We, Goans are largely hypocritical when it comes to tackling corruption. Everybody would like to fight it, but when it comes to taking concrete action, most run for cover, and on the contrary support the corrupt, despite knowing very well that they have looted us of our meagre public funds. We are a breed of queue jumpers. In our society, a person’s status is determined by the extent to which he or she is able to get away with violation of law and procedures.
This has been amply demonstrated during the investigation in the infamous JICA bribery scam, when scores of people shamelessly surrounded their tainted political masters in a show of solidarity and inorder to intimidate the Crime Branch of the Goa Police (investigation agency) from arresting the accused who are allegedly involved in embezzling the State public exchequer. Mind you, these are not the illiterate and one who are not sure of their one square meal of the day, but the highly literate and those who called themselves the elite and the creamy layer of the Goan community. These included priests, the so-called holymen, who conducted special religious sessions and vehemently prayed for God‘s intervention in the matter, so that the culprits involved in the scam, safely escape out from the grip of the long arm of the law. And this even while projecting God as the unscrupulous protector and saviour of the rogues and scoundrels who are accused of looting the common people, particularly the poor and the downtrodden. Universal belief of all religions is that God loves the poor and definitely not the rich and the powerful, leave alone those who have amassed their wealth through corrupt means.
It is unfortunate that our moral fabric has worn rather thin. People recognize the enormous moral deficit faced by us – even the illiterates are willing to make a difference between the ‘more corrupt’ and the ‘less corrupt’, but at the same time people are reluctant to take up the issue. The reason often given is, they find abuse of values practically everywhere.
Experts argue that people have been so bombarded with evidence of social evils, that they have developed callousness. Corruption has become institutionalized and a negotiable instrument of pragmatism, and as a result very few feel outraged by its widening tentacles. There was a time, perhaps a few decades ago, when it did produce a feeling of dismay, because a few respectable people at that time had mounted withering attacks on corruption out of a sense of both outrage and anguish. Corruption, morality, honesty and integrity were the words often used when they analysed the assets and liabilities of people in public life. The number of such truly respectable people with voice of authority, has dwindled sharply.
There has always been something naive or pathetic about these outpourings. These people try to give the impression of being deeply hurt and upset by the cancerous spread of corruption in public places, whereupon they proceed to drop names of venerable seers and leaders who lived and died for their people. This faithful quarrel is regularly repeated in the hope of building or refurbishing an image which impresses nobody in particular.
Our hypocrisy is obvious from the fact that even though we pass legislations for fighting corruption, we do not want to implement them effectively. Corrupt politicians and bureaucrats involved in scams are never tried and punished. Chargesheets are seldomfiled and even if they are filed, due to some technical reasons don’t stand in the court of law. This clearly shows an unhealthy nexus between the legal system and the corrupt public functionaries.
The greatest impetus to corruption, has been provided by the criminalization of politics and society due to infiltration of a large number of criminal elements into our political system and our social life.
The criminalization of politics and society has been causing grave deterioration in the governance. What is at stake is not just the future of the democratic set up, but the very existence of our socialistic community as well. The situation is definitely going to worsen further as the scramble for power and wealth is too fierce, mainly because of high returns within a short period of time. It is an open secret that many of our elected representatives have become millionaires overnight. The small men who until yesterday were not even worth the salt of the earth, have suddenly come to acquire affluence and influence. And relying on their money and political power, these demi-gods have at their beck and call professional legal advisors indulging in sharp practice to defend them in the court of law, and muscle power outside them.
The Goa Right to Information Act was brought about for greater transparency in the governance of the state. Unfortunately, this important legislation is yet to be effectively implemented due to lack of interest on our part in the matter. This can be gauged from the fact that most of today’s activists, including some priests are interested in taking up political issues, instead of tackling corruption .
A positive development for fighting corruption and criminalisation of politics is the Supreme Court’s ruling of May 2, 2002, that electoral candidates make a declaration of their assets and liabilities as well as their criminal background. Ultimately, it is the individual citizen who has to decide whether we will continue to make and live in a cesspool of corruption.
It is high time we realized that hypocricy is the price, which vice pays for virtue. For the virtue of sincerity, all of us pay the price by our hypocricy.
(The writer is a freelance journalist)
