Dear Sushma Swaraj, 'They Did It Too' Is Not a Valid Defense

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“I, Sushma Swaraj, do swear in the name of God that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India, that I will faithfully and conscientiously discharge my duties as a Minister for the Union and that I will do right to all manner of people in accordance with the Consitution and the law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.”

That was the oath that minister Sushma Swaraj took on being appointed to the office of Minister of External Affairs. The key words to note here are ‘allegiance to the constitution of India as by law established’ and ‘without…affection or ill-will’.

Only the naïvest among the naïvest would believe that Lalit Modi’s close connection to Minister Sushma Swaraj had nothing to do with him being helped to procure British travel documents on “humanitarian grounds”.

Yesterday, in an apparent bid to justify her act of aiding an absconder from the law escape, Swaraj has said that “A senior Congress leader was pressing me hard to give diplomatic passport to coal scam-accused Santosh Bagrodia.”. She went on to promise that she will disclose the name of the leader on the floor of the house.

Thank you for that Minister Swaraj, we appreciate you exposing the corrupt. But by no means does that make what you did justifiable. Your act remains as irresposible and corrupt as it was when you committed it. What you did was to help an absconder from the Indian law travel around the world on a leisure trip, with regular instagram updates. What you did projected India as a lawless nation to the world.

Nepotism has been the bane of Indian government. When the guard changes at the centre every 5 years, the new set of politicians immediately appoint their cronies into key positions – state governers, heads of commissions, contractors, all appointments go to partymen. This is an absurdly corrupt practice through which the legislative keeps the executive its slave. When Babasahib Ambedkar designed and drafted the Indian constitution, he put in place three branches of government – The Judiciary, The Legislative and The Executive. Each has its own important role in upholding the constitution, and should be independent of each other, except for a system of checks and balances. The role of the ministers therefore, is not to interfere in the daily functionings of government officials, but to put systems in place to monitor their performance.

Let us as Logical Indians stand up and take notice. Let us keep each action of our politicians in mind when we cast our ballot next time. Remember to vote against nepotism. We elected these representatives to ensure that they protect the interests of INDIA, not just of their friends and family.