भ्रष्टाचार: कुछ दोहे

Corruption : Some couplets

 by Surendra Bothra 'Manu'

किससे दुखडा रोइए, कौन सुने तकरीर,

राजनीति तो अब भई, गुंडों की जागीर।

Whom to complain? Who will hear the appeal?

These days politics has become the domain of rogues.

मंत्री-बाबू-द्वारपाल, सब करते हैं मांग,

किस-किस को समझाइए, पडी कुए में भांग।

Including minister, babu and peon, everyone puts forth demand.

Who all can be redeemed when the source of drinking water itself is drugged?

शासक शोषक बन गए, नेता हो गए नीच,

लूट रहे अब बेहया, हया सडक के बीच।

Administrators have become exploiters and leaders unscrupulous.

As a consequence the brazen are plundering honour in the middle of the road.

नेता वोटर से कहे, माता तेरी भूल,

ठगने पर भी चुन लिया, हिली देश की चूल।

Leader says to the public, ‘Mother! Fault lies with you not me. In spite of my swindling, you have reelected me and see, now the foundation of the country shakes.’

उनको मत चुनिये कभी, जिनके भीतर खोट,

संतति-सुख हित दीजिये, सोच समझ कर वोट।

Never elect those who are unscrupulous.

For the wellbeing of the progeny think before you vote.

संविधान की आड जब, शासक करते घात,

क्रान्ति ज्वाल तो जलेगी, बुरा न मानो तात।

Brother! Don’t mind but when rulers resort to striking under the guise of constitution, the flame of revolution is sure to burn.

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Does demolition drive not benefit the corrupt?

(What of honest answers, we don't even ask honest questions. )

The unholy alliance of bureaucracy and politics continues to push the most burning issue facing the country on the back burner. Although the public is well aware of that issue of corruption, it finds itself unable to bring that issue to the fore or its right priority – the first. The politician and bureaucrat combine has devised methods to find scapegoats or shift every issue of corruption behind some other issue of seemingly greater priority. The situation projected by them is miles away from the reality. They conveniently forget that widespread corruption is essentially associated with every other issue and problem the country faces. We should not forget that like in diabetes all organs of the human body are suspended in a corrosive liquid called sugar, in a corrupt system all organs of administration float in a corrosive liquid called corruption. Any plan theoretically healthy will turn out to be damaging in practice in such system. Thus solution to every problem essentially lies in first removing corruption. As long as corruption is not tackled every problem becomes a fuel for corruption and it continues to gain strength. It has acquired a demonic dimension that will consume everything including even the corrupt ultimately. But, in their inebriated state the corrupt fail to take notice of this and the non-corrupt turn a blind eye revealing lack of moral courage to renounce available facilities and comforts.

The most common and visible example of this malady is demolition drive. All unauthorized or illegal construction is a partnership enterprise simply because it is effortlessly visible. Demolition punishes only one partner. The other partner, a limb of administration, is left unpunished on one pretext or the other. Has any demolition drive anywhere included punishment of the corrupt and the negligent people in the system? After marking a place with encroachment or unauthorized construction, have they inquired that since when it exists and what action the responsible person in administration took? If no action was taken and the place fell under his jurisdiction why should he not be punished if not for corruption at least for dereliction of duty? And why the punishment should not be according to the graveness of the consequences of the neglect? Why should this action against administration not be taken prior to demolishing and punishing the other partner? Mostly the answers to all these questions are mere assurances that yes action will be taken in due course, and the due course is conveniently stretchable. In such conditions why should any such sudden enthusiastic demolition drive not be considered as a planned effort to create new sources of earning for the corrupt?

(VOTE NOT FOR A PARTY BUT FOR AN UPRIGHT PERSON.)

*****

How good is sensational exposure of crime?

When media highlights incidents of corruption, mismanagement, crimes and other social evils it is doing its rightful job for the benefit of the society and citizens. But there is a question the media- managers have to regularly ask themselves – 'Does their presentation effectively serve, as they planned, the citizen and the country or not?’ If they find that it is not bringing the desired results, should they not pause and find out why, and then be bold enough to make necessary adjustments?

In the prevailing state of affairs of law and order in the country, the perpetrators of crime get scot-free due to wide spread corruption at all levels. The politicians and bureaucrats are hardly brought to justice. The criminals enjoy all facilities even when in custody or prison. In such situation, when a crime is exposed and highlighted repeatedly, as is being done for TRP, does it really bring the criminal and the nexus between crime and corrupt administration to justice? No.

Now try to assess the impact of the repeated exposition by the media on the society. Instead of spreading the message that crime is being reduced and criminals are being punished through the exposure, it conveys that criminals are not punished in our system, no matter how strongly and vividly they are exposed. It asserts more emphatically in the minds of the common man that criminals with money and reach cannot be harmed. They are beyond the reach of the law and order machinery. This message acts as free publicity for the crime nexus to draw new apprentices from the petty criminals as well as the unemployed. It encourages the petty criminals to become bold and graduate to the glamorous level of Dons. It entices the youth in their formative years, to drift towards crime by breaking the yet-to-mature allegiance to ethical codes. If a proper study of crime scene in the past two decades is done, it would be no surprise if it is revealed that sensationalizing the crime has educated the criminals. It has in fact pushed even the fence sitters to choose the profession of crime. In these times when there are professional schools (terrorist camps) for training criminals, such sensationalizing proves detrimental to the social cause.

Why not consult social psychologists and other experts to produce a proper and responsible mix of sensational exposure and sane advise for the benefit of society?

Whom to vote for?

Ask yourself before deciding to vote—

When you choose a corrupt person as your representative and vote for him, are you not branding yourself as corrupt?