Endless wait for righteous leadership

Smita Pandey

Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state. While Naom Chomsky, the renowned  political thinker articulated the spectacular Achievements of Propaganda, Indian leaders have crafted it as the essence of governance.

Advertisements, propaganda, semantics, speeches, projections, word play, catchy mantras are just some of the modes consistently employed by all political leaders, irrespective of ideological hues and party affiliations, to proclaim their ‘achievements’ and convince the public that they are succeeding in promoting their wellbeing and progress. Slogans of like “Sabka Vikas, Paribortan, Bahujan hitaye, Garibi hatao, Uttam governance” are ubiquitous and have been ingrained in public psyche- by spending crores on advertising-often at the cost of hapless taxpayers. All ruling parties have mastered the art of duping all the people all the time. Various tools of social media are gainfully exploited in this subversive agenda.

 

Politics has been reduced to the art of  fooling the people and garnering their votes on false pledges. No leader has risen out of this morass to redeem these promises. Politics is blamed for this murky swampiness and not the politicians per se. The likes of Chanakya  and Machiavelli are frequently quoted to  justify all unethical, dishonest, communal politics and whosoever manipulates this skilfully, leads from the front. It is a game of numbers and players who swing the numbers and enable the party to grab power are revered as powerful leaders. Victory at the hustings carries all with it and the halo successfully covers  all the dark traits of persona. He becomes the Boss-not the transforming visionary that society required. Governance is fated to be the casualty. India still awaits an ethical  Leader to deliver her from her garibi and backwardness, a Leader who can provide each one with roti, kapda, clean water, basic education, health and dignity. Is that too much to ask?

 

 

Why has it taken so long for such basic aspirations to be realized? With our abundant resources, tremendous skills and prodigious talent we have all the prerequisites of a developed nation. The critical essential for our national development is absent- Righteous Leadership. Leaders in India have been defined by the omnipotent power they wielded by virtue of their post and wallow in obscurity once they are defeated at the polls consequential to their dismal, amoral  tenures. Lacking in morality, they do not introspect and instead spend the enforced hiatus honing their cunning strategies to grab power again and exploiting the prevalent anti-incumbency. The helpless electorate watches this game of musical chairs go on and on. 

Their wait for  the game changer continues -a virtuous leader who acts, not speaks, who realizes their minimalistic expectations of a civilized life and shows his indefatigable capacity to act justly and fulfil them. Service before self-the sine qua non of governance can only be feasible when the Leader is principled and courageous. He has the moral fibre to honour the trust the people have reposed in him. Being upright, enhances the efficacy of his competent actions and the right moral environment is created for government to deliver the requisites to the people expeditiously. Each part of society flourishes organically-not at the expense of the other. Rule of law prevails. The Leader is the Change maker, ground-changer because of his powerful character and not his constitutional position or manipulation. There is no dividing line between his public and private life. He has nothing to hide. He does not muddle through his humungous responsibility, obliging his cronies clandestinely while falsely proclaiming  “Honest Bharat” publicly.

 

 

When will  we elect such a conscientious Leader? Core values should define our leaders and not the opposite. Politics is currently a byword for venality. Every party is unethical in its trajectory, looting and duping the vulnerable public and enriching itself constantly. “Apna vikas” is the sole agenda and defines the dominant political leaders of our nation today. Every politico and his family has advanced materially in life, conspicuously, while professing that they are cowherds, chaiwalas and the like-humble,  “garib ka beta/beti”,  and from the ranks of the downtrodden .Their mission, irrespective of their party, is to liberate their own  lives and those of their kindred after somehow capturing political power. Right or wrong is immaterial. Convenience is elevated to a virtue. Fair mindedness, trust, public good have been relegated to obscurity. 

Mahatma Gandhi had aptly exhorted that virtue and morality form the necessary spring of government and are indispensable. Leadership must have an intrinsic moral halo. Our leaders are too haughty to heed this wisdom. We, the people have to act. Politics is the refuge of scounderels cannot be our alibi for inaction anymore. Political vigilantism must define us  now. We must Be the Change.  History does not forgive passivity. We must not err disastrously-like certain classes of people in Weimar, Germany, before World War II, who remained aloof to Hitler’s  evil machinations and said “Ohne mich.” (“Without me.”). Let us make India. 

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