Having your cake and eating it too : Congresswallahs on corruption
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: June 25 2011 -

Given the fact that India consistently scores high in the corruption chart, it is not surprising that a Bill which seeks to curb corruption should see its soul and spirit manipu- lated and sacrificed at the altar of political games for which India is so infamous.

An open and shut case it should have been, to draw an analogy from the investigation of any crime by the law enforcers, but not surprisingly this has not been the case and instead of going ahead and deliberating on how best to curb the menace of corruption, the Congress has let loose its band of orators to fire salvos against who it deems are agents out to discredit the Prime Minister and the people who occupy the higher echelons of power.

The sanctity of Parliament has suddenly become something sacrosanct to the Congresswallahs and it sounds like a poor joke when we hear that including clauses in the Lok Pal Bill which will enable it to probe the conduct of Parliamentarians on the floor of Parliament will demean the august gathering of the country.

This is not only ludicrous but is a clear case of the Government trying to take the people for a ride. If quizzing Parliamentarians on suspected ground of corruption on the floor of Parliament would amount to defiling the sanctity of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, then we wonder what the juvenile antics indulged in by our elected representatives on the floor of Parliament would amount to.

Privilege of the Parliament and State Assemblies are fine and no one should be allowed to demean its sanctity for it amounts to defiling one of the important pillars of democracy, but can its privilege be compromised by the very act of quizzing its members on the floor of Parliament on corruption charges ?

In fact this would be the ideal place, for truth and justice should stem from the floor of the House where the elected representatives of the people sit.

How can an exercise in cleansing the system be interpreted as an assault on the pillars of society ? Maybe the Bravehearts of the Congress can answer this question.

Or are they going to say that the proposed Lok Pal Bill can be misused to bring infamy to Parliament and the office of the Prime Minister as well as the higher Judiciary ?

If this is the case, then the Government has no business to talk about the Bill at all, for it should have been discarded the moment it was brought up for discussion.

Or maybe, the Congress wants the Bill to be passed, but according to the script it has written so that it works both ways. The agenda is clear and simple.

In the first place, passing the Bill would offer something for the party to crow about during the election campaign and secondly the content of the Bill will be such that it will have no teeth when it comes to dealing with the rogues who the Congress favours. Having your cake and eating it too, is the perfect example to sum up the whole thing.

Ever since Ana Hazare went ahead with his protest fast, the Lok Pal Bill has been subjected to so many twists and turn that today its original spirit and form has eroded considerably.

To the Congress, it is no longer a Bill aimed at curbing corruption, but the right support beam from which to open fire at some perceived political agents. The trigger is in the hands of the Congress or Gandhi loyalists and the target is undoubtedly Hazare and his men.

It is not our case to say whether Hazare has any political agenda or not or whether he is politically inclined towards the BJP, but does this really matter ? If Hazare is close to the BJP or any of the right wing organisations like the VHP or the Bajrang Dal, that is his political inclination and strictly has nothing to do with his crusade against corruption.

It is amusing to see Congresswallahs calling Hazare all sorts of name and deriding his threat to launch another round of indefinite fast, after the same bunch of Congressmen went the extra mile to convince Hazare to break his fast earlier.

This character of the Congress was demonstrated when it first negotiated with Baba Ramdev and later decided to crack down on his fast at Ram Lila some time back.

The manner in which these Congresswallahs change their tune and posture every passing hour was definitely in line with the “turn coat” tag they have earned over the years.

The loser is India and sooner than later the bubble of the Congress too will burst for playing with an issue as urgent as corruption is not exactly a game of T20 cricket, where luck and the factor of probability can be the deciding factors. Certain things should be clear.

The issue is corruption and how to deal with it and it certainly has nothing to do with whether Hazare is inclined towards the BJP or not. For that matter the Lok Pal Bill has nothing to do with Baba Ramdev.

But certainly it has a lot to do with how corruption should be checked at the highest level and Congresswallahs need to answer why they are hell bent in opposing the proposal to include the office of the Prime Minister under the coverage of the Lok Pal Bill.

No other country may have such a provision, but Mr Sibal, no other country enjoys such a reputation as India does when it comes to corruption.

This should be clear to all, especially the Gandhi loyalists.