Corruption in India is not a systemic problem as is commonly believed but the result of a deep flaw in the Indian character itself.
In the wake of the IPL spot-fixing scam involving cricketers Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, there’s clamour all round that the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) once again failed to stem the widely-prevalent corrupt practices in Indian cricket.
There are strong allegations that the scam is not restricted to just three players but goes deeper involving senior cricketers and possibly team owners. There is also the charge that the BCCI has deliberately cast a blind eye to the malpractices in Indian cricket so as not to upset the multi-billion dollar business of cricket in India.
The BCCI has itself described the latest scam as a case involving “three rotten apples” who would be dealt with severely. Former cricketers Kapil Dev and Sourav Ganguly don’t want the IPL format to be branded as flawed, but want greater systemic changes and checks to prevent fixing in cricket.
Once again, our entire discourse on corruption is dealing with the symptoms of the disease without looking at the root causes of the disease itself.
Every time a scam involving corruption and dishonesty erupts in India, we look at that scam in isolation. Thus, when we learn that a Delhi policeman tried to offer a Rs. 2,000 bribe to buy the silence of the father of a raped child, we see a solution in police reforms.
Politicians and bureaucrats are synonymous with corruption in India.
But what about our prominent media houses who introduced the corrupt practice of “paid news” in the system, which is now so very well-entrenched? What about the vast lobby of real estate developers and builders who fuel corruption to bypass the law? What about our private educational institutions which demand lakhs of rupees in unaccounted donations for admissions to sought-after professional courses? What about the corrupt practices of our doctors and purchase managers in private companies?
So are we talking of “a few rotten apples” or an entire orchard that has gone rotten?
The truth is that the Indian character is deeply flawed when it comes to corruption and dishonesty. Corruption and dishonesty is not a systemic problem in India but the result of greed and insecurity.
Indians are greedy- and love to especially hoard as much gold as they can in a lifetime- because of an insecurity that has become ingrained in the character after centuries of conflict and communal violence. We are greedy, corrupt and dishonest, not because we are poor, but because we are insecure: In a young nation full of uncertainties, we want to secure the future for ourselves and our children and therefore we need black money, multiple flats, jewellery and liquid cash running into lakhs and crores, and also Swiss bank accounts, if possible.
Why does TV producer Ekta Kapoor get charged with income tax evasion of Rs 30 crore? Why are builder Avinash Bhosale and actor Ranbir Kapoor detained and fined by Customs for duty evasion at Mumbai airport? Why are these wealthy people greedy and dishonest?
Do not miss the fact that corruption has increased manifolds in India in the post-liberalization era, keeping pace with rising insecurity- be it political or economic.
The Indian politician is intensely corrupt because he is intensely insecure: Examine the corruption and conflict-of-interest controversies around politicians such as Pawan Kumar Bansal, Sharad Pawar, Mayawati, Yedurappa, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Jayalalitha, Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Karunanidhi clan, Robert Vadra, A Raja, Suresh Kalmadi, Ajit Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal, Ashok Chavan and the rank and file of politicians across India.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is not corrupt because he is not a politician, but an economist who has been blessed with more than anything he could have ever dreamt of. He therefore does not have the insecurity of politicians.
Singh also realizes that although he is the Prime Minister, as an individual, he is helpless amidst a culture of corruption that runs deep in Indian society, and is not restricted just to politicians. Unfortunately though, Singh has chosen to be voiceless too.
Only those who are not insecure have the courage to speak against corruption in India and try and do something about it: The nation’s anti-corruption crusaders fall in this category and include superstar Aamir Khan, who in his 13-part TV serial Satyamev Jayate, exposed the stench of corruption widespread among Indian doctors and hospitals. Doctors and medical specialists in India are neither poor nor underprivileged in any sense, and yet, a large section is shamelessly corrupt.
Purchase managers and administrative officers in private companies earn good salaries and enjoy a good lifestyle, but nonetheless demand a cut from suppliers.
The average Indian IT professional, corporate executive, businessman or just about anyone returning from abroad prefers to sell leftover dollars in the black market (I did the same when I returned from the US two decades ago).These dollars- sold illegally to jewelers or agents in the grey market- are the very same that drive one of the most powerful engines of the vast black economy in India.
During elections the Indian middle class won’t expect money to be distributed as is done in the slums. However, during the last municipal elections, middle class homes in Pune happily accepted “gifts” such as electric steam irons from a local corporator.
Likewise, housing societies extorted favours from their area corporators and got them to fix the internal society roads and provide new lamp posts. The corporators happily obliged by bribing civic officials and diverting civic funds that were meant for public amenities.
The culture of corruption and dishonesty runs deep in the Indian psyche and runs right through medieval times. The eminent historian Sir Jadunath Sarkar has written of medieval rulers and their chieftains who had a secret khazana (private treasure) which would be unceasingly augmented and “not touched even in defence of his own territory” (Emphasis Sarkar’s).
Unlike the average Indian, the average American or Scandinavian is not corrupt- not because he is not greedy- but because he is not insecure. We will be able to deal with the problem of corruption effectively only when we are able to deal with our insecurities as a nation.
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