{"id":3216,"date":"2011-06-04T02:00:12","date_gmt":"2011-06-03T20:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/?p=3216"},"modified":"2011-06-04T02:00:12","modified_gmt":"2011-06-03T20:30:12","slug":"bigger-problems-than-corruption-in-india-commerce-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/2011\/politics\/bigger-problems-than-corruption-in-india-commerce-minister.html\/","title":{"rendered":"“Bigger problems than Corruption in India” – Commerce Minister"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just two days ago, I wrote about how politicians in India think that corruption is “only a middle class concern”<\/a> and that it’s not really that big of a problem. If you didn’t believe me then, here’s proof. Today, the\u00a0Union commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma said this<\/a> about Anna Hazare’s anti corruption movement:<\/p>\n

“The self appointed social activists are not fighting against larger concerns.<\/p>\n

“Moving away from this, if I may add that India has larger concerns. Those are the issues of poverty alleviation, malnutrition, female infanticide, education, employment creation. I will wait for the day when the self-appointed civil society activists agitate on these issues”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sharma’s words are very revealing. They show that what the government really thinks about corruption<\/em> is this:<\/p>\n

1. Social activists are “self appointed” and don’t represent the public at large<\/strong><\/p>\n

They think that other than a class of “elites” and “well heeled urbanites,” the real<\/em> people of India are ok with corruption. They think poor people are stupid and just want what’s in front of their noses. They think no one sees that corruption in high places is more than just about money. It’s about a betrayal of faith. Of an attitude that says “I’m untouchable” and “I want power just so that I can personally benefit from it.”<\/p>\n

2. No one should protest about anything unless they also protest about everything under the sun<\/strong><\/p>\n

So if I take out a rally against the discrimination of homosexuals, I also have to campaign against the treatment of tribals, farmer’s suicides, garbage disposal, untouchability, and class equality. Basically unless I campaign for everything together, someone will always say “Why aren’t you campaigning against xyz? Don’t you know that xyz is important?”<\/p>\n

This is ridiculous. Everyone can’t fight over everything. Some people will take up one issue. Others will take up something else. To claim that unless a person protests against everything at the same time, their protest is meaningless is either stupid or seeking to cloud the issue.<\/p>\n

3. Politicians are irritated by this constant focus on their corruption<\/strong><\/p>\n

They would naturally rather we turn our attention to something else. Preferably something that doesn’t involve the consequences of their actions.<\/p>\n

4. Corruption isn’t a big deal<\/strong><\/p>\n

By saying that we need to focus on “larger issues”, politicians show that they think corruption is sort of okay. That poverty alleviation is in no way related to how much money they steal.<\/p>\n

I say it’s time these jokers in power got a wake up call. The response to Anna Hazare’s movement has already shocked the political class by its intensity and inclusiveness. They never imagined that such a thing would be possible and they want to hang on to their delusions and the old way of doing things for as long as possible.<\/p>\n

Let’s raise our voices and tell them that corruption is one of India’s biggest<\/em> problems. That it’s not<\/em> okay. That we won’t<\/em> shift the focus onto something else. And that most importantly, all of us care<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Politicians in India think that corruption isn’t a big deal and that there are bigger issues to fight for. They would rather we focused on something else.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\n"Bigger problems than Corruption in India" - Commerce Minister<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Politicians in India think that corruption isn't a big deal and that there are bigger issues to fight for. 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