As we are in Pursuit of celebrating 64 years of Independence from British Empire, a thorough introspection is required to see whether we should really celebrate it!!!
Today when you go to elite or a middle man they will talk about India's progress in various sectors and the emergence of India as a powerful nation who can compete with any other nation in the world in fields of Space Research, missile technology, softwares, skilled manpower, medical services,media, telecom, Engeering solutions,and so forth so on...the list is endless...
But go to the poor or common man and there Reality Bites!!! When we have progressed so much in these sectors then why the poor and common man are still suffering..the answer lies within the corrupt system of our beloved country...
Mahatama Gandhi once said that "I would go to the length of giving the whole congress a decent burial, rather than put up with the corruption that is rampant."
This outburst of Mahatma Gandhi was against rampant corruption in Congress ministries formed under 1935 Act in six states in the year 1937. His Followers and so called nationalists ignored his concern over corruption in post-Independence India, when they came to power. Over Sixty years of democratic rule has made the common man so immune to corruption that they have learnt how to live with the system even though the cancerous growth of this malady may finally kill it.
The history of corruption in post-Independence India starts with the Jeep scandal in 1948, when a transaction concerning purchase of jeeps for the army needed for Kashmir operation was entered into by V.K.Krishna Menon, the then High Commissioner for India in London with a foreign firm without observing normal procedure. But like always he has been given a clean chit and has been inducted into the Nehru cabinet as minister without portfolio.
In 1950, A.D.Gorwala, an eminent civil servant was asked by Government of India to recommend improvements in the system of governance. In his report submitted in 1951 he made two observations: “One, quite a few of Nehru's ministers were corrupt and this was common knowledge. Two, even a highly responsible civil servant in an official report as early as 1951 maintained that the Government went out of its way to shield its ministers” (Report on Public Administration, Planning Commission, Government of India 1951)
Other Well Known corruption cases which surfaced post indepence are Mudgal case (1951), Mundra deals (1957-58), Malaviya-Sirajuddin scandal (1963), and Pratap Singh Kairon case (1963),Fairfax, HBJ Pipeline,HDW Submarine deal,Bofors,Rs.2500 crore -Airbus A-320 deal with France involving kickback (1990), Harshad Mehta security scam (1992), Gold Star Steel and Alloys controversy (1992), JMM bribery case, Hawala scam of Rs. 65 crore,Urea scam (1996),.....list is really long and recently Commonwealth Games corruption case is making continous headlines........But the biggest question is that what our Government is doing to check such cases...the answer is pathethic " Nothing", apart from sacking few scape goats, the big fishes always gets a blessing hand on their head and they walk away scott free....Leaders like Laloo Prasad Yadav, Jayalalitha, George Fernandes, Bangaru Lakshman, Sukhram, Sharad Pawar, Suresh Kalmadi, Mayawati, Late Narsimha Rao, D Raja, George Fernandes...they all have been involved into corruption cases but they are still enjoying their lives despite of eating billions or trillions of Tax payers money ..and the most important thing is that these leaders represents almost all the main national parties.
The on going war cry against corruption, which is nothing but a mad fight to replace one corrupt system by another is not going to transform the beleaguered nation to a sustainable social order.
Criminalisation of politics is another facet of corruption. N.N.Vohra, Union Home Secretary in his report (1995) on this issue observed:- “A network of mafias is virtually running a parallel Government pushing the state apparatus into irrelevance. Quoting some ‘DIB’ sources, he added, “….there has been a rapid spread and growth of criminal gangs, armed senas, drug mafias, smuggling gangs and economic lobbies in the country, which have over the years developed an intensive network of contacts with bureaucrats, government functionaries at local level, politicians, media persons and strategically located individuals in non-state sector. Some of these syndicates have also international linkages including the foreign agencies.”
Corruption is just one of the many Evils which a common man is facing today, corruption has lead to bribery and the biggest of all is the beaurecracy itself, though it has been considered as a bane throughout the world but still it is being practised so religiously in our country that a common man gets entangled into the web of it and the only way to come out of it is to resort to bribery and became a member of the corrupt system.
Another evil which emerged since independence was communalism as so many people lost their lives to this demon. Communal riots spread due to many factors ranging from political interests, economic factors, Hindutva & Radical Islamic Groups...etc..
Major Communal riots which took place post Independence are Kota ( 1953,1956), Jabalpur ( 1961), Rourkela, Calcutta, Jamshedpur (1964),Hatia,ranchi( 1967),Karimganj, Assam ( 1968), Ahmadabad ( 1969), Bhiwandi, Jalgaon, Mahad, Maharashtra( 1970), Nonari & Sajni, UP ( 1972), Varanasi ( 1977), Sambhal & Aligarh, Up & Hyderabad, AP ( 1978), Jamshedpur, Bihar ( 1979), Moradabad ( 1980), Biharsharif ( 1981), Meerut ( 1982), Baroda ( 1982),Hazaribagh, Malegaon & Hyderabad ( 1983), Bhiwandi ( 1984), Delhi (1984),Ahmedabad ( 1985,86),Meerut( 1987), Indore ( 1989),Kota ( 1989), Bhadrak, Orrissa ( 1989), Gujrat ( 1990,1991, More than 1400 Communal incidents happened during this period in Gujrat alone), Jaipur, Jodhpur, Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Delhi, Hailakandi in Assam, beawar in Maharashtra ( 1990), Bhagalpur ( 1990), Patna, Indore, Hyderabad,Karnataka ( 1990), Benares ( 1991), Sitamarhi, Surat, Mumbai (1992), Bhopal ( 1992), Madras ( 1995), Gujrat ( 2002),Solapur (2002), Malegaon (2005,2009).....list seems to be endless....
Is this we wanted out of our Independence??????????
Between 1995 and 2005 over 150,000 farmer suicides were reported in India and the number grows at a disturbing rate of 10,000 per year ( BBC 2008).....Desperate indebtness was found to be the prime reason behind most of the suicides, deeper analysis though revealed that indebtness was merely a symptom. The suicides were a manifestation of growing distress in Indian Agriculture. Stagnant Technology, rising input prices, weakning support systems and declining profitability have all made cultivation a highly risky and un-remunerative enterprise, threatning the lively hood of farmers,particularly the small and marginal ones. Green revolution in India only benefitted the rich peasants whereas the poor farmers suffered all the times...
Is this we wanted to happen In Independent India...
These are just few factors which are frustating a common man...!!!
This is certainly not a dream seen by our selfless freedom fighters and this is not what they wanted to give a common Indian....
I Hope and Pray that some sense will prevail and we will curb all these evils with the course of time!!!
Happy Independence Day to ALL!!!
The above article is contributed by Janab Zartab Jafri Saheb. It is from his blog Thoughts. The views expressed are solely that of the author.
