Joseph Nye Welch’s immortal words to Senator McCarthy were, “Have you no sense of decency, sir?” It took one courageous man’s few words to unmask an opportunist coward whose entire career was based on falsely persecuting others by lies and innuendoes. The time has come to address similar words to Indian politicians and leaders in general and the ruling Congress and its high command in particular.

The shenanigans of the previous telecommunication minister belonging to the DMK party of Tamilnadu which is a coalition member of the ruling Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi Congress cabal allegedly issued Telecom licenses to sundry firms not meeting the requisite criteria and that also at throwaway prices causing the nation a loss of nearly forty billion dollars. An opposition member of the parliament complained to Manmohan Singh to look into the improprieties. After considerable delay, the said member received a reply from the alleged bribe taking telecom minister that everything was honest and above board. Mr. Singh, the prime minister failed in his responsibility to investigate and rectify the matter and now has the Solicitor General making excuses and justifying his behavior. There have been vague statements by some parties of Manmohan Singh being a mere incompetent puppet, keeping the prime minister’s chair warm till Rahul Gandhi can receive a brain transplant to assume the position.

Some persons allege that Sonia wants Rahul to lead the country and Mrs. Machiavelli has realized that it is unlikely that Congress will ever have a clear parliamentary majority in the foreseeable future. Thus the Congress needs coalition partners which have enough seats to constitute a majority coalition but not so many as to demand the prime minister’s post. Such minority seat members can be bought off by giving them lucrative ministerial positions that may allow them to issue licenses and favors in return for personal enrichment by bribes and or black money funding of their political parties. This is presumed to be the reason why Sonia as the president of the ruling party, took no action against the alleged dastardly behavior. She did not want the government to fall and set back any chance of her son Rahul to be the next prime minister after the next elections.

These nefarious plans also explain the tolerance of corruption, misappropriation and overspending for the Commonwealth Games with substandard, inadequate and delayed facilities for the games. Everything will be tolerated to achieve the goal of Rahul becoming the prime minister in the near future. Thus Manmohan Singh’s position is reduced to the guy who refuses to participate in a bank hold up but is willing to drive the getaway car with the understanding that he will not share in the loot but will receive eternal gratitude, some prestige and a nice government pension. He doesn’t see that his desire for fame and prestige is making him an accessory to the crime, if not legally then morally. One can only feel frustrated by the apathy and stupidity of the Indian masses and electorate. Perhaps the lack of integrity of the leadership is a mere reflection of our national character.

There is however another matter which evokes even greater disgust. Some scamming minister or Congress leader got the idea of building a 30+ storey building on some land in Colaba, Mumbai, which is part of the Indian Navy facility. It was ostensibly meant for the Kargil martyrs’ families. It is said that to be eligible for allotment of an apartment at a substantial discount, one had to be a direct family of the martyr and a resident of Maharashtra State. Some prominent Generals not domiciled in the state and an admiral in similar position and some Maharashtra state ministers officially are said to have submitted false documentation and were assigned the discounted apartments. The high officers and ministers obviously showed total disregard for those heroes who gave up their lives to defend the nation from the sheer incompetence of the army brass and intelligence, who missed the Pakistani infiltration and the disgusting scum manipulated the system to enrich themselves at the cost of the martyrs. Other scams in military procurement and land deals are enough to lose faith in the armed forces higher echelons. Furthermore the building was erected in such a fashion and location to be a threat and impediment to the security objectives of the entire naval facility. 

Prior sagas of Jessica Lal murder and failure to punish the crimes of Bhopal, Bofors and others by the rich and powerful caste doubt on any justice in India.Truly, the time has come to use a variant of Joseph Nye Welch’s immortal words. “Have Indian leaders no sense of shame or decency?  Maybe we Indians have no sense”. Hum Sub Chor Hai!