We need real freedom.

At last Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav has been found guilty of embezzlement of public money in the Rs 9.5 billion fodder scam over a period of years while he was Chief Minister of Bihar. The guilty verdict is being hailed as a victory of the law in India. But is it? Firstly, it has taken 17 years for the verdict to be pronounced, during which time Mr Prasad has been a Member of Parliament and a Railway Minister. He was even invited to lecture at Harvard. Americans who sat through his lecture must be wondering how a criminal was allowed to swank around on taxpayer money. Secondly, this is only the preliminary judgement. Mr Prasad is sure to appeal to the High Court and our judges, oozing the milk of human kindness, will allow him out on bail. After the High Court the appeal will surely go to the Supreme Court. After all Rs 9.5 billion can pay for an awful lot of lawyers. How long all these appeals will take is anybody's guess. Till then Mr Prasad will no doubt be enjoying himself, much as Mr Sukhram, caught red handed with tens of millions stuffed into pillows and mattresses, has been doing for over 20 years. No wonder the Congress, with the help of Mr Prasad's party, has blocked the setup of an effective Lokpal and was about to pass an ordinance to override an order from the Supreme Court banning convicted MPs, like Mr Prasad, from continuing in office. The Congress is also planning an amendment to the Right To Information Act so as to override an order from the Central Information Commission bringing political parties under the act. Terrorist organisations will happily register themselves as political parties for automatic immunity from the RTI Act. However, politicians would not be able to get away with their crimes without an army of apologists in the press. An editorial in the Economic Times compares Mr Prasad to Bhagat Singh. It actually says that since our police and lower courts are inefficient so politicians should be allowed to continue in office. Why are they so poor? Because they are controlled by politicians. So instead of recommending independence of the police the editorial recommends immunity for politicians. Bhagat Singh was a freedom fighter against the British. Some people think that our politicians are a greater enemy than the British ever were. We desperately need freedom from them.