Monday, January 3, 2011

......but who killed credibility???

Ma, Tujhe Salaam…. but….Who Killed Credibility….?

It has to be said : 2010 will be marked by historians as the year India sold out! And sold out in such shameless and brazen manner that the jaws that had dropped when the first few scandals hit the headlines, remain dropped till today. As we sing ‘Auld Lang Syne’ and bid another Rotten Year good bye, there is nothing much to cheer in the coming months. The Central Bureau of Ineptitude ( CBI ) has done it again! With the embarrassingly gauche handling of the Aarushi murder case, the spotlight is focused once more on a body that needs another body to replace it!Why bother to go into CBI’s lapses when ‘no evidence’ is the staple? Either we dismantle this thoroughly useless organization, which has been manipulated by politicians over the years and used as a torture instrument to browbeat and intimidate citizens, or we restructure it and get more transparency into its functioning. But will that ever happen? Na bhai, na.Too many mighty heads will roll .If one takes the Aarushi bungling as but a single example of how clumsily things are run in India, it can act as a case study for all the rest of the muck flying around freely – from Lalit Modi, Suresh Kalmadi, A.Raja and of course, Fearless Radia. Combine that with the entrenched belief that not a single well connected crook gets caught or is thrown into the clink, and that not a single state of India is free of monumental corruption at every level, and you get a pretty sordid picture of the country’s future. India’s Gallery of Rogues doesn’t begin or end with the Usual Suspects ( the ones named earlier). These are just a few high profile people who got caught with their hands in the cookie jar. And pray, why or how did they get caught? Because those even higher up in the food chain wanted them to face the music, take the rap – either for deals that soured, or relationships that got corroded – and keep those big mouths sealed. To come back to the grisly murder of an innocent 14- year-old girl ( Aarushi ), whose case has been summarily closed by the CBI claiming a lack of evidence, one wonders at the felicity with which it was done. Does it mean Aarushi’s assailant committed the perfect murder? Or does it mean nobody wants the criminal behind this heinous act to be caught? The answer is obvious when one studies what is known – that files went missing, crucial evidence was destroyed, and all the suspects now walk free. Extraordinary? Nope. Expected . It’s time to pay attention to Ratan Tata’s Banana Republic reference . The Aarushi case is an apt symbol of all that is loathsome in our system. It’s now official : The powerful and the well-connected can and do get away with murder.
Never has the morale of most Indians been this low. While shock waves over the vile deeds of a Lalit Modi and Suresh Kalmadi were still rocking the nation, we shook our heads and made those ‘tch tch’ noises with our tongues to suggest ‘This is terrible… but badey log have always played such games…. And at least these two have been caught!” How sweetly we fooled ourselves! Caught? Sure. But who will dare to punish them? They know too much about too many Sacred Cows. And that’s really what’s eating India’s innards. In the old days, there were two or three Sacred Cows squeezing the country of all its resources. Now, the Sacred Cow population has doubled, trebled and gone through the roof ! There is a hierarchy even in this Cow Shed. And those in the know are aware of that order – nobody dares to take on ‘those people’ (in- laws and out laws) who are seen as dangerous …even more dangerous than the D-Gang. And to think we ‘trust’ these mighty netas. Not just to serve India’s interests on every level – defence , the economy, terrorism - but most importantly, to be the moral barometres for citizens. If the State fails us on all these levels, whom do we turn to? Aaha – this is where Binayak Sen and others come in. Why has Sen become a folk hero…. a martyr? Because we know, almost instinctively… intuitively… that he represents our interests in the long run. That we need a Sen to remind us of higher goals, of deeper truths. 2011 saw the Maoists emerging as the most visible force of dissent and rebellion.Or more accurately, the ‘Maoist Menace’ could no longer be ignored or wished away. Forced into acknowledging them, our Home Minister along with his colleagues decided to make them the Bogey Bears du jour. It suited everybody… the heat generated by other scams was getting too hot to handle – if the Maoists threat was not for real, we would have had to create it! But since the Maoists weren’t in the backyard of those sprawling kothis in Delhi, or at the imposing gates of corporate headquarters in Mumbai, the ‘ Maoist problem’ could be intellectually debated over television, hastily buried and resurrected at will.
However,nothing got India’s goat as much as the Fearless Radia tapes. Those revealing and damaging tapes established incontrovertibly that the State had ears and eyes everywhere… that nothing but nothing was ‘private’ in our so-called democracy. If that wasn’t scary enough, the tapes also established the new pecking order in which some old war horses were exposed as bleating goats, and several holier than thou personalities displayed less than noble characteristics. The most shocking outcome was the utter and total ‘beizzatti’ of venerated mediawallas. Perhaps, that was the last straw in the Credibility Stakes. When respected journalists sold out, when judges were deemed corrupt, when cops colluded with politicians to cover up big and small crimes, when netas became daakus, when murders and kidnappings became routine… and India itself was repeatedly raped by the very people who were meant to protect it…we, the people woke up… and wept. Well, it’s time to dry those tears and act. Kick a few butts for starters…
Can we… will we…? Or is it just far easier to sit back and allow India to sink even lower in 2011?
I am an incorrigible optimist. I’d like to end this tumultuous decade by saying , “The rot stops here.”
‘Jhanda Ooncha Rahey Hamara…..”

Happy New Year, readers!!

15 comments:

Unknown said...

This article aptly describes all that ails the Indian political scene ..and beyond. We must however explore the dark alleys of the sport legends to uncover a few more skeletons hidden behind the God-like giant posters.

All said & done, its time for the real India to wake up, rub its eyes real good & forget the "but"s & kick some real hard butt!

Anonymous said...

Shobha,

Happy New Year.
In one of my earlier comment in your blog, i categorically stated, that we should accept the fact that we are a Banana Republic, but then people like me, we are aam junta.

Like you, i too am an optimist. In the late 90s, whenever any youngsters came to me for tips on travel/immigration to so called greener pastures. I would advise them to check out the place themselves for six months, then take the plunge, as each individual has his/her own choice.
Oh No! i am not in the travel/immigration business, but have traveled a lot.
I would also add that India was looking up. That,there was a very bright future for the youth here in India itself. Little did i know what lay ahead. Yes we did/are doing very well, BUT, these insects (could be a few of them, but now.....)have taken the cake, cream and messed up what could have been Heaven.
The SOBs are really living off the poor.
But there is HOPE.

Cheers!

Norman

Divya (Virmani) Chadda said...

This murder case gives the chills to every reader. I too, had planned to write my next blog on Aarushi. But don't know exactly where to begin??? Should I feel sorry for her and her family or should I blurt out things for our corrupt CBI and politicians. Yet another year gone by and absolutely no change in our country. It's getting worse day by day and I doubt it'll get any better than what it is right now...
Pathetic !

sathish vasudevan said...

the first of Jan and me coming down the Hill from OOty, read this article in DC .. Yes let the Rot stops here.
HAPPY NEW YEAR... Shobhaa

All Kaps said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Pooja Rathore said...

CBI's take on arushi case is shameful ( its been very long - i was hoping that truth will come out,Mr moily( law minister has told them to get serious which makes very clear that had someone not voiced THe CbI would have happily closed the case , looks like as in Jessicas case we the people have to do something.
you are right about Maoist ignore them at nations peril ( serious issue you highlighted in your book superstar India).
But one thing is sure 2011 will bring the change .
Happy New year! Keep negativity at arms length and most important( the advice which you always give) Stay Positive.
Love

Yogesh Balaine said...

Oh my God! Why do we think and talk of such awful things when we have such wonderful people as Sachin Tendulkar and Liz to look at and admire. But I guess it's still short of complete entertainment. Please join me in my pursuit to convince the Indian Governmnet and the people of India to allow at least 1 million IPL teams to play. Each village should have a team barring some small shanties. Also about a lakh or two movies need to be launched every week. I know we have a long way to go. Hence will need all your support and encoragement to make it a real success. We will then be free of such troubled thoughts and be really really happy and entertained.

Latha said...

The year started with Mayawati's garland of Rs 5 crores, (as if her 'n' number of statues throughout UP is not enough.)& ended with the cvc scam, onion prices, (vegetable hoarding - imagine buying onions from Pakisthan for double the price for which we sold them !)City bank scam - why nobody is mentioning it ? People are ashamed to talk about a pitiful Rs 100 crore scam in front of Rs 1,60,000,0000000 scam. Arnab started to expose UP's food scam saying that it is a bigger scam of 2,00,000,0000000 in UP alone & all the states have similar stories to tell. (Snatching the bread from the mouths of the poorest of the poor.) But he wisely shut up about the matter. Zindagi kisko pyari nahin hai ?
And now Digvijay Singh is in the soup by opening his mouth at odd times to ask, 'Who killed Karkare ?' I really pity him. A gullible guy who thinks that martyres are to be remembered. In this country ? Martyres are best forgotten & their rewards snatched.
If Sachin Tendulkar was not born in India, we would not have had one good news to hear.
"Jhanda Ooncha Rahey Hamara" - raat ko koi aake use bhi bechne se pehle.
“The rot stops here.”
In 2011 all eez going to be well. After all we've been optimistic for no less than 67 years. Baaki ke zindagi bhi aise hi katenge. Bali ke bakromko choice hai kya ?

Latha said...

Forgot to mention Yediyurappa's land grabbing scam. He had been busy distributing all the land in Karnataka among his sons in law, their brothers in law & those brothers in law's sisters in law. All these outlaws are jointly looting Karnataka. Leave alone the 'lok ayuktha', the people's representatives, he doesn't even care about the Governor. And why should he ? Is there anybody in a position to question him ? All of them are in rivers of soup. It will take ages for the Congress to come out of their various soups. So he has decided to strike the iron while it is hot. By the time his regime ends there will not be an inch of land in Karnataka which wouldn't belong to his brethern by benami.

Anonymous said...

Good News! It had to be a Woman to show the way.

"Sexually harassed" Lady Kills Rapist BJP MLA.

Although we do not approve killing of any human, but an animal????

Hope and Pray that this is a lesson, especially for the the Bs who think that they are Powerful, and that no one can touch them.

Shobha, me thinks that the peoples prayers are being answered, that too in the first week of the new decade.
Be Careful you rogues, rascals and misfits....
Cannot imagine the CM wanting to give the rapist a State funeral. Shocking!
Jai Hind!


Norman

Anonymous said...

Sorry, I did not mean Animal, Animal. Yes an animal is far better. I should have said Satan.

Thanks

Norman

Yogesh Balaine said...

Hey Hey Hey. Take it easy Latha. You are taking the Shobhaa way. Sachin is selling runs and you both wanna sell words. But you aren't sure what to do. Are you? Maybe you two don't watch enough cricket or movies. Recommend a heavy dose of both. You'll forget all the scary stuff. Meanwhile we are working really hard to push the accelerator on to enhance the entertainment avenues. Take a chill pill and do pitch in by sponsoring an IPL team of your city/society/village. The more the merrier. I assure you that you'll feel a lot better soon. Good night.

Divya (Virmani) Chadda said...

I finally wrote the article... here you go
http://divyavirmani.blogspot.com/

Anil Kumar said...

I have been saying all the ills in the society for last 3 years...Be it IPL, be it honest but spinesless primeminister, Nexus of media with Bollywood to create a monster nude society, corruption, non-existence of honest police and judiciary.

Off course I have used filthy language for all these HARAAM ke Pilley.

Can we OUTSOURCE the corrupt politicians and beaurecrats to be tried in USA and China on corruption charges. I am sure this will work.

Anonymous said...

This is a sad article. Must have been written after an all night drinking binge. To get this depressed you need to get very very drunk the night before. Keep up the sad work. Or rather "keep on diving to the depths of melancholy".