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Indian Politics Shaken by Hawala Case

The Jain Hawala case involved 24 Indian politicians being charged with accepting bribes totaling 65 crore rupees from businessman Surendra Kumar Jain, who kept records of the payments. Those charged included seven serving cabinet ministers and the president of the opposition BJP party, all of whom resigned. While corruption has been common in India, this marked the first time elected officials faced criminal charges. The scandal has dominated headlines as India prepares for upcoming elections and may boost the chances of the current prime minister, though he too has been implicated in other scandals. The case highlighted how politics in India has become more of a business than a mission, with bribery now required for many basic tasks.

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Nilaksh Agarwal
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182 views3 pages

Indian Politics Shaken by Hawala Case

The Jain Hawala case involved 24 Indian politicians being charged with accepting bribes totaling 65 crore rupees from businessman Surendra Kumar Jain, who kept records of the payments. Those charged included seven serving cabinet ministers and the president of the opposition BJP party, all of whom resigned. While corruption has been common in India, this marked the first time elected officials faced criminal charges. The scandal has dominated headlines as India prepares for upcoming elections and may boost the chances of the current prime minister, though he too has been implicated in other scandals. The case highlighted how politics in India has become more of a business than a mission, with bribery now required for many basic tasks.

Uploaded by

Nilaksh Agarwal
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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S.K.

JAIN HAWALA CASE

Jain Hawala case rocks India


Jain Hawala Case has so far put the career of 24 politicians in
Jam.  So far India was famous for letting off the politicians who
were charged with accepting bribes.  But the recent case has
shown that even politicians are not spared in India.
So far, 24 politicians have been charged with being beneficiaries
of 65crore in bribes and gifts from businessman and alleged
influence-peddler Surendra Kumar Jain who, unfortunately for
the recipients, kept a diary.
The accused include seven serving Cabinet ministers, all of
whom have resigned; the president of the leading opposition
Bharatiya Janata Party, who gave up his parliamentary seat; and
the chief minister of the local government in New Delhi, who
also quit.
The broad political gamut of the suspects -- from honored
stalwarts of the ruling Congress (I) party to the conservative BJP
and leftist Janata Dal -only buttresses the scornful verdict many
Indians have of those who govern them: Sab chor hain.  
While corruption in India is as ancient and solidly grounded as
the Taj Mahal or Qutab Minar, this sordid episode marks the
first time in independent India's nearly 50-year existence that
members of the government or parliament have been charged or
hauled into court for alleged criminal acts.
"It is like a cyclonic storm in INDIA'S politics" says one delhi
resident.  
The hawala, or illegal foreign exchange affair, has captured
headlines and the public agenda as India prepares for a general
election, expected in April. Most immediately, many pundits
say, the scandal may have boosted Prime Minister P.V.
Narasimha Rao, though he also has been implicated.
Rao's increased chances for a second term will be good news for
Western investors and corporations, since it was the southern
Brahmin and his finance minister Dr.Manmohan Singh who
scrapped India's socialist ideology and launched free market
reforms in 1991, when India was on the verge of mortgaging its
gold by the previous finance minister Yashwant Sinha in the
Chandrasekhar government.
In a wider sense, however, the daily diet of shocking headlines
is a wake-up call that the self-sacrifice and abiding sense of
dharma, or duty, that distinguished many Indian leaders during
the anti-colonial struggle and post-independence politics are in
danger of being smothered under a mountain of rupee notes.
"My regret," laments Atal Behari Vajpayee, the BJP's
parliamentary leader, "is that politics has become more of a
business than a mission."
In 1993, without offering any independent corroboration,
stockbroker Harshad Mehta claimed he had handed Rao a
suitcase worth 1 crore rupees at his official residence. Other
scandals followed: government purchases of sugar and
locomotives; bidding for state telecommunications rights, a 2
crore rupees dollar loan to Rao's youngest son; and Rao's own
alleged involvement as foreign minister in a 1989 forgery
designed to smear a challenger to Rajiv Gandhi.
Early this year, however, the ground unexpectedly shifted. The
seeds of change were sown as long as 2-1/2 years ago, when the
Supreme Court, which had been the epitome of India's
politically obedient judiciary, began showing new independence.
Public resentment and pressure to act against graft were also
mounting, and may have tipped the scales.
"If you want to build a house, get a phone connection, ration
card, driving license, electricity connection, addmision in school
or colleges,  without bribery nothing moves these days in
India". 
The Jain Hawala Case has shown that corruption has now taken
the front seat in India.

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