From Adarsh to Commonwealth

Corruption Hatao is the mantra of the moment

The Big C is on India's mind right now. From land scams to Anna Hazare it is all about cleaning up the country. So says Generation Next. Hypocritical or truly serious, can the movement sustain itself? Users on social media sites abuzz with the corruption hatao mood of the moment, has even suggested that India needs a revolution like the current Arab Spring to purge the nation of its sinners. The Adarsh building scam is a milestone in the movement and here is a widely circulated piece on the Internet, supposedly written by an unidentified retired Army colonel. There is nothing to corroborate the claim - but is an indicator of what people are talking about and thinking.u00a0u00a0


Symbol of shame: The Adarsh building

The piece:
'The method of Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scamsters of Mumbai was disarmingly simple. They simply co-opted in their scam whoever looked like standing in the way. If we judge the strategy by its results, it was spectacularly successful. It indeed disarmed everybody. From just 30-odd members, the eventual group grew to more than a 100. Each new entrant not only removed a roadblock on the way but also increased the size of the cake. Thus, someone got the land title, someone the extra FSI. Someone got clearances, someone else made the Army and the Navy objections softer. They all became members.

The scary bit about the scam is not that it happened. It is that in the entire chain, there was not one man (or woman) who refused to compromise himself (or herself). There was not one person whose integrity stood its ground in the face of temptation. About the bureaucrats and the ministers, we always knew. The really sickening part is that it went on all the way to at service chiefs.

And for what? A sea-facing apartment in Mumbai, worth perhaps Rs 8 crore. So there, you have the price of this country. For a combined booty of no more than Rs 800 crore, you could buy the entire system. Our enemies reading about this can now rest their weapons. The message they get is that if they face the mighty Indian Army they only need to wave the allotment letters of a plush apartment.

And lo! The battle is won. If chiefs go for 1,000 sq ft of Mumbai real estate, how much should the poor battlefield commander go for? A Shanghai penthouse, or a cottage in Murree? If, after this, a soldier winces at such an order, can he be faulted? Now there have been offers to return the flats, professing ignorance about the fact that land was meant for martyrs' families. As if that is the only thing wrong about the deal. It was stinking from start to finish and if the top brass could not smell any of it, the forces have a lot to answer for the kind of persons they select for their top most posts.

No, gentlemen, you have let down the proud institutions you headed. You have let down your colleagues who must suffer the suspicions you have aroused. You have let down your country that decorated you so much. Worst of all, you have let down that soldier who saluted you day in and day out. You owe him anu00a0 apology, not just a glib explanation. About others, the less said the better. They occupy some of the most plum posts and yet possess all the integrity of a pickpocket. It is no wonder India has climbed further in the corruption ladder. Merely dispossessing these scamsters of their ill-gotten apartment would be no punishment. They need to be dismissed from service and prosecuted for being unworthy custodians of our trust.u00a0