After reporting the Governor's statement wherein he regretted his uttering in a fit of anger for targeting the corrupt politicians in Kashmir, I wanted to saw the video clips of his interview with a news agency ANI. One can easily see and feel the genuine anger spilling out on what he said about the depth of deep rooted corruption prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir's political dispensation lead by Abdullah family. With the grim face, Mr. Mallik exposed the well entrenched malaise in the foundation of state's political edifice.
The war declared by the governor against the tainted politicians and bureaucrats needs to be supported by the people of the state. Irrespective of the position and status, tainted officials and politicians need to be removed from the system without second thought on this matter. The government's resolve to start from the top deserve special appreciation.
Usually the so-called anti-graft bodies like the erstwhile Vigilance Organisation had wasted huge resources only to cover up the acts of corruption and shielded the corrupts except of laying hands here and there on small fries and were always seen as powerless before the “big fish.”
And if by default or in an event of conflicting interests, some scam came out at all at some point of time, the political interventions subverted the good cause. Rarely have top officials and corrupt politicians been punished for their acts of omission and commission, which has eventually dented the accountability in the state.
Similar measures are needed to curb the unlawful accretion of assets, usually by corrupt politicians and officers in Benami Transactions.
The efficacy of state accountability commission has been reduced to insignificance in a phased manner. Previous government half-heartedly supported the move against tainted officials when it announced the removal of deadwood or corrupt officials from the active service. But barring that one exercise, now considered as mere eyewash with several prominent names surfacing in alleged scams, there was no serious intent shown by the government. Without the support of the people, the government would also feel handicapped. So the onus lies with the people – whether they want to experiment again or provide the helping hand to the administration which has taken some serious steps towards nipping the evil in the bud.
It is unfortunate that large number of people have restricted themselves to lamenting only about the growing corruption in the state. We seldom see people come forward and expose the tainted accepting the risks in the meantime of immediate backlash from their colleagues and superiors. There is only one way to clean the mess, to get involved. If people shun away from responsibility now, the window of opportunity may be lost for a long time.
