GreaterKashmir.com: Hyderabad: Sunday, July 20, 2014.
Corruption, a
hydra headed monster, is once again dotting the headlines of leading newspapers
in our state. Top leaders of the two leading regional political parties- Omar
Abdullah (NC) and Mehbooba Mufti (PDP) are locked in a sort of verbal fight
over who is corrupt? Addressing a public meeting at Ramban, Omar Abdullah urged
people to invoke RTI in order to find out charges of corruption against
elements recently recruited in PDP organizational apparatus. Mehbooba Mufti, in
return, lashed out at Omar Abdullah for granting extension to 400 ‘blue eyed
officials’ and raised a very pertinent issue related to the fact that Chief
Minister himself is in charge of entire investigation machinery to unravel the
mystery of corruption. There are several perspectives on corruption in our
state and it would be prudent to examine them. But let me hasten to add that
while experts and common people may hit left right and centre to pin- point the
causes of corruption I would argue that corruption in J&K is an issue of multiple
organ failure.
First, there
are those who argue that corruption is a universal phenomenon. After all, is
there any place in the world which can be described as a virgin land, and free
of corruption? True that corruption is prevalent in western societies as well
but there it always comes as a shock and does not meet with social approval.
This is not true of our part of the world. Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister said
that corruption is a universal phenomenon. Rajiv Gandhi expressed his
helplessness in admitting that 85 percent of plan resources do not reach the
common man in India though, of course, he did not admit that this was largely a
result of corruption, including among political elites. After all there is
something called human DNA and how it is imprinted with a natural propensity to
favour the kith and kin. John Steinbeck –American author, who got Noble prize
for Literature in 1962 wrote, “The things we admire in men - kindness,
generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants
of failure in our system. And those traits we detest sharpness, greed,
self-interst, acquisitiveness, meaness, egotism are the traits of success.
While men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the
second.’’
Second, there
are those who fault the Indian state for using corruption as an instrument to
achieve certain political objectives in Jammu & Kashmir. Recently in an
NDTV discussion, Dr. Haseeb Drabu, an economist of eminence, pointed towards it
albeit as a passing reference. The discussion was centered on Article 370 of
Indian Constitution. The main advocate of theory of state connivance has been
former Vice Chancellor of Kashmir University Prof. Riyaz Punjabi. He presented
the findings of his paper in a seminar organized by Department of Economics,
University of Kashmir way back in 1989 on “Polity, Economy and Society in Jammu
Kashmir’’. His paper got published in Mainstream on March 16, 1991. He opined,
“The normal democratic process in Jammu & Kashmir was disrupted with the
arrest of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in 1953. The alienation of a large majority
of the people of state in post 1953 era and formation of Plebiscite Front posed
a great threat to the cohesion of India. It was in this context that corruption
as a model to bring about national integration was applied to the state of
Jammu &Kashmir.” The theory remained subject matter of debate in New
Delhi’s elite academic circles in 1990s. To the best of my knowledge Prof
Punjabi has not so far revised his thesis. Be that, as it may, there are, of
course, sociologists and political scientists who attest to this theory of
corruption. John Waterbury-Global professor of political science at New York
University in Journal of “World Politics’’ stated that corruption in the form
of patronage and spoils checks the alienation of minorities. Michael Gohuston,
political scientist, in a research paper
in journal of Comparative Politics (July, 1986) “on political
consequences of corruption’’ also draws
a clear cut distinction between integrative and disintegrative corruption, the
former links the people and groups and the latter cause’s serious conflicts.
While Indian State has to share the blame for committing wrongs from time to
time and adopting an ostrich type of an approach in its dealings with Kashmir
the fact is that for a clear understanding of a complex issue we need to look
at corruption in J&K as a matter of multiple organ failure. The failure is
noticeable in certain domains of our body politic.
a)
The
Institution of politic: Kashmir like other parts of South Asia has historically
been witness to a strong society and a weak state. The state has two domains-
coercive and developmental. It is the former which is more visible than the
latter. Though Kashmir society is undergoing change and transformation yet the
fact is as stated by V S Naipaul the politics of a country can only be an
extension of its human relationships. David Mulford, former US Ambassador to
India, in a leaked diplomatic cable reported: corruption cuts across party lines
and most Kashmirirs take it as an article of faith that politically connected
Kashmirirs take money from India and Pakistan. One of the most disfiguring
things about Hurriyat and Mainstream politics is intellectual closure where
only what people thought leaders wanted to hear percolated up. Leaders of all
hues are cocooned in their own platitudes. Politics before 1947 was
intellectually stimulating and ideas were powerful. Leadership of all hues was
honest and full of integrity. Today politics is parochial, personal, polluted
and punitive. Both parties - PDP and National Conference approach issues
related to corruption in a lawyerly fashion. Effective governance can not be
ensured in a manner where you score points against each other by launching
arguments. In public life what is important is that criticism is based on
policy not on personalities.
b)
Crisis
of Institutions: In a society which has gone through a prolonged period of
crisis a network of institutions is needed to mediate the conflict, ensure fairplay
and adjudicate truth. We have reached a point where every institution from
state legislature, media, burucracy have turned dysfunctional incapable of
carrying out its mandate. Our educational institutions have turned into arid
deserts. This has created a sense of permanent crisis.
c)
Emerging
Classes: In Kashmir we have a triad of political economy with a very rich class
of people some of whom have started marrying political parties. The dominant
mode of our economy is largely state-controlled and hence the
business/politician nexus has fattened. There is also a growing middle class
who are quite articulate and composed of as Andre Beteille (sociologist) wrote
many factors like wealth, income, occupation and education. This class in
Kashmir as in other parts of India is aspirational and hungry for wealth and
patronage. Before 1947 Kashmir middle class though small in size gave voice to
voiceless and did not speak for themselves. Today they thrive on patronage,
wealth and connections to the power structure. The last but not least is the
growing class of poor who get government contractual and daily wage jobs with
Rs 4000 salary per month and have found
other ways to feed their mobile phone and family as well. This class has
widened in size due to growing decline of agriculture and skill less education
at bottom level of our educational ladder. This huge army has found in theft as
an alternative to survive in a consumer culture. All this has resulted in
certain disequilibrium in the society. Different actors-civil society, opinion
leaders, preachers, talkers and teachers have to act together. The more
important role is to be played by the political leadership. The 19th century
England was also corrupt but William Gladstone –highly religious and committed
to values of integrity became Prime Minister four times and was able to clear
the system. The quality of political leadership together with quality of
education will determine the course of our future history. The moving poem of Munir Niazi-a Pakistani poet
comes to my mind.
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