Monday, December 20, 2010
[www.keralites.net] Mr. PM, what about Caesar's silence?
The expression is attributed to an incident in Julius Caesar's life. His wife Pompeia Sulla held a festival called Bona Dea in 62 BC -- a festival that paid tribute to `good goddess'. In this festival, held in Pompeia's house, only women were permitted. But Publius Clodius Pulcher, a naughty, young and ambitious patrician, sneaked in dressed as a woman with an intent to seduce the beautiful wife of Caesar. He was caught, well, pants down, and prosecuted. But during the trial, Caesar never acted or gave evidence against Clodius. The patrician was thus acquitted. But days later, Caesar divorced Pompeia, saying "my wife ought not even to be under suspicion." This gave birth to the expression "Caesar's wife must be above suspicion."
Forget Caesar's wife; should the Prime Minister, like Caesar, remain silent when people like A Raja and Suresh Kalmadi run away with aam aadmi's money?
Prime Minister's honesty and integrity have never been on the debating table or questioned. On these grounds he has been well above the watermarks of doubt; but his silence has not been so.
Here are some occasions when Manmohan Singh could have acted in time, but never did:
2G Spectrum scam
It took over a year for the Prime Minister to act; it took over a year for the CBI to wake up. Had it not been for the PIL in the Supreme Court, the scam would have dragged on and on. Why did Singh not act when the then Telecom minister A Raja refused to listen? Why did the PM not act when Raja ignored Cabinet colleagues and asked them to keep off the Spectrum turf?
Why did the government not bring out the facts when the issue was debated in the Rajya Sabha over a year ago? Why did the PM act only after the Supreme Court comments on the tardy progress and questioned the CBI on its monumental silence?
If the PM would have acted on time and brought Raja to the book, his stature would have been much higher.
The PM and the CBI meekly closed the stables only after Raja and all the horses had bolted.
Another point: If the PM had nothing to hide, why not agree for a JPC probe?
Niira Radia Tapes
How come the Prime Minister was not aware of the fact that private conversations were being secretly taped? Such acts are allowed only for national security. Even if they were taped, who leaked it to the media and why? The conversations were taped by a government agency and the tapes were in the possession of this agency. How come the tapes were leaked and what was the motive?
The PM was visibly upset while addressing the captains of the industry this month. But that shows that he was not under control of things. Even now, he is not able to pin-point who leaked the tapes to the media and why.
CWG scam
For four long months, all the dirt on Commonwealth Games was out in the open. The stink too was there for everyone to 'smell' and squirm. But for the best part, the PM adopted the three wise monkey strategy with a twist in the tale: see-no-scam, hear-no-scam, tell-no-scam. Why did the PM not step in early and stem the rot? He appointed an overseeing committee only after the mess had spun out of control.
Even now, Suresh Kalmadi is yet to be questioned by the CBI even as he plans to bid for the Olympics.
Appointment of the CVC
The Central Vigilance Commissioner is appointed by taking into confidence the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Three persons were shortlisted for the CVC post but the government ignored the dissenting note of Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj and appointed P J Thomas as the CVC. This despite the fact that he is still an accused in the palm oil import scam in Kerala.
Sushma Swaraj had openly said that the Government was free to choose any one among the two other officers on the list of three, not Thomas. But the PM paid a deaf ear and went ahead.
The government knew all along that Thomas, as the CVC, will not be in a position to investigate the 2G spectrum allotment scandal in which his own ministry was involved. An official with such a shadow of doubt should not have been made the CVC.
Now, the matter is before the Supreme Court which has questioned the manner in which Thomas got the job. Why was the PM so keen on Thomas who was under a cloud of controversy? He could have picked up the next good officer on the list.
Well, like Caesar's wife, the PM should be above suspicion.
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