Tag Archives: police reforms

The Scourge of Corruption

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Photo by rupixen.com on Unsplash

My earlier blog ‘Cans of Worms’ was about the big scams and corruption scandals in India over the last 7 decades. Corruption in India has taken on a huge, toxic dimension. It takes a cruel toll on the poor and is very troubling for the middle class. It has seriously compromised our polity and public systems and is pervasive across the country.  It has eroded the quality and prospects of life for millions of Indians and aggravated the struggles of the majority populace of have-nots. The malaise has gone so deep that many good, educated citizens helplessly shrug that nothing can be done about it.

Western countries also have acute problems of corruption but it does not intrude into the day-to-day lives of their people. The venal ex-President and self–proclaimed billionaire Donald Trump has evaded paying income tax for many, many years. London is the welcoming, Go-to place for the world’s financial criminals as extradition is difficult. The serene beauty of Switzerland with the snow-capped Alps as shown in the Yash Chopra films is the picture-postcard version of it. The country’s banks have been the preferred havens for black money from all around the world. The Nazis were amongst their first customers.

Let’s hit the pot-holed roads. Their proliferation is such that the traffic has to navigate the holes to find the stretch of roads. The NCRB (National Crimes Records Bureau) finds that 5% of the deaths on Indian roads are due to pot-holes. The traffic police point to the same as the cause of long traffic jams in cities. This perennial bane can be resolved only if the roads are constructed with good materials and maintained properly. But there’s the rub. The 10% cut from the contractors to public officials and politicians has moved with inflation to 25%. The quality of roads becomes the first casualty. Poor roads or bridges or flyover construction is the fall-out. Let it be noted that one of the major reasons for China’s economic explosion was the focus on building good roads and infrastructure. Creating many, many jobs and driving economic growth.

The Public Distribution System (PDS) is supposed to cater to the food requirements of the neediest- the ration card holders. Instead, the sad reality is that the fair price shop owners sell the good quality food-grain in the open market by using fake ration cards. The BPL (Below Poverty Line) populace is often left with poor-quality residual stuff.  As it is, the system gives them access to only items like rice and wheat, ensuring that the poor continue to suffer on the nutrition front. The program also has an urban bias because the rural areas are not well connected by an efficient transport system. But surprise, surprise! Uttar Pradesh has redefined the system by becoming the first State to achieve more than 95% food distribution through a transparent biometric identification system.

Let’s look at the Minimum Wages scenario outside the States’ Shops and Establishment Act and the Central Sphere of Employees. The major chunk of daily wage workers is in the informal, unorganized sector.  The National Floor level wage for an unskilled worker is Rs 178/- per day.  Varying from State to State and Cities and towns. But it’s no secret that these poor people are at the mercy of the Agents.  Through a social worker friend of mine, I was shocked to learn that these middlemen appropriated 40% of their daily legitimate earnings if they wanted 20 days of work a month.  Also, extending work hours by a couple of hours a day is deemed normal.  Talk about ‘bonded labor’ in our cities. They remain gagged as the Principals, Agents, and public officials enjoy the spoils. Meanwhile, the law against underpayment or exploitation gathers dust within the legal tomes.

The Medical profession and the hospitals have also fallen from grace. There has been a positive side to Covid management in India but the flip side has been very disheartening. The black marketing of oxygen cylinders and drugs like Remdesivir has been reported in the media.  Less so the extortion from some in the hospital management for the availability of rooms and beds. Overbilling and prolonging patient stay is common practice at many private hospitals across the land. But a particular data shared with me by a health professional friend stunned me- 22,000 pediatric claims at government hospitals in a State for Rs 15 crs; 30,000 child care claims amounting to Rs 165 crs in the same State by private institutions. Malafide intent goes even beyond this. HPR (Health Professional Registration) by the National Health Authority has been made mandatory in several States. Many hospitals are accessing or buying or leveraging such certification as a cover for billing and conducting procedures and surgeries by less qualified or experienced professionals. So you have the case of 1 registered eye specialist deemed to be performing 300 cataract surgeries a day at different locations.  Eyeball-rolling, Really?!!  Then there is the frightening scenario of quacks endangering the lives of poor patients by donning surgical masks and gloves and wielding the scalpel. In fact, the ‘The Wealth is Health’ mantra goes back to the late 1980s. An anecdote as told to me by a colleague- his friend, a senior employee at a pharma firm had to pay Rs 1 lakh a month to the Health Secretary to secure access for his Company’s products at government hospitals.  As they became more comfortable, the babu confided that most of the money went upstairs.

Digitalization of the economy and business has had a positive impact. The Co Win App and the vaccination drive showed what the country and the governments are truly capable of. Listen to Sundar Pichai (CEO-Google) about UPI and the Covid Relief fund. “It’s remarkable. It shows up on an individual’s account immediately.” But E-Governance has not really freed the citizens from the corruption quagmire. A simple case of renewal of a driving license. One goes online, fills in the details, uploads the documents, and makes the requisite payment.  All one gets is the transaction number. So multiple rounds to the RTO with the same documents to get the job done. Then the middle-man enters and the fees are paid and hey presto! The job is done. This is where corruption spooks the average Indian. For every standard routine matter, one has to grease palms.

Let’s dekko at the judiciary and the police- 2 important pillars of the State. There is this saying, ‘the fish rots from its head.’ So we have a retired Supreme Court Judge reluctant to let go of his perks- having 20 public servants at his beck and call for many months post-retirement. From ‘Your Honour’ to ‘My Lord.’ Two more cases illustrate the rot in the judiciary. In May 2015, a Hindi film star was sentenced to 5 years in jail by the Mumbai Sessions Court in a hit-and-run case. The same night the High Court convened and suspended the sentence. The Superstar walked out with the swag of a Sultan. On the other hand, you have nearly 3 lakh under trial who have been locked up for more time than their alleged crime warrants. But the Governments and the Courts which only cater to the privileged do not initiate the process to set them free. It is a truism that in India a number of litigants pass away before their Judgement Day on Earth. A fresh infusion of 1 lakh + judges and magistrates and the fast track model can only clear the staggering pile of cases.

The police have a dismal reputation for being amongst the most corrupt organizations. This will continue till the Union and State Governments let go of their feudal hold on the police through the much-needed police reforms recommended by Shri Prakash Singh, retired IPS officer, and endorsed by the Supreme Court in 2006. So we have a reinstated police sub-inspector in Mumbai extorting crores of rupees from bars and clubs and having unfettered access to the Police Commissioner and the Home Minister.  More than 40 years back, I had heard from a senior police officer that Rs 50,000 was the price for a lucrative posting at one of the stations in the Bombay port area. This was the investment and a resourceful cop would certainly look forward to a multiple ROI. The same sleaze was again exposed by a report around a decade back. –the secretary of an MLA asking for Rs 15 lakhs for a posting to a particular police station. It was further elaborated that the asking amount would depend on the importance of the police station in their constituency and its income-generating capacity. However, it needs to be said that a critical part of the Police Reform Report says that the ground level Constable force be given more dignified living and working conditions.

Elections are high stake games with tons of black money involved.  All political parties follow the winnability quotient from the Congress playbook- Money, Muscle, Caste, Creed. So you have the BJP in UP strongly supporting their ‘Bahubali’ MLA from Unnao, Kuldeep Sengar. Accused and later thankfully convicted for the brutal rape of a 17-year-old girl and later killing of 2 of her relatives in a planned road crash. Sengar had earlier represented the Congress, the Samajwadi Party, and the Bahujan Samaj Party.  But this serious and blatant criminalization of politics and shameless horse-trading has not served as a wake-up call for any of our tall leaders.

The 2014 Lok Sabha election, according to informed sources, cost around Rs 30,000 crores.  The political coterie in India has become an exclusive, self-serving club. Hence, very few top politicians end up in jail. Some of them increase their assets by more than 1000 percent from one election to another. The Companies Act 2013 and the Electoral Bond scheme 2017 do not provide for more transparency and do not work for the greater good. The possibility of anonymous corporate, individual, or even foreign funding has increased.  Increasing the risk of public policies being framed for the funders and not the voters. A potentially scary situation.

With the budget session looming, signing off on the much-debated topic of Income tax. Only 3.2 lakh Indians declare income of more than Rs 50 lakhs annually; only 16.8 lakhs fall into the highest 30% tax bracket; only 5.83 crs IT returns were filed in FY 2022. Think about all this in the context of the 1 million SUVs sold in FY 2021; and that 30.85 lakh Indian tourists applied for visas in 2022 despite the pandemic travails. The parallel economy in India is estimated to be around 50% of the GDP. Despite DeMo and the increase in digitalization, the cash economy has grown from 10.7% of the GDP to 14.4% of the GDP to a record high of Rs 30.88 lakh crores. Easy to understand why ‘ the captive salaried class’ or the organized sector employees are fervently praying for tax relief in the budget. A recent Oxfam report has revealed that 64.3% of the GST collections have come from the bottom 50% of the population. High time for a more equitable review of both direct and consumption taxes and widening the base through lesser tax rates.

As the current Government has a clear majority in both Houses it should pass the much-needed structural reforms Acts-police reforms, revamping the judiciary, 30 % women’s representation bill, recall of corrupt representatives, and election finance laws and regulations (look at the French model). There is no hope for a Naya Bharat or a New India till this rampant corruption is controlled and minimized. Only well thought – through and transparent public policies and laws can reverse decades of neglect and indifference. The third largest global economy will not have a satisfying ring to it if India continues to feature in the highly corrupt and high inequality indices in the world order of nations.

Why our high profile Investigations usually wind up nowhere?

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The scourge of corruption and the unaccountability of the political class and their complicit bureaucrats have seriously undermined India’s well-being and development. Good, transparent and fair governance has never been front and centre. In our country the rich and the connected are above the law.

Let’s start with the sensational potboilers playing out in Mumbai for the last 2 years and more. The unexplained death of film actor Sushant Singh Rajput (SSR) which the city police immediately dismissed as a suicide. This tragic event was preceded 3 days earlier by another mysterious death of Disha Salian, one time manager of SSR. Passed off as another suicide. Accompanied by a curious, affirmative chorus from a section of the media, some film people and some politicos. Both the cases were closed in the first week itself by the Mumbai police, supported by botched up post mortems at a convenient hospital. The entire approach seemed casually pre-determined. The professional Mumbai police of yesteryears under Julio Ribeiro would not have contaminated the possible crime- scenes. Once evidence surfaced of a possible link between the 2 suspicious deaths, the detectives should have been smacking their lips. Instead, a narco-racket connection, missing hard-drive from SSR’s systems and trails leading to the film industry and the corridors of power were ignored and buried. Thanks to massive outrage on social media the CBI and NCB were brought into the picture and raised hopes of a thorough investigation. Over the last 18 months there have been political theatrics and lots of planted news but justice has not been served. The Central Agencies have flattered to deceive. Why the inordinate silence. ?! At least let the final official version come out.

The other matter is equally sensational and has many strands. The “Vasooligate” or extortion scandal masterminded by some politicians and their police lackeys. Collecting monthly money from dance clubs, bars, restaurants et al. Shades of the protection money or hafta collected by the goons of the underworld. The Home Minister had to resign, a big wicket to fall. That’s all. The Sarkar’s hand-picked Commissioner of Police ended up on the wrong side of this venal churning and disappeared for more than 220 days. What were the State Police and the Central Agencies doing??!! An absolute disgrace. A re-instated sub-inspector goon presumably ran the racket at the behest of the powers that be and went around with a note counting machine. Was the administration sleeping?! Amidst all this a dead body was found floating near a creek. Quickly pronounced as another suicide by the local police authorities. However, in this case the charade could not be kept up and Murder it was. Another link to this curious plot was the planting of explosive devices outside the residence of India’s richest man, Mr Mukesh Ambani.  Central Agencies like the CBI and NIA joined the fray with the Mumbai CID and Police going great guns. With so much time, energy and resource invested what has been the outcome so far. Another never-ending saga. Till the next episode. For public memory is short.

This leads to 3 assumptions. First, that the police are under the control of their political masters and will not rock the boat. The colonial police of the British Raj has evolved into the “Feudal” force of present times. All political parties are one on this matter. Ironically, if given a free hand the cops will not cop-out but can solve difficult cases like the Nirbhaya rape and murder.

The investigating agencies have not been provided with the professional know-how and infrastructure to crack today’s crimes. Forensic training, social data recovery, tracking cyber-hacking footprints and money-laundering trails and sharing of inputs between different agencies.  In the much publicised “Aarushi” murder case incompetent police and forensic work has led to the question of whether the conviction of the Talwars was a miscarriage of justice.

Last but not least is to whether there is a quiet understanding between the political parties to have each other’s backs if a big scandal erupts. A few pawns will have to be sacrificed but that’s the political chess-board, isn’t it. The long-hands of the law rarely grasp the necks of the biggie politicians, business and media tycoons and stars and celebrities.

Please draw your own conclusions. Are these raids or arrests – witch-hunts or political or personal vendetta? Or just to gain political capital from a gullible populace and garner votes during elections. For many of these arrests and allegations are made just before election season kicks off? Or to deflect and distract public attention from some sordid goings on in their own camp? Here, a word of caution. In all fairness, such fraud or crime issues should not be kept simmering indefinitely. The Government of the day (the BJP led government now or the State governments) should give it a closure if there be no conclusive evidence. It should not be raked up again for a hit job during the next election season. As the Bard said, “a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

The unearthing of the Rs 270 crs cache of black money from the residence of a perfume baron in UP coincides with the upcoming UP election. Probably, these monies were to fund rallies and campaigns; to buy and swing votes for some political party in the State polls. With some part of the country always in election mode, such news snippets give a sense that the anti- black money mission is very effective. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Despite De-Monetisation, unaccounted cash continues to grow and thrive.  This dark side of our election story harks back many decades. The Nagarvala case of 1971. Supposedly a RAW agent gone rogue. The Rs 60 lakhs of unaccounted cash was kept in suitcases at a leading nationalised bank branch and handed over to this mystery man on the basis of a purported phone call from the PMO office. He was nabbed the next day, confessed and sentenced within 2 days, to a 4 years imprisonment and died in prison a few months later. One of the speculations was that this was KGB sponsored election funds. The Agency had infiltrated the highest levels of our Government per the Mitrokhin documents.  Today’s Chinese whispers are that Chinese money is propping up some of our political outfits, media houses and activists. A serious national security issue. Indian intelligence agencies will be on high alert.

Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi are our poster-boys of financial crimes. The two have duped our PSU banks of thousands of crores and are financial fugitives in London.  Their passports could have been impounded as evidence of their scams had already surfaced. That the King of Good Times attended a Rajya Sabha session on the 1st March 2016 before fleeing the next day is telling. Coincidentally, it was on the 2nd March 2016 that a cluster of PSU banks moved the Debt Recovery Tribunal against Mallya. The diamond merchant escaped from the country on the 1st Jan 2018. On the 29th Jan 2018, the PNB filed a case with the CBI against Modi. Is it just sloppiness on display here or is there more to it? The Panama papers were released in 2016 with the names of 930 Indians or entities parking their monies in off-shore accounts in tax havens. The Pandora papers of 2021 exposed the names of 300 Indian businessmen and celebrities with such accounts. These reports are the work of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICICJ) and many European countries have taken serious note and action. Other than a few snippets here and there like the actress Aishwarya Rai being called for questioning, there does not seem to be much headway. It needs to be said that some of these off-shore accounts may have been disclosed and legitimate. Official statements to such effect must also be released.

Over the last 70+ years Independent India has seen thousands of public frauds, corruption scandals, corporate favouritism cases, and ties with the underworld. But the administrative will to go after the big-wig culprits has simply not been there. Yes in the late 50’s Mundhra went to jail in the LIC scam as did Big Bull Harshad Mehta in the stocks-scam of the 1990’s. But the exception proves the rule. The defence procurement scams of HDW submarine, Bofors and Augusta Westland have never been laid to rest. The middle-men have been outed and named (foreign nationals) but the investigators have lacked the balls or the skills to connect them with senior political figures or bureaucrats. Mr VP Singh, our Mr Clean PM, used them to win an election, period. The leaked Nira Radia tapes not only brought to light the corporate lobbying interface with the Union Ministers. It also hinted at how coalition political partners were vying for lucrative ministerial berths and how influential media persons were facilitating the same. The Saradha Chit fund Ponzi scam claimed a couple of MLA’s in Bengal and the file was closed. Coming to the present, is it so difficult to establish whether in the Rafale fighter aircraft deal kickbacks of 7.5 million euros were paid in secret commission to a middleman to seal the deal (alleged by a French investigative journal in 2021). Although, the Supreme Court has already ruled on the matter in 2019.

Some may pertinently point out that Bihar’s CM Shri Lalu Prasad Yadav went to jail in the fodder scam.  Sure. His wife, Smt Rabri Devi became the interim CM.  Madam Jayalalitha also spent time in jail in a disproportionate assets case, but her life is celebrated in a recent film drama called “Thalaivi” or Revolutionary leader. Sahara Shree Subroto Roy is in the Tihar jail. But he is frequently out on parole and by all accounts having a cushy arrangement in the prison quarters also. The Sahara group long innings was enabled by political patronage. Mr Ramalinga Raju spent only 35 months behind bars for the Satyam Corporate scam which shook the Indian business world at that time. Not even a slap on the wrist. Film star Sanjay Dutt was jailed for illegal possession of weapons but was out on parole for a large chunk of his sentence time. And then there was the film, “Sanju” and director Raj Kumar Hirani doing a great white-wash job on his buddy’s  very dubious connections. 

The NCB raids especially on Bollywood stars have attracted a lot of media attention.  Drug peddlers have been nabbed and there have been drug seizures across the country. Some film stars have been grilled eliciting excited reactions on social media. The spotlight on drug trafficking and the film world is welcome. These celebrities are role models to millions of youngsters and their being held accountable is a good thing. So is the counselling of some of the young stars and star scions. But here again are we missing the forest for the trees. Drugs are the main source of income for the underworld and the Pakistani establishment and terror outfits in the region use it to fund terrorism.  It finally boils down to a national security issue. No political party or law and order machinery can compromise on this.  Also, what of the 3000 kgs of heroin worth Rs 20,000 crores seized at Adani port in Oct 2021. The Director of Revenue Intelligence and the National Intelligence Agency are seized of the matter. But will we know more about the origins and the kingpins or will it just remain one of the largest drug seizures in the world?

This leads me to another headline grabber- the incarceration of businessman Raj Kundra for 60 days around Sept 2021. He was arrested by the Mumbai police in connection with an adult film racket. Released on a surety of a paltry Rs 50,000. Was this yet another case of Much Ado About Nothing; or was it the Maharashtra Sarkar trying to deflect attention from the “Vasooligate” crises; or with the accused being the husband of Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty was it signalling that it was not being soft on the film industry. Perhaps the Mumbai police was trying to reclaim its lost glory. Else, did this exemplify another case-study of poor diligence and follow-up in building up a convincing case? An aside. Raj Kundra is a joint-owner of the Rajasthan Royals franchise which was banned from the IPL tournament for 2 years on match fixing charges.

Take the case of match-fixing in Indian cricket. Would the truth have ever come out had not South African captain Hansie Cronje admitted and confessed to South Africa’s King Commission in 2000 that he had fixed matches for money and had been first introduced in 1996 by Azharuddin, the India captain, to a bookie. Granted that the Delhi police had shared the initial findings with the South African Cricket Board in March 2000. A side-note is that a PR movie called “Azhar” was made to clean the slate and he became the Congress MP from Moradabad and now is a senior functionary in the Telangana Congress. Then the IPL match fixing and spot fixing scandal saw CSK and RR being banned for 2 years from the tournament.  Sreesanth being the only well- known cricketer to take the rap. Why the top promoters, administrators and players got away is not really a mystery. Incidentally, the film on MS Dhoni makes no mention of this sordid saga.

The toxic effect of unbridled corruption and power on our society is there for all to see. The black-money economy has become a large, parallel and unregulated sector with all its corrosive impact. But it is the top-down trickle syndrome which has earned us the stigma of a highly corrupt nation. People in all walks of life are now emboldened to be corrupt and not only for financial gain. Integrity has lost its value and currency. The real brunt is being felt by the poor and the middle-class. Think of the labourer whose 50% wages is siphoned off on a daily basis by the contractor through his agent. The Government proclaims that a lot of government transactions and document related work can be completed on-line. Things have improved in certain areas like passport issuance and renewal. Otherwise, the ground reality is that one has to download forms and submit the documents physically. If one wants prompt results, enter the agent. You know what this means. This palm greasing for every little thing is what earns us the honors on global corruption indexes. The heroism of front-line health workers, policemen and sanitary workers and many common folk are being justly applauded in these Covid hit times. But one cannot turn a blind-eye to the huge profiteering during the pandemic. Whether it being availability of the Remdesivir drug or the scarcity of oxygen or hospital beds. Covid 19 has shown us both the good and bad sides of who we are as a people. The Aam Aadmi has just given up or become indifferent to this plague of corruption.

What is also worrying is that even educated people tend to shrug off this unsavoury aspect of life. As if it was just another tax to pay as a common citizen. Even more worrying is that many of them tend to look at corruption through the prism of community, State or ideology. Underhand dealings are ok if done by a leader from ones’s own community, State or preferred political party. Some of these charlatans are feted as Chanakyas- Masters of the political chess-board.

The pandemic of corruption is rampant throughout India and has hollowed us out as a nation. Is it better or worse in a certain area or region or government is a relative concept. The misdeeds of the present Union Government will also be exposed after a few years. After all, they have adopted the same old playbook. Then the skeletons will be out of the closet and will dance to the tunes of the new regime in place.

One of the lowest points of the current dispensation has been the handling of the 2017 Unnao rape and subsequent murder cases. The BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar continued to get the support of his party till the shit hit the ceiling. The 17 year old rape victim tried to immolate herself in front of the CM’s residence and the media and activists thankfully jumped in from thereon.  Amidst the uproar, the Supreme Court and the CBI had to step in to send this so called local bahubali to life imprisonment in 2019.

One of the ways to break this insidious status quo is the tabling of the Vohra Committee report in its entirety in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for an intensive debate. It should also be made available for public scrutiny and consumption. Submitted in Oct 1993, it is deemed to be an expose of the links between the Mumbai underworld and top politicians and officials at the State and Central governments. Only 7 or 8 pages have been briefly discussed in some Parliamentary Committee and the 100+ page exhaustive dossier has apparently gone missing. Why??? By Whom??? The PIL matter is pending with the Supreme Court.

Police reforms will be the game-changer. A litmus test for the Central Government. Incredibly, the Police Act of 1861 is still in place. The landmark SC ruling of 2006 with its 7 crucial directives for implementation has been gathering dust for many years. A law-oriented, fair, impartial and apolitical police force is a hallmark of a mature and progressive nation. But an anathema to the powers that be. This vital force has to be ramped up by half a million personnel; their abysmal working conditions and below- par salary structure requires significant improvement; with modern equipment and training enhancing their effectiveness and public perception. But considering the general disenchantment with the police, it will make sense to expand the Community-Policing initiative. To foster engagement and trust between the people and the police in an area. The other side of the same coin is to invest in, to overhaul and build a robust judicial system. Most administrations have been very miserly on their judicial related budgets.

Our Netas and their Enablers are averse to any change and they rejoice in the general public apathy. As a people we are quite indifferent to reform although we will benefit the most from it. Change for the common good has to be forced into the system. Constant pressure has to be built up and applied on the powers that be. Social media now provides a vast and instant connect and it’s for the citizens and especially the younger, aspirational generation to put the writing on the wall.

A Strange and Troubled World

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Photo by Drew Hays on Unsplash

We live in disturbing times. Eerily reminiscent of a century back. The Spanish flu, the British and French colonies, the failure of the League of Nations, the rise of Stalin, Mussolini and Hitler and of course the Great Depression.

Take COVID 19 which has brought the world to its knees. The secrecy shrouding its origins and spread- the buck stops with China. Check-out the reckless social behaviour of millions- defying medical science and data. In the US, to wear or not wear a mask has become a political statement.

The anti-mask group belong to the Trump cult. A racist, divisive, incompetent, venal and corrupt President. Surely, the holy Evalengicals would deride and oppose him. No, they are his biggest supporters. A quid-pro-quo to get their agenda on anti-abortion, LGBTQIA+ and immigration passed or ruled into laws.

The most powerful man in the world is Putin’s puppet. The Russian mob-boss and his oligarchs do as they please- manipulate elections and poison their enemies. The former KGB agent has only one life purpose and that is to restore the glory of the former Soviet Union. He has high approval ratings in Russia.

Xi Jinping fancies himself as the Chinese Emperor. He covets lands in India, Bhutan, Nepal, Taiwan , Japan, Philippines and surprise, the city of Vladivostok in Russia. He wants to control the South China sea. His one-belt one road policy is not just the revival of an old trade route. Chinese footprints have reduced Pakistan, Sri Lanka, some African countries to debt-ridden vassal states.

After the collapse of the Soviet bloc, it was hoped that democracy would thrive. Instead, there is a plethora of strongmen across Brazil, Venezuela, Turkey, Hungary, Philippines, North Korea (is he alive?). These authoritarian leaders (some with elected credentials?) take their cue and inspiration from the master manipulator, Putin.

The fickleness and spinelessness of the political class has become obnoxious. In India, the Grand Old Party and their leftist comrades shed copious tears for the plight of the Rohingya Muslims. But there is deafening silence about the incarceration of a million Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province in China. It does not suit the narrative of these human rights activists. And the Islamic Republic of Pakistan remains subservient and loyal.

Even in the 1990’s the UN, NATO and the ICJ (International Court of Justice) played an effective role in ending the long-drawn genocide and hostilities in Eastern Europe. The Syrian and Yemen conflicts drag on and on. The world has become numb to the devastation and human suffering.

The United Nations is impotent. The US, Russia or China veto whatever does not suit their geopolitics. India should have a permanent seat at the Security Council. The largest democracy of 1.3 billion people and a growing economy does not get a seat at the table.

The WHO has disgraced itself with its mishandling of COVID 19. In the critical first months, it covered up for China and played PR in glowing terms. It called out the pandemic very late and its confusing directives on the spread and even measures like wearing the mask have been very disappointing.

Free media, the vaunted fourth pillar of free nations, is past tense.  Jamal Khashoggi, a well-known Saudi journalist in exile is dismembered in the Saudi embassy in Turkey- on the orders of Prince Salman. The outrage lasts for a few months. Then, it is back to business.

Fox News exemplifies the mockery of an independent, objective media. It has degenerated into a Trump channel. And the President gets his opinions, sound-bites and Twitter content from these TV anchors.

The Virus has dealt a body blow to the world economy. Manufacturing, IT and service sector, airlines, hospitality, tourism, local shopkeepers have all taken the brunt. Especially heartrending is the desperation of the down the line workers with no safety nets and the daily wagers and migrant laborers. Another nightmarish scenario lurks ahead-the eviction of millions of ordinary tenants who are unable to pay their rent.

In the movie “Wall Street” the Gordon Gekko character says the famous lines “Greed is Good”. Mark Zuckerberg of the $ 70 billion Facebook Empire could not agree more. He shrugs off hate content, misinformation and manipulation on his global social platform. It was used to undermine the 2016 US Presidential election and possibly even to swing the Brexit vote. Who cares!

Think Jeff Bezos at Amazon. He runs a boot camp where front-line workers do not have time to even take a leak. Show me the Money. Who Cares!

You can scratch your head on this. The great Warren Buffett has at times paid less Income tax as a percentage than his Secretary!!! With income disparities growing, the top 1% does not pay its fair share of the taxes.

Football is the most popular sport on the planet. Sports transcend borders. It should aspire to higher standards of human behaviour. The powerful apex body FIFA hands over the 2022 world cup to Qatar. Dubious, Controversial. A Disgrace!!! Meanwhile, poor migrant workers slog it out in inhuman conditions to build the grand infrastructure. Hundreds have died.  Deadly silence. When the kick-off happens, blood would have already seeped into the grounds. The players will be left to sweat it out in this hot Gulf country.

George Floyd whispers “I can’t breathe” in a chilling 9 min video as he is murdered by a racist white American cop. In 2020, ‘the land of the free and the brave’ and ‘the leader of the free world’ is a deeply divided and polarised country. Anti-Semitism is again rearing its head in Europe and the US. Fault-lines are developing all over on ethnic, religion or color basis.

Indians also have to wake up to how we treat our North Eastern brethren. Ostracising them for how they look or speak reflects poorly on us. We have a lot to learn from the cultures of this beautiful part of our land.

But there is reason for hope. The Black Lives Matter protests are resonating as never before. The protests in the US and Europe have been largely peaceful and have attracted world-wide attention. Thousands of whites, Asians and Hispanics have joined the cause and taken to the streets.

But as Angela Davies, a black activist, cautions- “It is no longer enough to be a non-racist. One has to be an anti-racist.”

Marquee corporates have started to move away from Facebook to advertise their products and services. The filthy rich billionaire is now being forced to discuss and review the toxic content on the platform.

In India also, many people are turning away from the negativity of their TV channels. These only spew propaganda, bias, hatred and sensationalism. Here’s hoping that we will be slowly moving to more mature and credible content.

Colin Kaepernick, the courageous NFL star, protested against racism a few years back by kneeling during the anthem. He was immediately kicked out of the league and vilified. He may now get a chance to play again this season. The powerful National Football League (host of the Super Bowl) has also publicly apologised for its denial of this serious issue over the years. NASCAR has withdrawn Confederate flags from its car-racing venues- the symbols of slave-owners. Even, statues of knighted and glorified slave traders are being taken down in the UK and Spain. Many players in the revived English Premier League took a knee to show their solidarity in the fight to end racial injustice.

The Indian State of Kerala was the first COVID 19 hotspot. With the Nipah success behind them, the public health officials acted efficiently to contain this new scourge. This southern state can also teach us about the laudable community model policing. With urgent need for police reforms in diverse lands like India, US, UK, Hong Kong, Venezuela, Egypt…… they can take a leaf out of this successful programme.

If the world has to become a better place, civic action and community participation are a must. The bar has been set very low for politicians, public departments, community leaders and business tycoons. It is time for a reckoning. Also time for truth and reconciliation forums. Time to tell the rich and influential that they cannot get away with everything. Take them off the pedestals and hold them accountable.  Only strong institutions and responsible governance can take us across the line. Then and only then can the common citizen- BREATHE.