An Anonymous scam?:
The 2G affair is getting curioser. Just when the nation was wondering if Sibal’s zero loss theory was right after all and the scam was only an illusion, came the SC’s cancellation of all licences. So let’s pinch ourselves and confirm that there was indeed a scam. Now, who perpetrated it and who were party to it?
Some cats have come out of the judicial bag, though many still remain hidden. It is now official that the PMO knew all through. The UPA spin, however, is that the PM did not, confined as he was to a dark room where no newspaper, no TV channel nor public voices could be seen or heard. It was, therefore, that when the entire nation was crying itself hoarse before, during and post the scam, the PM remained unaware. Of course, such blissful ‘no-knowledge’ did not prevent him from repeatedly defending Raja everywhere (‘an esteemed colleague’) and for months, almost till the latter’s arrest. ‘Hear no evil, see no evil, but speak for the devil’ seems the hallmark of honourable, honest men, MSingh brand.
The trial court a few days back has held that the FM too was kept in the loop. The scam had two dimensions: Grant of licences, through First Come
First Served method, instead of auctions, to a chosen few and thus causing a huge loss to the public treasury; and divestment of stakes by the licensees that earned them undue gains that otherwise should have accrued to the national coffers. The wizard of an FM was privy to, and actually defended, both these decisions that any person with an elementary sense of finance and propriety would have woken up to and barked at. The same trial court has, however, declared that PC cannot be held guilty of conspiracy, virtually exonerating him, when the plea was only for including him in the accused list. Forget criminal conspiracy, charge of even criminal negligence seems taboo when it comes to powerful but responsible men! Now, will such a long leash of law benefit Telecon, pardon, Telecom Raja too?
To my mind, the 2G scam stands unravelled to a choice between just two conclusions. 1) Raja was so smart and all-powerful that he conspired with himself and superseded even the PM, the FM, the whole cabinet and the entire UPA and gained solely. 2) Raja too, like the PM and the FM, despite knowing everything, did not, however, have any part in the fraud. It was an authorless scam, a natural disaster that happened on its own. In legal terms, it is called an Act of God. Now, how do we put the Almighty in Tihar?
Anonymous, no more:
Nothing bares human hypocrisy as sex, sleaze, smut and sundry other salacious stuff. I do not think mankind, or for that matter womankind, were shy and coy about their biological status in the early stages of evolution from apes (or Circa creation). The duplicity started when homo sapiens, for a combo of cultural and climatic reasons, started covering themselves up with leaves and then lingeries and then long, short and all kinds of attire till date. Like with scam, in sleaze too, any obvious, deliberate cover-up invites an automatic opposite urge to delve deeper. Medieval religious orthodoxy and modern Victorian puritanism have only strengthened this double standard of public display of indignation even while seeking out private kicks and kinks on the sly.
The shift from arty porn to anonymous porn is at best a couple of centuries old. Sculptors and painters had never ever exhibited any qualms. But when reading material became the main media, writers of porn somehow felt compelled to hold back their identity. They generally hid behind the term ‘Anonymous’ and shunned even pseudonyms for fear of inadvertently giving themselves away. The readers for their part bit their nails away on terraces, in attics and under staircases while the books themselves were tucked in tight corners. Not any longer. The explosion in media options has not only triggered a parallel boom in porn content but has also ripped apart the veil of inhibition. This is despite the laws of the land, which even while winking at private viewing (pardon the unintended tip) holds public dissemination a crime. By that logic, it is only the media cameramen who zoomed in and caught those Karnataka ministers in the act and who must be held guilty.
The Ministers perhaps thought they were truly representing their people and society, that too in the place they are supposed to. The demand for erotica has zoomed this past week and porn itself has achieved history by entering the legislature. It is unprecedented in the annals of any Assembly, including Parli. We all know that verbal abuse, fisticuffs, blows and kicks, mike breaking, desk thumping, shouting, stalling, floor crossing, double crossing, cash for questions, cash display, etc are all perfectly parliamentary. But porn inside those constitutional precincts opens up new and dreadful possibilities. Who can guess what’s next! I suggest we respect the law-makers’ constitutionally sanctioned Privilege to behave as they please and forthwith ban all cameras from those premises. In any case, there’s enough coming into our drawing rooms already!
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