Corruption IN THE VICIOUS CIRCLE

It is clear to the law-abiding, ordinary citizens of India that the corruption and abject degradation of the law and order authority in the country has become a way of life, something horrendous and nightmarish that people are forced to contend with. In areas where our tribal communities and other less privileged castes traditionally live, exploitation has been rampant for decades, conducted by an inept and increasingly rapacious police force and bureaucracy that are hand-in-gloves with those business people desperate to take over lands, rich in both mineral and timber resources, that do not belong to them. Mandated to ensure that the laws of the land and other vital mechanisms of civil society function and operate fairly for all, this class of professionals has, in fact, abused those people they were meant to protect.

 

Tackling the problem will require radical thinking that ensures the rights of an exploited people as well as the protection of the State from militancy and assault. The authority has to be cleansed with determined force and all allegiances it has with the business mafias will have to be brutally severed. The corrosion is so deeply embedded that even series of chemotherapy will not suffice. Governments have turned a blind eye to the corruption and rape of the natural wealth of India, with ministers and senior bureaucrats referring to this 'movement' against the State as a law and order problem. The negligence has now come home to roost. The monster that was created and then used for profit, has begun to swallow its creators. High-handed tactics are not the answer. The government at the helm today cannot afford to assault its own citizens.

 

Like a plague

 

What we are witnessing is the direct result of failed governance over the decades. A faulty and corrupt administration that rules the far-flung rural districts across this land, a police force in cahoots with those who break the law, and the destructive nexus of the State, politicians and businessmen, sometimes the mafias, have to be restructured immediately. Officers need to be made accountable for their deeds. Simultaneously, the local administrator needs to be ordered to deliver the goods and services to the people. As the process of dignified, honest and transparent governance kicks in, the affected people will wean themselves away from their militant leaders. Strangely, what more often than not starts as a protest movement for righting the wrongs, becomes a wrong over time, and the vicious circle haunts society and spreads like the plague.

 

This Maoist movement is the product of decades of corrupt governance, and is, in fact, a social uprising of millions of Indians who have been subjected to neglect and exploitation for decades. The State paid them no attention till they picked up arms to make themselves heard. Military action will not diffuse the tension. Honest delivery of goods and services will subdue it, and gradually isolate the violence. Nothing else can work. Will this government alter the course, be practical, compassionate and accept the fact that the violent protests stemmed from decades of faulty administration?

 

The saga unfolding in Karnataka clearly illustrates how money can exploit with ruthless persistence and how the political class finally succumbs to that illegitimate clout. A weeping chief minister is seen smiling 24 hours later, raising his hand entwined with that of his arch opponent, with the smiling woman victor from Bellary looking on. Sushma Swaraj won 'unopposed' from Bellary and brokered the 'peace'. Rural development was sacrificed for 'peace' and for a possible change of land-use. It is that kind of reality that triggers what we call a Maoist upsurge. Nothing has stopped. It continues in full public view, endorsed by the State.