No Mercy Needed:

December 16/2014 : After taking over office December 3, the new Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Anil Sinha has made a very interesting statement in relation to the ponzi scam. It surely gives an impression that the topmost sleuth of this country is not only thinking of investigating, chasing and arresting the corrupt and the shoddy but is on the look out for a long term answer to a chronic social evil as well. 

In his wisdom, the CBI Director has certainly come to a very plausible solution to the problem of corruption in our society. He has, in unequivocal terms, stated that “if we have to fight corruption in this country, there is a fundamental requirement that we have to fight our greed. When gullible people get trapped in such (chit fund type) schemes, they are trapped because of their own greed . if we have to end corruption, we have to control ourselves,” said Sinha at the Aaj Tak channel's Agenda programme. 

Going a step further, he claims to have ordered his officers to work without fear and maintain total impartiality without thinking of consequences. He has also told them that “unnecessary harassment” should be avoided.

As is known, the ponzi scams first surfaced with Saradha in West Bengal. On the commencement of investigations, their tentacles were found to have spread to Orissa and Assam. This implies that people in these eastern states are genuinely not poor. While we are not that very well-informed about the details of West Bengal and Assam scams, the picture of Orissa is crystal clear. Around 150 to 200 people in the state had been leeches sucking the blood of this society for a very long period.

Starting now with the chit fund scam and going on to the theft of coal, iron ore, chrome ore, and other mineral wealth and ending with theft of sand from the riverbeds, it shows that most of the able-bodied and slightly intelligent Oriya have been involved in or try to be a part of the large picture of this villainy. Whether it is the truck mafia or extortion under the guise of dowry, this society has become completely rotten from its core. The group of 150 to 200 people mentioned earlier may include the Artha Tatwa chief Pradeep Sethy and Seashore group head Prashant Dash, but is not limited to them alone. Powerful members of the ruling Biju Janata Dal, Opposition’s Congress and BJP along with a clutch of IAS, IPS and other police and civil officials, legal luminaries along with established businessmen, media owners and well-known journalists who are not known for their journalistic acumen, are all part of this dirty plot.The group has grown rich with the fat of the land. Exposing and punishing them will be the greatest service that the CBI can do for the Oriya society. But those who have invested in these get-rich-overnight schemes are no less guilty. The wealth accumulated through these schemes clearly shows that Orissa is not an economically deprived state. 

Notwithstanding the fact that a small group of really 'poor' does exist, the bulk of those who have put in money in such companies have done so willingly and consciously. They are all part of the larger group that has thrived and gotten wealthy, not by working hard and succeeding but by cheating, stealing and defrauding. It is this “greed” that the new CBI director Anil Sinha has spoken about.

The cleansing process of Oriya society is an extremely welcome step. On the other hand, both the groups -- first, the investors who wanted to get rich overnight and multiply their ill-gotten wealth and second, the thieves who managed to dupe them and decamp with their wealth -- do not deserve any sympathy.

Ideally, it is good for Orissa that both sides suffer and learn the lessons they deserve to. No mercy needed here.