Finally we are internationally No.1 in something other than reproduction and international debt. The Swiss banks' statements state that Indians have the highest amount of money stashed away in their banks — nearly $ 1.456 trillion! After India comes Russia with $ 470 billion, UK with $ 390 billion, Ukraine with $ 100 billion and China with a mere $ 96 billion! And we thought with their growth rate, they'd be able to stash away at least a trillion; guess not, after all they are not as criminal, sorry… “clever” as us.
Will India ever get its money back? No. Because when it comes to money, our nation’s two biggest political parties share the same sentiment — you keep my secret and I will keep yours. L. K. Advani boldly stated that we must bring “our nation’s” money back. But when it was revealed in an explosive book “The State within a State: The KGB and its hold on Russia — Past, present and future” by Russian journalist Yevgenia Albats that Gandhi family financially benefitted from commercial dealings with Russian corporations, economist and politician Subramanian Swamy filed a Writ Petition in Delhi High Court with the photocopies of KGB documents, and sought a CBI investigation to which the then BJP - led NDA government refused. In fact, the CBI never filed an FIR necessary to get the documents from Russia.
Also why was the BJP quiet when in 1991 a Swiss magazine Schweizer Illustrierte did an exposé of 14 politicians of developing nations who, it said, had stashed ill - gotten wealth in Swiss banks. The story with the headline "Curse of money — The Swiss bank accounts of the dictators" published a photograph of Rajiv Gandhi below which it read, "Totally 2. 5 billion Swiss francs on the Indian secret accounts in Switzerland." The other leaders included by the magazine were: Suharto of Indonesia (25.5 billion), Haile Selassie of Ethiopia (22.5 billion), Mobutu of Zaire (6 billion), Shah Pehlvi of Iran (5.7 billion), Saddam Hussein of Iraq (800 million), and Nicolas Ceausescu of Romania (500 million).
Yes, our former PM had more money stashed away than the dreaded dictator of the oil - rich nation Iraq — Saddam Hussein. But of course, Rajiv Gandhi died six months before the revelation and the money became an inheritance.
In fact, Subramanian Swamy has provided proof that Rahul Gandhi’s Harvard college tuition fee was paid for from a Cayman Island bank account, and we all know Cayman Island is the other secretive banking location where ill - gotten money is stashed. So is Rahul going to give this money back to India? Curiously, none from the Gandhi family filed a defamation case against the magazine that wrote about Rajiv. Why?
Well, Rahul and his mother won’t talk about it and the opposition parties won’t ask about it. Why the opposition parties were silent then and why are they silent even now? After all these years of silence, now suddenly why has the BJP constituted a task force to recommend measures to bring back the illegal money?
A study by the Global Financial Integrity shows that during the period 2002 - 2006, annually $ 27.3 billion was stashed away from India. And who was ruling us then? …it was the BJP - led NDA government. So we lost $ 164 billion during NDA rule.
But now surprisingly, the Indian government wants its money back. Is it because of the recent leaks in bank accounts? Or may be because of the media onslaught questioning why we can’t get our money when the US can. But we have forgotten that way back in 2005, a small nation like Nigeria, with the assistance of World Bank, was able to get back the $ 458 million stolen and deposited in a Swiss bank by its military dictator General Abacha. And we, the new global economic power, are still twiddling our thumbs.
We must not fail to notice how our government is taking its own sweet time in requesting for the documents. The delay almost seems intentional. The intent being — give time for tax evaders to move their money out. By the time our sleuths get the required documentation through, all we are going to get are account numbers with no money or name in them. Everyone is safe. It’s a win - win for both parties. What an idea Sirji?!
Activist and writer Arundati Roy said when it comes to communal politics; BJP does by day what Congress does by night. But when it comes to money, all parties do it together both during day and night while the citizens continue to live in the dark. That is why no matter which government comes to power, they never prosecute their own.
Now the more important question we have to ask is why isn't the world upset with Switzerland and other such countries that have become bankers to thieves? When an individual steals goods from another and then gives it to a third party, who knowingly receives the goods, then by law even the keeper is party to the offence. And so, Switzerland must be declared an offending nation that deserves sanctions against it.
The Swiss may hide behind legal loopholes like the thieves they work for, but morally they stand naked and exposed for what they really are — devils’ servants. Devils who stole the money meant to feed the poor and downtrodden of their own nations. By colluding with dictators, corrupt politicians and unethical businessmen, the Swiss have stalled the development of nations and have played a part in their slow paralysis. What terrorists do to a nation with their guns and bombs, the Swiss have done with their secret numbered accounts, code words and convoluted paper work.
The very fact that the US Justice Department found Swiss banks such as UBS conducting secretive operations using code words to provide their thieving clients with special electronic devices to access their accounts in secrecy proves that they knew what they were doing was illegal.
The West might mock us as a “forever developing” nation but we too can mock them as “forever exploiting” nations because the western world turns a blind eye at the nation that is keeping the money meant to propagate the very cause the West prides itself in promoting — liberty and humanitarianism. The Swiss may sit on the fence of neutrality but they have benefitted the most from mankind's suffering. Everyone knows who funded World War II.
Nothing is going to happen to Switzerland and they will continue to do what they do best — continue to have the world’s highest standard of living with the money stolen from the poorest. While they do what is good for them, we must pursue what is needed for us — get our money back. After all, with $1.5 trillion, we can wipe out all our debts to the world and still have enough money left to spurt the growth of our nation for decades to come. But we Indians, instead of protesting, are busy buying Swiss watches and chocolates, thinking we have arrived at the doorsteps of global dominance. Fools we are. And fools are always exploited. We were exploited for 600 years and looks like we will continue to be.
[Sources: www.janataparty.org; Indian Express April 29, 2009 issue]
Vikram Muthanna
vikram@starofmysore.com
Courtesy: Star of Mysore
