The Wing of Change
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: October 05, 2013 -

The sweeping development that has been taking place in Indian political firmament over the last few couple of days has been simply mindboggling.

After the initial euphoria and all out efforts made by the ruling Congress-led UPA Government to shield convicted lawmakers from immediate disqualification or disallowing them from contesting in the election as per an earlier Supreme Court ruling passed on July 10, the sudden withdrawal of an Ordinance passed by the Union Cabinet to negate the same Supreme Court ruling, some of the politicians charged with corruption in various cases have now been forced to cool their heels behind the bar.

Before the much publicised conviction and subsequent sentencing of the maverick RJD supremo and former Bihar Chief Minister 65-year old Lalu Prasad Yadav by a special court of the CBI to five years in jail for his involvement in the 17-year old multi-core fodder scam on October 3 finally, 66-year old Rasheed Masood, a Rajya Sabha member of the ruling Congress party was already sentenced to four years in jail by a Delhi court in a nearly 20-year-old graft case that involved fraudulent nominations of students in medical colleges, thus, attaining the dubious distinction of being the first Indian lawmaker to be disqualified after the July 10 Supreme Court judgement.

Apart from restoring the faith of the people on the judiciary system whose exercise of power has always come in clash with that of the executive in the country, the conviction and sentencing of the two prominent lawmakers as well as their accomplices, including another former Chief Minister of Bihar and Congress leader Jagannath Mishra and Janata Dal United MP Jagdish Sharma specially in the multi-crore Fodder scam, has shown that when it comes to indulging in corruption there is no difference among the politicians and the parties they belong to.

Regardless of the seemingly different outward appearances and the sound and fury they might create against each other, deep down they are just the same. That is one main reason why corruption has always thrived and become a way of life forcing people to live under the assumption that nothing really works without ever paying some sort of bribe even for the most basic services.

But with the long arm of the law now reaching out aiming for the throats of convicted lawmakers for breaking the laws made by themselves, perhaps, it is time for the rest of the politicians including those in Manipur to open their eyes wide to see and listen to the wind of change sweeping across. Period.