By Major General Mrinal Suman
The terrorist attack on Mumbai once
again brought the issue of the quality of Indian political leadership in focus.
Nearly 200 people lost their lives and left the nation humiliated. Yet, the
Home Minister of the state, the man responsible for security, had the audacity
to term it as a small incident. When people came out in the streets to give
vent to their despair, leader of a national party lampooned them and passed
crude remarks. Worse, we had the disgraceful sight of a Chief Minister of a
state ridiculing the father of a martyr who was undergoing tremendous trauma at
the loss of his son. “If it had not been (Major) Sandeep's house, not even a
dog would have glanced that way," was his contemptible comment.
One gets reminded of two cartoons that
appeared in the press in the wake of the terrorist attack on the Indian
Parliament. One cartoon showed a terrorist trying to dissuade another terrorist
from entering the main hall of the Parliament to lob grenades, saying, “No, no,
don’t kill Indian politicians. That will be a pro-India act”. Another cartoon
showed Indian citizens talking amongst themselves, “These Pakistani terrorists
have let us down. They would have earned Indian gratitude by ridding us of a
few politicians”.
The above mentioned cartoons are indicative
of the poor esteem in which Indian political leadership is held. “God must be
anti-India. He has been cursing India by inflicting such leaders on it. Sardar
Patel died soon after Independence while lesser leaders survived. Every
promising leader dies young while the corrupt oldies go on forever,” is a
common refrain. Most Indians feel disgusted with the quality of present
political leadership.
It is commonly said that cinema is a
true reflection of popular thinking of the society at large. Villains have been
an integral part of Indian cinema since the days of KN Singh. For the last few
years, villainy has become the exclusive domain of political leaders. The
moment a character in ‘khadi’ and white cap appears on the screen, the audience
recognises him as the chief villain. Worse, he is shown to be occupying the
chair of Home Minister. He patronizes criminal gangs, has corrupt police
officers in tow and has no inhibitions in selling the country for money. He
supports widow homes overtly but demands women covertly. He divides people by
instigating religious riots. In short, he is depicted as the most unscrupulous
and devious specimen of humanity. No political leader has disputed such
projection as they all know it to be true.
A few years ago, while on a visit to
Copenhagen an Indian visitor saw the Queen of Denmark doing her weekly shopping
of household requirements in a mall. She was accompanied by a solitary maid.
The Queen was picking up required items from the shelves and the maid was
pushing the cart. Being used to seeing every leader accompanied by a posse of
security personnel causing immense inconvenience to common citizens in public
places, the Indian visitor was quite surprised and quizzed his local guide. The
reply he received was quite an eye-opener - “If a sovereign needs protection
from her own subjects, she might as well abdicate. Why should citizens pay for
the security of a leader who feels insecure amongst her own people? Only
devious leaders feel threatened and Denmark can well do without them.”
Compare the above with the prevailing
cult in India – importance of a leader is judged by the number of security men
surrounding him, hence the race to extract the highest category of security.
Over 60 percent of NSG commando strength is deployed on personal security
duties. It is an obnoxious sight to see goons masquerading as mass leaders and
surrounded by elite security personnel. Many leaders intentionally create
adversaries by their irresponsible statements and thereafter seek state
protection for personal safety. We have states in which the leader of one party
apprehends a threat from another party and demands Government protection, while
the leader of the second party seeks similar security fearing attack by the first
party. Both leaders (who may be petty gangsters) are provided state security.
There cannot be a bigger misuse of taxpayers’ money.
People find it offensive when stopped
for long periods by rude policemen to make way for the cavalcade of some
self-opinionated and egotistical leader. Many people are of the view that no
security whatsoever should be provided to any leader at national and state
levels - whether in power or otherwise. If a leader is so timid and cowardly
with regard to his personal safety, he might as well stay out of politics and
public life. No one forces them to be in politics.
Some citizens are of the view that only
a disliked leader feels threatened and not a popular one, and a disliked leader
is not worth protecting at the cost of the exchequer. Additionally, no leader
is so indispensable that one odd unfortunate incident of misdemeanor by a
hot-head should be a cause of undue concern. Like common citizens, leaders
should also learn to live with day to day trepidations and risks.
No one joins politics for public
service. It is the most lucrative profession and has acquired traits of family
business. Earlier, all parents dreamt of their progeny joining civil services
or becoming engineers and doctors. Today, all sensible and far-sighted parents
want their children (especially if they are good for nothing else) to join
politics. It is commonly said that a single tenure even at the municipal
corporation level is good enough to cater for the next three generations. A
corporator carries enough clout to extract his pound of flesh before allowing
any work to progress in his ward. If one looks around, the present crop of
political leaders started as petty traders and today command wealth worth
hundreds of crores of rupees. In no other profession can so much be amassed in
so short a time.
Unfortunately in India, politics have
come to be identified with everything immoral and decadent. The standing of
politicians in India is at its lowest ebb today. They are being derided in
media and public gatherings. One wonders what effect this public contempt has
on the psyche of political leaders. Do they ever feel guilty and shamed?
According to most observers, the present leadership is too thick skinned and
quite brazen. They have no conscience. They are banking on short public memory
to be back in the business of politicking. To them, only votes and power
matter. Self introspection regarding their public image is not an exercise they
ever like to indulge in.
The
Way Forward
It is often said that people get the
leadership they deserve. Why does India deserve such poor quality of leaders?
Where have the Indians gone wrong? Do they have any alternative? When people go
to vote, there is not a single name that inspires confidence and the whole
exercise gets reduced to electing the lesser devil. Due to poor leadership,
even after sixty years of Independence we are worst off governance-wise.
Undoubtedly, there is an urgent need to
improve the quality of Indian leadership. Although there is no quick-fix solution,
a beginning can certainly be made by exercising our franchise and ensuring that
the leaders we elect are deserving of our confidence. All leaders over 65 years
of age must be rejected outright. Has not the current crop of senior leaders
ruled and ruined India enough? Any leader promoting his progeny must also be
shunned. Dynasty politics is the bane of India. Parties functioning as family
fiefdoms are an anathema to the concept of democracy. Moreover, no leader
should be allowed more than two tenures of Parliament (both houses put
together) and state assemblies.
Any leader who seeks votes in the name
of caste, religion and region must be considered as an enemy of the nation and
meted out the treatment accordingly. Politicians threatening the fabric of
India’s social cohesion by playing vote bank politics should never be
tolerated. Any party that gives tickets to anti-social elements and criminals
must be boycotted as a whole. Finally, the solution lies in forcing all
political parties to put up candidates with unquestioned integrity and
unblemished track record. Parties must be made to fear the wrath of awakened
public. Our current disgust with our political leadership must force a change. Our faith in democracy
can never be allowed to waver.
Yet to re-incarnate
ReplyDeleteCol Raju