Author: Vidya S. Sharma, Melbourne

The political fortune of Pakistani cricketing superstar-turned-politician Imran Khan is on the rise.

Since he founded his Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or Movement for Justice (MJP), in 1996, Khan has remained a fringe player. Read more…

Author: Vidya Sharma, Melbourne

A plethora of commentary has recently appeared in the Western media about the extent of corruption plaguing India. Typical of such work was a piece, ‘India hobbled by heavy weight of corruption’ by ex-foreign minister Jaswant Singh and a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader.

Singh failed to mention that last year, Outlook magazine found the BJP-led Karnataka state government to be the most corrupt in India, but he is broadly correct. Read more…

Author: Vidya Sharma, Melbourne

Besides the economy, corruption is also going gangbusters in India. In September we learned about Commonwealth Games related rorts (between $3–6 billion). In November several scandals exploded including the G2 spectrum scandal: The Comptroller General and Auditor reported that ex-Telecom Minister Raja may have undersold G2 spectrum frequencies and licences by as much as $39 billion.

Corruption is not unique to India. In the last decade Australia has had its own ‘wheat for weapons scandal’. Ex-Queensland minister Gordon Nuttall was convicted of bribery last year. But the scale of corruption is unique to India among liberal democracies. Read more…