Learning from India

Two top Indian politicians were asked to resign on November 9 by the country’s ruling Congress party, due to corruption charges, while investigations were launched to look into accusations against them. Suresh Kalmadi, the infamous chief organiser of the Commonwealth Games held in October, was asked to hand in his resignation as Congress party secretary due to the embarrassment India suffered under his management of the Games. From falling bridges to human excrement found in the flats set up for visiting players, it seemed Kalmadi could do no right. India was pounded by the media whilst visiting teams gave ultimatums of cancelling their participation.

The second politician asked to step down,by Sonia Gandhi, according to Indian media, is the Maharashtra chief minister, Ashok Chavan, for allegedly selling apartments reserved for war widows to politicians and military officers. In both cases, the crime has not yet been proven but the politicians have resigned to preserve the sanctities of the positions they held. India’s record for tackling corruption is by no means stellar but these actions are a step towards transparency and accountability, the hallmarks of democracy.

In Pakistan, we ignore corruption charges. Recently, several politicians were accused of diverting floodwaters into unprotected areas to save their own lands. Calls for an independent inquiry to ascertain what happened were resisted by the Sindh government. Measures to ensure that flood management guidelines are followed in the future may be too much to hope for. And herein lies the contrast with India.

Though corruption is endemic in both South Asian neighbours, India has lived up to its status as an emerging major player, ready for bigger and better things, by holding its leaders accountable. Pakistan must do the same to ensure that the cycle of corruption is broken once and for all.