I was shocked to read the big outcry against Tendulkar, for getting the tax waivered for his new Ferrari.I read somewhere on the net that beggars are sending money they have collected to fund petrol for his Ferrari and even SC has taken note of this issue .I even read screaming statements from general public of how no one can be above the law and everyone should be accountable and so on. Practically speaking , I agree fully that , Sachin should have paid the tax and government should not have interefered in this case favouring him.
But where were these very guys who are protesting now, when Ms India, Mayawati spent crores from government coffers to celebrate her birthday or when Laloo was splurging the public’s money over his daughters marriage ? When we consider the corruption and the way politicains misuse the tax payers money in out country, these issues concerning Sachin’s car and waivering 1 crore, seems trivial and is virtually blown out of proportion.The way issue is projected over the media, it seems as though Sachin has smuggled this car or has recieved it as some bribe and is painted as a criminal.Infact I would be glad if Govt would present him a Ferrari for his contribution to the game.
Next comes the question of , why cant Sachin voluntarily donate the money as tax, when he earns millions ?Why would anyone like to pay money over a thing which we recieved as a gift ? So his demand of getting the hefty tax waivered was quite understandable and lets not question of his wealth and his ability to pay the tax.Whatever he has earned is hard earned money on strength of his merit and no one has the right to ask to donate it as charity, its his perogative.Ofcourse there may be import regualation rules, but in my view it was notable gesture on part of govt to waiver the tax and Sachin is worth it.There are many a times when govt has rewarded the sportpersons for their contributions, why cant this be considered as one of those gestures and why such a big hue and cry?And immediately there will be hypocritical counter claims like , cricketers are alredy over pampared, and in a poor country like ours 1 crore is a big amount , and it would be better if Sachin would donate it to the poor country and blah, blah , blah.But please , 1 crore is a drop in ocean , when we consider the money that is sqaundered due to corruption and this country will always be poor until we have Laloos and Jayalalitas, so no point in donating money as a charity.
Sport personalities, be it Schumacher or Tyson or Agassi, all round the world are showered with accolades , gifts , but in our country , mean minded public considers it to be a big offence and a small thing like Ferrari is creating headlines in our country.I have heard many a times people complaining the filthy amount of money cricketers earn through endorsments, but I feel there is nothing wrong in it , they earn what they deserve.