The authors of the constitution of India may have never dreamt of a situation that the representatives of the people in the parliament, leading the country could cover themselves under a cloak of protection, even if convicted by a court of law.
Gone are the days, when the leaders talked about high moral values, abhorred opulence and were symbols of simplicity. Days of expensive siren blaring sedans, cavalcade of dozens of guzzling SUVs and chasing security personnel to open the doors are too a common sight.
The country had rarely witnessed scams and people were patriotic. When the trains with soldiers, chugging to the borders, stopped at any station, women willingly parted with their gold ornaments and wished victory of our motherland, in its defence against its enemies. The patriotism has vanished today simply because we find most leaders unclean and have given up the future to fate.
Money and materialism has become the mainstay of life, pushing the sedentary ones away from sight. Even while reporting scams, the public and the press are unconcerned and lose interest fast, if the amount is small. We have got used to large sums being mentioned, Telgi’s lakhs of crores stamp scam, Hassan’s 35000 crores hawala scam, Raja’s 1.75 lakh crores 2G scam, Coalgate, IPL gate, Kalmadi gate, Defence gate, Navy secrets leak and many more such, resulting in scathing attack by the courts and the CAG. Various welfare schemes announced seem merely as a mode to gobble down a bulk of the money.
When the Supreme Court ordered that convicted leaders have to forego their seats, there was palpable commotion against the leaders, cutting across party hues. Unbridled corruption has become the watchword in today’s politics and shame has vanished from the face of the accused leaders. India watched with horror and disbelief, when the Government, with the support of other major political parties agreeing to support the ordinance negating the Supreme Court ruling on convicted leaders.
It is time to instill hope and confidence in the mind of the hapless citizens of India and only the President of India can do it by returning the ordinance. In its war by the legislature to assert its supremacy over the Judiciary, it seems the Government has exceeded its brief and led itself in quicksand. India is watching and should respond soundly to kick the corrupt out of Parliament. Will we?
