Essay: When Money Speaks Truth Remains Silent In English
Article 14 of the Constitution provides: “The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India." It means that no man is above the law of the land and that every person, whatever be his rank or status, is subject to the common law and amenable to the jurisdiction of the Ordinary Tribunal.
Sounds superb, isn't it ? But over the years we find that this Article is just confined to Chapter III'Our Fundamental Rigbt's of the Indian Constitution and seldom put to practice. Almost everyday we find violation of this Article in one form or the other. Such violation is attributed to varions influences particularly the money power of a powerful segment of society.
'When money speaks, truth is silent' is not new to our soil. Money is synonymous with power, influence and also corruption. In ancient times also, no one dared to speak about the atrocities and beinous crimes committed by the Kings and also their top officials i.e. Montris. Masses knew that ail
petitions and cries would fall on deaf ears as either the judges i.e., Kings were them selves the culprit or the Godfathers of culprits. Only a few rulers in Indi: n history like Ashoka the Great, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Vikramaditya were concerned more about human welfare and abjured the luxuries of life and did not let their power influence their action.
The framers of our Constitution realised that for India to stand, develop and make a mark in the world, it is necessary that State should not discriminate against anyone on the basis of caste, creed, colour or status.
All the titles which created a sense of discrimination like Thakur, Raja Sahib etc., were all abrogated and titles were conferred only on the basis of merit in th: field of academics and for exemplary valour in military.
What can a Constitution, however great it may be, alone do when corruption has seeped in to the very grass-root level of our society? Today, from top politicians to lower rung in government offices, everyone is caught in the grip of corruption,
Over the years, there has been a general decline in moral and ethical values which we once cherished but are now just confined to the pages of some spiritual books. The bureaucrat is becoming far more dominant that ever before.
We have seen innumerable examples of politicians who are involved in scams, involving not lakhs but multi-crores of rupees. There is hardly any politician left whose name is not associated with corruption, scams, and other crimes.
Money which could benefit millions, remains in the hands of the few. We have also witnessed that no stringent measures have been taken against them. First of all, most of the scandals, murders and other crimes committed by the politicians and bureaucrats remain under a cloud.
Even if they come under the sun, the real culprits are hardly prosecuted. Let us think about the reasons for silence of the truth. (a) Who will dare to act as a witness against a person who holds a supreme status in society and country?
(b) Even those few who dare to speak are silenced. (c) Even law enforcers are mere puppets in the hands of rich, powerful and influential persons. Instead of finding evidence against them, they try to erase all evidences against the culprit and take huge bribes or promotions in retum.
(d) Any official who sincerely tries to investigate the case is either threatened with dire consequences, transferred or even eliminated. (e) Due to lack of sufficient evidence and also keeping in mind the status of person, such persons are often prized with honourable exoneration by our so-called upright judiciary.
Further, the long Court proceedings often dishearten the other party seeking justice. It is righuy said 'Justice delayed is justice denied'. There are innumerable examples which vindicate the above statements. Some of which may be mentioned below:
(1) The no-confidence motion against the former Prime Minister, Mr. P.V. Narsimha Rao, was defeated due to the influence of the money power when J.M.M. MPs were bribed by the Congress.
(2) The former Bihar Chief Minister, Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav, who was involved in Rs. 1000 crore fodder scam has still not been prosecuted despite the evidence against him. Even judges are reluctant to take any action against him; what to talk of common man.
Now Bihar is being actually ruled by Laloo in the name of Rabri. The selfproclaimed “clean” Congress has entered into a electoral alliance with Fodder Scam-tainted Mr. Laloo Prasad for 1999 elections, thus legitimising his scam indirectly.
(3) Again the Bofors case in which Late Rajeev Gandhi was allegedly involved is raised almost at every election by various political parties and then forgotten and put into cold storage.
(4) Ms. Jayalalitha is still behaving like a queen despite several cases pending in the Court. She is a force to be reckoned with. (5) Mr. Sukhram, the ex-Minister in Central Government, involved in Telecom Scandal, has not only gone scot free but was also elected to Himachal Pradesh Assembly.
Earlier, any person whose name got involved in such scams and other crimes, used to feel abashed and resigned on moral grounds. Today, the politicians have become thick-skinned.
Everybody is ready to stand witness against a clerk for allegedly receiving a meagre bribe but no one dares to stand witness against any powerful person even though his crime trangresses all degrees of nefariousness.
Most VIPs are financially in a better position to engage the services of top lawyers, who by their oratorial skills, help bail them out of adverse situations. Each time an Inquiry Committee is set up, substantial amount is wasted with hardly any outcome.
Charles Darwin's theory 'Survival of the fittest holds true in our society also. According to the theory the genes which are helpful for the survival of individual and enable him to acquire resources from the environment are conserved and perpetuated.
The unfit genes gets eliminater from the population. In today's world the most fit genes wbich help the organism to survive are the genes of shrewdness, dishonesty, apathy, nefariousness, narrow mindedness, etc.
Today the genes of honesty, sympathy, concer and welfare for others, peace, etc. are getting eliminated from the population. There is a close nexus between criminals and politicians and a strong symbiosis exists between them.
The spirits of criminals are touching we sky as they know that no police or judiciary can even touch them when they are under the protection of politicians. These criminals are used time and again by the politicians to get their jobs done. Even criminals have now 'entered legislatures on the basis of muscle power.
The BMW case in Delhi in which a boy of influential family crushed six persons because of his rash driving under the influence of liquor, is still going on with the victims' family waiting for the Justice. Now the eyewitness, an employee of a petrol Pump, who could act as a witness, against him bas turned hostile.
We should not be surprised if this boy of high connections is let off one day by the court for want of evidence. In our villages also, the rich and influential Zamindars and Sarpanches dictate their terms over the poor masses.
Because of their money power, the poor masses are subjugated and even their lands are grabbed by these powerful feudals in villages. These criminals often get absolved due to lack of evidence. Committing a crime is a sin and being indifferent to a crime is a bigger sin.
The first step towards the amelioration of any evil is its exposure. There are some crimes which the masses can prevent if they all stand united. To curb all these tendencies, law should be made stringent and effective. Judiciary should be made more efficient so that cases can be solved within the shortest time span.
The responsibility also lies on the shoulders of senior politicians. They are the models and heroes of the masses and with their self-discipline they should try to become ideals in the society. Tangible and concrete measures should be taken by then to decriminalise politics and take stringent measures to curb the tendency of corruption and criminalisation in their parties.
Any person whose name gets involved in a scam should be asked to resign immediately and should not be given a ticket in next election till be is cleared of the charges. Senior politicians must curb all nefarious activities going on in the party but first and foremost, they themselves be honest.
They should remember the fact that whenever atrocities committed on public crossed all limits and comption reached its height that Government or the ruler bas always been toppled. This case has been witnessed not only in India but the world over i.e. French Revolution, Russian Revolution of 1917, American Revolution and the Great Freedom Struggle launched by India against Britishers are classic examples of this.
Whenever there is decline of righteousness, und rise of unrighteousness, 1 incarnate myself to protect the virtuous and to destroy the wicked from Age to Age. Undoubtedly, the power of money cannot be denied.
When it is properly used it becomes a boom. But when money is misused in all sorts of crimes and injustices and to defend them only then money speaks and the truth is silenced.
It would be apt to sum up this essay in the following lines : When money speaks, truth is silent, ears deaf and eyes blind. Powerful persons keep on whistling, downtrodden gets not even a trifling. Who has time to listen about masses, When everyone is involved in his own clashes. All real values have gone waste, they are no more the societies taste. but let's hope time will change, as nothing in this world has a stable stage.