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ShareWhy do we expect a celebrity to be of impeccable integrity in real life?
Two issues that readers have spoken up about recently on are farmers and passports. What links the two is corruption.
Readers aren't happy that superstar Amitabh Bachchan had ostensibly tried to pass himself off as a farmer to acquire a picturesque piece of land near Lonavala. Others have written in to recount their travails at the passport office, where officials gave them the go-around for this document or that. The enabling factor for both these scenarios is a babudom that still thrives on a greasing of palms.
Of course, as several readers have pointed out, the Big B is not the only one eyeing agricultural land. There are legions of the rich and prosperous who queue up to become 'farmers' to take advantage of tax breaks, by showing a part of their income to be coming from their farms. Now, is this any more or less corrupt, at least in principle if not in scale, than say claiming a part of one's salary under fictitious conveyance expenses? Why do we expect a celeb to be of impeccable integrity in real life?
The real issues are a rationalisation of taxes to encourage more compliance (which is happening, but not fast enough), and to adopt more computerised systems to bring transparency and reduce the scope for corruption. But those are boring topics: what excites the media -- and they only reflect what people want to read or see -- is the story of Big B in a spot. Everyone likes to see a celeb getting tripped up.
Paris Hilton's jailing for drunken driving, her let-off, and finally her tearful return to jail, all in the space of five days, has been the fifth biggest story in the US media, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism. And now she is negotiating with TV channels to recount her jail saga for a million dollars.
What adds a poignant note to the Big B story though, particularly in Maharashtra, is the contrasting picture of the rich buying farms, for whatever reason, and of farmers committing suicide in despair as farming becomes less sustainable. "My grandfather was a farmer and I know the pains he underwent to make ends meet. Look at today's so-called farmers who drive in fancy Mercs," wrote one reader to DNA Speak Up.
