The crackdown on corruption by the Governor’s administration is a welcome departure from the traditional practices that have not only allowed but also institutionalised the idea of corruption of all kinds in Jammu and Kashmir. Often hardworking people, particularly from the middle class, curse their fate for not achieving, despite being clean in their personal and professional dealings, what their not-so-well-off acquaintance, friend, neighbour or relative has managed to pull off. In these recent years, a section of people, mostly from the business background who have recently discovered riches, has the rumour mill abuzz that this is all ‘black money’ being turned into white. If you look around, the disparity is quite visible. A man who self confessedly claims to be a small vendor in courier business has two SUVs and a plush three storied house in one of the upscale colonies that have recently sprouted on the outskirts of Srinagar. A government employee whose salary doesn’t exceed the cost of ten grams of gold has two cars, one for daily use and one for special occasions, and a double-storied house with wooden panelling too. Where does this all this money come from? How did some people manage to become overnight millionaires while those grinding their bottoms on the ground are still unable, say, to purchase a decent plot of land, leave alone constructing a house. This muck has piled up only because of political patronage. The suspects in these cases are not hard to find. They are everywhere in our small, beautiful but poignant world; from social media where they deliver lectures on virtues of morality, to the political stages where they seeks votes in the name of the living as well as the dead, in TV studios where they claim to represent the voice of Kashmiris and almost every other place where they can wear the robes of self-proclaimed saviours of Kashmir. In reality, Kashmir is a geese who lays golden eggs for them. Their only interest is personal interest. Now that the Governor Satya Pal Malik’s administration seems to be dealing with the issue of corruption in J&K in a serious way, this nexus of political class with their clients; the mediocre, the incapable and the incompetent people who have been promoted while trampling upon merit, sweat and blood of the hardworking men and women needs to be exposed. The guilty should be named and shamed publicly.