We, Indian are very optimist. We usually hope a lot even when we know that nothing such sort thing going to happen.
I remember an interesting joke which is relevant here.
A man bought ticket for the same movie more than 50 times and after a particular time, he used to leave the Theatre. An amused Theatre employee asked him “what is speciality in this movie, why you leave after a specific time without watching the full movie?”. He replied ” in this movie, there is a scene where actress take bath in remove. As soon as she removes her cloth, a train passes. I watch this movie every time that there will be a day when train will be late and I would be able to see the nude actress”
Similar is the case of ours. The actress denotes black money, we, the people are hopeful citizen of the black money and the producer of the movie is our government. Whoever it is, they will just give and never do what they promise.
Narendra Modi much hyped about the black money and bringing it. But, when the time came, this government too had similar excuses. I do not know how many people know what is black money. The black money is simply money earned by without disclosing the source and without paying the income tax and in most of the cases, the source of this money cannot be disclosed. So, who are these black money holders? They are the people who evaded taxes and those who earned more than their capacity. It can be Abdul Karim Telgi, it can be Nitin Gadkari, it can be Sonia Gandhi, it can be most of the IAS, IPS, IRS and other top level bureaucrats. In fact every able Indian holds some sort of black money.
Can we expect a surprise and really great things from these black money in swiss account?
Really not. The government has mentioned around 600+ such accounts holder and if we believe the report of Times of India, it does not contain any politician’s name and does not contain a surprising figure. That’s true.
If we have to unearth the black money, it lies within our country only. I will give you a very simple example. Bhiwandi is a satellite town in Mumbai. It has population of around 12 lakhs out of this, 60% populations are labours working in the unorganized textile factories, rest 30% on other allied industries and rest 10% are professionals like CAs, doctors, physiotherapists, working people in function like software engineer, managers and others in Mumbai. In Bhiwandi alone, you will find at least 500 Gujarati’s, Marwadis, Agris and Muslims who have crore of Rs but either nil income or up to 5 lakhs. They mostly deal in cash. A simple example is, the current market property rate is around 3500 if you go by loan but if you offer the builder 90% cash upfront, the effective rate will be 2600. The builder as well as buyer will register it at 2600 or lower rate. Rest everything is black money and circulates in the market. All these dealings ate based on trust and cash. Gujarati’s and Marwadis are pioneer in this modus operandi. This is the cash economy. Much larger than the whole Indian economy. Every political party get benefits from it whether BJP, congress, NCP or anybody else. I gave just a simple example. In Mumbai, you may find thousands such people. Maximum dealings in real estate happens through cash. It is also believed that Indiabulls manages black money of Sharad Pawar. Even ex minister of Maharashtra Kripashankar Singh believed to have many such real estate investment and vested interest, same about Chhagan Bhujabal. These are just small name. Just think about Hasan Ali, a businessman from Pune who believed to have black money worth Rs. 36000 crore. He was mere a scapegoat of political fallout. A not known name can have so much black money then what about others? Narendra Modi may be honest but he freely uses hospitality and services of Reliance and Adani. Do not people know how tax evasive Reliance is. If congress has helped Robert Vadra, Modi has helped Adani. Nothing new nothing to get surprise.
If we are really committed to bring black money back, we need to be hard on people inside the country. First, starts with the politicians because all those money are looted by selling national resources, by diverting taxpayers money, by hampering infrastructure and national growth. Sharad Pawar may have more than 36000 crore, the same about Yedurappa, Supriya Sule, Ashok Chavan, Sonia Gandhi and most of the politicians. Then the second comes real estate sector where almost everything is black money. Then film industry, then corporate and NGOs. Almost 95% NGOs are involved in converting black money to white including those with masks of religion and Indian culture.
So will we really get those 1 lakh+ crore black money?
I doubt. First, congress cited dual taxation treaty for not disclosing the name, then BJP did the same and then Narendra Modi said, he does not know how much money exist in the swiss bank accounts. Further, the matter is hanging for several years. Who is the fool to keep the money in the same account after it started to get disclosed? Of course nobody. Further, definitely we will never get to know about these blackmoney officially.
Few points:
The black money case
In February 2012, the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation said that Indians have $500 billion of illegal funds in foreign tax havens, more than any other country.In March 2012, the Government of India clarified in its parliament that the CBI Director’s statement on $500 billion of illegal money was an estimate based on a statement made to India’s Supreme Court in July 2011.
Source: Wikipedia
Clarification: almost 100 times more than of this blackmoney exist in India. Imagine, somebody not having enough income tax return but having assets worth crores (and I am talking about common man those who exist in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and suburbs).
Hasan Ali case
Hasan Ali Khan was arrested by Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department on charges of stashing over 360 billion in foreign banks.ED lawyers said Khan had financed international arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi on several occasions.
However, media sources claimed this case is becoming yet another perfect instance of how investigative agencies like Income Tax Department go soft on high-profile offenders.Ali’s premises were raided by ED as far back as 2007. According several news reports, the probe against him has proceeded at an extremely slow pace and seems to have hit a dead end.
India Today claimed that it had verified a letter confirming the US$8 billion in black money was in a Swiss bank UBS account, and the government of India too has verified this with UBS.
The Swiss bank UBS has denied Indian media reports alleging that it maintained a business relationship with or had any assets or accounts for Hasan Ali Khan accused in the US$8 billion black money case. Upon formal request by Indian and Swiss government authorities, the bank announced that the documentation supposedly corroborating such allegations were forged, and numerous media reports claiming US$8 billion in stashed black money were false.India Today, in a later article, wrote, “Hasan Ali Khan stands accused of massive tax evasion and stashing money in secret bank accounts abroad. But the problem is that the law enforcement agencies have precious little evidence to back their claims. For one, UBS Zurich has already denied having any dealings with Khan.
If a Hasan Ali can have Rs. 36000 crore, thousands of such Hasan Ali exist in India.
If we believe report of IBN 7, one of the ex employee of a swiss bank revealed that politicians and cricketers have black money in swiss bank (and of course, it must have been transferred somewhere else).
So, the conclusion is, do not wait the train to be late to see the naked woman. That is never going to happen. We have only following options:
1. Forget about all these, just be part of it (and most of us do, even while buying a vehicle, we think how to register it in the area where either tax is low or you can avoid “legally” and when we buy home, we want minimum stamp duty charges)
2. Move out of India and search a clean country.
3. Take responsibility and fight.
I am sure, I have kept the preference in the proper order.
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