Articles by ecothrust at Technorati Headline Animator

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Making Investigative Agencies Autonomous Is Key To Fighting Corruption

http://bit.ly/7XwAG



Thank you Anna Hazare and others for setting the ball rolling in India's fight against corruption. However the 600 pound gorilla in the room is the ( Central Bureau of Investigation)  CBI and not the Lokpal !

After all it is the CBI who is investigating the major scams haunting India be it CWG, 2G or Adarsh. CBI not being autonomous has ensured that despite the outcry it has not been able to question or raid the big three of corruption in India. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, CWG Chief and Indian Olympic Committee Chief and Pune legislator Suresh Kalmadi and Delhi's Chief Minister Shiela Dixit who continue operate unchallenged.
The learned and respected Prime Minister Manmohan Singh provides them a perfect foil. After all Arjuna in the famous Indian epic Mahabharata demonstrated how to exploit the Indian weakness of fair play and  hide behind a neutral entity. When we stop short of pulling down the neutral identity holder,we are doing dis-service to the nation allowing the corrupt to carry out nefarious activities in the backdrop. To get behind the facade of innocence that Manmohan Singh provides to a corrupt congress party, we need an independent and autonomous investigating body in CBI.



The challenge is how to go about it ? How to get it in the agenda of those at the forefront of the movement. Making CBI autonomous is key to fighting corruption. However it is easier said than done. For that is going to be the real big fight? Almost all Congress politicians except the Prime Minister has cases pending with the CBI that has been soft pedaled by the agency. That includes the long drawn Bofors Investigation involving the Gandhi family that involve Sonia Gandhi's Italian connection Octavio Quattorachi.

Accused of siphoning off billions of dollars in the 155 mm howitzer deal  he has been let off by the agency due to political pressure from the ruling Congress Party. Worse his company still operates from India, still profits heavily from the Gandhi family  connection and his son still visits India almost twice a year. But it is not only Sonia Gandhi who would lose if CBI is made an autonomous body. Hundreds of Indian politicians and bureaucrats have cases that CBI has been pussyfooting and would be a  worried lot if the investigation agency was made autonomous. So it will not be an easy fight but one worthwhile for all Indians.  





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