Corrupt people keep climbing on the ladder of success,
kissing the feet of those ahead of them and kicking the heads of those beneath.
Geer Muhammad Ishaq writes on the
modernization and institutionalization of corruption in Kashmiri society
Nowadays corruption has become the way of life. It
is more organized and institutionalized than ever. It has penetrated deeply
into every sphere of public as well as private life. Majority of people working
in public as well as private sector are falling prey to it and those who are opposing
or resisting it or staying away from it stand completely isolated and crushed. In keeping with ever changing times and trends,
of late, corruption too has undergone modernization and assumed new shape and
proportions. Whereas vivid embezzlements and misappropriations used to rule the
roost once, now corruption is manifesting itself in a much more sophisticated
form. Gratification practices have radically changed lending them more
user-friendly and so to say compatible with the existing legal framework. Where
earlier there used to be embezzlements of crores of rupees in its crude form by
turning to forgery, frauds and tampering of records, due to increasing number
of such cases coming to fore and falling under the legal dragnet, now people
intend to play safe and keep their records unblemished by resorting to a more
disciplined yet equally profitable form of corruption that is based on a fixed
slice of commission rather than embezzlement or misappropriation. We Kashmiris
in particular seem to have advanced so much in such novel skills and tactics
that it would be no wonder in case international organizations seek our
expertise in framing proper guidelines for this kind of “legal corruption” for
their worldwide adoption by prospective clients.
To make things a bit more clear, an
example is cited for the interest of readers. Suppose you are heading some
department and have an annual budget of say Rs. 1 crore at your disposal to be
spent on purchase of goods like equipments, books, glassware, chemicals,
stationary etc with a small amount being allocated for repair and maintenance
activities. You don’t have to burn your
midnight oil in planning your embezzlements since the methodology has taken a
much convenient and smooth shape nowadays. Just catch hold of a few selected,
accommodating and hassle-free suppliers, check out uncleared stocks lying
pending with them since ages which they are ready to sell at throw-away prices,
be it exorbitant equipments, substandard chemicals, redundant glassware,
rejected books, outdated instruments or any other useless office supplies. Whip
up a deal. Ensure him a damn handsome and unexpected price at the cost of state
funds for his dead stocks and in return fix a solid lucrative commission for
yourself. Next remains your submissive and obedient subordinate staff, in case
absolute worthlessness of the goods you intend to procure makes you feel
slightly insecure, get a resolution passed and signed by them that all such
stuff is urgently required for the efficient running of the department. For
this, you don’t have to plead before them or request them in a kneeled-down
posture since most of them too have their own ambitions and aspirations
relating to their career, perks, nominations, permanent appointments,
deputations etc. They too need to seek your favours whether due or undue from
time to time and above all need your personal care and patronage.
As such, their consent will never be
a hurdle in your way, no matter if that plunges them and their dept. ineluctably
into a dismal doom. This way make your exercise authentic and fool-proof and
purchase goods worth lacs that are either of no use or of little relevance to
the actual field of application. Doesn’t
matter if people suffer on this account, don’t worry if dept. deteriorates and
never care if funds go down the drain. You and your family should prosper. Your
cash reserves should fatten up and your property both movable as well as
immovable should expand. A commission of a meager 10% over an annual budget of Rs
1 crore will fetch you a cool 10 lacs per annum, other lavish gifts and
compliments not inclusive. An added advantage that brings you solace being that
all your documents and records remain as spotless as freshly fallen snow. Even
the most experienced and seasoned auditors can’t pick any holes in your
accounts, the most dreaded sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act can’t
bother you and the most watchful vigilance authorities can’t even touch you. To
absolve yourself of any likelihood of being charged of amassing huge wealth
grossly disproportionate to all your known sources of income, keep your
property on the name of your non tax-payer relatives. But don’t forget to
retain all documents with yourself lest you shall land up in a catch-22
situation. This is the magic mantra by which people have over the years kept
climbing up on the ladder of success, kissing the feet of those ahead of them
and kicking the heads of those behind.
Amidst all this bonhomie if
anybody’s conscience does not permit him to remain a mute spectator to the
entire debacle and shows up even an iota of resistance or resentment, his
action is viewed as a fierce incursion and an open rebellion since people wish
to run their departments as per their own whims and fancies and expect
everybody else to remain deft and dumb and simply dance at their tunes. In no
time, acrimonious retaliatory assault is launched against those who do not
comply and those who dare to question, thus triggering an unending trail of
internal squabbling within the dept. Such a person is labeled as a spoilsport
and made to pay a hefty price for his rationality and integrity of character.
Hostility manifolds upon him in some of its most ugly manifestations. He is
singled out and isolated, subjected to gratuitous insults and made to suffer at
every front until he throws up the sponge. All his past contributions are
willfully ignored and achievements sidelined. Controversies are created, new
disputes raked up and concocted plots hatched against him in a most abominable
and despicable manner. He is vilified, persecuted and forcibly coerced and
constrained into subjugation and obedience. If he still refuses to relent, he
is persistently excoriated and discriminated, his role being retrenched down to
a mere observatory status. He is kept at an arm’s length from all vital
assignments and decision-making processes.
He is segregated, shunned,
criticized, abhorred, secluded, targeted, victimized, harassed, humiliated,
traumatized, troubled, terrified, maligned, defamed, suppressed, oppressed,
obstructed, disillusioned, discouraged, falsely implicated, confronted, rejected,
disapproved and ultimately thrown out of the system. Rot of corruption has
infected the entire system to such an extent that those who accept it and become
a part of it progress and prosper and those who reject it get rejected sooner
or later. One who raises his voice against the corrupt and the corruption is banished
and never allowed to grow. He faces hurdles at every step and all his progressive
moves are opposed and suppressed. He ends up getting totally isolated in his
place of work and is slowly and steadily pushed to the bottom level. Gradually
he becomes depressed and disillusioned with the system losing all
self-confidence and morale to work and excel since his good work is never appreciated
and his small mistakes are blown out of proportion and projected as huge
scandals.
The role played by his other colleagues too
turns opportunistic and despicable. Everyone starts holding the odd man to
ransom and a senseless spree of usurping his rights and transgressing his
jurisdiction gets unveiled. All this is done in a bid to sycophantically please
the boss and to gain a few deserved or undeserved favours from him in return.
With his morale boosted to a euphoriant extent, the boss then uses all his
overt and covert means to hinder his progress and mar his career. If any unpleasant
or untoward events have occurred in the dept., he is blamed for them all. In
front of higher authorities too, he is projected as a baddie. All his academic
pursuits and endeavors get stuck in the mud. The trail of their atrocities and
frenzied rage does not end here. Every opportunity is grabbed to falsely
implicate and farcically frame him with dereliction of duty. Conspiracies are
hatched against him and he is found guilty of offences that he never committed.
Under these trying circumstances, how these fearless young men conduct
themselves to ensure their survival in such a precarious and corrupt ambience
remains worth watching. For certain, their bewilderment and vengeance arising
out of the paranoid and disdainful treatment being meted out to them is bound
to lead to some deleterious proposition, quite similar to the one that we have
been experiencing over the past several years.
During their course of fraudulent activities,
a few amongst this breed of corrupt officials present themselves as spiritual
saints with hitherto unrevealed powers.
They corroborate their mysterious claims by making frequent references to their
previous miracles. Such mischievous gimmicks stand them in a good stead in
diverting the attention of gullible sect of their staff as also in shrugging
off their genuine apprehensions, winning their trust and confidence and thereby
covering up their own misdeeds. Occasionally they even threaten their
dissenters of dire retaliation and spiritual reprehension in case they don’t give
up their resentment. Enlightened souls albeit don’t give a damn to such abysmal
and diabolical threats and claims. The poignant attitudes of such distressfully
unenterprising officials desperately beseech an immediate change. They need to
be introduced afresh to the rudiments of ethical conduct and professional
ethos. Indomitably stubborn and invincibly arrogant, they consider themselves
supreme and unimpeachable and forget that there is yet another supreme power
watching them all the time whom they have to face on the actual day of
judgement and account for all their vices. They badly need to shun their
desolate egos and stop feigning omniscience lest they will most miserably face
the wrath of time.
Whatever is being stated here should
not be perceived as a specific reference to any particular department,
organization, institution or individual. This is the story of many such
establishments whether under state or central administration where this sort of
corruption is looming large and men of conscience are being persistently
harassed, humiliated and suppressed ruthlessly. Many readers of this column
will surely find some resemblance or reflection of such unfortunate men and
women combating such conditions of duress, at their own places of work. Any such
resemblance is purely coincidental. This is a general trend lately observed as
being dominant in govt. and semi-govt. offices whose immediate implications
have been telling adversely upon our social, ethical, moral as well as
financial upliftment.
Instead of devising ways and means
to chalk out technological, scientific, administrative and economic development
of the various institutions existing in our organizational hierarchy, corrupt
officials at the helm of their affairs are busy drawing their mean personal
benefits and making their own fortunes at the cost of state exchequer resulting
into massive economic polarization of our society and consequently fostering
our inabilities and inadequacies further in catching up with the global race
for overall progress, social reform, economic and technological advancement.
Therefore need of the hour is to stir up their conscience hard enough to arouse
them from their hysterically complacent states and make them face the hard
world of accountability and transparency in their work and conduct. As said by
Allama Iqbal:
Ik zindaah haqeeqat mere seene main hai mastoor
Kya samjhega who jiski ragoon main hai lahoo zard
