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| Can Omar Abdullah fight as lone ranger against corruption? | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, July 30: The speed with which a government in power and a political party once dearest to the masses can lose grip and fame is proved by none more demonstratively than the present government in Jammu and Kashmir.
The common man is so much disgruntled with the ministers of the state government, their style of functioning, their indifference and ridicule with which they treat the people that except for the chief minister, Omar Abdullah, the crowds at the official residences and offices of the ministers have started falling with alarming proportions.
From obtaining their ration cards, state subject certificates, normal references on official matters and also routine disposal of their files, the people have to pay bribes at each and every stage. The levels of corruption have not only reached unimaginable heights in the state, but the worst problem is that corruption has been legitimized in the present regime.
The same chief minister who would spew venom against the corrupt ministers, politicians and officials has finally come to depend on them. They have somehow started believing that the worst is already over so far as the fear of getting caught or reprimanded for corrupts practices.
The worst that can happen to corrupt officials is that a class fourth employees, a Patwari, a junior engineer or others at the lower rung of the administration can be nabbed for small acts of corruption. The sharks are ruling the waters as the web woven around the chief minister by his ministers and bureaucrats becomes thicker and stronger.
Does the chief minister know that his biggest public asset when he took over the reins of power in the state was his neat, clean and public friendly image? Does he know that the people had started believing that Omar Abdullah would go miles ahead of even his father in eradicating the menace of corruption, nepotism and lack of accountability in public life? It is sad and sickening to note that the same politicians within his party who opposed his elevation to the chief minister's post because they believed once the young Omar had taken over, their own future would be sealed for good, are today talking of the chief minister in ridiculing tone? They are telling their kitchen coterie that Omar Abdullah cannot afford to ask them anything regarding their shady dealings because the chief minister feels weak and insecure.
The biggest weakness the chief minister has is that there are politicians and bureaucrats around him who cannot handle themselves if they live with honesty and dignity.
They have somehow grown and prospered on ill begotten money. Their families have been living with such pomp and show and in such luxury that they cannot now afford to go back and live on a day's honest wage.
There is a common joke among the politicians in Jammu and Kashmir these days. They tell each other in confidence that the government is either run their way or the chief minister takes the highway.
It is sad that the same Omar Abdullah whose mere presence would breathe awe and fear into the hearts and minds of the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats is today facing problems and challenge to his own position because of the presence of such elements around him. World seems to have come one full turn for the state government within less than 3 years.
The hunter is slowly, but steadily becoming the hunted. The brave heart, Alas! appears to have been tamed. The fire seems to have run out of its light so far as the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, Omar Abdullah's commitment and resolve to rid his government of the corrupt ministers and officials is concerned.
The war against corruption unfortunately is a lone ranger's crusade for Omar Abdullah. Nobody among his ministerial clan or the party would support him in this crusade. Yes, the people of the state would be on his side and support his each and every action against the corrupt and the callous in his corrupt. But, the million dollar question is whether the scion of the Abdullah dynasty has the courage and the fearlessness to challenge a system that has plagued every arm of his government in the state? |
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