Sunday Reading

New Delhi, 9 November 2009

Rising Divorce Cases

EROSION OF INDIAN FAMILY

By Dhurjati Mukherjee

It is a well-known fact that over the years the concept of the family has changed. Nowadays, the husband, wife and children constitute the family, which was not the case two decades back. Worse, even this family has become unsustainable and reports of marital discord have increased over the years. The underlying forces of change have been giving a new meaning to the causes of disharmony.

It is not that conflict, for example, due to incompatible personalities did not exist earlier. But the fact is that it has become more vibrant and open. Factors such as incompatibility of personalities have existed in the past but what is new is that the tolerance threshold has become fragile. Moreover, tension coupled with egos of individuals has accentuated the personality clash, sometimes resulting in serious discords. The clash of personalities has resulted in families breaking up and couples going in for divorce or mutual separation.      

The self dependence of women and their awareness about rights have given rise to a new situation. Those who are employed or are financially dependent find it difficult to tolerate the traditional dominance of the male member and are in a position to take care of themselves without having to fall back on their parents, as in the past.  All these factors have led to an increase in the divorce rate or separation primarily in the cities and urban centres.  

According to a study by a Mumbai-based legal activist, the family courts witnessed 2055 couples filing for divorce in 1995 in the city with the number going up to 3400 in 2004. Presently the number may be not less than 5000. Similarly, in the sight of the matrimonial district courts of Delhi, an average of 25 divorce petitions were filed every day in 2004. In Kolkata, the number has gone up from 1633 in 1966 to around 2400 in 2003 and may well be over 4000 presently. It would be pertinent here to mention that because of the increasing number of young couples resorting to divorce, six more family courts have come up in Delhi since the late 90s to deal with a whopping 9000 cases of matrimonial disputes.   

Analyzing the various causes of such disputes, it is generally believed that the three most important factors are: personality related behaviours/tendencies, including deficiencies – sexual or otherwise; unfulfilled material/monetary gains from, incompatibility, and lastly a superiority complex. Cases of separate living or divorce are more pronounced where the female member is assertive and employed.

There have been reports of the husband suspecting his wife for alleged close or even sexual relations with a colleague. While in some cases the allegations are true, there are many instances where the allegations are baseless. Similarly, a working wife would not tolerate her husband returning late at night and having any sort of intimacy with any of his colleague. The clash of personalities in such types of cases is very frequent and normally friends or relatives mediate to settle the problems, keeping in view the future of children that the couple may be having.

Husbands normally want to dominate their wives and would not tolerate their having intimacy with any male friend. While these problems are more pronounced in the metros and amongst the upper middle class or the upper echelons of society, the nature of the crisis differs among the lower middle class and the economically weaker sections, where alcoholism and gambling is a major factor.

In cases, the couple is issueless, the end result is divorce. A woman cannot be divorced because she is infertile, as per law, as there are alternative methods of procreation as well as adoption available to the couple. However, in Muslim Personal Law, a wife’s barrenness is a major ground for divorce if a husband wishes it to be so. Similarly, Islam also allows a woman to divorce her husband if male infertility can be proven.

Reports of female private tutors having sexual relations with the student’s father are well known. On the other hand, women or girls, who manage the family as both the husband and wife are employed, have been reported to have consensual sex with the male member. Many families do not like to keep young girls because the wife suspects the loose character of her husband.  

With modernization of society, it is quite apparent that tolerance and acceptability in the human individual would gradually decrease. Moreover, attraction towards worldly objects would create greater problems in man-woman relationship. With more and more women getting employed – whether in corporate houses or in the unorganized sector – they would tend to become more assertive in the family, more so if their income is on the same levels as that of her husband. This would create more tension and eventually lead to marital discord and may end up in divorce or separation.

One has to accept the fact that just because two individuals have married, their thinking, mindsets and behavioural patterns cannot be expected to be similar, more so if they are educated. It naturally takes time to know and understand each other. The understanding, which will eventually result in compatibility can develop only gradually and thus, both have to accommodate the viewpoint and thinking of the other partner till then.

The essence of marriage is the ‘understanding’ of each other’s compulsions, which if lacking between couples, could spell trouble in form of increase in family disputes and eventually lead to divorce. In the coming year, there is a growing fear that the institution of the marriage may, end up in ‘live-together’ relationships, where separation would become much easier and not entail any legal hiccups. There was a time when sex and procreation was the sole aim of marriage, but now this is possible even without formal tie-ups.     

Though counseling centres have mushroomed around cities in particular and psychologists have been making efforts to bring about rapprochement, the results are not very satisfactory. Arrogance and lack of understanding are obviously the prime reasons. However, women’s organizations say that more understanding has to be shown by the male member and his (as also his family’s) domination in all matters has to end as with changing times assertion of rights of the opposite sex is quite natural.             

Indeed, it is difficult to project the future existence of the nuclear family, but the sociological problems need to be thoroughly examined. If in a family, the tradition of love and affection yields to arrogance, suspicion and jealousy, it would have adverse affect in the child’s growth and thinking process. Worse, it would jeopardize social values and relationships.--INFA    

           (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

Political Diary

New Delhi, 14 November 2009

Koda’s Millions, Manu’s Parole

WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL, YAAR

By Poonam I Kaushish

Phew? It has been a busy season keeping track of the garam-garam-teekha-teekha horrifying tamashas of the poweratti. Wherein our netas have not only cleverly perfected the art of self-deception but scaled new heights of corruption, rule by law and capture of power by pelf. After all darlings, it has everything to do with the power of politics and the politics of power!

Nothing illustrates this better than the political nautanki and stench of money in four States. In Jharkhand Madhu Koda is under the CBI scanner for amassing over Rs 4000 crores in all of two years as Chief Minister. In Karnataka, we stood witness to the BJP Chief Minister Yedurappa’s unholy surrender before the mine-rich Reddy brothers. In Maharashtra the delayed swearing-in of the Congress-NCP Ministers thanks to a tussle over which Party should control the lucrative purse-strings of Home, PWD and Power with a total budget of over Rs 60,000 crore is testimony of money seeking to determine who would rules the State. And the postponed Cabinet expansion in Haryana which hefty trade-offs written all over it.

More, that our laws are far removed the paper they are written on. Nowhere is this better reflected than in the ease with which Manu Sharma, son of senior Haryana Congress leader Vinod Sharma managed to get parole for two months within a few years of being convicted of murdering the model Jessica Lal in 1999 for refusing to serve drinks. Worse, that the way parole was granted made a mockery of justice.

Take Koda, who found himself as CM despite being an independent MLA minted money by trading his signature for issuing mining licenses. How many in poor asli Bharat have even heard of Dubai, Mauritius and Liberia, in which Koda stashed away millions of US dollars. True  like his elk before him, Koda is innocent until he is proven guilty and law will take its own course. So confident is he that he will come up trumps that he has nominated his wife to fight the poll. Once again underscoring that politics is the last refuge of scoundrels!

Significantly, if Koda made his millions after coming to politics, the Reddy brothers in Karnataka used their monies to direct politics. They sought a change in the State's leadership on the grounds that their business interests were not being furthered under Yeddurappa. Not only that. They wanted the entire Bellary administration revamped and their projects cleared fast. So strong was the force of the mining magnates money power that Yeddurappa and the BJP buckled under. A weeping CM went on TV had to say he would change his ways! A horrific moment in media history.

Coming to the Jesical Lal saga of how the mighty get away with even murder. It has now been established that rules were bent when Manu Sharma, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of Jessica was given parole on three grounds: To participate in the religious rites of his late grandmother, attend to his ‘ailing mother’ and tend to the family business. Never mind, that his granny died a year ago, his ‘ailing mother’ was seen heartily addressing a press conference on the State’s women’s cricket team  and his business interests being well-attended to. Compounding this, he was spotted at two  Delhi night-clubs.

Shockingly, while the Delhi police turned down Manu’s plea for parole, the Delhi Government cleared his request in unseemly haste based on the Chandigarh police report. That too, after the Supreme Court had rejected Manu’s petition for bail on similar grounds. Further, Tihar Jail inmates have filed a petition with the Delhi High Court, alleging that parole is being given only to the influential and seeking transparency in the process. This year, out of 132 applications for parole from prisoners in Tihar, only 11 were approved. Despite a Court directive that parole applications be processed quickly it takes more than 8-10 months to decide most cases. Manu’s was done in days. Needless to say, Congress ka haath khaas criminal ke saath hai!

What’s new? Aren’t we accustomed to an immoral, corrupt, criminal and unaccountable polity who could stoop to anything for paisa and gaddi. Wherein scams no longer shocks, worry anyone or causes mass protests. Don’t we know that there is something rotten in the State of Denmark. With unscrupulous manipulators emerging as the new rulers --- of politico-criminals, feudal lords and power dons. Shrugged off as a price one has to pay for democracy

What troubles one is the new dimension to this age-old malaise. That it does not strike any chord among our leaders who have reduced graft to a farcical political pantomime. Most distressing is that there is no longer any sense of outrage or shame even when caught red handed. Corruption today is naked, unashamed, and brazen. Nowadays, they conveniently wash their hands off by calling corruption a “systemic failure.” Or cursorily dismiss it as one of the ‘unlisted’ perks of their jobs. Are they kidding? No, in plain English, they are damn serious.

 Tragically, the downslide has been rapid. With every passing year and election, the barometer of corruption and immorality has steadily risen. Worse, our netagan neither want to change or be accountable. Not even to God. Transparency is a far cry. Accustomed  as there are to being a law unto themselves. The tragedy is that the private face of our netas is ugly. It wins hands down over their public mask. One hand washes the other.

The proud founders of Power &Money India Limited ---- dream merchants of power and the money that goes with it.  Liberally interspersed with malice, selfishness, greed for money, back-stabbing and coarse language. The most enterprising and lucrative industry in India today. A lethal dhanda which has ensnared a captive people.

Look at the benefits. One, money power greatly adds to their political clout. Two, parties put up the moneyed to strengthen their own hands. This works on the premise --- that you scratch my back and I yours. Three, money-power comes in handy to settle scores with opponents and use them for partisan political ends. So far so good. But when governance and power demand at least outward projections of piety, morality, goodness et al they don their public mukhota and drone endlessly about eradicating this scourge. All talk, no action. Remember, politics is all about sounding good.  

One can go on and on about hedonism in the year gone by. Of scams which have been reduced to one-day cricketing wonders. And argue that the rules of the game have got changed recklessly without a thought to the future and a premium put on criminality and immorality. But the moot point is: Will profligacy be allowed to become the bedrock of our Parliamentary democracy? Basically, is it good for our democracy to have such people represent the voters? When those who are supposed to lead become saboteurs, it is time to call a spade a spade. Above all, we need politicians who are men of conscience, integrity and credibility. Not comrades in crime.

In sum, the aam aadmi is damn sick of political corruption and want accountability, honesty and transparency. Else, he will be justified in concluding that all talk of eradicating corruption by out netagan is nothing more than shameless hypocrisy and a Himalayan humbug! Is he asking for too much?---- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

POLITICAL DIARY

NEW DELHI, 25 February 2006

Getting Away With Murder

ALL IT TAKES IS MONEY& POWER

By Poonam I Kaushish

Incredible India! A catch line that beckons the world to India. Offering splendour, loads of colour, vibrancy and a joy de verve the likes never seen before. Yet delve deeper and come face to face with the harsh reality. A murderer goes scot-free after killing a model at point blank range in cold blood in front of over 100 people at a tony Delhi restaurant. Her crime? She refused him a drink as the bar was closed. How dare she? Didn’t she know that he was the rich son of a neta, a Minister. What about the law? It is an ass. Only to protect the powerful and the rich. Bluntly, the killer had all that it took -----power and money. India is, indeed, incredible!

The Jessica Lal case judgment has brutally killed another signpost of our increasingly enfeebled Government machinery. Her murder was an open and shut case. The police had eyewitnesses who testified that Manu Sharma, son of former Union and now Haryana Minister, had shot her dead. But as the trial progressed and the accused were granted bail, the police case was virtually a litany of gaping holes. Replete with inconsistencies, slipshod follow-ups, disregard for details, witnesses turning hostile due to sheer incompetence.

Check this out. When the judge asked the investigating officer how he narrowed down on Manu. His answer: “My seniors told me Manu was the prime accused”. Leading the judge to surmise, “This is clear that the investigating officer had not collected any evidence to this affect, nor was a statement of any witness recorded regarding the involvement of Manu.” The net result? No one killed Jessica. Yet she died.

Why Jessica alone, remember the brutal Tandoor murder case which rocked political Delhi in 1996, where the prime accused, a local Congress leader Sushil Sharma burnt his friend Naina in a tandoor and got away. Or, the sensational Priyadarshini case where a 23-year-old girl was raped and murdered by the son of an Inspector General of Police. In that case too, the judge echoed the same words as in the Jessica case. “There was deliberate inaction by the police, suggesting that the rule of law is not meant for those who enforce law.”

Who can forget the infamous BMW car case where the grandson of a former Navy Chief mowed down seven people sleeping on the pavement of a road. Despite seizing the blood-stained car, the accused got away because the prosecution asserted that it was a case of mistaken identity. It was not the car but a truck that had run-over the poor victims!

What about the Nitish Katara case, where this young executive was allegedly killed by the son of a former Rajya Sabha MP. The reason? He was in love with the MP’s daughter. Or the Nagpur case, where a woman walked into a courtroom and killed a person accused of rape, apprehending that the police and the courts would let him off yet again.

What do all these cases tell us? They underscore the tragedy of India. People with deep pockets and high connections get away with cold-blooded murder. While thousands continue to languish in jails for years despite being acquitted. It would be too simplistic to apportion the blame on our present legal system alone. All agree that it sucks. Offering no recourse to the common people who are left to fend for themselves.

Worse, with the law becoming a mistress of the rich and a purchasable commodity available at a price, the Jessica Lal case judgment was a foregone conclusion. As confessed by the then Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) and now Commissioner K.K Paul. According to him, the fate of the case became clear when he discovered evidence tampering.

In his enquiry report to the then Police Commissioner Ajai Raj Sharma, Paul revealed: “There has obviously been a conspiracy between the accused and certain officials which needed to be investigated.” However, this was not done because a committee of senior officers opined that the re-investigation of the case based on Paul’s report would tantamount to admitting that things had gone wrong, read police’s complicity. What has happened has happened, leave it at that, was the view of the police top brass.

What is worrying is that the judicial system as a whole is now being taken for granted. Sending out a clear message that the powerful can do whatever they want. Barbarianism is now the rhetoric of the day. Where anyone and everyone takes law into his own hands and get away with it. But this is not all. It is not uncommon to see law-makers and its enforcers indulging in criminal misdeeds. Be it rape or murder are men in vardi are pastmasters at it.

Follow the travails of infamous Mumbai cop, Daya Nayak, to know what I mean. Instead of serving the society, they serve their own interests. Over the years not only has the police become more and more powerful but also less and less accountable.  Many times, the checks and balances which are a pre-requisite of democracy have been dispensed with.  Turn to any mohalla, district or State the story is tragically the same.  Be it a minor offence or a major crime.  Brutality and beastility have become synonymous with the powerful and the rich.  A jungle raj. And we call ourselves a civilised society!

It is pointless to argue that the State has withered away.  Where was the “Iqbal” of the State? The shining authority that ensures respect for law and order across the country. How could this slaughter take place in the first instance? Who dared to openly take on the Administration? Sadly, the State today has become soft, flabby and impotent. Suffering from a debilitating incompetence, casualness and inefficiency – on all fronts.

Gone are the days of the British Raj when no one could so much as dare touch a policeman for fear that the entire might of the Empire would come crashing down on his head. A total of 20,000 to 30,000 British soldiers sternly ruled the country, thanks to what the Mughals called “the ruler’s Iqbal.” Today, the Government’s Iqbal is reduced to zilch. With the devil taking the hindmost!

India is today at the moral crossroads. More so, in our present all pervasive decadence interspersed with growing public distaste, cynicism and despair. If not stopped now it could result in a total breakdown of institutions, society, culture and ethical values. Which, in turn, could be the cause of a socio-political revolution.

Already, a SMS campaign is gathering mass among the Delhi University students. “There comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over…..Jessica is a perfect case study. Each one of us knows who killed Jessica, so why are we quiet? This could happen to anybody, tomorrow could be your turn…..Let’s help in proving the reality…Jai Hind.”

What needs to be done? For starters the methods of crime investigation have to be improved. Investigations need to be conducted in a scientific manner, a la Sherlock Holmes. Tampering with the prosecution should be taken seriously. There has been no investigation into the question that who caused the witnesses to turn hostile. If truth be told, getting a witness to turn hostile is now the preferred method of seeking acquittals for the rich and the powerful. Turning hostile means buying silence. Silence can be bought --- for a price or for fear of reprisals. Either way the mighty go scot-free.

Surely, it is time for judges to commence such investigations, before an acquittal can be pronounced. Recall, the former Chief Justice of India, Justice Khare had in a landmark judgment reopened the Best Bakery case because he found “the prosecution not sincere…rather it was behaving in a friendly manner with the accused. He also set norms for dealing with hostile witnesses.”

Fed up with Zahira Sheikh’s flip-flops, Justice Khare asserted: “If a witness turn hostile during trial proceedings, it is the duty of both the prosecution and the trial judge to cross-examine (him or her) to ascertain whether the witness turned hostile because of fear or any other ulterior consideration.” Clearly, the judge at the time of granting bail should be aware that this could give the accused the opportunity to access the witness.

Moreover, it is time we had a witness protection programme in the country. A Law Commission report on this continues to gather dust. Petitions filed in the Supreme Court over the Gujarat killings asking for witness protection programmes also languish in the corridors. Witnesses will and do turn hostile. But investigations must proceed independent of eyewitnesses to draw conclusions based on a chain of circumstances that led only to one conclusion. There is a lethargy over the questions, a dangerous lethargy which will cause people to settle their scores outside court.

In sum, it is time to face the moment of truth and reckoning. What is it that our people want at the end of the day? They wish to live peacefully and be assured that all men are equal in a true democracy. Governed by a common law of liberty and fraternity and assured of probity and morality in administration. Are they asking for too much? Or have we decided willy nilly to surrender shamelessly to horrendous criminalization ---- and say goodbye to the rule of law? Apradhikaran akhir kab tak? ----- INFA

(Copyright India News And Feature Alliance)

POLITICAL DIARY

New Delhi, April 20 2007

The Increasing Malaise

POLITICS OF PAISA AND CRIME!

By Poonam I Kaushish

Phew! It has been a real busy week for the media. Keeping track of the tamashas of the poweratti, glitteratti and chatteratti. Forget the speculation over kaun-jeetega-kaun haarega in the ongoing Assembly polls in UP or those who made it to the golden  birthday bash of ‘reliable’ corporate honcho Mukesh Ambani and the big fat ‘Abhiash’ wedding in Bollywood, what to say of the BJP’s ‘derecognition’ bashing by the Election Commission over ‘controversial’ Election Commissioner Naveen Chawla. After all darlings, it has everything to do with the power of politics and the politics of power!

However, all this pales in front of the latest garam-garam-teekha-teekha horrifying scandal to surface from among our netagan. Of forgery and human trafficking by some MPs. It all started with the arrest of a two-term Lok Sabha MP Babubhai Katara, at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport while trying to allegedly smuggle a woman and a child to Canada on the diplomatic passports of his wife and son last week.

Not only that. Katara is being suspected by the Police as a serial offender operating as part of a large human trafficking racket cutting across several States including rural Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka. Who had reportedly smuggled several people across to the UK, USA and Canada in the last three years by using the diplomatic passports of his family members to beat the immigration authorities. A diplomatic passport invariably gets cursory scrutiny and questions are hardly asked.

Initial police investigations reveal that the modus operandi was simple. A travel agent would scout potential customers who did not mind paying around Rs 30 lakhs per person to be smuggled out. It is further revealed that once the advance was paid, the Right Honourable would take them out by using the diplomatic passports of his family members. Once the “couple” or “family had reached their destination Katara would return to India alone. The return stamps on his family’s passport would be forged to be used for another “family trip”.

Some agents, subsequently arrested by the police have revealed the involvement of at least two other sitting MPs and one ex-MP, suspected of direct involvement in the racket. Further investigation progressing at the time of writing may open a can of worms exposing involvement of several other political leaders.

What’s new? Aren’t we accustomed to an immoral, corrupt, criminal and unaccountable polity who could stoop to anything for paisa and gaddi. Wherein scams no longer shocks, leave alone worry anyone. So what if it is a double whammy and big embarrassment for the ‘Kamal’ Saffron Sangh. Never mind that the Party has suspended him. Don’t we know that there is something rotten in the State of Denmark. With unscrupulous manipulators emerging as the new rulers --- of politico-criminals, feudal lords and mafia dons flaunting their “bullet-proof” MP and MLA jackets.

What troubles one is the new dimension to this age-old malaise. That it does not strike any chord among our Right Honourables. Our netagan largely continue to drift along smugly as if nothing disreputable has happened to one of their tribesman, which besmirches all with a tainted brush. Merrily dismissing it as “the House (Parliament) can’t be blamed for a few black sheep,” by the Government. 

Most distressing is that there is no sense of outrage or shame. And that human trafficking is one of the most heinous crimes. Stupid, why expect this from a polity which tries to justify the inclusion of tainted ministers in the Cabinet by arguing that there is no such law or any Parliamentary convention. And the expulsion of 18 errant MPs in the cash-for-question scandal and the MPLADS (Local Area Development Fund) was another attack on the poor-have-nots and illiterate MPs. Besides, at least something percolated down to the actual user. Sic.

Tragically, India downslide has been rapid. With every passing year and election, the barometer of corruption and immorality is steadily rising wherein it longer shocks or causes mass protests. It is slowly becoming an accepted norm, part of one’s routine. Curse all, but when push comes to shove the majority willingly lumps it. Shrugged of as a price one has to pay for democracy. The polity washes its hands off by calling it a “systemic failure.” Are they kidding? In plain English this translates into a fig leaf to cover their shocking incompetence and scandalous failure.

The fact is none at the top wants a change. They are happy to continue to be a law unto themselves. Shorn of all the political legalese and efforts to find faults, a favourite pastime of our netagan, the truth is that they don’t want to be accountable. Not even to the almighty God. Transparency is a far cry. The tragedy is that the private face of our netas is ugly. It wins hands down over their public mask.

Why should they? They created the criminals --- and they need them. One hand washes the other. The proud founders of C&M Polity India Limited ---- dream merchants of crime and corruption, money and mafia. Liberally interspersed with malice, selfishness, greed for power, back-stabbing and coarse language. The most enterprising and lucrative industry in India today. A lethal dhanda which has ensnared a captive people.

Look at the benefits. One, mafia power greatly adds to their political clout. Two, parties put up mafia to strengthen own hands. This works on the premise --- that you scratch my back and I yours. Three, muscle power comes in handy to settle scores with opponents and use for partisan political ends. So far so good. But when governance and power demand at least outward projections of piety, morality, goodness et al they don their public mukhota and drone endlessly about eradicating this scourge. All talk, no action. Remember, politics is all about sounding good.  

What is new? The reader may well ask. Wasn’t this overpowering stench of political decay exposed by the Vohra Committee report in 1995. Spotlighted in all its ugly dimensions of the “networking” of money, muscle and crime. It pointed out how political leaders “became leaders of these gangs and armed senas and, over the years, got themselves elected to local bodies, State Assemblies and Parliament. Thus, all concerned operate with impunity.”

That’s old hat. Over the years, their hold on the polity has become stronger. At the last count, there were at least 60 MPs and over 1000 MLAs allegedly facing criminal charges, including rape, dacoity and murder. These figures, collated by the Election Commission are, however, just a tip of the iceberg. The number of politico-criminals roaming free at all levels is a lot more.

The on-going UP poll is another case in point. If truth be told, political goons have emerged as the biggest threat to society and the nation, as spotlighted in some courageous Bollywood films. Some of these goons (or their sons) even kidnap and rape, commit murder to cover their tracks, threaten the police to suppress evidence and make a mockery of legal proceedings and the Judiciary. Recalling the old saying: “Sayian bhaye kotwal, to dar kis ka.”

Has all this stirred anyone’s conscience? Tragically, “no”. All parties harbour and promote criminals. Right Honourables and MLAs being brought handcuffed by the police to the entrances of Parliament House and State Assemblies is a given. The procedure is simple. The cuffs are removed at the gate, so that the person can take oath of office as an MP or MLA. Prior to that the person has to seek the Court’s permission to go to Parliament or Assembly. After his swearing-in, he is again handcuffed and taken back to jail.

Not only that.  So cleverly have our netagan perfected the art of self-deception that corruption, ineptitude and inefficiency have reached new heights of a well-scripted political nautanki.  Nothing illustrates this better than the political gang-up, cutting across party lines of amending the Office of Profit Bill to save their brethren from being expelled and ‘going-slow’ on the sealing drive of illegal construction in the Union Capital ordered by the Supreme Court.

One can go on and on about hedonism in the year gone by. Of scams which have been reduced to one-day cricketing wonders. And argue that the rules of the game have got changed recklessly without a thought to the future and a premium put on criminality and immorality. But the moot point is: Will profligacy be allowed to become the bedrock of our Parliamentary democracy? Basically, is it good for our democracy to have such people represent the voters? When those who are supposed to lead become saboteurs, it is time to call a spade a spade. Above all, we need politicians who are men of conscience, integrity and credibility. Not comrades in crime.

Importantly, India is today at the moral crossroads. More so, in our present all pervasive decadence interspersed with growing public distaste, cynicism and despair. If not stopped now it could result in a total breakdown of institutions, society, culture and ethical values. Which, in turn, could be the cause of a socio-political revolution. Time to give serious thought to changing the qualifications and norms for those contesting Parliamentary and State Assembly seats.

In sum, let us face the moment of truth and reckoning. What is it that our people want at the end of the day? They wish to be assured of probity and morality in governance and administration. Are they asking for too much? Or have we decided willy nilly to surrender shamelessly to horrendous corruption ---- and kiss goodbye to honesty and accountability. ----- INFA