PRAGOTI

 Would the skeletons tumbling out of the Indian Premium League (IPL) cupboard over the past few days, shaking the conscience of the cricket loving public, lead to a clean up of the cricket establishment which is reeking of malfeasance and licentiousness? Or is it going to be a flash in the pan – merely another chapter in India’s voluminous record book of sleaze and graft involving the rich, powerful and famous? It depends. Cover-up after cover-up has forced many to cynically accept such sordid affairs as our way of life. Will it be any different this time?

As the Maoists continue with their violent and disruptive activities, sections of the intelligentsia are openly expressing sympathy for their cause. Although the sympathy is often couched in rhetoric against the state and its security offensive against the Maoists, what distinguishes the Maoist sympathizers from a broader community of intellectuals and civil rights groups, who are skeptical of the intent and apprehensive of the efficacy of the Union Government’s anti-Maoists operations, is their stubborn refusal to condemn the anarchic violence and mindless killings by the Maoists. 

"The Finance Minister seems to have walked a tightrope; trying to provide a half-baked stimulus to the slowing economy and make a few gestures to the aam admi even while catering to the demands of the “reforms” constituency; the corporates, stock market players and the affluent sections. This perhaps reflects the very nature of the 2009 election mandate, which has brought the Congress led Government to power. How long can such tightrope walk be sustained is a different question altogether. " argues Prasenjit Bose on Budget 2009.

The flutter created by the revelations of a gigantic fraud at Satyam Computer Services seems to be developing into a storm. As the repercussions of the Satyam scam unfold, corporate India and their backers in the Government are trying to project this more as an aberration, albeit a serious one. There is a visible reluctance to acknowledge, let alone address, the systemic issues involved. While unearthing the real magnitude and modus operandi of the scam and bringing the perpetrators to justice remain central concerns, ignoring the systemic issues will only serve to perpetuate the status quo and spawn many more such scams in future,writes Prasenjit Bose, Convenor of the CPI(M) Research Unit.