CROOKS UNTIL PROVED INNOCENT
It has become fashionable in some puppy (politically upwardly mobile) circles in India to idolise East Asian models of authoritarian capitalism and yearn for discipline and order. But, surely, democracy has to be alive and kicking in a country where its institutions throw the top political elite behind bars and force others to resign in a scandal that is gigantic even by Indian standards?
It is not as if the Indian people thought their leaders were squeaky clean, benevolent visionaries. They have no illusions, and a politician is regarded as a crook until proved innocent. A poll this month by an Indian newsweekly found that 45 percent of its readers believed "all" politicians are crooks. Another 51 percent thought "a significant number" cannot be trusted.
The fact that political heavyweights from across the political spectrum stand accused in what has come to be known as "HawalaGate" has led to speculation that all will somehow wriggle out of the law's grasp. But India's functioning anarchy has ensured that the judicial machinery—however rusty and slow—is creaking into action and justice is on its way to the once mighty of the land.
This too-hot-to-handle scandal would in most likelihood have been brushed under the charpoy like previous scams had it not been for a couple of crusading journalists who filed a public interest litigation in the Supreme Court, which in turn decided to breathe down the neck of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
All three Congress ministers tainted in the scam have resigned. For a time it looked like the scandal had delivered a fatal blow to the chances of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning the April elections. Its leader, Lal Krishna Advani, promptly relinquished his seat in Parliament and vowed not to contest elections until his name is cleared. While Advani's future may be uncertain, his action was seen as quick damage control on behalf of the party.
However, going by the "smoking gun" theory of motive, it was Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao who benefited the most by deciding to let the CBI loose on the nation's politicians. In one stroke, he stood to decapitate the BJP, neutralise troublesome colleagues within the Congress party, and come out of the dungheap smelling like a rose.
Good thinking, but the stink is now enveloping Rao as well together with his supposedly spiritual and temporal guru: the controversial Chandraswami, whom the Indian media loves to call a "godman".
Now, as India's power elite shakily contemplates its fate, an intense debate has begun on the role of money in electioneering. It was slush funds from big business to politicos at election time that spawned the hawala scam in the first place. An average election in India used to see an estimated INR 670 million dangled as bait before politicians. In post-liberalisation India, the figure is bound to be much higher. However, the fear of diary-writing gift-givers and the humiliation of public exposure may curb the temptation temporarily, at least till the upcoming elections.
Accountability is fast becoming the name of the game not only for those named in the Jain Dairy but also to those powerful satraps who once lorded over their fiefdoms with little fear of all the shady stuff catching up with them.
Already, HawalaGate has unleashed a series of scam-lets across India. In Bihar, Janata Dal president and Chief Minister, Lalloo Prasad Yadav, has found some dirt sticking to his hitherto spotless kurta. Down South, the seemingly invincible "Walking Goddess", Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha, finds herself under scrutiny for hosting extravaganzas like her foster son´s wedding. And the Supreme Court has blown the lid off another huge housing scam involving heftier amounts than the Hawala loot.
In Hindu mythology, it was the churning of the ocean that squeezed out the ambrosia. There is still a chance that the present corruption upheaval will make Indian elections slightly cleaner.