‘Sab Chor Hai’ Syndrome

LONG AGO, THE editor of a major English daily accused me of practising what he called “normative journalism”. I countered that I know of no other kind, certainly not of the “yes-no-maybe-both” variety, at which he had achieved great mastery. Not wanting to be bound down to soft-pedalling wrongdoing in public life, I said no. Some 30-plus years later, I am glad to report that I still react as strongly to corruption and sleaze as I had upon first becoming a journalist half-a-century ago. It never ceases to amaze me that a vast section of the media has lost its moral compass, giving the thugs and criminals in our public life virtually a free pass. Unfortunately, people at large, too, seem to have internalised corruption to such an extent that given half a chance, they would put their hands in the public till. The conscience-shattering ‘sab chor hai’ syndrome has given everyone a licence to make a fast buck, however wickedly it can be made. Chasing money of any colour is now a 24×7 obsession of our politicians as it is of people at large. We, as a people, have fallen prey to Mammon. Greed has got hold of our collective conscience and buried it several fathoms deep.

The normative streak came to the fore one morning recently while glancing at the assets of the members of the extended Yadav dynasty of Uttar Pradesh contesting the Lok Sabha polls. A Delhi newspaper had the good sense to publish at one place the “total” assets of each member in the electoral fray as mandated by the Election Commission. Akhilesh Yadav, heir to the political legacy of the late Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party founder, has declared over ₹42 crore in moveable and immoveable assets. The paper reported that Akhilesh’s wife Dimple Yadav, contesting from Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency, has declared the same assets as her husband’s, though the couple have individual assets which do not include that of each other, or their children’s.

Akhilesh’s cousin, Akshaya, contesting from Firozabad, has declared assets of ₹136.44 crore. These were ₹32.12 crore in the 2019 election. Another cousin of Akhilesh, Aditya Yadav, contesting from Badaun, is relatively poor, declaring ₹14.63 crore, while another cousin of the SP chief, Dharamendra, contesting from Azamgarh, had only ₹13.5 crore in declarable assets. Clearly, the Samajwadis are a wealthy lot.

Remember, the late patriarch of the Yadav clan, Mulayam Singh, was a teacher at an intermediate college before becoming a full-time politician influenced byRam Manohar Lohia’s firebrand socialist ideology. While Lohia died poor without ever having tasted power, his two most prominent Yadav followers in UP and Bihar, respectively, grew enormously wealthy chanting the samajwad mantra. Indeed, it is hard to figure out whether Lalu Prasad’s extended family has done better in the financial sweepstakes than Mulayam’s but as far as we know, neither had a flourishing business nor was either family blessed with a genius inventor earning millions in royalties. Politics alone yielded their pots of gold, and continue to do so to this day.

Look around the country. And you will find that the heads of the family-owned parties in every state have over the years grown enormously rich pursuing the lucrative business of politics. The Pawars and Thackerays of Maharashtra, the Karunanidhis and Marans of Tamil Nadu, the Gowdas and Shivkumars of Karnataka, the Badals of Punjab, the Lals and Hoodas of Haryana, et al, have to thank politics alone for their vast riches. Of course, we would be amiss if we omitted the name of Mayawati, a primary school teacher who got so wealthy as BSP boss that her wealth has now become a political millstone around her neck. All these worthies, barring an exception or two, were dirt poor, to begin with before joining politics. As a wag said, they had nothing to do, and therefore, they started doing politics—and reaped millions in return. Politics is probably the only profession where without a paisa in investment, you can get tens of millions in (un)earned profits.

Meanwhile, anyone willing to pursue normative journalism can dig deeper into the origins of various political dynasties and come up with a huge wealth of information, turning it into a political thriller. Last but not least, the cynical voter cannot escape blame for condoning the corruption and criminality of politicians.

Akhilesh YadavcorruptionIndian politiciansLok Sabha pollsMulayam Singh Yadavpeople