Ever wondered
how leaders like Mahatma Gandhi could get thousands of highly educated
youth throw off their lucrative careers to take up public causes that
yielded no personal fame or fortune? Have you been astonished at how
thousands of acres of land got gifted at the call of a leader like Acharya
Vinobha Bhave without any coercion? Have you thought about the dynamics
that make ordinary people, with no personal connection whatsoever, listen
to calls of such leaders to do the unbelievable without expecting anything
in return? Well, it is only due to the Moral Highgrounds (MH) trod by
those leaders.
It is true that our long struggle for independence threw up dozens of good
leaders and more importantly set very high standards of probity & morality
in public life. But it is also true that post-independence morality in
public life is fast declining. Nowadays, we hardly find any public men of
the stature of Mahatma Gandhi or Subhash Chandra Bose, who could stir the
conscience of an entire nation with just a few words. With all the ‘broad
blasting’ on TV and Internet, we find only the ‘interested’ attending
public meetings. Only those who stand to gain something tangible or
intangible, directly or indirectly, attend any meeting for public causes.
The days of a coherent collective conscience of the nation seems to be
over. There are many who argue that those earlier leaders were thrown up
during our Independence struggle and it is not possible (or necessary) to
have such types again. But is that entirely true? Post independence too we
had many leaders (like JP, Nanaji and Morarji) who could command all round
respect by their ability, humility and selflessness. And even now we find
a few in all political parties who stand out as loners treading on MH. Our
present electoral system cannot guarantee the victory of such leaders in
elections and we are thereby denied their valuable leadership is a sad
simple fact. But days are not far when people will call for electoral
reforms to ensure election of such highly desirable individuals to public
offices.
Democracy means politicians, elections and power. Though many of us
despise politicians, we always run to them whenever there is something to
be got done with the Government machinery. This clearly shows that they
are indeed leaders of our society. If there are reasons to despise them,
then there is something rotten in our society as well. They cannot be
blamed in isolation. Post-independence, the single most important factor
that has brought down the standards in our public life is the advent of
‘professionalism’ in politics. Though it is good to have professionals in
politics, it is bad for democracy to have politics as a profession. There
are many students who opt for a career in politics without attempting to
acquire any skills for making a living in the future. To generate the
necessary income for their own survival, they are forced to resort to
‘wheeling and dealing’ in the corridors of power later in their lives. In
such a scenario, politics degenerates to a trade in itself and politicians
become the trade union leaders in the trade of politics. Incidentally,
this is exactly why we find a lot common between politicians irrespective
of the political party they belong to. They are all engaged in the same
trade but in different trade unions.
Amidst the present depressing ‘leadership’ scenario in our political
horizon, we do find islands of hope in the form of social and religious
movements with subtle political ideologies as well. It is interesting to
note that some leaders of such movements are highly successful because of
their treading MH (eg. Anna Hazare, Medha Patkar, Govindacharya ) and not
because of their charisma or street smartness. Though their areas of
influence are limited, the fact that MH is still a factor that can sway
the masses is something that makes us hopeful. The fire of morality is
still burning in Indian mind and another Mohandas Gandhi can always
rekindle it for a common cause. But why do we find it rare to see leaders
who swear by morality any more?
There are at least three reasons why it is difficult to tread the MH for
attaining leadership. First and foremost is that there should not be any
skeletons in the cupboard. For a leader who swear by morality, there
cannot be anything more damaging than an expose’. Some of the thick
skinned politicians can get away with unconvincing explanations but in
countries like Japan it is inevitable hara-kiri. Anyone with a dubious
past cannot get past the vast media network for much long. The truth shall
come out sooner or later. Nowadays political mudslinging is commonplace
and those treading MH are more vulnerable to this. The real test of any
political leader is how he comes out of such a crisis. Any leader who is
worthy of treading MH will come out unscathed because no mud can stick on
clean personalities.
And that brings us to the second factor that nurtures morally upright
leaders viz. values of the society they operate in. If the society cares
little about morality and probity of its public men, any leader who is
trying to tread MH will find little appreciation. If the society does not
find anything wrong in having a secret family, we will find most leaders
having a dozen each. It is in this context we feel happy that the embers
of MH are still residual in Indian minds and it is upto our leaders to
light it up again. The third and most important aspect that deters our
leaders to opt for the MH option in public life is the rigors and
inconveniences that it presents. It is next to impossible for many of our
current leaders to avoid personal comforts. Can we imagine any of our
leaders opting for regular trains for travel and non air-conditioned rooms
for sleep? Have you ever seen a leader standing in a line to purchase
train tickets or paying his personal bills? It has become difficult even
to see our leaders because of security reasons.
MH is still an option open to all those who aspire for public life. But it
is laden with rigors and challenges. Only those with a clean past and who
are willing to be grilled on moral grounds can withstand it. It is
definitely not for those who are looking for an easy career in politics.
For those who are genuinely interested in politics as a means of service
for betterment of society, it is still one of the best methods to opt for.
The satisfaction of being a successful politician treading MH is
unparalleled and would linger on for generations to come. But for the
ordinary mortals looking for fast bucks in politics, the by-lanes and
gullies are better suited than the highways.
Boloji.com is owned and managed by
Boloji Media Inc Privacy Policy |
Disclaimer No part of this Internet site may
be reproduced without prior written permission of the copyright holder.
