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Journalism of Courage
Last week, the honeymoon period of the Manmohan-Sonia government ended abruptly. Two men were directly responsible. One for dangerous political stupidity and the other for plain economic stupidity, and their names are Syed Sibtey Razi and Pallianappan Chidambaram. By the time you read this, a third name could have been added to this list, that of Bihar’s Governor, Buta Singh. It is important to understand, though, that on the political front nothing could have happened without the assent of the puppeteer of 10 Janpath. For the first time since she made the brilliant move of becoming Prime Minister without actually taking the job, Sonia Gandhi stands exposed as a political novice, as someone who does not understand the dangers of the political forces she is unleashing in Jharkhand and Bihar by installing illegitimate governments.
The eighties became India’s lost decade exactly because Sonia’s mummy-in-law played dangerous political games of this kind in Kashmir, Punjab, Assam and Tamil Nadu. Terrible political forces were let loose in these States because that other Mrs Gandhi believed she was a clever enough politician to handle the fallout of playing dangerous political games. On account of these games, India remained domestically self-absorbed while history was being made in the rest of the world. The wall came down in Berlin, the Soviet Union started to fall apart, eastern Europe replaced communism with consumerism, democracy came to Pakistan and the Cold War ended, but India looked inwards.
If today we are more engaged with the world and witnessing the beginning of an economic boom it is because our political problems got mostly sorted out, but signs have appeared on the horizon that they will soon return because none of Sonia’s advisers has drawn her attention to the Naxalite problem in Bihar and Jharkhand. Does she not know that nearly all of Jharkhand and huge swathes of Bihar are under Naxalite control? Has she not noticed that these States are on the edge of Nepal and that Maoists now rule the Nepalese countryside? Does she not know that their influence spread largely because people were denied legitimate, democratic rights?
However confused the results of the elections in Bihar and Jharkhand may be, what is clear is who lost. Laloo-Rabri lost Bihar and Shibu Soren lost Jharkhand so comprehensively he could not even get his two sons elected. Bringing them back with Congress connivance and the sort of gubernatorial chicanery we have not seen since the eighties is not just stupid but frightening. Even more frightening if you keep in mind the farce that ‘‘dialogue’’ with Andhra’s Naxalite groups has been since the Congress took power in that State. If you have been watching, you may have noticed that the Naxalites have dictated the terms of the dialogue and treated the Chief Minister like a flunkey. He is a relatively clever politician, the thought of Rabri or Soren negotiating with Naxalites is too terrifying to think about.
Now, before I run out of space, let me explain why I believe our Finance Minister is responsible for economic stupidity. When the fringe benefit tax and the withdrawal tax exploded in his face two days after he presented his Budget, Mr Chidambaram gave an interview to NDTV in which he explained, in tones of smug arrogance, that there was nothing wrong with the taxes, only something wrong with the way people were reading the finance bill. They are not lawyers, he said grandly, and so cannot understand. ‘‘Huge cash transactions are still taking place and one way to hit at black money is to track it.’’
Black money, Mr Chidambaram, black money? Are you serious? Are you not aware that the main users of black money in India are politicians? Do you not know that when big businessmen hide some of their earnings it is usually to send suitcases full of money to politicians at election time? Do you not know that even small shopkeepers need to bribe officials on a daily basis just to keep them at bay? Do you not know that even MPs these days ask for crores and not lakhs and that all of this is black money?
This is not to even mention the Rolex watches, Gucci loafers, Mont Blanc pens, Cartier glasses and Louis Vuitton suitcases that our khadi-clad politicians (and bureaucrats) affect these days. The Rs 10,000 a day withdrawal the Finance Minister is trying to tax would barely pay for a pair of Gucci loafers. (Prices of other items on above list available on request.) If the Finance Minister wants to ‘‘track’’ black money, let him look first in Parliament’s backyard.
Ditto the tax on perks, the ‘‘fringe benefit tax’’. Nobody in India enjoys more ‘‘fringe benefits’’ than our politicians and bureaucrats. They pay almost no rent to live in vast bungalows in Lutyens’ Delhi, they are given free travel, pay almost nothing for telephones, electricity and water and routinely travel abroad on junkets. None of these ‘‘perks’’ can be considered legitimate business expenses. If Chidambaram wants to put his black money where his mouth is let him stop all perks to MPs, ministers and bureaucrats and then we can talk.
In his usual, cussed fashion he refuses to admit that the tax was a stupid idea in the first place and insists that it will stay but ‘‘legitimate business expenses’’ will be exempt. Are you nuts Mr Finance Minister? Do you not realise how much money your tax inspectors are going to make out of this little clause? As it is, they, along with their brothers in the excise department, make more black money than businessmen can dream of. Now, with the power to decide the difference between legitimate business expenses and ‘‘fringe benefits’’ they will be on a roll.
Either Chidambaram remains a crypto-communist or he is totally in the clutches of his officials. One way or another he has succeeded in recreating the atmosphere of the economic police state India was before liberalisation just as Madame Sonia has brought back memories of the wasted decade of the eighties.
Write to tavleensingh@expressindia.com
