M D Nalapat
Most
parts of the creaky - and corrupt — bureaucracy that swallows up more
than a third of national income are unaware that the British Raj ended
in 1947,and that India is a free country. Most of the laws of the land
are based in the colonial-era formulations,each designed to tie down the
population and slowly grind them down into the
poverty-stricken,illiterate masses that they overwhelmingly were when
India became “free”. Jawaharlal Nehru loved British colonial
constructs,and saw to it that they remained, by ensuring that laws,
procedures and personnel remained the same. An example was that of
Girija Shankar Bajpai, who was sent by Churchill to the US during the
1939-45 war to convince President Roosevelt that Indians were unfit to
attain freedom. When a native lisped such words, Churchill expected,they
would be taken seriously and the US pressure on him to grant at least
some autonomy to the natives would get reduced.Bajpai performed with
felicity,and Roosevelt soon silenced those in his team who wanted a
clear commitment from Churchill that the freedoms mentioned in the
Atlantic Charter would be given to the people of India.
Alas,Churchill,who left India as a subaltern with a medley of debts
behind him,including to the prestigious Bangalore Club (where his name
still adorns the records as a defaulter), believed that only those who
were of European origin deserved any freedom at all,and who was
therefore determined to hold on to India for eternity.
Strangely,it is Churchill and the Churchillians who are the heroes of several within the top rungs of those manning key institutions in India. An example is the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), whose top echelon is ever attentive to signals from New York, Zurich, Frankfurt and London, relying on advice from them. Days ago,the RBI threw oil markets in India into a spin when it meekly followed advice from London and New York to block payments to and from Iran through the usual mechanisms, without first putting in place an alternative system. The RBI - which follows a policy of sky-high interest rates and severe curbs on Indian business transactions so as to help foreign competitors - was allowed to do this by the Manmohan Singh government,which is still smarting over Grand Ayatollah Khamenei’s repeated calls to the Muslim Ummah to wage war on India, a war that would presumably be waged against India’s 160 million Muslims as well. The Grand Ayatollah,whose knowledge if geopolitics seems to be at the same level as his fluency in Esperanto, has converted a friend into a foe through his statements against India, with the result that Teheran no longer has any friends in Delhi who can stand up to international bullying. Of course,the best course would be for the two countries to accept each other’s currency. Iran can use the rupees it earns to set up projects in India or buy manufactures and services from this country.
