The Cancer Within - Corruption Aided Terrorism
I saw an investigative report on the television channel CNN IBN titled Citizen X, that outlined how easy it is for a terrorist to operate in India.
According to the report, all it required was less than Rs. 50,000 for the investigative reporting team to acquire all of these - an Indian driving license, a proof of residence, an MTNL phone, a birth certificate, a PAN card, a ration card and shockingly the Indian passport and Voter id!. And all this in less than 20 days. Incidentally, if you were to go about legitimately acquiring a passport or a ration card the period could exceed 45 days!
With corrupt government officials, politicians and policemen in collaboration, all you need is an interface, a tout who gets the work done and passes on the commissions to everyone involved in the pecking order.
And the strangest part of all, the individual for whom these documents were made didn’t even exist, so you can officially exist and become a citizen of India without even existing!
These are facts well known to terrorists across the border, and infiltration and setting up base in India is only a matter of a few weeks and a few thousand $.
As an Indian citizen I’m more worried, because this problem is widespread and has spread like a cancer throughout the administration and offices of national integrity.
The greater enemy is within, and the roots are running deeper within our system like a parasite.
If the integrity of our nation is at the mercy of touts and corrupt officials, I wonder how long before the heinous grip of corruption reaches out for the throat of our nation.
Tags: Corruption, India, Opinions
