HONESTY & INTEGRITY: A SET-BACK & THEN A REINFORCEMENT

A gruesome murder in November ’05 shook the consciousness of the entire nation- Manjunath Shanmugham was no more. He an official of the IOC, known for his infallible honesty and integrity fell trap to a notorious petrol mafia and was most disgustedly eliminated. It was another bolt on the face of moral uprightness and a definite set-back for those principled- who intends to change the face of our nation by their hard work, efficiency and honesty...

Given the extent of the poisonous tentacles of corruption prevailing in the system, the few uncompromising have to face day in and out a lot of heat. Instead of the much needed reinforcement they were in fact vicariously punished. The corrupt were found rejuvenated and the incorruptible subjugated. The set-back was so strong that every principled citizen began to introspect and reconsider the very usefulness of his/ her dearly held values of honesty and integrity. Very sadly virtues and principles (an integral part of our Indian culture) were found being sacrificed at the altar of greed and corruption...

In spite of this gloomy black cloud looming large on us, a 26^th March ’07 court order appeared as a silver lining. Pawan Kumar alias Manu Mittal the main perpetrator of the crime was sentenced to death and his seven accomplices to life imprisonment. The judiciary, and this time the lower judiciary, has effectively put up a crusade against corruption and corruption related crimes. The remarkable speedy trail (which took only nine months) coupled with the public uproar is definitely a shot in the arm for the principled and incorruptible. The dwindling faith the honest in their own strongly held values appear to have regained, they are rejuvenated, and they feel rewarded and reinforced. There appears a cheer in the faces of millions of youngsters willing to make a positive difference in their own walk of life. This judgment has surely once again bugled the victory of the good over the evil...

The bugle now needs to blow louder and we must all join the crusade to hold the flag of the good, the honest, and the incorruptible higher and higher. A strong public opinion is stronger than any mighty system or establishment and once every citizen of our nation realises this- there will surely be no murder of honesty and integrity, only then the true purpose of our democracy will be served. Hats off to the judiciary for the case in point- though there will be appeals before the higher judiciary- and until the final outcome we should not just sit idle but come together and generate such a strong public opinion that not only the perpetrators of crime against Manjunath are punished, but many other murderers of the likes of Manjunath are brought to the books and in the process we can surely witness the emergence of numerous other Manjunaths who can herald a new era marked by honesty and integrity...