Of Smart Politicians & The Twelfth Commandment

Of Smart Politicians & The Twelfth Commandment

And for another week-end, a few stray thoughts and a few general observations and a few points of view (some of it my own work and some as reported by media):

Last few years have seen a number of Indian industrialists step out of the country and prosper in markets abroad. Call it luck or business acumen honed by generations of  experience in operating jugaads in each and every aspect of business in India. I am sure these industrialists must be thanking the politicians for having imparted this invaluable training to them. But it seems that the learning was a two-way process. Politicians themselves have learnt that it is perhaps easier to flourish abroad than in the good old motherland.  Take the case of Justice Lodha’s report and recommendations for streamlining BCCI. Now that even Supreme Court has taken a stern view and asked BCCI to implement the recommendation without demur and do away with politicians and bureaucrats, so what does the Smart Politician do? No place in MCA..., no position in BCCI ...  so what? No worries here.  ICC beckons and is ready to welcome him with open arms. Rightly it is said “When one door closes another opens.”

Everyone is aware of the Eleventh Commandment “Thou shalt not be found out” but what does one do when you are found out? Well, take recourse to the Twelfth Commandment of course. “Thou shalt deny anything and everything if it suits you”. So what if David Coleman Headley or once-upon-a-time Dawood Syed Gilani says that it was ISI which carried out the 26/11?  Pakistan can always deny it and question “credibility” of a drug smuggler. I am sure tomorrow even if Nawaz Sharif were to go to UN General Assembly and issue a statement accepting responsibility for 26/11, the Army and ISI will declare that Nawaz Sharif has lost his mind and incarcerate him in Mental Institution WADA Hospital Islamabad. That’s the power of Twelfth Commandment for you. So let’s get whatever we can from Headley’s testimony but let’s not for a moment think that it will take us anywhere with the 26/11 case.

Indian cricket was once again rocked by another sting operation;  this time the fall-guy was Sunil Dev who has been one of the Managers for Indian overseas tours. The end-result is Mahendra Singh Dhoni has joined the ranks of Kapil Dev and Mohd. Azaruddin, the Indian cricket captains who have the dubious distinction of being accused of match-fixing. While one may argue that “there is no smoke without fire”, the same smoke provides enough of a screen for the accused to get all the benefit of doubt. Not surprisingly there has been hardly any uproar in media this time round unlike the earlier occasions. We Indians tend to learn our lessons fairly quickly. After all the Twelfth Commandment always reigns supreme.

LazyBee

12^th Feb 2016