Without a grain of truth
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh acted appropriately in giving a frank reply to irresponsible elements of the Anna Hazare brigade who, without a shred of proof, used contemptuous language to insinuate corruption against him. It was said that coal blocks were offered to private parties for exploitation on an irregular basis without auction when Dr Singh looked after the coal portfolio in UPA-1, resulting in exorbitant pecuniary gain to them. It was falsely claimed that this had been suggested by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, and therefore had to be investigated.
Putting the record straight, the Prime Minister told journalists on his flight back home from Burma on Tuesday that he would resign from public life if the allegation against him was proved. He also noted that no CAG report imputing mala fide against him was submitted to the government. As per procedure, the government would submit its response to a report of the CAG to the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, the Prime Minister said. It appears the reckless charge has been hurled on the basis of a draft CAG report that has been doing the rounds.
Pertinently the Prime Minister also asked that the Indian public “should make up its mind whether this (Anna Hazare group) sort of politics should rule the roost”. In sly ways, over the past year, the Hazare campaign has been seeking to attack the highest levels of government. The latest is a calculated assault against the Prime Minister and 14 of his Cabinet colleagues on grounds of corruption. Such has been the vehemence of the attack that a respectable member of the anti-corruption campaign, Justice Santosh Hegde, a former judge of the Supreme Court who was also Lokayukta of Karnataka, distanced himself from the deeply coloured exercise launched by Mr Hazare’s acolytes. He also reportedly noted that he dissociated himself from the accusation of corruption made against external affairs minister S.M. Krishna and the language used against the Prime Minister.
The agenda of the Anna Hazare campaign, it appears, has been widened to bring about the downfall of the UPA-2 government led by Dr Singh by fair means or foul. It is characterised these days primarily by the use of innuendo and demagoguery. If the pseudo crusaders intend to be of service to the country instead of ending up being rogue para-politicians, they should approach the judicial system with documented evidence of corruption against the Prime Minister and his colleagues instead of using the media to spread the noxious vapour of unverified or unverifiable allegations of taint. Let the courts decide what is fit for investigation, not self-appointed guardians of civil society, some of whom have hardly shown themselves to be above board.
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