Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Inclusive Growth, Adarsh Style



Inclusive Growth, Adarsh Style By Gaurav Parab


The Adarsh society scam is path-breaking in its nature. Unlike the gazillion others being pulled off every second, this one is not restricted to a particular institution, group or political party. It is perhaps a first in the post-Independence era, where people from all walks of society were involved and got caught. This is the Congress’ much taunted ‘inclusive growth’ pitch being practically demonstrated in a building, ironically called Adarsh.

Army Generals, Bureaucrats, Politicians and businessmen all came together to cruelly steal in the names of those who sacrificed their lives while defending the very land they now build on. The cynic in you is surprised that there is no cricketer, movie star or a media mogul in the co-operative society list. Then we could have at least shot an episode of Big Boss and be done with it.

The question now is will they get away with it?

Ok, stop snickering. We all know the answer to that one. This is the point in the scam where the high level inquiry committee steps in. This is the point where tax payer money will be spent after helpless retired judges to get back money stolen from tax payers in the first place.

 CVC, CBI, ED will be unleashed.  LOL.

The only hope, at least from the Defence forces angle is the COI or the Court of Inquiry which the Army will set up. Make no mistake about it, unless the ministry or someone high up pokes his nose inside this pig sty – the Army’s response will be quick, brutal and justified. The Generals and other officers involved, and it increasingly is becoming obvious that they were caught red handed- will probably be boarded out, have the ranks stripped off, and humiliated in front of the very soldiers that gave them a sense of purpose in a life trained for service. If you read the discussion forums of retired soldiers on the web, you sense surprise, outrage and betrayal that something like this could have happened. This is not the case of a greedy soldier going rouge; an entire chain of command was compromised. Everyone in this decision making list was on the take, and what saddens everyone is this was done in the name of the brave dead.

You see, soldiers derive their efficiency and strength of character from those they are surrounded by. They lay down their lives as much in the name of their brothers-in-arms as the nation. The chain of command functions because even if one may not believe in his boss’ ability, you have complete faith in his intentions. Intention in the key word here. When a Babu steals in the name of war widows, the Army is not even bothered. But when a soldier does, their blood should boil. Fortunately for the men in uniform, like the civilian-military nexus seen in Tehelka, the only ones who would be caught and punished are the officers. Make no mistake about it- the wrath of the brotherhood will be delivered on all these Generals and their cronies. Unfortunately, the others will go scot free.

This brings us to the other jokers involved. The corrupt politician and the corrupt Babu. A class, so unique in our country, that we have come to accept them in our lives, movies, and popular culture. We have reached a point where they are deemed corrupt by default, and we have come to settle with the argument that “ Paisa khaya par thoda Kaaam to kiya.”
It is about time we design another term describing their genus.

Thief of Sapien demonstrates no shame, originally from the great ape family that stole from the rest of the jungle. Reaching full behavioral modernity in India, sixty years ago.

You have to admit. The word thief does have a solid ring to it, the kind that can galvanize public opinion. Corrupt is so over abused, that even those accused of it have learned to live with it. The next time a CWG mess happens, the media should perhaps drop words like corruption – and call those involved as alleged thieves. Sample this:

Alleged Thief Mr. X today said that India has delivered great games. Another Alleged Thief Mr Y, however deferred.

In the end, I must say that I have been occasionally critical of the media. More so in terms of the delivery of content, than the content. But as far as corruption or rather stealing is concerned, I realize that things have come to such a pass in our country that the only punishment the guilty can get is through their name being dragged through the mud like there is no tomorrow. Even if today, it might not affect them – but perhaps for a brief second before they die, realization dawns that they may have lived their lives in high rises and driven the fanciest cars – but in the eyes of the rest of the world – they were no more than petty monkeys on trees – earning at the expense of others – but losing self-respect every time they got caught. 







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