ENEMY NO 1 CORRUPTION NOT COMMUNALISM BY SHANTONU SEN

Following a C B I case Enforcement Directorate has attached properties worth 863 crores of Jagan Reddy. Some time earlier the story that N. D. Tiwari has embraced Shekhar as his son was all over the national news papers, most of them carrying pictures of N. D. Tiwari hugging his son born out of wedlock with Manju Singh, the woman watching fondly. N. D.Tiwari was reported to be worth crores and it is known that he had no children born out of his marriage. Shekhar has no problem being called a bastard and Jagan , with all that ill-gotten money amassed in corrupt deals engineered by his father the late Y S R Reddy while he was the Chief Minister of Andhra is all set to earn political accolades . There is , in their minds, no shame . All that counts is becoming a man of means or becoming politically powerful. Means to that end no longer brings shame as it would most certainly have , say , even ten years from today. Corruption has always existed but its wide acceptability and condonation is of recent origin. Its base has also widened. An honest man could soon be an oxymoron.
Communalism today is in the mind. It needs a person poltically powerful to inflame it as it was done in 1984 against the Sikhs in Delhi and against the Muslims in Ahmedabad in 2002. Communalism is now a prejudice more than a desire to avenge, kill or plunder. The embers are cold . It requires a massive underground fire to revive it. Any political dispensation can smell it in advance and douse it. The rub is that political party in power and its administrative sword arms must honestly discharge their duties and responsibilities. Steeped in corruption they are both indolent in their duties and impotent to act in time . My country men will continue to be prejudiced in areas of colour of the skin, caste , creed . religion even trade and business. But most of the time it remains dormant and does no damage to any one.

Communalism can be contained. It needs untainted administration with a masterful and determined political authority who is driven by a honest resolve. Corruption, on the other hand, needs to be eliminated The extortionist type has to go first. The corruption that is mutually pleasing is a tougher nut to crack. Both corruptions, often described as small and big constitute enemy no 1. Unless corruption is cornered communalism will continue to be fanned and inflamed