The joint press conference held by Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal in Delhi on November 16 is ghastly even by the low standards of public morality Indian politicians have settled for in the past decade. They claim there was no such thing as a 2G scam!
It was sheer 'sensationalism'! If so, why was it that Raja and Kanimozhi were locked up for months without bail? Because the BJP and CPM demanded it? Both PC and KS are trained lawyers who should have known why DMK President M. Karunanidhi feels so peeved.
Equally, some journalist attending the media exercise on November 16 should have read up the excellent report in Global Post by Jason Overdorf on why the recently-held auction failed—and why such failure is also part of the story—and asked Sibal some sensible questions instead of allowing him to parade himself like a smart Alec.
Sibal is right that there isn't going to be a ‘telecom story' anymore. There is a saying that a cat that got burnt once will be afraid of all water, hot or cold. This is going to be India's tragedy after these long years of UPA rule.
The point is, the CWG scam, Adarash scam, and now the coal scam—somehow the impression has formed that India is a bloody corrupt country. Which foreign company worth its name would want to touch the Indian telecom sector with a barge pole? Haven't they heard about the Sistema's plight?
Congress President Sonia Gandhi should rein in these Ministers who mock at the common sense of the Indian public. That's the least she can do. It's one thing that Congress Ministers merrily plundered the country. But why do we have to be put through a Kafkaesque spectacle as the one PC and KS staged on November 16. Such media exercises aimed at whitewashing public corruption—instead of letting the due process of law and political justice to take their course—only harks back to what Robert Vadra said recently in contempt about mangos and bananas. Why do we descend to such pitiable levels of political morality? PC and KS should be at least civil and courteous. Okay, we were not educated at Harvard or New York, but don't think we are morons.
(Courtesy: rediff.com)