Fake embassy

IT’s become a laughing matter, but on a serious note, it is anything but. The arrest of a man accused of running a fake embassy, no less, in Ghaziabad near Delhi is beyond embarrassing. The Indian trademark dalliance with all things fake has been taken to a bizarre level — a new low undoubtedly, though many might consider it a new high — by a certain Harsh Vardhan Jain. He has been arrested for allegedly posing as an ambassador and duping people by promising overseas jobs, claiming links to obscure entities like ‘Saborga’ and ‘West Arctica’. Hiding in plain sight, his fake setup included cars with bogus diplomatic plates and rooms decked with international flags. Doctored photographs have been seized showing Jain with world leaders, along with counterfeit seals. That this charade went unnoticed for nearly eight years is what begs the obvious question — just how did this escape scrutiny?

Apart from running a job scam, Jain is also accused of being part of a money laundering racket through hawala and forging diplomatic documents. The charity events included hosting community feasts, all apparently aimed at setting up a convincing front to lure victims. His dubious credentials were enough to mark him out as a person of interest. Instead, Jain’s activities went unchecked, pointing to dereliction of duty at several layers of the government machinery. It’s a failure that needs to be probed, with a relook at the monitoring guidelines.

If the Jain episode says a lot about the sarkari ways, it’s a reflection on we the people, too — we can disagree all we want, but that gene of duping people and finding ingenious ways of doing so is deeply embedded. GDP alone does not define growth. That requires disowning a culture of corruption, dishonesty and zero accountability.

Editorials