Who will eradicate the corruption that feeds off my poverty?
Whenever we talk of corruption in this country a lot of theories come up, on how it is impossible to rid our system of this menace as it is in our DNA.
We would rather pay a few bucks under the table than take the trouble of following the set procedures and rules. Or save money on penalty due when caught breaking the law, by paying off the officer at the other end, half the amount. The examples and instances where you can pay a bribe in this country and get away are innumerable and there would rarely be an institution or individual who has not faced this menace.
There is an unspoken code, a certain amount of expense termed as miscellaneous you will incur in most of your government dealings which is nothing but an amount you will pay as bribe in cash, even when doing most routine things like buying a house, getting your child admitted in a school or college, doing business, or a darshan at a holy shrine, even though all of it can be done legally minus the bribe, but won't be, because the system does not allow you to. Most of the times, you are not given a choice, you either pay up or lose out, irrespective of whether you are deserving or not.
When we talk of systemic corruption, what mostly comes to mind is the money that is exchanged in return for a favour. The beneficiaries of such transactions can be anyone from a peon or babu in a government office to a minister in the public office. This is the kind of corruption that Delhi's newly elected government promises to eradicate. The thing is, this kind of corruption can still be dealt with, curbed and done away with, if there is political will, awareness and the right amount of checks and balances are put in place.
But there is another side to this menace of corruption, the side which exploits the powerless, the have-nots and nobodys of our society. It is the belief among the rich that money and power can buy anything, truth, loyalty, conscience. It is a belief that thinks nothing of the life of the less privileged.
For example, the brutality with which a security guard was assaulted and killed at a posh residential complex in Thrissur in Kerala.
The 47-year-old was employed as a security guard at a gated complex in the city. He stopped one of the residents, businessman Mohammed Nisham, for identification when he drove up to the gate in his Hummer. He opened the gate once he identified the driver as Nisham but then the driver flew into a rage about the delay. Nisham began beating him up. When Chandrabose ran from him, Nisham chased him in his Hummer. Hit him. The guard fell on the ground and Nisham rained blows on him. He died.
Nisham is a serial offender, he has been allegedly charged in cases of assault, wife beating, rape etc at various instances and yet the man walks free to commit more crimes.
Most eyewitnesses in the case have already been threatened or offered huge sums of money, money beyond their wildest imagination. Though the media has been highlighting the case and putting pressure on the administration, without witnesses this case too has the makings of a Jessica Lal, Nitish Katara or Priyadarshini Mattoo case, in each of which, money and power played a huge role in delaying and denying justice, until the public and media took it upon themselves to put pressure on the administration to see the obvious.
The Thrissur tragedy came to light. But this is happening across the country as I write this. In most cases, the victim's voice is silenced with either money or fear or death. There are musclemen with scant respect for law, there are rich man who believe they can buy their way out of everything, there are powerful men who can afford to twist the arm of law?
Can we blame them, if their weakness is exploited? Who do you think they will stand up for if the amount of money offered for their silence could take care of them and their families for a lifetime? Or if the witnesses are threatened with their life, how many will have the will to fight powers that are beyond them?
It is this belief, that helps Nisham and many others like him in every city, town, village of this country to thrive, to feel invincible to believe that they are bigger and mightier than the system.
This time it was Kattungal Chandrabose, what is the guarantee it won't be one of us tomorrow, prey of some rich man's anger and aggression, because we honked too loud, or accidentally bumped his car or dared to show him the rule book. Will the state stand up for a common person like me and assure me, that my life holds equal value as that of any other high net worth individual in this country?
Who will eradicate this corruption, that feeds off my poverty, my helplessness, my powerlessness?