Corruption has turned out to be a permanent malady in our society. We, as both conscious and responsible citizens, are desperately looking for a way out of this chronic epidemic. When we talk about corruption, our finger automatically points to the feeble and weak law enforcement system in our country. In most of the cases, corrupt people are either protected by the government or its allies. This is popularly called corruption by government patronisation. There is nothing wrong in this statement, and it is as true as widespread.
Addressing the question why corruption has become so pervasive demands a thorough understanding of how it makes its way in the society and eventually gains a strong foothold. In an article published in The Financial Express on August 14, 2014, Professor Abu Ahmed gave a picture of the enormity of corruption in our society, saying, "There were honest businessmen in the past, but their number has fallen overtime. Bribery was there in the past but that was done stealthily and bribe takers were always ashamed of what they were doing." In a sense, this implies how corruption has over time gained a firm grip in our society. But what is the reason? Is it true that feeble law enforcement system is the only lacuna to be blamed? This, in all probability, is not wholly true. Although weak law enforcement is primarily responsible, corruption has a lot to do with our social norms and behaviour.
While dealing with the connection between morality and corruption, the first question that arises in our mind is: why have people become so shameless and why don't they feel guilty of their corrupt ways? Some people may say that since the wrongdoers go unpunished and get patronisation from the government and its allies, they develop a sort of impunity. Who commits corruption? Obviously, corruption is not done by aliens. Whoever is after corruption is either our blood relatives or our friends and allies. For example, a corrupt government official is at the same time a father, a relative, a grandfather, a husband, and finally, a citizen. So, whenever this government official commits corruption, his family members, relatives and colleagues must be aware of it. If this is so, then can anybody tell us in how many cases he observed that a son, aware of his father's corruption, has protested his wrongdoings or his relatives and office colleagues turned against him? If we can't do so or don't observe so, then saying that corrupt person is the one who must be blamed for his/her corruption should be forsaken.
Here is a simple example to demonstrate how we all are involved in fostering corruption. Imagine person X is a corrupt individual. Through bribe taking, he has accumulated huge wealth. Also imagine that he has an adult daughter or son. Now, as the father, he is looking for a match for his daughter or son in his known circle. He gets a proposal from family Y for a marital relationship. But in the process becoming familiar with each other, Y has become aware, somehow, that X has amassed huge wealth through dishonest means. Moreover, Y has also become familiar with X's other businesses and activities which speak of his corrupt methods. Now, Y has two options. He can revoke the marriage agreement or get on with it. If Y cancels the marriage proposal because X is a dishonest person and Y does not want to have a relationship with a family fed on dishonest earnings, then such cancellation will have significant effect not only on X, but on society as a whole.
This illustrates how we can conduct ourselves in our own ways to discourage corruption, even when law enforcement is quite weak. But the reality is when we go for a marriage relationship with a family, we hardly consider this fact. Contradictorily, we boast of having a marriage relationship with a wealthy family disregarding whether the wealth of that family is ill-gotten or not. That means the same person, who is so vocal about corruption, can end up forming a relationship with a family which is the champion of corruption.
To reduce corruption, we don't need to go far beyond our own families. We just need to raise our eyebrows and ask these questions: is my father a corrupt person? Is my brother corrupt? Should I marry a girl or a boy of a family which amassed wealth through corrupt means money? Should I accept the wealth of my father earned through dishonest means?
Our first step in putting a stop to corruption should be to take our own family members to task for their wrongdoings. Now, coming to Abu Ahmed's concern about shamelessness, we are harbouring a tradition in our society where we never ask ourselves whether my father and your father are doing the right things. We, instead, lavishly enjoy their illegal wealth. If this is the situation, then why do we blame corrupt persons? Rather blame should be on those who indulge these people to do corruption either by forming a familial bond with them or by boasting of their wealth and money.
The contributor writes from the University of Denver, USA.
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