Congress’ Agusta Voyage

There was a time when India was known by its great leaders like Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekananda,  Rani Laxmibai, Subhash Chandra Bose, Gandhiji, Sardar Patel, Gopabandhu Dash  and many more. But now our new generation is confused with our spicy political leaders like A Raja, Kanimozhi, Kalmadi, Bangaru Laxman and many more. The list of corrupt leaders is so long that it cannot be accommodated here. The soul of the country is being afflicted with several cuts in the forms of scams and corruption charges each day. Going by the media reports and 24-hour news channels we feel as if nothing is happening in this country except corruption. There is a mad race among the politicians being involved in huge amount of corruption cases. And even after involved in neck-deep corruption , in democracy they are again elected and becoming icons of our country. Now the country is rocked by the kickbacks and corruption in the AgustaWestland helicopter deal. What has raised the political temperature in the country is the naming of Indians in the Air Force, bureaucracy and politicians, in the judgement by the Milan court, who took money from a middleman of the sellers during the negotiation and signing of the agreement for the purchase of 12 Westland helicopters for use of VVIPs. The names range from the former Air Force Chief S.P. Tyagi and his relatives, the then Defence Secretary, one AP and many others. There is no doubt that mention of Signora Gandhi and others in the judgement of the Italian court is no "clinching" evidence. But why were these names mentioned, if there was no case for it? Is the Italian court playing politics in India? It gives a clear lead that these powerful politicians were "managed" to clinch the deal. Similarly, it is alleged that twenty-odd journalists were "managed" either to report slanted versions of the report on the deal or to refrain from reporting the reality. This is shameful and a section of the media completely avoided condemning the journalists in this sordid deal. Can anyone believe that this deal running into crores of rupees would have been initiated and concluded without higher-ups in the UPA government not knowing about the details? Sonia was the chairperson of the UPA Advisory Council during UPA rule and it is naive to suggest that she did not know about the deal. The very fact that Congressmen and women have gone overboard to proclaim Congress leaders’ presumed innocence is the mockery of the seriousness of the issue at hand: corruption. For the first time in India's history have wellknown political personalities of the day been named as "interfering" in the matter of what is expected to be a technical decision. Clearly, the distinction between legislature, judiciary and the executive was blurred by the act of undeniably the scam-ridden UPA-II government. So, mere statements brushing things under the carpet remind one of Bofors and the involvement of Italians.

Here, it is apt to say, if there is no guilt on the part of all those who are named in Italian court's records, will all these people give a voluntary undertaking to the Supreme Court of India, where the matter will eventually land, that till the investigations and the consequent legal proceedings are not completed, they would not leave the country even on medical grounds and deposit their passports with the SC until their names are cleared from the allegations of bribery? For, the Supreme Court of India is the saviour of the common man and the defender of the law as laid down by the Constitution of India. For, the high and the mighty behave in such a manner as if they were above the law of the land. And against this backdrop, it is the apex court that hauls up the law-breakers and admonishes them for being law-breakers. The current political leadership of the Congress cannot rise to the challenge. Its focus is solely on grabbing votes with blatantly false promises and alluring freebies at the cost of the exchequer. Only the judiciary is equipped and empowered to stem the rot, notwithstanding the fact that it has its own internal problems to solve. It is entirely apt to believe that the Supreme Court has come in to rescue the country where other institutions seem to fail. However, it is ironic while the Italy court punished those people who gave bribe to Indian counterparts, in India those who received that money are acquitted by politicians. I see no media or newspaper is seriously looking at this. Probably, they would have thought scam related with Congress or UPA was nothing special and no need to worry about that. The silence of the Left Front, who makes huge hullabaloo at the drop of a hat, is also noteworthy. So, the government at the Centre, instead of wasting its time only on discussions, should appoint a high-level judicial inquiry commission with judges with impeccable character to probe and submit the proceedings, clearly mentioning the real culprits who took the bribe from the Italians. The government should provide maximum help to this commission so that the report is submitted in time and culprits could be brought to book.