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Sree Iyer might be a gossipmonger-cum-conspiracy theorist but not everything that he hints at or alleges in “Who Painted My Money White?” is a result of the flight of his fancy. His revelations and innuendos regarding ISI’s three-pronged strategy of weakening India through  fake currency racket, drug trade and love jihad are rooted in reality. One might scoff at his desperate, vehement attempts at involving the UPA bigwigs like the ex-FM and other senior leaders, but one cannot deny that Kerala has indeed become the laboratory of Love Jihad, the hub of fake foreign currency, the major conduit for drug traffic and the state which has sent most recruits to join the ISIS. There is something rotten in the state of Kerala, but in the absence of Shakespeare, I would take Mr. Iyer’s  writings, although with a pinch of salt.

The Colombo blasts of 2019 had a Kerala link. The Haadiya Love Jihad Case has had wide ramifications. PFI is enjoying quite a wide national footprint. Infact there is some Kerala connection with every terrorist cell that gets busted across the country. Because of the legal remittances, and illegal cash flow, real estate prices in Kerala have shot through the roof. Iyer alleges that there were 2000 beneficiaries of Rs 5 crore largesse, which means that Rs. 10000 crore were spent by the ISI  in establishing sleeper cells, sympathisers, couriers and foot-soldiers of global  jihad.

• 

Has Sree Iyer written a book of fiction, or is this an expose of some kind? Is this a work of a conspiracy theorist, or someone who knows some bits, and gleefully concocts others to spice up his story? Sree Iyer tries to cover too many scams and rumours to present a coherent whole. He discusses the usual allegations against the First Family and Damaad-ji, but these discussions do not add value to the main plot. The author directly accuses the ex-FM AJ for going slow on probes against his predecessor and Damaad-ji, even going to the extent of leaking them selective information. These were longstanding peeves of Swami against AJ and his acolytes in the Finance Ministry, and to a certain extent there might have been some merit in them as well.

Sree Iyer is obviously a huge Modi, Subramanian Swamy, Amit Shah, Ajit Doval and Gurumurthy  fanboy. He tries to defend demonetisation blues by laying the blame squarely at bureaucracy’s doorsteps for its tardy implementation. Anyone who has followed Swamy’s twitter handle, or pguru’s articles must be up-to-date with these whispers, notions and ideas. He claims that 113 percent of the total legal tender in circulation returned during the demonetization, and that 10 percent still remains at large. Of course, these random figures do not and cannot match with official numbers. He touches upon the National Herald, Spectrum and Coal scams, and duly credits Swamy for taking them and doggedly pursuing them in courts. Surprisingly, Sree Iyer displays a lot of  sympathy towards the ex-PM, MMS, and even presents him as a hero in the novel  where he finally manages to stand up to Madam by dissolving the Lok Sabha, and hurling his party into the General Elections which they were certain to lose. Of course, MMS showed no spine in real life and remained glued to the chair, bearing all insults and humiliations with stoic calm.

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The author’s sweep is wide, but he does not present a watertight case. He brings IPL on the table, discusses betting, fixing and what not, invokes black money, and drops the name of Mr. Exasperated Ferrago, but fails to connect it to the main plot, except alleging that cricket betting was a huge source of black money generation. Which brings us to the question- what is the main plot? Is this novel about the widespread corruption of the UPA era, or some counterfeit currency racket run by our own Grandees (the LEPE Machine Auction etc), or about an ISI assassination attempt on the Indian PM  in Kochi  using a Racine dart,which gets foiled by the IB?

Sree takes his quackery to the next level by offering quick-fix, hair-brained cures for the fragile, ailing, compromised Indian economy- abolition of even 500 and 2000 Rs.notes and letting 200 Rs. note be the largest tender, abolition of Personal Income Tax at least for those having incomes below Rs. 10 lakh, taxing consumption instead of incomes, working closely with the US to track Indians’ black money abroad and work towards bringing it home and establishment of a ministry of monetization to circulate this money into the Indian economy. His guru Swamy must be proud!

All said, Sree Iyer comes across as a rancoteur or a braggart  who might hold his own in a party with a glass in his hand , but shall get caught plumb lbw in any interrogation. Even as a writer of fiction, his work is not engaging enough. His account has too many unsewn ends and loose insinuations to hold any academic merit. This is not to say that Maida, Dalda and their bosses (as named in the novel) did not indulge in foul play of the worst kind, just that based on these writings, nothing conclusive could be gathered.  The author barely masks the identities of major players, and melts timelines, but one is always aware of who is being mentioned and in what context. There is a bibliography of links at the very end where one can find various sources and inspirations behind the book.  All that this novel manages to do is to put vague new  ideas in your head and crystallize the old suspicions that you harboured against the top leaders of the UPA.

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#sreeiyer #pguru #virathindusangam #subramanianswamy

#whopaintedmymoneywhite #UPA #demonetisation

#ficn #kerala #lovejihad