SENSATION, sensation, sensation! A most damning indictment of Sonia Gandhi has been made by S Gurumurthy in an article in The New Indian Express (January 3) that every Indian citizen should read. It accuses Sonia Gandhi of controlling a secret account with a Swiss bank that in 1988 was to the tune of $2.2 billion kept in the name of her minor son, Rahul. The charge, it appears, was originally made by a popular Swiss journal, Schweizer Illustrierte.
Writes Gurumurthy: “The $2.2 billion account must have existed from before June 1988 when Rahul Gandhi attained majority. The loot in today’s rupee value equals almost Rs 10,000 crore. Swiss banks invest and multiply the clients’ monies, not keep them buried. Had it been invested in safe long-term, securities, the $2.2 billion would have multiplied to $ 9.41 billion (Rs 42,345 crore) by 2009. If it had been put in US stocks, it would have swelled to $12.97 billion (Rs 58,365 crore)…. Before the global financial meltdown in 2008, the $2.2 billion bribes in stocks would have peaked at $18.66 billion (Rs 83,900 crore). By any calculation, the present size of the $2.2 billion secret funds of the family in Swiss banks seems huge – anywhere between Rs 43,000 plus to some Rs 84,000 crore”.
According to Gurumurthy, there has been another expose, this one from the Russian spy outfit, KGB. It seems in December 2005, KGB chief, Victor Chebrikov had asked for authorisation from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the then Soviet Union “to make payment in dollars to the family members of Rajiv Gandhi, namely, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mrs Paola Maino, mother of Sonia Gandhi”. All this had been disclosed, according to Guruswamy, years ago by even the Indian media.
Based on leaks, The Hindu (July 4, 1992) reportedly wrote: “The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service admits the possibility that the KGB could have been involved in arranging profitable Soviet contract for the company controlled by Rajiv Gandhi family. Like The Hindu, other newspapers like The Statesman (December 31, 1988) and journals like India Today (December 27, 2010) have made disclosures about money stashed abroad by the Gandhi family. It now seems that Amal Dutta (CPM) also had raised the $ 2.2 billion issue in Parliament on December 7, 1991, but, says Guruswamy, “Speaker Shivraj Patil expunged the Gandhi name from the proceedings”. Additionally it would seem Subramanian Swamy had put out the photo copies of the pages of Schweizer Illustrierte in his web site along with the mail of the Swiss magazine dated February 23, 2002 confirming that in its articles of November 1991 it had named Rajiv Gandhi with a total of Swiss Franc 2.5 billion ($2.2 billion) in secret account.
Now, several questions arise. Are these stories correct or are they lies? If they are lies, will Sonia Gandhi take both Guruswamy and The New Indian Express to court for damaging her reputation? She would have every right to. When, years ago, a former Prime Minister, Morarji Desai, was charged with working for the CIA, he filed a libel suit in an American Court seeking $ 50 million in damages. In the present case, will Sonia Gandhi file a suit against Guruswamy? Or will she pretend that the story is so stupid that it would be below her dignity to fight it out in a Court? That would be a smart thing to do, especially considering that even the vilest crime gets forgotten within the bare space of thirty days! But suppose Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul maintain a discreet silence, what will Guruswamy do? Keep quiet? What should the public do? Also keep quiet?
Consider this: according to published reports, one Hasan Ali, an alleged horse-breeder of Pune was found to have operated Swiss accounts involving over Rs 1.5 lakh crore! The Income Tax Department levied a tax of Rs 71,848 crore on. him for concealing Indian income in Swiss accounts. The case has reportedly been buried now! Guruswamy says that “some big names in the ruling circles” are reportedly linked to Hasan Ali, “and that explains why the government would not deepen the probe”. Adds Gurumurthy: “The request sent to the Swiss Government was deliberately made faulty to ensure that the Swiss would not provide details… it is Hasan Alis and the like who transport through hawala the bribes of the corrupt from India. If Hasan is exposed, the corrupt will stand naked. This is how the hawala trader and the corrupt in India are mixed up”.
So where do we go from here? No where. Sonia Gandhi will say that someone is deliberately trying to malign her and planting stories in the media; and the sycophants in the Congress and the party spokespersons will name BJP leaders as equally guilty. There the matter ends. Which reminds me the DNA (October 11, 2009) had published a report which said that the anti-corruption branch (ACB) Delhi had summoned more than seventy – right, seventy – journalists on charges that they were accepting bribes from a Sub-Registrar. The story said that the accused sub-Registrar (name mentioned) who was arrested in September 2009 by the ACB, was demanding a bribe for preparing a Sale Deed and other documents. The ACB, DNA reported, uncovered name of several journalists “we were on the Sub-Registrar’s pay roll and used to get paid Rs 1,000 to Rs 6,000 for not writing against him”.
According to DNA, the accused journalists belonged to various newspapers, channels and magazines. What happened to the seventy journalists? Were they released? Were they tried? The media is silent on the score. In the matter of the money stashed in Swiss Banks by Sonia Gandhi – allegedly stashed, shall we say – one shouldn’t be surprised if silence prevails in Congress circles. Incidentally, dishonest industrialists, scandalous politicians and corrupts IAS, IRS and IPS officers have allegedly deposited in foreign banks in their illegal personal accounts a sum of about $ 1,500 billion that was misappropriated, which is about thirteen times larger than the country’s foreign debt. Sonia Gandhi wishes to halt corruption. Very nice of her. The Prime Minister will support her. That is even more nice. But, as they say charity begins at home. So does admission of guilt. Charity means love of human kind. That is what Paul meant when he addressed Corinthians. Read the Bible Soniaji. Paul said: “Charity never faileth”. Please don’t fail us.
Comments