What does a common person understand about politics in a country where people call it ‘secular’? As a common person, I know very little about politics. I do know that India has many political parties – and among these parties, the leading players are Congress and the BJP. Another thing I do know is that India is a nation with various political ideas and ideologies. On a larger scale, these are the most common ideas most people have about politics in our country. There are a few more ideas I have about politics in India – and I will be talking about these ideas in this article.
It is a human tendency to think differently from each other, but don’t we also have mutual interests and an understanding to reach a common goal? Every time when I try to acquire knowledge on the politics and analyse it, I end my quest in disappointment. All I can conclude with is that the actions of the leading political party (or the sarkar) often do not match with what different political leaders say. I am still in a dilemma regarding whether to give my vote in selecting a leader for my nation.
To the best of my knowledge, many of our political leaders do not have educational degrees. And in my opinion, this should not be much of a topic of issue because there’s the possibility that a person might be really educated or knowledgeable despite possessing no certificates or degrees. I don’t think an educated person needs a degree to prove their knowledge or intellect. On the other hand, it’s equally possible that a ‘well-qualified’ man may not be ‘well-educated’.
So, in my opinion, it is okay if they do not have the ‘qualification’ or the ‘degrees’, but education is really important. However, many a time, the behavior of our chosen politicians really makes me question myself: are they the representatives of this country? In my understanding, political representatives should be the most well-behaved of all authority figures. But when I see them indulging in illegitimate behavior, disrespectful talks, greedy debates, never-ending arguments and criticising the work of other parties rather than talking about their own agenda and work, it makes me think whether they are illiterate as well as unqualified to be serving the nation.
Another ‘political fact’ that I am aware of is corruption. In fact, I often hear about it while talking about politics. Let’s understand this point from the perspective of a businessperson. What aim will any businessperson have for their company? It’s simple – to make their company the best in the market in the shortest time possible. If the business grows better, they will think of expanding in different states of the country. They will think about importing or exporting – taking the business to foreign shores or bringing something new to the country to benefit as their new business. This is then likely to turn into an ambition of making it to the ‘top 10’ lists in the world.
What more? Everything has been achieved. But it’s here that they can be corrupted when they try to make their brand the best in the world, or while trying to balance the quality and affordability of their luxurious products.
Now, coming back to the issue of political leaders being corrupted – where do they want to go by being corrupted? They are elected as leaders to make the nation a better place to live in. Of course, they have the rights to make money or living a good, comfortable, luxurious life (which often comes ‘for free’ for man of them). Then, why does their greed have no end? Again, what do they want to achieve by being corrupted?
Practically, functionally and logically, if we talk about leaders, they can be elected several times because of their ‘good works’ in making the nation a progressive space. Maybe ministry seats may be prone to the vagaries of promotions or demotions based on the productivity levels of the occupants. But whatever position they may be assigned or achieve, a politician, at the end of the day, is held accountable by the nation. Now, it isn’t the case either that by ruling India for a decade, the BJP or any other political party will go on to govern other nations in the world. Then, why is there so much greed, unnecessary political strategies, ideologies and lust? Makes no sense, right?
Another major issue here concerns whether India really is a secular nation, as our politicians like to repeat so often. In India, votes are cast elect the leader of the nation every five years. Narendra Modi, for example, was elected as the nation’s PM irrespective of caste, creed, culture or gender or any other discriminating criteria. Then, why do we still see political parties talk about people as Hindu, Muslim or according to other such divisions to seek their support? When the PM exists ‘for’ the nation, why does the debate of communalism arise repeatedly?
I may not understand Indian politics in-depth, but I am sure many of you have the same ideas and thoughts about politics as I do!
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Featured image used for representative purposes only.