As with other shady dealings under the aegis of this regime, the coal import scam recently raked up by the Financial Times (FT) carries all the distinctive features of business conducted in a kleptocracy, a term that etymologically derives from the Greek for “thief rule”.A kleptocracy fosters unlimited grand corruption, ensuring near total impunity for those authorised to loot by the head of state and his minions. In a kleptocracy, illegal activities of the government’s cronies are ruled licit by a corrupted legal system. Other hallmarks of a kleptocracy are rent-seeking through awarding lucrative contracts to family members or friends and reframing the domestic narrative by capturing ownership of media companies. Does this ring a bell?The FT’s investigative analysis is a damning indictment of the regime. It alleges that the Adani group has been inflating imported coal costs by using offshore middlemen, because of which the price of coal more than doubles on landing, and thereby, the Indian consumer is being duped into paying twice his legitimate dues.What’s jaw-droppingly significant is that this regime knew what was going on and did nothing to stop the bleeding. Also, consumers may have paid for inflated coal prices between 2019 and 2021 when the pandemic had already hit their incomes and savings badly.By now one is not surprised at the unholy nexus between the corporates and this dispensation. The dubious Rafale deal, the electoral bonds dirt, the pricey airport and port contracts, et al, betray the lockstep between government and the most powerful business houses. More disturbing is the Supreme Court’s equivocal, if not complicit, stance on these critical matters of integrity and ethics.This was not what the country bargained for when this regime first took up the reins almost a decade ago. In 2014, Modi rode to power on the back of an anti-corruption wave spearheaded by the messianic India Against Corruption (IAC) movement that organised a nationwide stir against endemic political and bureaucratic corruption and brought the jittery, dishonest UPA government down to its knees. In those heady days of fanciful idealism, we – the gullible fools of India – passionately believed that the potent Lokpal Act and Modi’s accession would clean the Augean stables.Also read: Narendra Modi’s Political Strategy Lies in the Constant Use of Self-Image in the Religious ContextThe towering, squeaky-clean persona of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, amplified by mobilising every possible propaganda tool, ensured that corruption as an issue of public concern dropped off the nation’s radar. His spurious public image of personal integrity for long subsumed criticism of corruption in his government. A credulous public was convinced that this superman had resolved the problem of corruption. “Na khaunga na khaane dhunga” was the beguiling catchphrase that calmed a nation.Open democratic societies with free access to information are vital for fighting corruption. The most important outcome of transparency is that it has a civilising effect on political behaviour through democratic accountability. In fact, social thinkers contend that transparency and free flow of information contribute to regime effectiveness in matters ranging from development and growth to social welfare.But the kleptocratic mode of governance can thrive only in an authoritarian and opaque milieu. This government has succeeded in creating an intimidatory environment of “shock and awe” which has virtually terrorised every institution into toeing its line. A nameless fear has gripped government offices as the bureaucracy cowers behind the ‘steel frame’ in an ecosystem where loyalty to the ruling dispensation is paramount and not impartiality and probity. Nobody dares speak truth to power or challenge faulty government policies. This has had a terribly deleterious effect on the fight against corruption.Even deadlier for the future because of its long-term impact has been the well thought out, methodical positioning of individuals with the “right ideological bent” in critical government institutions including the UPSC, CAG, UGC and JNU. The sentinels of Hindutva have been planted everywhere. And those, like the intrepid professor K.S. James, director of the International Institute of Population Sciences (IIPS), who refuse to bend but say it like it is, are booted out.Sadly, most institutions have become grovelling propagandists of the political executive. In fact, this is what is expected of every public functionary, and the government makes no bones about it. Setting aside all principles, the government has decided that its officials will act as “rath prabharis” and spread information on the alleged achievements of the government. A similar diktat was earlier issued to the armed forces personnel proceeding on leave. Sycophancy is now an ordained public duty. Clearly, this government is bent on corrupting our souls.In this oppressive environment, the institutions meant to combat corruption have been reduced to mere ciphers. The calculated diminution of the Lokpal is a case in point. Although the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act was enacted in 2013, this government with impunity deferred the setting up of the Lokpal by more than five years until 2019, in the meantime subverting the statute with critical amendments that diluted the powers and reach of the Lokpal. Predictably, only those well-disposed towards the government occupy the top posts in the supreme body ordained to fight corruption in government.Also read: The ‘Double Engine’ is Passé, Hereafter Modi-Shah Will Pick or Junk BJP CMs at WillEven extant provisions in the Lokpal Act have been disregarded. The Act envisages the transfer of the powers of the CBI to the Investigation and Prosecution wings of the Lokpal, but that, we know for sure, will not happen so long as Modi is around. Instead, the “caged parrot” has transmuted into a deadly force that is being used to settle scores with the opponents of the regime. We have a Lokpal alright, but one that is innocuous and a pale shadow of the ombudsman that the people of India had rooted for.Equally worrying is the systematic undermining of the Right to Information (RTI) law which is aimed at tearing down the wall of bureaucratic secrecy behind which governments do their dirty work. Fortified by this government’s imprimatur of opacity in governance, major public organisations are guilty of routinely withholding information on matters of public interest. By far the most infamous instance is the Delhi University’s refusal to comply with an RTI application seeking to verify the prime minister’s BA degree and despite the chief information commissioner directing the university to disclose the information. (Even more surreal is the fact that the courts have upheld the non-disclosure of our leading public functionary’s academic credentials.)With the entire media focus on the venality and depredations of the opposition and other opponents of the regime, the everyday, all-pervasive corruption faced by the ordinary citizen is dismissed as a piffling problem that we are expected to take in our stride. According to the Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) compiled by Transparency International in November 2020, India has the dubious distinction of the highest bribery rate (39%) in Asia and the greatest number of people who use personal connections to access public services (46%). Most respondents (89%) felt that corruption in government is the main problem. A large number (63%) think that reporting corruption would invite retaliation. India languishes at 86th out of 180 countries in the 2022 Corruption Perception Index with a score of 40 which is worse than the global average score of 43. Clearly, “na khaunga, na khaane dhunga” is a cruel joke played on the people of India.What we see today is not only corruption by individuals but wholesale, across the board subornation of systems and institutions. At a metaphysical level, the frontal assault on the idea of a secular India has corrupted the nation’s soul (a broken Manipur is the first casualty). And the greatest irony is that, perched atop the biggest scams in our history and a deeply unhappy and divided India of his making, the Vishwaguru still unabashedly claims to be leading the fight against corruption, repeatedly accusing the Opposition of fostering criminality and advising his puppets in the central probe agencies not to spare the corrupt. The hypocrisy is stunning! F.W. Robertson had people like the Vishwaguru in mind when he observed: “There are three things in the world that deserves no mercy – hypocrisy, fraud and tyranny.”Mathew John is a former civil servant. The views are personal.
