UPA celebrates its anniversary leaving the Indian Society in Doldrums

Pawan Bansal, Ashwani Kumar, IPL, Srinivasan… There is a subtle message in the trail . Indian society has lost its ethical framework and value system has degraded to an abyss.
 

It is merely the legal framework which exists and guides our society today. This is an extremely dangerous situation. Any legal system, however strong, is open to manipulation. Legal manipulations are not necessarily achieved through corrupt practices but also through a web of bureaucratic procedures. Moreover, the legal framework of a country works to ensure application of law. It is not expected to control the unethical misconduct of its citizens.

 

The congress government has worked with two simple dictums; you are innocent and are qualified to lead a normal political career till you are convicted by a court. Till the time either Law enforcement agencies or the judiciary don’t intervene, you may go unabated.

 

PM says he didn’t know about 2G and neither was he having sordid details on coal allocation. Other senior minister P Chidambaram has similar opinion on his responsibility. Sonia Gandhi is not aware of Robert Vadra’s business acumen. All of them have been proven correct by the courts. However, many important questions remain unanswered.

Has the Country’s current leadership not killed the ethical framework of our society by setting examples? Have they not created a culture where “only legal scrutiny” matters and moral fabric made meaningless? Have they not dealt a body blow to our civilization and its future by shunning their ownership?

 Let us take the case of IPL. It is a classic case study for unethical business practices. IPL was started as a reaction to ICL (ZEE group), so on a stolen idea.  I am providing a few key observations below:

• BCCI had banned all the players associated with ICL and didn’t allow ICL to use any of its stadiums across the country, a brazen case of killing competition using its clout and creating a monopoly. ZEE went to the courts, but lost. However, ethical issues remain unanswered.
• BCCI president, Mr. Srinivasan was allowed to own CSK, which was a clear case of “conflict of interest”.  He gave senior level employment to MS Dhoni in his company, India cements. Thus Dhoni was paid through the back door. This simply flouted the norm of a fixed “player kitty” for all the teams. This is again not illegal and therefore it was considered okay.
• IPL post match parties have been talk of the town, even in tier two towns like Jaipur and Hyderabad. Page 3 are splashed with pictures and stories, which may best be politely described as sleazy. However, converting a sporting event into a sleazy affair is hardly illegal and therefore continued unabated.

We were silently watching this sordid saga till the betting racket was busted. BCCI president’s son-in-law and the Team Chennai’s principal has come under the betting cloud. It is a matter of time when Mr. Srinivasan will resign albeit claiming innocence. He may be proved so in the courts of law because the courts are guardians of law and not the ethical framework of a society.

Coming back to the political class, Pawan Bansal may claim innocence by acting ignorant about the acts of his nephew. Mr. Bansal has not done anything “legally” wrong by allowing his nephew to operate from the office and official bungalow. This is so very common in the Indian middle class where relatives flock around a successful person.

Ashwani Kumar had "merely" invited the law officials, CBI, PMO and coal ministry officials in his office. Supreme Court has not convicted the ex-minister yet albeit the SC may have shared its observations. Therefore, the congress party and the minister still maintain that they have not done anything “legally” wrong. Also, professional  conduct related to conflict of interest, flouting of norms, breach of professional independence etc. are seldom indicted by the courts.

 

Any society builds its own checks and controls to regulate the conduct its citizens. Laws are augmented with a comprehensive social value system to build a prosperous civilization. However, we seem to be fast losing our value system. UPA is celebrating its anniversary whereas the Indian society is transcending into doldrums.