Dear Editor,
I write to comment on the news article `Indian Government mired in giant graft scandal’ (SN Nov 17). In India, as is the case in most countries, politicians create opportunities for themselves at the expense of the working class and the poor – not the reverse. They act as though the people are the servants and they the lords – a reversal of roles. Sadly, in the land of Gandhi, corruption is out of control and the Mahatma must be spinning in heaven knowing what has been happening in his great country. I travel to India frequently and have been following this latest corruption scam involving the 2-G Spectrum licensing bids. This is the largest scam to hit the country costing the treasury in excess of US$60 billion. It is astounding, shocking even for Indians who are accustomed to paying a bribe for almost every government act. I am pleased that the Indian Supreme Court has gotten involved in forcing an investigation into the scam.
In surveys I conducted in India, people view corruption as a way of life, not dissimilar from the view of Guyanese about getting bureaucrats to get things done in our country. Indian nationals don’t trust politicians and accept they have to pay a bribe for virtually anything related to government action. But they were not prepared for this scam that even ties in the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, who himself is not accused of corruption, but for staying silent while the scam was being hatched and perpetrated on the nation. The Supreme Court of India forced the P.M to break his silence ordering him to respond to a series of questions, which he did on Saturday in a ten page document. The Minister in charge of Telecommunication was “sacked” and the P.M has promised to prosecute everyone involved in the scam. But, as Indians say, the P.M’s statement is to mollify public opinion which is running high against the government. Virtually no top government official in any scam has ever been punished in India. Only the small fish get punished as is the case in most countries when officials are accused of corruption.
In India, it is difficult to punish the political crooks because the government needs them for survival. India’s current and last Prime Ministers (Manmohan Singh and Atal Behari Vajpayee) are decent people who did not steal a rupee but were at the mercy of their coalition partners. They are/were not corrupt but they closed their eyes to corruption because of what is known in India as “coalition dharma”. Because they need the support of allies for governing, they tend to be silent on corruption and only act when public pressure is extremely strong or will lead to a loss of power.
Manmohan is blamed for the current Spectrum scam because he failed to rein in his Ministers and their aides. He is known to take a hands off approach in managing the affairs of the state and does not appear as someone who is interested in details. Hence the reason why his six year old government is embroiled in one scam after another. He is a free marketer who opened up India to investors and he wants to see things get done and to boost growth.
Thus, he is criticized for closing his eyes to corruption. There are demands for the P.M to resign. I don’t think it will happen but I doubt the government, which has four years remaining, will last its full term and I won’t be surprised if the P.M calls it a day before the next elections. In conversations, Indians indicate they don’t have hope that anyone will be charged, fined or jailed from this new scam. I hope Manmohan uses this scam to send a message on anti-corruption.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
