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POLITICAL DIARY
Crime Is Now Politics
LEADERS OF GEN NEXT?
By Poonam I Kaushish
New Delhi, June 17, 2008
Celluloid khoon a la Amitabh Bachchan in ‘Sarkar Raj’ is
naqli. For asli Raj don the khadi cap of a neta which
guarantees a life-long “bullet proof jacket.” Welcome to India
and its new Gen Next reality of criminals banne neta!
Believe me this is no exaggeration and I certainly don’t
subscribe to the view that the polity cannot be tarnished by a
few black sheep. Chilling reality and cold Government
statistics are on my side that show that politics has nothing
to do with morality and accountability. Crime is now politics
and criminalisation of politics is the flavour of the season.
Turn to any part of the country politico-criminals are now
ruling the roost. There are five ‘criminals’ who adorn India’s
Treasury Benches. One, Minister had to resign when arrested
for murder. Worse, the UPA Sarkar confessed in the Supreme
Court that the nexus among criminals, politicians and
bureaucrats has increased leading to a disturbingly high level
of corruption and dismissing it as compulsions of coalition
politics.
Only last week two State Ministers, one each in UP and Assam
were sacked and arrested. The UP Fisheries Minister Nishad for
allegedly killing a police constable from his ‘lal battee’ car
while leading a mob protesting police protection for an
accused in the rape of a girl belonging the Nishad community
in Maharajganj district. In Assam, Education Minister Ripun
Bora for trying to bribe the police investigating a leader’s
murder from his area.
Earlier too in UP, another Minister was shown the door after
his name cropped up in the murder of a law student in Faizabad,
BSP’s Azamgarh MP was arrested in a land grabbing case and a
Samajwadi MLA was shot by his BSP political rival. A tip of
the iceberg given that 40% of the legislators have criminal
records. According to the Election Commission UP along with
Bihar, account for at least 40 MPs and 700 MLAs who faced
criminal charges that included murder, dacoity, rape, theft
and extortion. Leading the pack are MPs Pappu Yadav (convicted
of murdering a popular left-wing legislator) and Shahabuddin.
Both in jail.
How commonplace is the mixing of crime and politics can be
gauged from Union Law Minister H R Bhardwaj’s averments in the
Rajya Sabha in the last session that there were over 1,300
cases pending against sitting MPs and MLAs in various courts.
Of which the CBI is investigating 65. If there were 40 tainted
MPs in the 13th Lok Sabha there are over a 100 MPs (23.2%) at
present.
Consider also: criminals have been elected from prison. Some
continue to rule their empire from jails, hold durbars,
instruct their minions by cellphones and issue diktats that
few dare disobey. Some take anticipatory bail to avoid arrest.
Others find it easier to abscond while some “surrender",
engaging clever lawyers to argue their case!
India’s downslide has been rapid. Most distressing is that it
doesn’t strike any cord anywhere. With every passing election
the phenomenon of criminals-turned politicos no longer creates
a ripple, let alone set the Ganges on fire. It has become an
accepted norm. 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.
Sadly, it is one of the main reasons for the deteriorating law
and order situation. It is also a given that the inability of
the State to arrest and prosecute politicos with criminal
antecedents is primarily because the State is part of the
problem and not the solution. Criminals protect the
illegitimate interests of politicians and in turn obtain
protection from them and their parties. This mutually
beneficial relationship works against the establishment of the
rule of law. As a consequence, the criminal justice system is
increasingly corrupted and manipulated. Notwithstanding
various Court judgments trying to cry a halt to this blatant
and brazen jiski lathi uski bhains dadagiri.
Look what happened to the Vohra Committee Report of 1995 which
said it all. But today the power daddies of crime, muscle,
money and mafia dismiss it as kid stuff. Running a parallel
government with established linkages with the bureaucrats,
Government functionaries at local levels, politicians, media
persons and strategically located individuals while pushing
the State apparatus into irrelevance. This decrepit state of
affairs is essential to the continued criminal hold on
legislatures across the country. The tragedy is that the
private face of our netas is ugly. It wins hands down over
their public mask.
There is no gainsaying that the growing Indian middle class is
not averse to electing criminals if they can become their
patrons and 'deliver the goods'? As a former Chief Minister
argued when quizzed about having 22 Ministers in his Cabinet
with criminal antecedents, "I don't bother about the
Ministers' past. After joining the Government, they are not
indulging in crimes and are ready to help suppress criminal
activities. Ask the people why they have elected them.” How do
you rebut this logic?
Why are political parties happy to adopt criminals as
candidates? Simply, because there is no rule of law. The State
has lost its Iqbal --- the authority to govern and arrest
those who break the law. Thanks to a weak police and legal
system which ensures that mafia-turned netagan get away with
murder. They are the law and rule by law: use force with
impunity, collect protection money, are as powerful as
official tax-collectors, settle disputes unlike the State
bogged down in legal wrangles and use loads of money to muscle
out honest candidates. Remember, Mayawati who auctioned MP and
MLA seats to the highest bidder. A milieu of jo jeeta woh
sikander, a vicious circle of you scratch my back, I scratch
yours!
Why do mafia dons invest large sums in getting a neta’s tag?
It is a ticket to continue extortions using political power,
gain influence and ensure that cases against them are dropped.
Thanks to legal delays, often abetted by political pressures,
make convictions of resourceful crooks rather rare. Besides,
the returns on political investments are so high and
profitable that criminals are disinclined to invest in
anything else. Thus, our system has unwittingly created huge
incentives for criminals to enter politics. Immortalised by
renowned Mumbai mafia don-turned MLA Arun Gawli: “Ab kis ka
dam hai ki mujhe encounter me maare. Now no politician can
give supari (contract killing) to any police officer or
gangster to kill me. Ab mere paas bullet proof jacket hai ---
and MLA tag”.
What of the future? Will we continue to put a premium on
criminality? Allow criminals to become netas? Basically, is it
good for our democracy to have scoundrels represent the
voters? When those who are supposed to lead become saboteurs,
it is time to call a spade a spade. A stop can only be put
once our polity picks up courage to end this trend. More
voices must be raised against criminalisation of politics and
ways found to reverse this growing malaise. Above all, we need
politicians who are men of conscience, integrity and
credibility. Not comrades in crime. ----- INFA
(Copyright India News & Feature Alliance)
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