When one thinks of " Black " what is it?
Well for one we speak of black colour that is darkest of all colours.
We speak of black clouds i.e, rain bearing clouds. Some prefer
their coffee black. For some the future looks black. We are called
blacks by Whites. Then during war days there used to be black-outs.
Now-a-days with load shedding it is routine. The list can go on.
For the political parties Black Money is a popular issue in elections. The more one speaks about it the more it becomes a noose around that party's neck once they are elected. What sort of promises are made? Divide the assumed figure of black money by the figure of population and tell the voter that his share would be secured once the election is over. So are arrived the figures of 10 to 15 lakhs per capita.
Countries that swear by free enterprise also swear by confidentiality for unaccounted money kept in their banks. The money stashed illegally abroad is afterall the wealth of the pillars of governments in each country. Then there is quibbling about legally opened and operated accounts and others which are not. As if a banker would allow accounts to be opened illegally without any evidence about the customer. Is it laid down that a legally opened account should not be used to keep ill gotten money?
When 627 names were submitted in sealed cover to the Supreme Court, the judge exclaimed they are old names! Government says the information was upto 2006. One employee who was angry with his Bank leaked the list, they say. Some call him a whistle blower . Which means the Bank's management would not do such a dastardly act unless compelled to.
All this reminds me of a book titled " Crisis of India" by one Ronald Segal who interviewed many leaders, influential people in 1950s and brought them in the form of a book. He cites his interview with the then Chairman of C.P.I. Com. S.A. Dange. Dange is reported to have told his interviewer " In India every honest merchant maintains 3 sets of accounts. One for the tax man, the second for the lawyer he trusts and the third one for himself." In the same book a reply in Loksabha by Shri Lal Bahadur Sastry also was quoted. There was a question about donations to Congress party by industrialists. Lal Bahadurji replied " Many people donate money to Congress. Those who donate also include Tatas, Birlas etc. "
In recent decades the intelligent monopoly houses, industrialists learnt not to support one party alone. After all the era belonged to coalition politics. They began donating to all parties, the amounts varying in quantity depending on the perception of that party's usefulness or chances of forming a government. Now-a-days they supply their private jets to leaders of political parties, run campaigns for them in the media controlled by their business units, supply funds to the party and T-shirts and food to volunteers etc etc.
So the hesitations of Arun Jaitley are understandable. So also those foreign powers that keep India reminding that our country must follow " international standards on information and international standards of confidentiality." All these high sounding words being mere euphemisms for refusing to divulge information. We hear of international standards of accounting. Even IRDA and other regulatory bodies in financial sector speak of international standards of accounting.
What can be the international standard of confidentiality for black money? Never disclose the identity of persons with numbered accounts in Swiss Banks, is it ? We heard and read of dictators with Swiss Bank Accounts. We read of military generals who store the wealth looted by them in foreign banks. Indian politicians with Swiss accounts were not heard 5 decades before. That is the price we paid for the development and type of development we have. In 1950s giving the voter a note of Rs.2 for vote was considered a sin. Now the going price for vote in any panchayat election is Rs.2000/- Do politicians elected at such a cost do penance and pray for country's progress?
More and More drama would unfold in the days to come. We must thank the judiciary for compelling the government to make the " sensitive information" available to the investigating team . In all this Tsunami where are we? Where will be our pension? Let us pray silently and say "Sathyameva Jayathe." and " Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitaha."
