Anna's zero-tolerance policy will sober the army

Speaking of FSI (the current one, not the BJP dream -- so close to the US and yet so far, no wonder they're squabbling so much about who should be elected to the Senate, sorry Rajya Sabha), there is an allegation by a well-respected RTI activist Krishnarao that Mayank Gandhi of India Against Corruption had some not-so-savoury builder-developer dealings when he was part of an NGO involved in the cluster development of the Chira Bazaar area in Mumbai.

This is not a completely new allegation but the "how dare you suggest we are not above board" motto of Hazare and friends accepts no complaints. If you doubt them, you are clearly evil, corrupt, shameless, conscience-less, uncaring, callous and all the rest of it. It is another matter that Kiran Bedi's association with Vedanta is also being probed. This armed forces idea can shift the focus away from their own little tax fiddles and on to the larger issue -- the honour of India.

Back to the armed forces: Not only are officers openly stealing land meant for war widows to build flats for themselves, they are also walking around bribing each other on behalf of suppliers. This suggests a level of confidence in themselves and their colleagues that is commendable. The army chief says he was offered a bribe of Rs 14 crore over a year ago.

He tells the defence minister who clutches his head and tells the army chief to do something. So the army chief, who tends to forget things like his date of birth, only just remembers about the bribe while talking to a journalist. More, says the army chief will be revealed soon, especially the "sutradhar" of this conspiracy within the army.u00a0 This will include -- and I hope this is true for his sake -- someone who knows exactly how old he is. You can see that in his mind, DOB is more important than FSI and BOO (bribing other officers).