Decisive action, not Acts, will help whistleblowers

While the Whistleblowers' Protection Bill, hailed as the ultimate shield that would protect those who expose corruption from harm, is listed for approval by Rajya Sabha in this session, the parched Earth is quenching its thirst with the blood of anti-corruption crusaders.
We have seen how the politicians, who otherwise clear laws left, right and centre, keep delaying key legislations that might hurt their ‘interests’.
The anti-corruption Lokpal Bill, pending for more than four decades, has been shuttled to yet another committee. We can only hope that this law will come into force before money swallowed by politicians and bureaucrats exceed the gross domestic product (GDP).
The Whistleblowers’ Bill also has not been a product of the desire of the political class to help the anti-graft efforts.
About a decade back, Satyendra Dubey, an NHAI official who exposed a massive scam in the NDA government’s Golden Quadrilateral project was murdered after his role in the expose was leaked from top government sources. It was the uproar over this incident that forcedsome movement on this legislation.
The latest to join the long list of martyrs who lost their lives to the cause of keeping the system clean was Karnataka Administrative Service officer SP Mahesh.
The upright officer was bludgeoned to death in the heart of Bangalore. He had exposed massive scams in co-operative societies. His wife told the police that he was attacked at least thrice earlier.
A few months back, a young IPS officer, NS Singh, was brutally murdered by the mining mafia in Madhya Pradesh.
If we take into account the number of social activists and NGO members who are butchered across the country, the list gets longer. Social activists, journalists, NGO members, honest government officials and RTI activists have been paying with their lives for upholding the right.
However, after the initial media hype and public outrage, the state of affairs returns to normal — and would return to limelight only at the next bloodshed. A recent article in the Outlook by Mathew Samuel, who conducted the Tehelka sting operation that exposed colossal corruption in defence deals, describes the unsavoury ordeal that lies in wait for those who expose corruption in high places.
Experience has taught us that an impressive array of laws is toothless as long as there is no effective implementation machinery; the legislation to protect whistleblowers is no exception to this.
What we need is an effective mechanism on the lines of witness protection programmes that are in place in developed countries. These countries are able to check corruption to a large extent due to the effectiveness of such programmes. Their governments allocate massive funds to ensure that whistleblowers are not exposed and provide them with adequate security.
In cases where the exposed corrupt are rich and well-connected, the whistleblowers are given new identities by the government itself so that they are beyond any harm.
We are a country where a footpath tout can get a driving licence in the name of the prime minister issued for a few thousand rupees. So it doesn’t require rocket science for the government to take a few lessons from their more vigilant Western counterparts to protect the people who risk everything in their lives to expose corruption.
We need to create a system of rewards and protection, backed by powerful laws that will enable more people to come out and expose those who eat into public money.
The scamsters should be made to realise that ‘eliminating’ informants is not going to be a cakewalk and that the system will take care of those who strive to keep it clean.
Satyameva Jayate.
(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on May 23, 2012)

BJP must survive the battle within

The second innings of UPA has been nothing short of tumultuous, marred by massive scams in every sector from rural job schemes to military purchases.
When allies themselves are eyeing the jugular of the Centre, relief comes from an unexpected quarters — a divided BJP that is struggling to keep its house in order.
The saffron party, which in the late ‘90s emerged as a credible alternative to the Congress that had ruled the country from Independence with the exception of a few years, is now forced to spend more attention in keeping the organisation intact than serving the role of an effective opposition.
The recent Assembly elections handed a couple of emphatic victories to the party. However, it was more the corruption and anti-incumbency factor that helped it in Goa, and in Punjab it was the bigger ally Shiromani Akali Dal that led the charge.
Though it managed to slightly better its performance in Uttar Pradesh, it still to an unenviable third position; inconsequential but definitely better than the Congress which was decimated.
Elsewhere in the country, nothing is working for the party. In Rajasthan, the party constantly faces revolt from senior leader and former chief minister Vasundhara Raje. In the latest episode, the party had to despatch its fire fighters to prevent the royal from walking out of the party with a substantial number of followers and MLAs.
The party’s national leadership has been having sleepless nights ever since it forced BS Yeddyurappa, who led the party to its first government in the south, to quit as chief minister owing to graft cases against him. BSY agreed to quit on condition that his pick Sadanada Gowda was made the CM.
However, the Lingayat strongman changed his mind soon and wanted to be reinstated — a demand the party leadership couldn’t concede to as it required a moral high ground to battle the Congress government at the Centre.
Ever since, it has been a war of nerves and words in Karnataka. BSY keeps threatening to quit from the party and form his own organisation and the leadership keeps shuttling between Delhi and Bangalore with varying combinations of carrots and sticks as the situation demands.
The Reddy brothers and their associate Sriramulu, who fell foul with the party after their role in illegal mining scam put the party on the defensive, have made a powerful comeback. The brothers proved their name is bigger than the party in Bellary by defeating the official BJP candidate in the bypolls.
As the foursome threatened a split, a shocked leadership had to placate them. However, what is happening in Karnataka is nothing compared to the challenge that is to emerge from Gujarat — the showcase state for the party.
Ever since RSS nominee Nitin Gadkari took the helm, Gujarat Chief Minister and a top prime minister candidate Narendra Modi hasn’t been the most co-operative. The bachelor swayam sevak CM is not happy with the way Gadkari is leading the party and has attacked his strategies in his meetings with the leadership. Gadkari’s response has been to play down the importance of Modi in the bigger picture.
The most recent example of the duo’s spat spilling out into public view was during the Assembly elections when Modi refused to campaign for the party in UP — and Gadkari entrusted the job to Modi’s arch rival Sanjay Joshi. The chill has continued ever since.
With the party’s national executive meeting barely a month away, Modi has maintained a deafening silence on his attendance. A second term for Gadkari being the main agenda of the conclave, the former’s absence will be a thinly veiled banner of revolt.
No doubt the BJP generals are fully capable of leading the assault on Congress; the question is whether they can survive the civil strife within the party.
(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on May 16, 2012)

Exchequer needn’t foot bill for salvation

The ruling by a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court that the Central government phase out the Haj subsidy (currently about Rs600 crore per annum) in 10 years has drawn bouquets and brickbats alike.
The Haj subsidy is being handed out since 1954 and around 1 lakh people avail it every year to travel to Mecca to fulfil the requirement laid out by Islam.
India is the only country to offer this subsidy.
The flights carrying the pilgrims to Jeddah are usually chartered ones because they return empty, and naturally the fare is two to three times higher than the usual flight charges in the same route.
The subsidy was introduced to allow the pilgrims some cushion in this regard. Some Islamic scholars are of the opinion that Sharia prohibits a pilgrim from availing aid in any form to travel to the Holy Land.
“A Haj is undertaken only if you have the money, are in good health, and have performed all your duties towards your family. Going on a Haj with money you borrowed from someone is absolutely prohibited,” says Shahi Imam of Delh’s Fatehpuri Masjid Mukarram Ahmed.
While some agree, others beg to differ. According to them, the withdrawal of the subsidy will take away from the poor faithful the only opportunity to undertake the pilgrimage.
The subsidies are not just confined to Haj alone, the Centre plays an active role in facilitating Amarnath and Kailas Manasarovar yatras. Hundreds of crores of rupees are spent indirectly in maintaining infrastructure and providing security to the pilgrims.
There are a few states that subsidise Christian pilgrimages to Israel and Palestine.
Subsidies for various communities and their religious activities are nothing more than a time-tested tactic of vote bank politics. The political leadership wants to be seen as the ‘providers’ who will cater to the spiritual and material interests of the masses.
When humanity was taking baby steps towards political organisations, the tribal chieftains and kings came up with their ‘divine origin’ theory where the ruler was the representative of god on earth and his authority was unquestionable.
Over the millennia, the spheres spiritual and temporal became separated (at least in the democracies) but the ability to swing public support through favouring religious affairs never lost its popularity among ruling classes.
The preamble of our Constitution clearly states the India is a secular state. The addition of ‘secularism was made 26 years after the Constitution came into effect, through the 42nd Amendment in 1976. The government must not favour or discriminate against any religion. So the government policy of subsidising religious activities is in contravention of the constitutional provisions.
Instead of following the pattern of separating religion and state, we have been following a policy of appeasement of communities. Governments of all hues have shied away from taking bold decisions on social reform for fear of backlash from one vote bank or the other.
The absence of a Uniform Civil Code allows each community to force their primitive justice system on their members.
Most of the times, it is the judiciary that has thrown the light of rational wisdom into the labyrinths where the stranglehold of religious leadership keep the faithful in medieval darkness.
Pressure from religious hawks kept the LGBT community under state-sponsored persecution under the draconian Section 377 of the IPC. Even under sharp criticism from courts, the government took several years to acknowledge that consensual sex between adults belonging to the same sex is not illegal.
The more the state dabbles in religious affairs, the more problems it will create. There will always be discontent and charges of bias.
We have plenty of material problems such as poverty, unemployment, social evils, illiteracy, inadequate housing and infrastructure, social justice and corruption that need all the attention and resources of the government.
Religion is each citizen’s personal matter and its pursuit should be left to them. It’s not fair to ask the people to foot bills of those in search of salvation.
(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on May 9, 2012)

Testing times ahead for Congress

It has taken a series of electoral debacles to shake India’s Grand Old Party, the Congress, from its political slumber of denial mode and complacence.
Despite cross-country hut hopping by the heir apparent Rahul Gandhi and charm offensive by his sister Priyanka, the voters chose to bring non-Congress alliances to power.
The emphatic defeat for the 127-year-old party has been in the national capital, where the BJP swept to power in the local body elections.
Long has the era passed when the public tended to forgive and forget or get swayed by the personal charisma of Congress leaders. Uttar Pradesh voters refused to buy the ‘yuvraj’s’ charm offensive of mingling with the crowds and dining at Dalit huts.
For all the efforts that Rahul put in, the party was reduced to the fourth place after SP, BSP and BJP. Even the last-moment marriage of convenience with the RLD failed to draw the caste votes to the party.
Another area where the party keeps getting beaten black and blue is its alliances with regional parties — the most glaring example being that with West Bengal. Stuck with Mamata for meeting the magic numbers in Lok Sabha, the Congress is constantly humiliated without ‘mamta’ at the Centre and state.
She blocked a river water sharing deal with Bangladesh, got a sensible Railway minister sacked, is blocking several key policies in segments such as FDI and counter-terrorism. The latest whimsical threat was a 15-day deadline to the Centre to waive the state’s debt to the tune of Rs22,000 crore.
In Tamil Nadu too, the picture is not much different. The Centre’s hands are tied on ties with Sri Lanka owing to pressure from the state’s two major parties, the DMK and the AIADMK.
The Congress is perceived as weak because of its failure to get even the UPA allies on board regarding key policies. Key areas such as legal reforms, disinvestment, FDI, counter-terrorism, anti-graft law and police reforms have been languishing without policy commitments.
The constant announcements of new policies and subsequent volte-face due to pressure from allies have hit the credibility of the party. Massive cases of fraud at the Centre running into lakhs of crores of rupees have definitely put the party on the back foot.
When senior party leader and telecom minister Kapil Sibal said the loss to the government in 2G spectrum auction was ‘zero’, whereas the CAG put it at Rs1.76 lakh crore, it came as a shock even to the Opposition.
Maybe the firebrand Supreme Court lawyer has forgotten that gone are the days when an elephant in the room would not be seen by the public.
The infighting in state units and lack of party discipline has left the party in a lurch. While loose cannons like Digvijay Singh go on the warpath firing salvos at anything that moves and manages to capture his fancy, senior leadership is forced to do the damage control.
The party’s inability to make its leaders toe its line is threatening the survival of its government in Andhra Pradesh. The Congress has been forced to swallow its pride and take the help of its rivals in Parliament to suspend eight of its MPs from Parliament as they refused to obey party directives and stalled the House demanding for a separate Telangana state.
An organisation is usually able to tide over crises when there is clarity regarding leadership and a vision for the future. In the case of Congress, there is a lot of ambiguity surrounding leadership. With the scion Rahul failing to sway votes and shying away from any executive post, the focus has shifted to Priyanka.
However, Congress president Sonia Gandhi hasn’t cleared the air about who is going to take over the party reins. For all the reform and internal democracy Rahul has been championing, the party is still practicing nepotism and favouritism in selecting its low- and middle-rung leaders — and the lack of quality is showing in its poll performances.
India’s oldest party has a Herculean task of cleaning its Augean Stables. If it fails to put its house in order, it will share the fate of several dynasties that had their share of glory before becoming extinct.
(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on April 25, 2012)

NCTC split will cripple counter-terror ops

‘United to protect’ is the motto of the National Counterterrorism Center of the United States which was formed in 2003 to co-ordinate national and international counter-terrorism efforts of the country in the wake of 9/11.
However, ‘united’ would be an oxymoron if used in the motto for its Indian counterpart of the same name — thanks to the states which put their ‘autonomy’ before a threat that does not discriminate between the Union or states.
The contention of the states is that a Central body that operates independently and to which all official machinery of the states have to extend co-operation is an infringement on their longstanding monopoly on the ‘law and order’ segment. In their rush to preserve their autonomy, the states are forgetting that trying to put terrorism under law and order is like trying to control a tyrannosaurus rex with a dog leash.
Whether the ever-politically-correct intelligentsia of the country agrees to call them terrorists or not, we are faced with dozens of forms of terrorism across the country.
From the Maoists who have killed thousands of civilians and security personnel to religious/ cultural fundamentalists who kill, maim and strip people of their dignity, the population is being subject to terrorism that takes away the Constitution-guaranteed rights of the citizens.
Over the years, the states have shown a continuing trend of forgetting the bigger picture of national security and giving in to populism — usually based on vote-bank politics.
Though the activists who campaign against death penalty may differ, the sheer lack of political cojones to execute terrorists who have been convicted of role in plots to assassinate national/ state leaders and facilitating attack on Parliament may die of old age if the present indecisiveness continues.
If it is coalition concerns from the south that extends life for some, it’s minority vote bank that proves the saviour for another, a third is being kept alive owing to resurgence in his community’s new-found belief in his innocence.
One way or the other, regional sentiments have proven detrimental to sending out a clear message on perpetrators of terrorism. Despite national counter-terror and investigation agencies unearthing evidence of Hidutva outfits in terror attacks, the political leaders are too scared to call it ‘saffron terror’ for fear of alienating their vote bank. The lack of spine to call a spade a spade is an inherent disgusting feature of our leaders who are more concerned about attaining and sustaining power than national interests.
After the 26/11 attacks the country’s security apparatus went into an overhaul, especially the coastal security. In a recently-held security drill to test the preparedness of the system, three ‘terrorist teams’ managed to evade all the preventive mechanisms and reach their ‘targets’. This clearly shows that we have miles to go before claiming to have a foolproof system in place.
One major reason for the limited success of counter-terror measures is the time lost in the maze of procedures and clearances. When more parties are involved in intelligence sharing, the likelihood of leaks and failed operations too increase.
For example, Maoists have deeply penetrated several states’ administrative cadre and police forces. If information on planned operations is shared with the administration in advance, the result would be jeopardising the mission with the inevitable result of massive loss of life for the security forces.
Across the world, the security interests of the country are given priority over the autonomy of the federating units and it should be no different in the case of India too. The current rebellion of dissenting chief ministers is like limbs seeking a consultative process on action when someone’s about to smash the head.
(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on April 18, 2012)

Hand-outs shouldn’t be taken for granted

The ignorant mind, with its infinite afflictions, passions and evils, is rooted in the three poisons: greed, anger and delusion. Bodhidharma

There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed. Mahatma Gandhi Two Indian greats, who walked this world 14 centuries apart, were apt in their summary of human nature of greed and avarice. For some, it is acquiring wealth in different forms; others seek pleasure in enjoying hand-out privileges that their positions command.
There are two classes in the country to which expecting almost everything as complimentary comes naturally. Yes, they are politicians and bureaucrats.
The former consider invitations and complimentary passes as their right for being the representatives of the people, while the latter seek it for being the indispensible cogs that ensure efficient governance.
Both are under the grip of a post-colonial hangover, high on the nostalgia of the days when the ruling class enjoyed unfettered power, privileges and concessions for “bearing the burden of governing and civilising the ignorant masses”.
We are 12 years into a new century, yet little has changed in the way politicians and babus think. Latterly, a national daily reported that the Karnataka State Cricket Association has been forced to outsource to private contractors the task of clearing about 18 tonnes of garbage from the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The BBMP, controlled by Bangalore corporators, that cleaned the stadium after matches till recently, has refused to continue their services. Why? Because the corporators we­r­e denied ‘complimentary’ VIP passes for the IPL matches held in the city.
Also, officials have suddenly woken up to the Karnataka State Cricket Association’s long-pending tax dues to the tune of Rs6.5 crore. One cannot deny that the timing was excellent, or that it’s “sheer coincidence”.
The corporators and babus deny that notifying the cricket body about the dues was done in retribution for refusing them passes. They claim that it’s all part of their smart plan of shaming the association into coughing up taxes, as it would not risk sullying its name during the IPL, for deals worth crores would be at stake.
Both parties may have several excuses. However, a bigger question emerges: Why present such freebies and privileges to politicians and bureaucrats?
Government officials are paid for their service to the nation and its people. It is an open secret that apart from their salaries and perks, these mandarins amass wealth via bribes and other underhand ways. Yet they want more.
There have been numerous instances where aircraft and trains were delayed to ensure boarding of politicians who turned up late. Recently a Union minister courted controversy when records revealed that an aircraft of the national carrier was diverted to fly a group of his relatives.
Only a few may not have had to suffer for the reservations and concessions made for VIPs, especially at places of worship. The sight of a cop not paying for the food or tea he helps himself to at an eatery is far too familiar.
It’s high time something’s done. The privileged ones may protest that they are entitled to such special treatment, for they bear the burden of leading and serving the nation.
Well, no one asked these folks to lead and serve us. And if they cannot do without it, they may sit at home. (This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on April 11, 2012)

Uncle Sam roars at terror, India purrs

The US announcement of $10 million bounty on Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafeez Sayeed has sent the entire Indian government, security and diplomatic circles into an applause overdrive. Little time was lost in appreciating the US gesture while reiterating New Delhi’s demand to Pakistan to bring the mastermind of 26/11 attacks to justice.
However, India’s reaction and subsequent rhetoric from various quarters resembles a kitten baring its claws in the shadow of a roaring lion and expecting to generate equal amount of awe.
Global diplomatic circles and definitely Pakistan are not fooled by the Indian sabre rattling. India has an abysmal record of following up its threats of punitive action and retaliation.
This was last evident when Pakistani terrorists attacked the Parliament in 2001. India mounted its biggest ever mobilisation, termed Operation Parakram, threatening to react with force if Pakistan did not rein in the terror operatives.
However, India chickened out in the face of Pakistani threat of first use of nuclear weapons. The massive operation which saw almost half-a-million troops and war equipment moved to forward offensive positions fizzled out — the balance sheet was thousands of crores wasted, several lives lost in accidents and loss of face in front of the international community.
More than a decade has passed and there has been no dearth of Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attacks on Indian soil. India has been liberally handing out warnings and threats at each occasion — hot pursuit a favourite phrase.
Even on this doctrine, the Indian establishment has not been able to speak in one voice. When a General talks about targeting militant camps across the border, the bureaucratic and political leadership openly declare their commitment to self-restraint.
The ultimate result of lack of political will to pursue the country’s national interests is that neither Pakistan nor the terrorists groups it nurtures take India seriously. And we have an inglorious legacy of letting every terrorist group to slaughter and walk away with impunity.
The chiefs of all Pakistan-based terrorist outfits have been travelling all over Middle East raising funds and the super-secretive RAW’s operatives have not even plucked a hair of any one of them.
Indian public could watch only with helplessness when Dawood Ibrahim and his confidants, who engineered the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, were seen LIVE on TV cheering during a Sharjah Cup match. This was at a time when Indian sleuths and international agencies such as the Interpol were following every procedure in the book to get him extradited (if they could locate him in the first place) for crimes committed in India.
No country allows terrorists to mess with it and walk away unscathed. After 9/11, the Americans launched a global war on terror and did not rest till Osama bin Laden was killed. The Russians, the French, the British and the Israelis go to any extent to seek and destroy the elements who threaten national security.
However, India is content with cumbersome procedures and strict adherence to international covenants, and that too in a complacent manner which would make the techniques of the 19th century Congress moderates look like militant nationalists.
After begging all over the world for information and extraditions, our result is always blank. India’s ‘most wanted’ criminals and terrorist operatives continue to ply their trade without any interruption. At times one can’t help but wonder if our government is waiting for god to punish them.
For all the touting of our military might and the elite special forces, we remain toothless by choice while the enemies of the country continue to bleed us through a thousand wounds.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on April 4, 2012)