'Recreate post-Emergency mood to fight graft'

CHENNAI: During post-Emergency, there was palpable anger and angst among people in general over the excesses in the preceeding years.

It is that mood of the people that we need to recreate to deal with the levels of corruption that the country is facing today, BJP leader L K Advani said.

At a book release function here on Sunday, Advani maintained, “Corruption has become a malady of a nature that needs to be confronted by all right-thinking people. Unless the entire political system is able to combat collectively, there will be no peace in the country.”

He added that his party proposes to vigorously pursue action against perpetrators of the scams which have hit the headlines in recent times.

The book ‘Shah Commission - Lost and Regained’ is a compilation of the findings and recommendations of the inquiry commission, headed by Justice JC Shah, to probe excesses and wrongdoings during the Emergency.

Political commentator and editor of Tuglaq magazine Cho Ramaswamy, on the other hand, said we, Indians, have lost the ability to become angry as we ourselves have become corrupt. He received the first copy of the book from Advani.

The book, compiled by former Janata Party MP Era Seziyan, now brings the Shah Commission report into the public domain.

When she returned to power in 1980, Indira Gandhi’s administration had ‘buried’ the report by recalling and confiscating all copies and destroying them. For long, it has been believed that only two copies existed - one at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London and the other at the National Library of Australia.

But some, like Sezhiyan, have managed to preserve copies. Appealing to the government to introduce transparency in historical matters, Sezhiyan said, “No country can make history if it cannot protect its own history. I am afraid this could happen in India.”

Ex-IAS officers MG Devasahayam and BS Raghavan were present.