his god by making derisive cartoons of him/her.
We Indians won’t hit the streets for rising prices, bad infrastructure but are very emotional about non-issues like Gods and local languages.
Politicians just make use of this behavior of ours.
@ GP Is it the common man or the goons from certain political parties or outfits who have hijacked the common man’s causes who do the damage? I doubt if the aam aadmi cares about language, gods or maara maari rather than his roti, kapda, makaan and padhaai. The only problem is that the aam aadmi is sitting quietly and allowing others to spread violence in his name.