Well, when I thought about the theme for
writing my first ever blog, I realized it’s something that many of you would
have thought about, discussed, debated. Yes, I am going to talk about our
politicians, but I promise you one thing, it is not a usual blame game not a
debate on a scenario or a discussion on why we are the way we are rather I
would like to propose a solution with a very good story that I read recently.
Once upon a time the whites wanted to
transfer power to native South Africans (I am afraid of using the word, I do
not know whether it is legal to use or not, but I hope you understand whom I am
referring to). The question was how would they transfer the power and how will
the natives govern the country and in what direction. A professor named Pieter
Le Roux brought individuals from opposing parties who until then were ready to
kill each other, to discuss about the future of their nation. Surprisingly, the
committee met, they had peaceful discussions and after a number of sessions
they came up with four scenarios, namely ostrich- white government refuses a
peaceful transition of power, Icarus- a particular native government embarks on
a huge public works programme and crashes the economy, Lame Duck- a long
transition in which an attempt is made to satisfy all but none are satisfied at
the end of the day and lastly Flight of Flamingos- where all building blocks
are in place and everyone rises slowly but together. South Africans chose the
flight of flamingos.
Instead of blaming the ruling government,
it is wiser, that is if the politicians want to be wise, to come together and
devise a strategy to tackle the problems that India is facing today. Every
party claims that it is working for the welfare of people, if that is the
single point agenda then why don’t they all work together to achieve a single
goal.
Dear Pam,
ReplyDeleteReally true... in that case, the politicians saw the need to unite because their common goal was to throw away the whites from administration. But as you see, in India, the one who is a politician has to win seats and the one who proclaims to be a social worker would go around talking about uniting for a task. At the end of the day, both of them are looking for money and power in the country and a lot of publicity added to money and power. No one is actually interested in doing anything good as they only claim to do good. In India, only if we make it tougher for the politicians to win an election by producing alternatives, we would be able to see them do something good or probably unite for a cause because they would want to come again. I would like you to analyse one situation here. In 1995/96 (not very sure), BJP was the single majority and was called to form the govt. It did form the govt and ABV became the prime minister. he had to resign as none of the other parties supported him. Instead, the congress managed to unite all the enemies (even mamta and cpm) and for a stupid government and that saw HDD and IKG becoming prime ministers later. So, In India, the same devils will keep reshuffling in one order or the other, for their benefits alone as they are not threatened by new politicians who could win people's support. No one gives a damn about party values or their tagline.
Pam, a good write. but i believe what u are presenting is a bleak picture of the Utopia we all want to become proud residents of.the real scenario in south africa, is not the same. but nevertheless, a solution definitely worth pondering abt. however, for that we need leaders not politicians.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you Lekshmi, Leaders (claiming) and social workers are separate and the politicians are separate in our country. I mean, no one lives up to definitions but looks up to money and power to make their lives better.
DeleteWell a politician is the one who has taken politics as his/her profession and it is essential that such an individual posses leadership qualities. I believe we started of quiet well with leaders and visionary thinkers but we derailed somewhere down the line. Only the ones who have the ability and strength can bring the train back on track and it means there is a call for youth to take the reigns but is that possible?
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