By Sunanda K. Datta-Ray
CALCUTTA: Far from being a turning point in public
morality, the conviction of former Prime Minister
P.V.
Narasimha Rao's on a corruption charge only exposes
the absurd complexities of a legal and political
system that is tailor-made to encourage abuse.
Rao, 79, is the only Congress politician outside the
Nehru-Gandhi familyto have been prime minister. He
took momentous steps to revive industry, attract
foreign investment, forge a more evenhanded foreign
policy, move India closer to America, end the long
boycott of Israel and seek a rapprochement with
arch-enemies China and Pakistan.
Few Indians doubt that votes were bought seven years
ago, with or without Rao's knowledge. But this is
not
a serious crime in local eyes. Not even Judge Ajit
Bharihoke, who sentenced Rao and Singh, suggested
that
either gained personally from the crime. The
sentence
is widely regarded as excessively harsh punishment
for
men to whom the country owes much.
Rao was hailed as a saviour because the defeat of
the
confidence motion in which the bribery took place
spared the country political uncertainty after Rajiv
Gandhi's murder and two chaotic governments.
His economic and political policies angered powerful
vested interests in the bureaucracy and the private
sector, alienating traditional Congress ideologues.
It
gave a weapon to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty's
supporters, who found a totem in Rajiv's
Italian-born
widow, Sonia.
Even if he and Singh lose their appeal and go to
jail,
it is unlikely to have a healthy impact on a
political
system that is compromised from top to bottom. As an
opposition politician, Vajpayee admitted to a
parliamentary select committee that every Indian
legislator began his career with the lie of false
election spending returns.
Since becoming prime minister, Vajpayee has done
precious little to cleanse a system in which graft
and
abuse of power are commonplace. The fate of Rao and
Singh will make other Indian politicians more
careful,
not more honest.
-Dawn/The International Herald
Tribune News Service.
