How should the country deal with the hydra-headed issue of black money is a million dollar question, hotly debated by civil society. On the one hand, this is the country where great and selfless leaders like Gandhiji lived in a mud hut far away from the madding crowds, with nothing more than a few loin clothes and a couple of utensils to cook the food. On the other hand, we have Indian billionaires today who have stashed their enormous wealth in foreign especially Swiss Banks because Switzerland is a neutral country, and there is the least possibility that money deposited in one of its banks can be seized or confiscated by a third party. The large booty that is deposited in well-known Banks like HSBC by people of Indian origin is begotten mostly through illegal means and then put in safe custody in a foreign country.
People who indulge in such degrading activity are unaware of the words like patriotism and nationalism. Had they any commitment to the nation, they would not take away poor man’s tax money to a foreign country to help them maintain their super- standard status. Information about more than 600 cases has been sought about undisclosed foreign accounts. About 1,195 Indian names have figured in the fresh HSBC list and it is nearly twice the 628 names that figured in an earlier list that was shared by the French Government with India in 2011. The net amount of peak balance for these 428 cases was about Rs 4,500 crore.
The axe must fall. The issue of black money put in foreign banks has been hanging fire for more than ten years. The time has come when the present Government must fulfill its commitment and unearth the money by whatever rightful means possible.
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