de ghuma ke

Tribute to Aarushi

He came, He killed, He is free now...

A small girl has done it again. She has shown the nation what people want our Indian System to be like.

Aarushi and Hemraaj were found dead with their throat slit around 30 months back. Aarushi's parents along with the nation filed the case with a hope of justice. CBI investigated for 30 months and came up with a verdict of "No Justice" as they were not able to find any evidence.

CBI has filed all the documents and is ready to submit those for the closure of the case. In its statement, the agency, without giving details of its failure, said, "The agency has filed a final report for closure of case on ground of insufficient evidence in the competent court."

30 months time and they did not manage to find any evidence, or should we say that this is again great attempt to show how these people want our Indian System to operate like. These actions may not harm the people like them, but it can really affect people like us - THE COMMON INDIANS.

Sorry Aarushi, case is closed!!!

This innocent smile of the slain 14 year old girl named Aarushi taunts at the CBI credo- Industry, Impartiality and Integrity. The greatest investigation agency of the country falls flat in finding any evidence linked to the murderer and eventually, the calls closure of the very complicated and tragic Aarushi double murder case. But doing that, CBI also sends a message that a murderer who such brutally killed the young girl has successfully deceived the law enforcing agencies.

Here is our India where assassins and embezzlers are moving freely, and innocents and poor are attempted to be framed on false charges. Not to forget the laxity of police in the particular case can be drawn out by just the fact that the person who was a suspect prima-facie, was also found lying dead two days later.

Its not a case of just a murder or a case of justice being denied, but its a case where barbarism slaps on the face of humanity. Its a case of being morally corrupt, its a case where apathy slapped sensitivity. Its a depiction of ongoing self centeredness and depleting humanity. It is quite difficult to imagine how a human can just relax with callousness, knowing that a girl as young as 14 was killed in cold blood.

There was no stone left unturned by the police in botching up the case and framing false charges on people. They also assassinated Aarushi’s character time and again by plotting up a story of her sexual relations with a male help.

‘Aarushi’ which means the “first ray of light”, has undoubtedly revealed the shadowed part of Indian legal proceedings. Why is it somebody like A Raja comes out smiling from the CBI HQ after facing an enquiry, and several uninflential people are held for no reasons? Why a Common Indian is not given the right to lodge an FIR even? Why common man fears to go to a court or a police station? Why a policeman has such disrepute among the masses?

There are many Aarushi’s in the country beseeching justice but only thing they get are either a Closed Door or a Closed File....

Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Many a times in my childhood when I needed motivation, my grandmother would illume optimism through various stories where a grisly era ruled by devils came to an end when god exorcised the earth off them. Our Hindu mythology is deluged with such stories; they tell us how every oppression is repressed by the Divinity. But this time, they do not give any relief when India is daunted by devil of corruption. Although, the BJP led opposition leaves no chance to square off the government on corruption, yet there seem bleak chances of the devil being subjugated.

Corruption is no new word in the lexicon of Indian politics, time and again we have seen political parties creating brouhaha over CAG reports and media revelations but none of them really appealed for reforms to prevent such irregularities. Haunted by the spectre of corruption, nation has gone through some ghastful phases including national emergency. Jai Prakash Narain effectively projected Indira as a tyrant and ran an anti-Indira juggernaut all over the country. Consequently, the congress party lost its throne and Indira was ousted of the parliament and her residence.

But today India beseeches its JP, to not only revolt against the perpetrators but also to find a permanent solution to the problem. The allegations on the government are gross and opposition finds no way out other than resisting the proceedings of the parliament in demand of a JPC probe. While the government continually dismisses its demand in the pretext of the ongoing probe by various agencies including the PAC headed by Murli Manohar Joshi, a BJP leader, all that is going on is exchange of words and shooting questions on one another.

Wonder! What is the reason that no political party has had the audacity to put forward a proposal to whet out the sword against corruption? Why there has been no debate so far, to hasten the investigation and judicial process against the crooks? And why there has been no law passed that could ensure the independence and viability of the investigation agencies?

The BJP which consistently profess itself of being the flag bearers in the march against corruption gets subdued by its own chief minister facing almost similar charges in the state of Karnataka. However, its tenure in the centre had also not been spick and span. The leaders who beguile as reformist now, had earlier condoned its ministers allegedly involved in embezzlements. Not to forget the Tehelka expose in which the then defence minister George Fernandes and other members of his Samata Party were allegedly benefited by the swinging of arms deal. Although George Fernandes had resigned from his post, but later on was given a clean chit and reinstated in the same port folio.

Stung by the back to back Tehelka operations which revealed BJP president Bangaru Laxman receiving bribe and also those which inferred 2002 Gujrat Riots of being connived by the state government, the BJP came down heavily on the enterprise and practically ruined it by framing severe charges on the editor-in-chief and its financial backers.

Today, when we bid farewell to year 2010 we look back at it not only as a year when many scams were divulged but also a year when the Indian democratic system was proved impotent in combating corruption. This year has witnessed inefficiency of a central government to take strict actions against its tainted minister, a national party which was restrained by its chief minister from taking action against him and also the influence of corporate houses in politics and media. There was also an instance this year, when the Supreme Court had remarked at the discrepancies in Allahabad high court.

Significantly, it has been a year when the government, opposition, judiciary and the media have been at the receiving end of allegations and brickbats related to the unscrupulousness and ineffectiveness. The Common Indian on the other hand stands helpless in situation where he has to choose between devil and the deep blue sea....

An article by Gaurav Tripathi produced in general interest of public by GAAP

"Self before Service" - Corruption in indian Army

OP Vijay, OP Meghdoot, Indo-Pak War 1971 - These examples brag a lot of the valour, wisdom, guts and glory of the Indian Armed Forces and the Indian Army specifically. But this is only one side of the coin, the other side flips the entire image of the organization.

The recent revelations in the Adarsh Housing Society scam is not a singular incident where the top brass of Army are found indulged in, but this may be the only one where two former Chiefs are alleged to be the beneficiaries.

Prior to this there have been number of cases where officers, as senior as Corps Commanders and Army Commanders were found guilty by Court of Inquiries and were subsequently court-marshaled. In fact, there have been more than 600* court marshals since 2001. In many of these, senior officers of rank Maj Gen and above were penalized. Not only this, but the year 2006 alone witnessed more than 105* court marshal cases. The charges in these cases varied from rape and murder to severe embezzlement.

In one such cases Maj Gen AK Lal was dismissed on 12 Sept 2008 after found guilty of sexually assaulting a junior lady officer. And also, in a recent case Lt Gen AK Nanda, the Engineer-in Chief of the Army was forced to resign this year following the allegations against him for sexually assaulting his junior officer's wife. However, Nanda is yet not found guilty in the initial probe, but he has become the senior most officer of Indian Army to face such charges.

Numerous cases of corruption have further smeared the reputation of the coveted organization. Various scams like Sukhna land scam, dry rations scam, frozen meat scam and liquor scam have tarnished the dignified uniform.

The gravity of such cases can be realized when there were allegations that the then COAS, Gen Deepak Kapoor had been soft on Lt Gen Awadhesh Prakash , who was found guilty in the Sukhna Land Scam. Prakash was the Chief's military secretary when he was found guilty of allowing a private institution to purchase 70 acres of land, which belonged to the military. Not only Prakash, but Lt Gen Rath who had to take charge of deputy army chief was also indicted in the scam and also, when the COI recommended these officers to be sacked, Gen Kapoor recommended just an administrative action against them. Finally the defence minister, Antony had to step in and write a letter to the chief asking for their court marshal.

Kapoor was further put on the receiving end, when this Adarsh Society scam was unveiled. Fingers were also raised at another former army chief NC Vij when he was also found of possessing a flat at the Adarsh Cooperative housing society. However, Kapoor has also been alleged of possessing assets disproportionate to his income by Trinamool Congress MP, Ambika Banerjee. In her letter to the defence minister, Banerjee notified that properties owned by Deepak Kapoor include a flat in Dwarka Sector 29, three flats in Gurgaon Sector 23, one flat in Gurgaon Sector 42/44, a flat in Gurgaon Phase 3 and a house in Lokhandwala in Mumbai.

Besides these, Army has been tainted many a times by its superior officers. There is no dearth of scandals and scams revealed or concealed within the organization. One of the scams was deliberately kept under the veil when Lt Gen HS Panag, Army Commander, Northern Command was transferred to take charge as Commander of Central Command in the mid of his two year tenure. Panag, as commander in northern command was said to receive an anonymous letter apprising him of a scam in purchasing of tents worth Rs 16 crore* using special financial powers of Area Commander. Following this Panag ordered to stop the future promotions of Maj Gen Malhotra of Ordnance Corps after a COI found him guilty of siphoning off Rs 1.6 crore*. Consequently Panag had his transfer orders on the table.

In such an organization where the Commanders are morally corrupt, the junior officers and men are continuously striving for the dignity of the force. As per the statistics illustrated in the recent cases, the officers indulged in the discrepancies are of the rank of Brigadier and above, but there is no doubt that this vicious cycle of committing and protecting the misappropriations would soon grip the the juniors too. Also, in spite of the success gained in various ops and exercises, the malfunctions of the higher echelons have starkly affected the morale of troops.

Therefore, when we talk about vying with the strong Chinese army, the capabilities of our highly venerated Indian Army are fogged behind the mist of corruption.









An article by Gaurav Tripathi produced in general interest of public by G.A.A.P
*statistics not verified and based upon news articles published in various daily newspapers.

JUST THINK

This time there is no article to write, no pictures to show & no news bulletins to share...

This time its just a 'food for thought'.

Below is the list of 'major' scandals from 1990 to 2010.That means in last twenty years, but remember these are just MAJOR ones...

Let us count...

• Bofors Scandal (1990)
• Animal Husbandry Case (1990)
• Bombay Stock Exchange Manipulation & Fraud by Harshad Mehta (1992)
• Hawala scandal (1993)
• Bangalore - Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (1995)
• Sukh Ram (1996)
• Fodder Scam in Bihar (1996)
• Kerala SNC Lavalin power scandal (1997)
• [Countless Corruption and Illegal Money Sources], [Karunanidhi, DMK chief]----Still some cases are running in court

[edit]2000s

• Ketan Parekh Scandal, Barak Missile Deal Scandal, Tehelka Scandal (2001)
• Army-Coffins Scandal, MIG-Fighter Jets
• Taj corridor case (2002–2003)
• Telgi scandal (2003)
• Nitish Katara Murder Case (2004)
• Oil-for-food programme scam (Natwar Singh) (2005)
• Jessica Lal case (2006)
• Human Trafficking Scam involving Babubhai Katara.
• Cash-for-votes scandal

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

• Satyam scandal.
• [[Jharkhand robbery, Hawala transactions and secret bullion trade]],[Madhu Koda][2009]
• Madhu Koda:laundering money worth over Rs. 4000 crores.
• Common Wealth Games Scam:Illegal funds transfer in UK banks.
• 2G Spectrum Scandal: Involving Union Minister A.Raja

23 major scams revealed in 20 years i.e. more than one scam a year & everything is happening under our nose.

Before cursoring and forgetting it just remind yourself in how many of these scams a COMMON INDIAN like us was NOT involved.

....LOOK UP TO YOURSELF, LOOK UP TO THE NATION....

When they can.... Why cant we???

This is one of the cases where size and strength does not matter. Depicted by a dot on the world political map Lithuania has shown its will to eradicate corruption from the system. In the map above the smaller circle depicts those Balkan States of which Lithuania is just a segment.

A country with an area less than that of the state of Sikkim and population one third of Chennai, Lithuania has undergone major political and administrative reforms to curb the epidemic tainting the process of development.

As coined by former president and missile man Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam, development and corruption cannot go hand in hand, India has always been rueful for the snail's pace of its development. On the contrary the much younger Republic of Lithuania has flown in the drift of development quiet fast.

Since 1920, during World War I, the small nation had been an an apple of discord between Poland and Germany. After its annexation by Poland in 1920, Lithuania was ceded to Germany

in 1930. Later on ruled by Russia in 1940,the nation had also witnessed the gruesome period of Nazi rule after the German attack on Russia. Post the retreat of the German forces, Lithuania became a part of the Soviet Union. Eventually owing to the fragmentation of the USSR, the United Nation recognized it as an independent state in September 1991.

As young as a teenager, Lithuania follows strong democratic traditions with its political system not quiet different from India. However, unlike India Lithuania has shown a major rise in its growth rate because of which it became a part of European Union in 2003.

Rather than its radical improvement in the GDP growth rate from 7.4% (2004) to 8.8% (2008), the country decries of the widespread corruption in its political and administrative system. Still the ascent economy of Lithuania can be owed to the Anti-corruption Reforms carried out in the recent years.

Suffering with the problems of corruption spread in Business, Political, Administrative and Judicial system the nation has fought back quiet vehemently. It has also paradigmatically proved that the influenza of corruption is not incurable.

According to a survey by Transparency International, Lithuania has shown a wide improvement in the confidence level to eradicate corruption. The survey also affirms the rise in its score in the Corruption Perspective Index (CPI). The graph below illustrate the same:-

Although these reforms are not so unheard of, for the countries like India which stand way behind this small country in the CPI, yet they are unimplemented or unsuccessful here because of the lack of zeal amongst us.

Vis-a-vis the CBI and the vigilance department of India, Lithuania has formed the Special Investigation Service which on the contrary is free from political and administrative interference. Secondly, the Free Market Institute keeps a check on the corruption in business establishment by allowing free market and individual freedom, thus limiting the role of government officials in this field.

The corruption in the judicial and administrative offices has been taken care of by introducing strict laws and fast track courts in cases related to corruption. The abuse of power by the Public Servants is now considered as a serious criminal act and results in severe punishments to the guilty. The fast track courts are bound to pronounce a quick judgement in such cases hence effacing the possibilities of long awaiting justice to the victims.

But the most important factor in tightening the noose over corruption was the awareness amongst the masses. Unlikely to India where we easily surrender to corruption and succumb to the vicious system, people of Lithuania have always promoted the cause of limiting corruption.

Hence it elucidates the fact that morally upright & awakened masses, when make a righteous use of the law, even the wildest beast can be tamed.....

In the end we should ask ourselves, "If Lithuania can do it, Why cant we...???"

AN ARTICLE BY GAURAV TRIPATHI, produced in general interest of public by GAAP

India's most endangered species of the Day: Babubhai Katara

Babubhai Katara, member of Parliament (BJP) from Dahod was arrested by Delhi Police, for human trafficking a 38-year-old Paramjeet Kaur and a 14-year-old boy Amarjeet to Toronto on his wife's and son's passport, at Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi on April 18, 2007.

HEAVEN OR HELL!!!!!