I feared this ever since Anna Hazare started mobilising us against corruption. It has happened to all previous torchbearers against any kind of corruption in India. Those who showed courage to question the powerful have ended up on the side of sufferers. Be it the Tehelka expose, cash-for-votes revelations in parliament, the L N Mishra whispers, the Bofor issue, the fodder scam, JMM payment case, Radia expose and other such innumerable cases – we have witnessed blatant attempts to shut the mouth of the source.

As a result, we as a nation have lost faith in everybody. We will look for no reasons to believe in the latest Shanti Bhushan- Prashant Bhushan expose. We will never seek any proof to establish the relation between the Gandhis and Quattrocchi’s Bofors payments. We will assume a connection between Binayak Sen and Maoists. Irrespective of the verdicts, we will never be able to acquit Afzal or Geelani in the parliament attack case. We have already hanged Narendra Modi many times for his supposed involvement in the Gujarat riots. It is impossible to reject a link between any unknown Indian Muslim and terrorism and nobody needs to be convinced about a connection between RSS and saffron terror. In fact, we require absolutely nothing to believe in any such negative expose and will be extremely hesitant in accepting that Anna Hazare, Swami Ramdev or Swami Agnivesh has noble intentions. The powers that be use this state of our mind to prove that all are corrupt.

Corruption has assumed such a large proportion that people take pride in being corrupt. The corrupt are ruling the nation and belong to the influential class. We take pride in moving in a car with tinted window glass if that is banned, we feel proud in driving a two-wheeler without wearing a helmet, we proudly ignore a red signal and boast of our connections in manipulating a decision in our favour that was otherwise not allowed within rules – be it admission of your ward, a place in an IPL team, winning a tender, selection for a post or a promotion.

On the other hand, a law-abiding or rule-observing citizen is generally looked down upon by our society. We measure the status of an influential person and respect him as much as his courage to violate or manipulate rules and norms. The powerbrokers in India have helped create this state by enacting laws that are simply unobservable. Bill Gates can rise and rise using regular means but it is simply unimaginable to even dream of such a rise in India by any law-abiding individual. You have to be a Harshad Mehta, a Ketan Parekh, powerbroker politician, shrewd bureaucrat, corrupt administrator, manipulating judge, tax-evading businessman or a professional who is not honestly true to his/her profession. They can prove anyone corrupt not only because we require little to get convinced about this but also as they have ensured that nobody can remain a law-abiding citizen in India.

I am afraid, unless you are an ostrich it is impossible to find a way to get out of this mess.