Vir Sanghvi - In Defense Of The Corrupt

By Ram Valmiki

It’s very important to know the personal opinions of journalists as that is what influences how they report events or news.  There are many in Indian MSM who are incapable of reporting without their personal biases. Vir Sanghvi is just one of them. It is not a big secret, at least among netizens or as they put it “Internet Hindus” that VS is biased towards Congress and Government. In his recent posts on his blog titled “Don’t blame media, Mr. Kejriwal” and “How the govt lost its way, and its face” he so openly defends the corrupt government and tries to peddle the lie that it’s actually the government that brought out the scams into public. The title chosen for his second post is very misleading.

“I am prepared to agree with Kejriwal when he says that the Shanti Bhushan CD was part of a conspiracy. We know now that the CD was faked and the refusal of the Delhi Police to recognise that it was a cut-and-paste job suggests a certain level of official complicity even if the CD itself was made by non-governmental sources”

Yes Mr VS, it does suggest government conspiracy but how many from your MSM has really taken on government about this issue. The very idea that there exists possibility that a government can conspire against the citizens is disturbing. VS and MSM should have concentrated on this area rather than going behind the Team Anna. Just because CD was made by non-governmental sources does not in any way lessen the sin if those sources were prompted to do so by government?

“ Unless Arvind Kejriwal can somehow convince us that the government hypnotised Kiran Bedi into filing fake reimbursement claims, it is hard to see how this is part of an official conspiracy. The most he can suggest is that official agencies helped in unearthing the evidence. But if this is proof of a government conspiracy then surely he is also a co-conspirator with the government when he makes statements based on reports issued by such government bodies as the CAG. Just because the government digs up accurate information – as the CAG did in the telecom scam – and this information is used by the media and concerned citizens it does not follow that there is any conspiracy”

I could have never imagined an experienced editor and journalist would be able to dole out crap logic ever if I had not come across these posts. It’s really amazing that though “official agencies helped in unearthing the evidence”, what is more surprising is these “official agencies”  one fine day had a dream and then went on to dig stuff of selected people who happen to be criticizing the government.  I am not aware of any complaint against Bedi that led to “official agencies” to investigate and dig up the mess of Bedi. If VS is aware of any such complaint, I would like to know because it’s really frightening to know that “official agencies” can unearth evidences just to please the political masters.  In lay man’s language that would be termed “witch hunting”.

CAG providing his report is NOT similar to “official agencies unearthing evidence” in case of Bedi. It’s the duty of the CAG to audit and provide report of government expenditure. CAG did his routine job and fortunately for India, CAG is a very honest and upright gentleman unlike MMS. Comparing CAG’s job with “official agencies” is totally out of context. As per the law “official agencies” require governmental permission or formal complaint or court order to “unearth evidences”. In Bedi’s case media has not reported any complaint or court order that prompted “unearthing” exercise and hence we have no choice but to believe the government conspired.  CAG does not take orders from executive branch of the government (ministers) where as “official agencies” do.

VS continues his new found CAG argument in his next post as well. We will look into that but before that, let’s just LOL at the statement by him: “On the other hand, you could argue that in the UPA’s second term, the scandals that have emerged have all been uncovered only as a result of the government’s own efforts.” Either VS thinks all his readers have no IQ or VS thinks by vomiting such crap will make him an intellectual journalist.  I mean, how in the holy god of secularism’s name he concludes that a government involved in scandals will uncover its own corruption. On second thoughts, has govt promised him Padma Bhushan next year?

“Let’s take 2G. The scandal only broke as a result of a report by the CAG. You may or may not agree with the CAG’s computation of the loss caused to the exchequer (and it is now clear that even within the CAG’s office, there were disagreements), but you cannot dispute that if there had been no CAG report, there would be no 2G scandal.” This is such a blatant lie that VS is trying to sell here. The scandal was in public even before the CAG report. PILs were filed and Subramanian Swamy moved SC long before the CAG report was tabled. If anything, the CAG report only confirmed the monstrous size of the scandal.  Here is the list of events and timeline as per Wikipedia. Yes Wikipedia is authentic reference, as it constructs the time line based on media reports.

…May 4, 2009: An NGO Telecom Watchdog files complaint to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) on the illegalities in the spectrum allocation to Loop Telecom.

….May 19, 2009: Another complaint was filed to the CVC by Arun Agarwal, highlighting grant of spectrum to Swan Telecom at throwaway prices.

….May, 2010: NGO Centre for Public Interest litigation moves the Delhi High Court seeking investigation into the scam by SIT or CBI.

….Sept 13, 2010: SC asks government, Raja to reply within 10 days to three petitions filed by CPIL and others alleging there was a Rs 70,000 crore scam in the grant of telecom licences in 2008

….Sept 24, 2010: Swamy moves SC seeking direction to the PM to sanction prosecution of Raja.

The SC has numerous times pulled up CBI for shoddy investigation. If not for active role of SC and petitioners like Swamy, the scandal would have been easily buried by the government. Saying government uncovered the scandals is nothing but a joke. “The current CAG, an honest and upright bureaucrat called Vinod Rai, got the job because the UPA Cabinet chose him. His candidacy was strongly pushed by the former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram who knew Rai from his career in the finance ministry.” Justice Santosh Hegde was appointed by the government headed by Yedurappa. This is similar to Vinod Rai being appointed by the UPA government. Fortunately both of them have done justice to their assigned duties. This in no means absolves the governments of their sins. How would have VS responded if BJP claimed that it was their government that uncovered mining scam? It cannot get funnier than that. “So it is with the arrests. Who would have thought it possible that Spectrum King A. Raja would spend so many months in jail. Who would have imagined that the CBI would have the guts to arrest the daughter of M. Karunanidhi, an important Congress ally at a time when the government depended on the DMK’s support for its survival?”

CBI had no choice after being pulled up by SC. With various petitions that Swamy filed with documents he possessed, CBI had to act. Let us ask counter question. If Swamy did not really have possession of documents he claims he has, is he insane to move SC to seek permission to prosecute Chidambaram and also showing intention of even inducting MMS? “In the end, all of the uncovering of the scandal, all of the investigating and all of the arresting has been done by branches of the government. And yet, nobody believes that this government has any interest in uncovering the truth or in fighting corruption. The credit is given to the courts (who can only act once the CBI brings cases to them), to the media and to the opposition. The government itself gets no credit at all.” I don’t understand why VS is so hell bent on using illogical arguments in proving government is anti-corrupt. Is not this the most corrupt government yet? A government that indulges in corruption can no way uncover its own corruption. VS is either acting innocent or its time he took sanyas. I would prefer second option for him for his own good as well as the country.

 “So here’s what the truth is. No, this is not the most corrupt government is history. It is headed by a decent and honest man. And his government has uncovered most of the corruption cases we read about. But this is a government without a visible leader. The Prime Minister has made the mistake of sitting back and watching while his allies have made money. And now, while he should be associating himself with the clean-up, he cowers silently at Race Course Road.”

Well yeah you are right VS. Seriously, if PM was silent when his allies made money, he is as much responsible. That only means for him more than national interests, saving government was important. It’s not surprising though. We are already aware that to save itself, congress can indulge in horse trading. It is an art it has mastered. Cash for votes scam is another hot topic now.

With the title of his second post he misleads the reader to believe he is criticizing the government whereas all he does is mindlessly defend the government. Then he ends with questioning leadership of the government. It is clear where he is heading with his arguments. With Clown Prince rumoured to be made party president and Diggy already announcing in public that it’s high time sycophants like him are ruled by Clown Prince, it’s an attempt to create grounds for MMS to exit and Clown to claim Gaddi. After all, it’s not surprising if Congress realizes that they may not return to power in 2014 and Clown prince would have to wait god knows how many more years to sit on gaddi.

Shekhar Gupta - Doctoring & Nursing The Congress

The title might seem a bit harsh on Shekhar Gupta. Well, there are many sporting events and matches which are inspiring. There are individual and team performances that simply stun and overawe us as a miracle. Above all, there is nothing more enjoyable than an underdog turning the tables on a favourite. That is how Shekhar Gupta analyses UPA-2 in his article ‘Decide on the Doctor’ in IE, October 1. It sounds like Gupta wants to nurse the UPA back to health. Hmmm, playing nurse, eh?

Okay, so he starts with an analogy and theory of Test Cricket with a team following-on and facing defeat. Miraculously the team following-on wins, and that’s the probability that Gupta applies to UPA2 to put it back together. So here’s his honest theory (Quotes in blue):

“A recovery is not impossible. Some of the most stirring fightbacks in cricket history have come after follow-ons. But team managements and captains have to do something bravely different to make that happen. Like, for example, changing the batting order. Or threatening some irresponsible batsmen with the sack. Is the UPA (or rather Congress) management capable of doing that?”

I completely agree with Gupta there. But first, let me bring him up on some facts about Cricket. As of date, there have been over 2000 test matches played. A team following on has won only on 3 occasions. Alright, so if you think that is not a fair look into the facts then here’s more: there are over 290 matches where follow-on has been enforced and the number of victories by the team following-on still remains 3. So while the possibility cannot be denied, Gupta doesn’t  really examine the theory of probability or past experience in any way.

Two of the greatest victories after follow-on were in 1981 and 2001. In the first, Eng V Aus, an out of form Ian Botham had been removed from captaincy in an on-going series and in the first innings had scored a fluent 50 while his team crumbled. After follow on, even when his team was slipping he scored an amazing 149. In the second match at Eden Gardens, India V Aus, V.V.S. Laxman scored a fluent 50 and then went on to score 281 in the second after following on.  That is as much for statistics. Now let’s really examine how his theories pan out.

One of the most brilliant minds of our times has to be the scientist, Richard Feynman and here’s what he had to say:  “In general we look for a new law by the following process. First we guess it. Then we compute the consequences of the guess to see what would be implied if this law that we guessed is right. Then we compare the result of the computation to nature, with experiment or experience, compare it directly with observation, to see if it works. If it disagrees with experiment it is wrong. In that simple statement is the key to science. It does not make any difference how beautiful your guess is. It does not make any difference how smart you are, who made the guess, or what his name is - if it disagrees with experiment it is wrong. That is all there is to it.” That was said in quite a different context but can fairly be applied to any major theory like the one of Gupta. It is not ‘decide on the doctor’.. In fact Gupta IS playing the “doctor” himself.

“First of all, the Congress has to decide whether it wants to continue with Manmohan Singh as its prime minister.” Aha! So who exactly does Gupta mean by Congress? The party? The CWC? The Congress parliamentary party? Shekhar Gupta feigns ignorance of the basic qualification required to be a Congress PM, and WHO decides it! The unwillingness or inability to identify the exact person/captain who must make the decision is the first flaw in his theory. Of course, that is easier in Cricket, isn’t it?

“Next, tell Chidambaram, who has been keen to get back to Finance, to wait just a bit, that he will move sideways into his preferred half in North Block as Pranab moves into Rashtrapati Bhavan. That will settle the issue with — and between — these big two.”  So Dr.Gupta’s advice is to gently get rid of Pranab and get the unartful Chidambaram back into finance. Well, this clearly reflects the concern not of a journalist opining but that of a politician playing games. Hmmm! It is exceptionally dishonest not to admit that PC not only needs to be kicked out but also faces serious trouble with the SC sword hanging over him on 2G and a court case on election fraud. Even discounting those issues PC has simply failed as a performer both as a Finance minister and as a Home minister. It has to take an extraordinarily bad captain to retain him unless the merit is ‘loyalty and protecting family jewels’! Ambitious as he may be Pranab is still the one who has fought many battles for the Congress successfully on many fronts. Even L.K. Advani is on record stating in the parliament that he wouldn’t know how Congress would face all its troubles without Pranabda. No mean compliment that! No matter how thorny he might be, only a bad captain would throw him to the Rashtrapati Bhavan just yet. But Dr. Gupta would.

“Who will then replace Chidambaram in Home? Start now, by bringing Sheila Dikshit into the cabinet. S.M. Krishna, one of the nicest, most gracious people you’d meet in politics, has to be most respectfully offered a Raj Bhavan. Sheila Dikshit’s induction will achieve several things. One, you will bring an experienced, true-blue Uttar Pradesh politician, with experience and thick skin, in the cabinet. See how skilfully she handled the CAG report on CWG compared to how many other Congressmen blundered. She would be the first woman in the Cabinet Committee on Security since the passing away of Indira Gandhi, and she would also be the first member from the Hindi heartland in this most powerful body in UPA 2. By next year, she can be a deserving replacement for Chidambaram in Home. Of course, the second benefit would be the end of blood-letting between her and Ajay Maken, provided he is appointed Delhi chief minister. The challenge of winning Delhi for the fourth time in 2013 will keep him busy and quiet."

Okay, I was already under the impression that Krishna was brought into the cabinet from a Raj Bhavan and Gupta wants to send him back to one. Reason? Unclear! So I have to assume that of all in the cabinet he has been singled out as a non-performer and should be rewarded with the Raj Bhavan. Pretty much Congress style isn’t it? And cleverly, Sheila Dikshit must be promoted because she has handled the taints of CAG and CWG smartly. And that itself is supposed to have cleared her of all the taint. Bravo, Dr. Gupta! And no matter what, Chidambaram must return to the ‘old boys club’ as Finance Minister. He has failed as Home Minister and wanting PC as Finance Minister is like asking a bad wicket-keeper to open the bowling.

The rest of Gupta’s article is dedicated to how these shuffles and foot work might help win the general elections in 2014 or 2012, whenever they happen. This is where Dr.Gupta’s analogy with the cricket follow-on fails miserably. He forgets, the follow-on happens in a ‘current’ match and winning it and not about winning or losing the next match. A strong political leader recently said in a rousing speech that most political parties on coming to power get busy with how to win the next election instead of focussing on good governance. I wonder if Gupta heard that speech. I suppose not, but he falls into the same category of politicians who is very concerned about the next election and not the current match on hand. The current match is about returning to good governance, punishing the corrupt and getting rid of the tainted and accused. The one thing Gupta doesn’t dare to question or answer is – should Manmohan Singh remain or not. He leaves that to the ‘party’.  He has recommendations for all others. That’s the perfect doctor prescribing shoulder surgeries for brain tumours.

If you carefully go through his whole article the names of Sonia and Rahul are mentioned only once. That is in reference to the CWC as their being LS members. This is servantile journalism at its best. Dr.Gupta does not dare to even estimate what should be the new role for Sonia or what decisions she must take. He does not dare to question or decide whether Rahul Gandhi should be in the team or the water-boy. Frankly, any discussion on changes, shuffles and foot work in Congress is at best disingenuous if it does not include a discussion on Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Rahul has, by his own stupidity, proved beyond doubt that he is no PM material. Dr. Gupta won’t recognise that or even deal with the question who should be the PM if not MMS. As for Sonia Gandhi, she is untouchable and out of bounds for him. So for all that his ‘doctoring’ is worth his article only yearns to see Congress remain in power. Politics maybe a game, Dr. Gupta, good governance and country are not.

Skeleton Singh - The Closet Prime Minister

Sometime in June 2011 following frequent demands that the “PM break his silence” and speak up on various scams and issues confronting the nation Manmohan Singh held a press meet with five carefully handpicked print media editors. This was supported by the announcement that he would hold such a press meet every week. That done, there were no subsequent press meets. The weekly Malamal lottery of handpicking editors to meet ended with the first and only one. Our “friendly-fire” media is happy too, since the noise had died down on this promise of ‘weekly press-meets’ and the PM could go back to his closet.

Come the monsoon session of the parliament and suddenly MMS comes out all-guns blazing like Rambo (or should I lately say Singham?) and breaks his silence again by delivering one stupid sound bite. “There are skeletons in the Opposition’s cupboard too” he effectively said. Silence is not too great for a Prime Minister, but surely stupidity has to be even worse. I find it hard to believe MMS can come up with that line on his own so I wonder who tutored him. Perhaps Harish Khare or the ministers who manage the media keep feeding him these lines. I guess MMS finally got tired of being Caesar’s wife and now sees skeletons.

Ironically, the first new skeleton to tumble out as the parliament commenced a new session was directly from his own closet. A CAG report is cited as stating that the PMO overlooked a GOM decision to appoint Suresh Kalamadi as CWG-OC Chairman. That Singham video has since has been taken off following threats by Congress goons. But it’s unlikely the CWG and other scams are going to be shut down in a hurry. In an article, FirstPost, even questions the alteration of the minutes of meeting of the GOM that led to the appointment of Kalmadi.

While Ajay Maken, the current Sports Minister, is desperately trying to pin the blame for Kalmadi’s appointment to the previous NDA government there cannot be any doubt now that the PMO has been involved in not only this but was in full knowledge of many other scams too. A. Raja’s statements in court have clearly established the PM was in the know and had even approved the spectrum transactions.

People are now sick and tired of the media’s and the Congress’ attempt to continue to stick the “honesty and integrity” tag to this PM. It now appears that far from the imaginary honesty and integrity, he has wilfully allowed the scams to flourish. He has allowed and overseen the greatest loot of this nation ever in its history. For an economist he has also overseen the economic slide of India, the growth story is grounded and India’s international standing has corroded. The terrible lack of political leadership is starting to affect every sphere of endeavour in this nation.

None of the above is new. MMS has a history to it. Here are excerpts (in blue) from an article from April 2009 by Surajit Dasgupta titled ‘The Manmohan Singh Chronology’. I repeat, these are random excerpts from a very long article and I would strongly recommend that the full article be read:

There is a paradox in the thought process of onlookers. On the one hand, ask a loser why he couldn't make it big in life. Chances are high, he has an alibi of honesty. On the other, point out to him the illustrious growth of a known personality in society and he exclaims, "Wow!"

That the Indian Prime Minister is the epitome of honesty and integrity is a notion not even his biggest detractor in politics dares to challenge. ……. Also, if beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, it must be noted that most journalists in the country are either Bachelors of Arts (pass course) or hold MA in history, not embellished further by an MPhil, let alone a PhD. As for business scribes, a sizeable number of whom are postgraduates in economics and commerce, we know how they conduct their routine business. They pick up information from corporate communication heads of companies, published brochures, leaflets, pamphlets and uploaded website content of those firms, besides sound-bytes of the CEOs…… without ever trying to explore the darker alleys of the business houses by befriending executives from the purchase, sales, accounts and human resource departments.

In the evening of 5 February 2006, I edited an article by Ajoy Bose for The Pioneer, "Manmohan, doctor of politics"….. Bose wondered how Singh "managed to flourish so well under different political masters through the turbulent 1970s and '80s". Then, the silence of the Congress turned deafening when on 21 May 2006, The Statesman published an article by Subroto Roy with several facts that cast aspersions on the character of Manmohan Singh, the economist and bureaucrat. Titled "The politics of Dr Singh", the article presented a chronology of events in Singh's career since his days as a student in University of Cambridge. For systematic reading, let us look at the contents of Roy's article in a bulletised format:

As a student -
(England onwards)
Greatest influences among teachers: Joan Robinson & Nicholas Kaldor (both communists)
Mao Zedong's "Little Leap Forward" followed by "Great Leap Forward".
Curiously, Mao himself apologised to the Chinese people subsequently for both.

As a bureaucrat -
March 1971: Seeks 'blessings' of PN Haksar, who had followed his model of protectionism to help Indira Gandhi's regime nationalise banks, to join bureaucracy
Haksar's background:
• In London, protégé of R Palme Dutt and Krishna Menon
• IFS under Jawaharlal Nehru's regime
• May 1967 onwards, Indira Gandhi’s adviser

Haksar's feats:
• Nationalisation of India’s banks
• The Congress split and creation of the Congress(I)
• Politicisation of the bureaucracy including the intelligence services
• Highly placed civil servants became politically committed pro-USSR bureaucrats
• Beginning of courtier culture and durbar politics

As a politician (almost) -
22 March 1991: Rajiv Gandhi prepares documents for liberalisation. Singh had nothing to do with the origins of the 1991 reform and never interacted with Rajiv Gandhi in the last months of the latter's life…. It was Subroto Roy's encounter with Rajiv Gandhi that led to the Congress's change of economic thinking in 1990-1991.

Mission unaccomplished:
• Continuing deficit finance
• No measure to check corruption
• No enforcement of clean accounting
• No strict audits

Skipping 11 years…
May 2002: Congress passes a resolution saying the ideas of India’s liberalisation had originated with neither Manmohan Singh nor Narasimha Rao! The account was too damning and the newspaper that carried it too credible to be ignored. But ignore Singh's party did. Why? Was it out of the fear that any action, legal or otherwise, would turn the article or its writer more popular and more people might revisit and perhaps revise their opinion about the current prime minister?

As the "honesty" and "integrity" of our prime minister has turned almost into an electioneering slogan of the Congress, it's time to dig deeper….

After the Narasimha Rao era began, in August 1991, the rate of inflation rose to more than 17 %; the BoP crisis had already turned critical with India left with forex reserves just about enough to pay for three weeks’ imports. Under these circumstances, why did Rao summon Singh’s predecessor at RBI, IG Patel, and request him to accept the post of finance minister in his cabinet? Why was Singh the second preference?

Certain notions are so deeply set in the public psyche, even hindsight many years later cannot rectify the myths. That India embarked upon a path to a free market regime in the period 1991-96 is one such notion. Reforms should mean competitive prices for the consumer, but almost all infrastructure projects at that time were pursued without competition, Enron and Cogentrix being two prime examples. …..While to its credit, the Rao-Singh regime could boast of successively increasing growth rates – Corruption in all public-private partnership deals became the order of the day. And the Great Indian Securities Scam unfolded.

……When advised by admirers to leave the Congress in 1996 and concentrate again on propounding economic philosophies, he had dismissed the plea with his signature feeble voice, thus, "But I am in politics!" It seems somewhere in his subconscious he fancied his chances in a possible second innings in the future. Soon after the 1996 elections at a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party, he quoted the "Caesar's wife" proverb. the insinuation was clear; he was distancing himself from Narasimha Rao. But he knew his future would be in the Congress.

If it was not a bureaucrat being dictated by his political master(s) (1971-91), or a minister being given ideas by a prime minister (1991-96), or a prime minister being told what to do by his party's head, it is an ally telling him what to do, more importantly, what not to do (2004-2009). If nationalisation of wholesale trade in foodgrains was Indira Gandhi's idea, if increasing corporate taxes in 1979 was Charan Singh's or HM Patel's idea, if mortgaging the country's gold was Chandrashekhar's idea, if liberalisation and globalisation were ideas of the IMF-Narasimha Rao combine and, finally, reforms with a human face was Sonia Gandhi's idea with too much of facial massage (read NREGA) added by the left, what, for heaven's sake, is Manmohan Singh's idea?

To conclude, Manmohan Singh has but two words that sum up all his ideas: "Yes, boss!".

The Real CABINET Meeting

The mainstream media for a long time has been hounding lesser ministers and crooks. The root of the entire disaster that confronts India lies at the top of the pyramid and not at the bottom. It is the honourable Prime Minister with a great deal of skeletons to protect who must be held responsible. Not far behind is the UPA chairperson. If a Chief Minister can be forced to resign by leaked reports and an activist Lokayukta then the closet PM is guilty of far larger crimes. The honesty and integrity crap doesn’t wash anymore. It is time for a real leader to step in.  Skeleton Singh, the closet PM, must go.

Also Read:  "Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi Should Be Held Criminally Liable..."

Corruption: First The Tears Of A Clown, Now The Puppet’s Tears...

They say public memory is short. It probably is. Ordinary citizens cannot spend time tracking the deeds of those in power. They trust the mainstream media to do that job. But the Indian msm has turned itself into a propaganda machine for the rulers and the corporate world. Those who use words like ‘truth’, ‘fair’, ‘fearless’ are some of the biggest crooks and liars amongst us. I must add, don’t expect the corrupt to expose the corrupt. Every newspaper and TV channel has screaming headlines that proclaim they were the ones to first break this or that scam. So when they are constantly caught up in this race of who was first, truth will always be the first victim. Haven’t we seen, say an Aamir Khan ‘Exclusive’ interview at the same time on three different channels? Or haven’t we seen gutter mouth Manishankar Aiyar ‘live’ on two different channels? They have even destroyed the very concept of ‘Breaking news’. How else can you explain ‘DMK chief meets Sonia Gandhi’ as breaking news? How else can one explain every news channel claiming credit for the exposures made by the CAG on various scams? Our mainstream media is utterly corrupt and that is the greatest danger to a democracy than any corrupt politician, individual or entity. And it is because the public has a short memory that journals and news channels are supposed to keep them reminded. They won’t!

After the Tears of the Clown Prince, it was the turn of the Puppet’s Tears on corruption. Rahul Gandhi’s sermons on corruption ended a few days ago and now we have the PM sermonising us about it. He should be the last man talking about corruption in this country. And our media faithfully reproduces the stupid utterances of these people without telling them the truth. Not a single editorial or opinion piece tells Rahul Gandhi or the PM to stop their ‘onion tears’ (crocodile tears are too easy!) Rahul and Manmohan sermonising on corruption is quite akin to a bunch of criminals in prison lecturing their jailors on ethics. Let’s first see some recent utterances of the PM.

 

“Corruption dents India’s image...It demeans us before our own people. Corruption strikes at the root of good governance... Along with legislation, the necessary revamp of administrative practises and procedures needs to be fast-tracked. A systemic response that reduces opportunities for corruption needs to be put in place”. These statements can be attributed to Moses, Jesus Christ, Krishna or any spiritual leader anytime you want. Even the honourable roadside cobbler will tell you all this. Only one thing’s wrong. It doesn’t ‘demean’ YOU or the officers you addressed Mr.PM, it demeans and insults the people of this nation. Innocent, honest people.

Like Rahul Gandhi, the PM sermonises as if he was some independent observer or a panelist at some TV discussion or a UN watchdog. All of it rings hollow. Under the cloak of ‘honest’ and ‘clean’ this PM has been a silent watcher of some major corrupt practices in this nation. The recent scams are not stray incidents; it is a pattern with Manmohan Singh.

To start with MMS should have called the lies in the media that he was the one to implement economic reforms in India. That is what propaganda does. Not once has the PM acknowledged he acted as instructed by Narasimha Rao and there were other compulsions for the reforms, including those by the IMF. We need to recall that he was the Finance Minister when Rao was involved in the JMM bribery scam to help his government survive. So what’s new with Manmohan Singh? If he were honest and had a clean conscience he should have quit that government following the JMM bribery case. He watched in silence!

In his own tenure as PM and for survival of his government in UPA-1 he watched money playing a role in the confidence vote following the nuclear deal fall out with the CPM.  He watched in silence! He survived! So why is it surprising to anyone that this man has consciously watched in silence the actions of the Rajas and the Kalmadis? In some parts probably was even a party to it. Suddenly, the black money issue is all over the media as if this was some great secret for ages. Yet, MMS seems to be unable to do anything about it.

The likes of MMS and Rahul Gandhi will talk to officials, students, media and everyone about corruption and related issues. Why aren’t they making statements in the parliament? Why is the Congress not agreeable to a JPC on scams? In an earliest post I had written that ‘Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi should be held criminally liable...” for all the scams. One sheds tears and the other comes up with silly five-point something programmes to tackle corruption. And our foolish media does the propaganda. No questions asked, no holding their feet to fire.

MMS takes self-righteous offence at being called a ‘weak’ prime minister or a ‘puppet’. Not once has he proved himself to be anything else. Therefore, this is his chance to shut up and stop sermonising and ‘act’. To use his own words, ‘fast-tracked’ action will do a lot more than repeated sermons. The recent cabinet reshuffle hardly showed any sign that he is acting on it. I am tempted to call MMS the ‘Raj Kapoor’ of politics. Mera Naam Joker,  the one that will fit anywhere in a (political) card game. Commenting on the continuance of one tainted minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, in the cabinet the Supreme Court has frustratingly called it 'shameless'. So much for your tears on corruption, Mr. PM!

There is a bright side to everything. This will probably be the last term of MMS as prime minister. He will go down in history as having overseen the most corrupt government in the history of India. He can still act and alter that course, but that is seriously doubtful. The down side is the Puppet will go and they might send in the Clown. One way or the other, for the media, the circus will go on. MMS should remember ‘puppets’ don’t shed tears.

Manmohan Singh & Caesar’s Wife

When you see a doctor, you trust him with your body and life. When you board a flight, you trust the commander of the flight. When it comes to the nation, wouldn’t you trust your Prime Minister?  The answer to all three questions has to be a resounding ‘Yes’. But it’s also a fact that accidents can happen, lives can be lost, nations can be harmed.  Personally, I have no doubts that Dr. Manmohan Singh is an upright, clean statesman but he has failed in his job as the prime minister. The nation has been subjected to grave harm and serious danger and he indulges in his favourite theme of ‘Caesar’s wife being above suspicion’. This is to his own Congress (I) members. If you have to make bold statements, make it to the nation and not to your party-men who will neither challenge you nor debate your utterances. If you have to be bold, face a JPC.

Firstly, it is as good as a Flight Commander saying he did everything right but his co-pilots screwed up. It’s like a doctor blaming the nurse for having given him the wrong knife. Most importantly, it reflects an utter lack of a sense of responsibility for his government’s and ministers’ deeds. MMS is offering to prove he is innocent, when no one is accusing him of guilt. People are merely seeking the truth. Despite the scams most people have unfailingly given him a ‘clean’ certificate. It’s the failure as the Prime Minister that he should accept and act upon and not on whether he should prove his innocence where corruption is concerned. Silence on various other issues is equally damning. It is for this very reason I call him the ‘head in sand’ prime minister and equally criminally culpable for the misdeeds of his government. If your dog bites someone, you are liable. Some of the prime minister’s cabinet ‘dogs’ have bitten the entire nation and left it bleeding. The PM is answerable and equally liable for those dogs.

Head In Sand Prime Minister

As for Caesar’s wife, MMS uses it as a convenient line frequently for his own benefit. Here is  what a critical analysis of his career has to say: “When advised by admirers to leave the Congress in 1996 and concentrate again on propounding economic philosophies, he had dismissed the plea with his signature feeble voice, thus, "But I am in politics!" It seems somewhere in his subconscious he fancied his chances in a possible second innings in the future. Soon after the 1996 elections at a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party, he quoted the "Caesar's wife" proverb. the insinuation was clear; he was distancing himself from Narasimha Rao.” (Read the full article here.)

What MMS does hide is the fact that Caesar made that statement to explain why he divorced his wife and not as proof of his wife’s innocence. The story behind that proverb can be searched anywhere on the net. The prime minster failed to divorce his cabinet wives who should have been above suspicion. If he himself, like Caesar’s wife, is above suspicion then he should divorce the Congress (I) or divorce himself from the responsible position he holds, because he has been clearly suspected of shielding corrupt ministers and covering up misdeeds of his government. For a change, the media is telling him these facts and are showing him why Caesar made that statement.

Far from the Caesar’s wife proverb, I would like to ask MMS “Et Tu Brutus”? That would be a more appropriate line for him.