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Stung reaction, no action
In true political style, what is under discussion is the imposition of a ban on sting operations instead of debating legal action on those shown to be corrupt
Delhi’s political corridors are all abuzz with the news of various political lobbies working towards imposing a ban on any sting operation conducted by the media in future. I wonder if there is any possibility of this buzz turning into reality in the near future. Rewinding to the comments of some of my politician friends, I have gathered that the argument in defence of abolishing sting operation is that the US doesn’t allow such freedom to the media. Thus, there was no need to give the Indian media so much power.
Aping of the West continues. So if sting operations are a strict no-no in the West, we have every reason not to allow it in India. I will come back to that later but let me first share a personal anecdote.
A couple of days back, I was surfing the net when I chanced upon an article in a column titled ‘Bizarre’. I thought it was one of those outlandish bits of information that are of little use, but are nonetheless, interesting. But to my utter surprise, I found that it was a report on how a US army officer had been arrested for stealing between $ 80,000 and $ 100,000 in funds from the US governing administration in Iraq, and was using the money to install a deck and hot hub in her New Jersey home.
The US Justice Department had said that the Army Reserve Lt. Col Debra Harrison, 47, who served with the Coalition Provisional Authority, was arrested on charges involving bribery, money laundering and fraud. According to court papers, Harrison and her co-conspirators accepted money and gifts in return for using their official positions to rig contract bids.
Now what happened in the US is not particularly my concern. What was disturbing for me was the fact that, while a uniformed person accepting bribes makes it to the bizarre section abroad, in our country it is simply viewed as commonplace. What is an exception or an aberration in the West has sadly become a mundane event in our country.
With the consecutive exposés on scams, will any of my editor friends here even spend a second thinking about whether to carry a report on the MPs on sale for Rs 10,000 story in their ‘bizarre’ column?
Unfortunately, the India that we live in has reached such a state that even my eight-year-old daughter doesn’t consider it outlandish if she hears a tale of politicians accepting bribes or even misusing their official powers. For her, it’s as predictable as the ending of a romantic Hindi film with the hero and heroine walking to the horizon with the ‘and they lived happily ever after’ slogan blinking in the backdrop.
And what a paradox since in reality too, all the MPs caught in the bribe scandal, where after expulsion, they too are ‘living happily ever after’. The shock factor is completely missing. For all you know, the day is not far when we are likely to spot the news of someone refusing to take a bribe in our ‘bizarre’ columns. And that brings us to the point of whether we ought to allow political lobbies with vested interests to amend our rules, citing the example of a matured society like that in the US?
It’s but natural that those who have been caught by the hidden cameras, as well as others who are haunted by the fear of being exposed any day, will want to give a hogwash to the nation and curb the freedom of press. Comparisons with the US and raising questions on journalistic ethics are the only escapes left to salvage whatever is left of their tainted image.
I am told that, for argument’s sake, the lobbying agents want to float a concept of abolishing the sting operation in the interest of ‘social good’. But how long are we going to allow our netas to play with our innocence? Isn’t it time we removed those rose-tinted glasses and saw through the scheme of things?
India lives by its own rules and let’s not be blinded by the great American dream. This will not help to take the reality away. Ignoring the disease and attacking the diagnosis will not help anyone. There are countless Indians struggling to get one chapati at night and perhaps no less a number of ethical guardians — some of our do-gooder MPs — striking a cash-for-query deal. Shouldn’t we have lights, camera and most importantly ACTION on them, as a first step?
