The currently ongoing case of Karti Chidambaram in CBI remand and the expectation that his father and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram may also be roped into the investigation is much in the headlines these days. There is one view that sees it as a welcome push towards removing corruption from the system, by punishing those in public life who are responsible for it. There is another view that this is a case of vendetta against political foes by those in power; an attempt to undermine and disarm the opposition.
Many have hailed the arrest of Karti Chidambaram as a vital move against corruption and an instance of the rich and powerful getting their just comeuppance. However, in the past couple of years, the rate of corruption in India has actually increased according to a report by Transparency International, a global coalition against corruption. India ranks 81st in the list; rated more corrupt than Suriname and keeping company with Ghana, Morocco and others. While Somalia is the most corrupt, New Zealand is the least corrupt.
India is also among the worst offenders when it comes to graft and press freedom. This is important because one of the important measures that help fight against corruption is the strengthening of protection for nongovernment and press organizations. The ordinance issued in Rajasthan to muzzle the press is a huge black mark upon the government and its intentions. Equity markets may be booming, but precedent has shown us how corruption can have a crushing impact even on growth and booming markets.
The Modi government is often accused of being selective in its prosecution. There was no action taken on leaders such as B S Yeddyurappa, who has been accused of various instances of corruption and unjust enrichment. He is currently the Karnataka BJP chief. In the Vyapam scam no action is seen to be taken on the ground. Ministers have been accused of bribe taking for various reasons as well as other misdemeanors but corrective action is thin on the ground; in fact in BJP ruled UP, cases against the Chief Minister and others have actually been withdrawn.
Karti Chidambaram has accused the government of playing vendetta politics and being selectively vindictive towards political opponents. Congress allies have called these intimidatory tactics aimed at subjugating opponents by any means possible. While such claims are only to be expected from the Congress and its allies and may or may not be true; there is a third view: that all of the currently ongoing drama is mere optics.
Here is why the Karti Chidambaram case is little more than mere optics. The current dispensation has never shown itself to be truly committed to fighting corruption or punishing corrupt people. Case in point - the Jan Lokpal is still pie in the sky. During the UPA rule, the then opposition had made a huge deal about the 2G scam. However when the matter was decided, all the accused were absolved for ‘lack of evidence’.
Before the Modi led government came to power in 2014, much noise was made about the ‘corrupt damaad’ Robert Vadra and his shady business dealings and we heard many promises that he would be brought to book. Nothing of the sort happened and in the four years that the current dispensation has had, little progress has been seen. With Karti Chidambaram as well, the CBI appears to be basing its prosecution upon the testimony of a co-accused in the same INX media case and murder accused, Indrani Mukherjea. The evidence here as well is likely to be so thin that he will be let off in the end.
The timing of the Karti Chidambaram’s arrest also appears suspect. It was made at a time when he was returning to India from abroad; (hence not a flight risk) and at a time when the PNB and Nirav Modi scam was putting pressure on the government to act and the government had to be seen to be doing something; anything.
One could call it diversionary tactics or one could call it vendetta. I feel that the third view – that this is all optics involving smoke and mirrors in which no real culprit will be made to pay – is probably the most accurate. In Indian politics it is all a case of I scratch your back and you scratch mine. In the end no one will pay; the Indian public will have been hoodwinked yet again.
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