Opening Nelson’s eye.. By Pritish Nandy

Like every Indian I am delighted the battle against corruption has been joined. Finally. How far it will go is tough to predict. But the cynical phase is over, for now. Inspired by Anna Hazare’s campaign, an aggressive media baying for the blood of the corrupt, and a Supreme Court that means business, the people of India are finally ready to believe it’s possible to fight corruption, and take out corrupt politicians, businessmen, Government servants. This is a definitive first step: Opening Nelson’s eye. Unless the Government accepts it is corrupt, it can never bring about change.

The people who have been caught and jailed are not, as in the past, small time crooks. They are powerful and influential, capable of applying enormous political pressure. They did. They hired the nation’s most expensive lawyers too, people who charge per hearing what we earn in a full year. Yet they were unable to escape public outrage and the long arm of the law. They are now languishing in Tihar, with the courts having refused them bail. If nothing else, it shows that when crooks go down, there’s no one to offer a helping hand. Compare this with Binayak Sen’s incarceration where not only thousands of Indians but Nobel Prize winners from all over the world came out in Sen’s support. And Sen’s alleged crime was far worse: Sedition.

The reason is simple: The world knows the difference between crooks and fall guys. Kalmadi never stood for Indian sport. He stood for corruption in Indian sport. Raja never stood for telecom. He stood for bribery in telecom. It’s the same for the businessmen and Government servants in jail. They were all there for their dexterity in bending rules. Some, like VK Verma, had run-ins with the CBI in the past and were yet chosen. The reasons are obvious.

Many of them dared the media to do its worst. Others were confident they would be bailed out at the last minute. Middle class India thought so too. For we are accustomed to seeing corrupt and influential people get away without a scratch and sometimes even being rewarded with a Padma Bhushan as well. But this time it did not happen. With the exception of former Congress CM Ashok Chavan who seems to have quietly snaked his way into oblivion, the rest are cooling their heels in Tihar, like petty criminals. It’s a good beginning and, if this national campaign against corruption continues, we can hope to see some real change.

But when fighting corruption we must be cautious. This is the precise opportunity Governments use to try and subvert democratic institutions. And this is exactly what’s happening. So, if you are not careful, you will see rampant phone tapping by State agencies who will claim they are doing it to catch tax evaders and corrupt officers. Ratan Tata was not much off the mark when he said we are becoming a banana republic. The way his private conversations with Niira Radia were tapped and released to the press shows a dangerous trend. Phone tapping is an extreme step to gather information. No civilized society, no democracy does it unless under severe compulsions. Here, it is easy and rampant. Any rogue policeman can order it and get away. So can any rogue tax officer. There are even businessmen who tap each other’s phones by bribing the system. It’s an old habit of ours begun by Governments in power. Even a moralist like VP Singh as prime minister tapped Chandra Shekhar’s phone because he suspected Shekhar of plotting his ouster.

But tapping phones is old hat today. The Government is openly demanding from RIM that it must be allowed to tap into private Blackberry data. It’s putting pressure on Google to allow it to read your and my emails, enter our chats, have access to everything we say, write, do. It wants open access to DMs on Twitter and privacy settings on Facebook. Trust me, this is not about national security. It’s not about chasing corruption either. It’s a wicked and dangerous subversion of democracy, a quick way to hunt down its critics, intimidate them. It’s an easy route to embarrassing political opponents. A smart device to short circuit democratic norms, perpetuate the rule of those in power. The intent is to harass and blackmail. While you may enjoy the titillation of hearing Nira Radia chat with Ratan Tata about her couture and her cars, you must realise that taping such conversations is dangerous for you, and for every free citizen of India. Imagine the chaos when everyone’s private chats become public news. Everyone’s right to privacy will be compromised. Reputations will destroyed without reason or purpose.

Twitter and Facebook have helped to bring despotic regimes under pressure in the Middle East. This was possible only because technology allows us the privacy to plot against the wicked in power. By allowing the State to subvert that privacy, destroy our freedoms we are compromising on all our rights. So fight corruption we must. But we must also protect our democracy at the same time.