In tune with our democratic traditions, one more high sensitive report, prepared by one more inquiry commission, appointed to investigate one more scam got ‘tabled’ in the media first, before being ‘leaked’ to Parliament. And thus began one more charade last week culminating in the sacrifice of, well, what else, one more scapegoat by the grand old party of India that is Bharat to save the skin of its sole super saint, namely, Signora Sonia. So, when the nation — India, not Italy — is informed that the Congress is not soiled by oil, and it is only the ‘wily’old Natwar who was neck deep in the barrel, all are expected to believe the story, in abject silence. Omerta!
Not that Natwar himself was a saint. With his IFS background and vast experience both as shadow foreign minister as well as a real one in Congress dispensations, he was not only a pastmaster in external affairs and geo politics, but also quite update on the seamy side of it all. And with an ambitious son and his belligerent friends around, the pull of pelf and profit was bound to overwhelm the associated perils of misuse of power. Natwar may not have explicitly asked for financial favours for his son, but the letters that he wrote suggesting that the Iraqis ‘help out’ his son, is good enough an indictment, considering his position. Though Justice Pathak has said that Natwar derived no financial benefit from the deal, his continued efforts and unconcealed zeal in facilitating the contracts in favour of his kith and kin, is all too evident. Sure, his sobs and laments reveal the utter insensitivity of Cong intra-party politics to anything or anyone other than Sonia, still it is difficult to sympathise with his plight! In fact he represents all that is rotten with the Congress culture, if you can call it that: corruption, cronyism, sychopancy etc.
That said, it is also quite apparent to everyone except perhaps Congressmen and of course, Justice Pathak, that Natwar and Sons were only licking the back of their hands. The honey pot, to be sure, belonged elsewhere, and that could only have been the Congress. In fact, the Volcker report says quite candidly that the Congress was a non-contractual beneficiary. Yet, the Pathak report has gone out of the way to exonerate the party, even while showing more than normal interest in nailing Natwar. And this is in perfect sync with the indecent haste shown by Congresmen, first when the scam broke out and now after the report, to dump him. Clearly, Natwar could not be defended except at the risk of allowing the needle of suspicion to point to 10 Janpath. But with Sonia deemed sacrosanct, was it not unthinkable? So, better to push Natwar deeper into the oil slick, which in any case, he himself was sinking into!
One does not have to be a super sleuth or a retired justice to ask some basic questions. Now, why would the Iraqis heed Natwar unless they thought he was representing the Congress? After all who else could Natwar represent other than the Congress? Certainly not the nation officially, as he was not a minister then. And he actually headed the Cong delegations to Iraq, when these sordid deals were done. In fact, without the Congress camouflage, Natwar is a nobody, at least, as far as the Iraqis were concerned.
Now, that leads us to the next obvious question, that Congmen have been quick to ask, armed with Pathak’s report: Did Natwar misuse his position as head of the Cong delegation to swing deals for his kin, ‘without the knowledge’ of the party? Now, this is quite sinister. Is the party of yore so naive as not to know what one of its key leaders, drafted for a sensitive assignment to a foreign country, allegedly with the written permission of his party leader, up to? Or probably, Congmen are aghast that someone else should be misusing the party when that is the sole prerogative and privilege of the super saint sitting at the top. Any way, the Congress, along with its highest command, was quite aware that Natwar was accompanied by his son and joined by his business cronies. Also there were other senior Cong members in those delegations and it is difficult to believe that none of them suspected anything or if they did, did not bother to report to Sonia. In any case, Congmen are not unfamiliar with corruption scams that come as family packages. This mock show of hurt and betrayal and pleadings of innocence will fool none.
The intention of the Iraqis looks to be to oblige the Congress party with financial benefits as quid pro quo for whatever. That a whole or part of the money was ‘lost in transit’ cannot exonerate the Congress, much less its leader, without whose consent not a soul will stir there. Her self-serving silence, even when her pet puppet at the PMO is being mauled and muddied relentlessly, speaks volumes of the stuff that she is made of. And making that silence more sinister are the shrill voices of Congmen of all hues, the stalwarts and warts, alike, preaching from the pulpit, on prime time and print about probity in public life. Whatever happened to such sacred sentiments when Quottrochchi walked away with all those millions right under the nation’s nose? Well, when it comes to insulating Sonia, both nation and Natwar are expendable!
Despite all his often senile rantings, Natwar should be encouraged to talk. The more he sings, the nearer to truth we are. Of course, that cannot be music to Congress ears, for sure!
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