Mr Babubhai Katara — the Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian accused of human trafficking — does not expose the underbelly, but the true face, of Indian politics. This face, repeatedly thrust upon the public imagination by the workings of the vigilant media, is now easily recognized by the sordidness it fails to mask. Mr Katara is alleged to have been ferrying people out of the country for a hefty price for more than a year. His deeds are no less dark than those of many of his colleagues. The recent episode indicts at least three members of parliament from the Bahujan Samaj Party besides raising suspicion of the involvement of several of Mr Katara’s own party members. The spectrum is not unfamiliar. Be it the cash-for-queries scandal or the misuse of funds from the local area development scheme — to name only a recent few among the other ugly episodes in India’s experiment with democracy — the engagement of the political leadership has cut across caste, class and political allegiances. This is probably why the BJP thinks that pointing fingers at the other parties at the all-party meeting summoned by the Lok Sabha speaker is an easy, and even a valid, way of getting around a tight situation. The BJP’s fervent hope, that other parties might be equally keen to cover their dirt tracks, may not be misplaced either.

Mr Katara’s peccadillo, however, reveals not merely a recognizable face but a bigger picture. The country’s political leaders do not function in a vacuum. Mr Katara could not have delivered to his clients had it not been for a nexus of the corrupt that stretched from the paanwala to the higher echelons of the bureaucracy. The incident, in fact, reveals the intricate web of dependencies that allows corruption to thrive in Indian society. The lust for power and pelf, and the psychological morass that encourages mindless adulation of the powerful, sustain this ecology. The desire to nurture, and be nurtured by, the system becomes so ingrained that nothing is thought to be amiss when those with power demand that concessions be made to them, and the enamoured bend over backwards to accommodate these demands in order to fulfil their own needs. Without the fulfilment of vested interests at different levels, the ‘racket’ of politicians, bureaucrats, the police and corporate bosses would not have run so smoothly.

The traits of the powerful are not unique to India. However, unlike India, most countries try to regulate the behaviour of their public figures by trying to evolve a strict code of conduct and strengthening anti-corruption legislation. But venality seems to have robbed India of that initiative as well.