POWER CORRUPTS & ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTLY
(By Abdul Majid Zargar)
Political corruption is the use (or misuse) of legislated powers by politicians & beaurocrat for illegitimate private gain. Corruption and governance lie on a continuum but occupy opposite poles. Whereas governance, with its end goal of creating a good government, aims to serve the interest of the people, corruption, through the use of public office and resources, serves the narrow interest of family and allies. “Good government” plays an important role in the development process, and “requires the highest standards of integrity, openness and transparency”. Good government is bound by rules aimed to create a transparent and accountable government; corruption plays discreetly and sometimes directly on these rules to make decisions which will benefit those who have access to power and the highest bidder.
The allegation of corruption leveled by Dr. Fayaz Shawl, a son of soil & a world renowned cardiologist against chief Minister & his Junior Minister, Mr. Nasir Aslam Wani has come at a very inopportune time, when Prime Minister Singh is expected to start his sojourn to the valley. But let us start with first thing first.
It was in 2002 when Dr. Shawl, a leading interventional cardiologist decided to set up a super specialty Hospital in Kashmir to treat the patients, who have otherwise to go to Delhi & Mumbai for treatment. For this purpose a piece of land measuring 40 kannals was acquired by Dr. Shawl at Nishat. He needed permission of the Govt. to start construction of the Hospital & an adjacent rehabilitation centre. The grant of permission has taken four long years, an unusually long period for a prestigious project like this.Dr. shawl has alleged that the dilly-dallying tactics were employed to delay the permission with a subtle hint to shell out the necessary consideration.
We have no reason to disbelieve Dr. Shawl. He has travelled from America to invest a huge sum just to bring succor & relief to poor & needy patients hailing from his motherland. Why should he level false allegation against CM & his favorite Junior Minister? His announcement of gifting a huge sum of Rs. forty crores to SKIMS upon shelving the project, is in itself a proof of his honest intentions.
The value of disservice done by the pathetic attitude of CM & his Junior MInister cannot be measured immediately. Besides treating number one killer disease in Kashmir itself for which huge amounts have to be spent by locals outside, the project could have generated direct & indirect employment, by conservative estimates, to at least 2000 people. It could have opened a new vista of medical tourism for Kashmir. The CM could have extracted his political price by insisting that preference in employment should be given to people hailing from his own constituency.
The CM’s Junior Minister has made the usual noise of charges being false & concocted. He has threatened legal action against Dr. shawl. While nobody can deny him this right, he is well advised to remember that for a public person like him, it is the perception as against reality, which matters. People in general perceive politicians as corrupt & thugs. They are aware how political corruption has played havoc with their souls & bodies. Does he need to be reminded that there has been a ecological vandalism in allowing construction of Hotels atop Hill tops & mountains? Does he need to be told that a prestigious Hotel in Kashmir has been sold to a non state subject through dubious documentation. Or he does not have guts to listen that Srinagar City is today rated as one of the dirtiest cities, the root cause of which is only corruption. It may be his defense that a particular act was not committed by him but by his predecessor or by his colleague but since birds of the same feather fly together, a general & common perception is created about all of them.
Political scientists have long been assessing the effects of deadly mix of corruption & bad governance on the political psyche of a society. A majority view asserts that it is difficult to judge whether corruption & mis-governence helps create conflict zones or conflict Zone breed such corruption & misgovernence. Kashmir is an classic example of such an assertion.
Dr shawl’s case is not first & it will not be last either. What however is certain that Kashmiris are suffering enormously due to high political corruption prevelant in every sphere of life?
