For so long we have blamed our politicians. For potholed roads, for lack of infrastructure, for corruption, for being selfish, for seeking power; we have looked at them with disdain for their recommendation letters, and perhaps hated them for countless backdoor appointments. We have blamed them for so many wrongs in our society and hated them for turning a blind eye to what we consider important.
The sight of them being led to the front pews in the church has also, probably put us off a lot of times or watching them drive past us with their escorts, has possibly been cursed more times than we can count. We have also blamed our politicians for the messy traffic. If not for their persuasive entries sometimes, it wouldn’t have been so bad. And given their status and power, why can’t our politicians bring the kind of development we desire as a society? Or do things in the interest of the public good, and in the least, improve roads, education, health, and other basic amenities? Year after year, they have carried our blame and many people continue to label them as ‘power mongers’. But what we, the public have often failed to put into consideration is the fact that a politician is only human. Just like everybody else- with thoughts and feelings. He has his bad days and good days and that, it is humanly impossible even for a politician to please everybody in his party fold, let alone the entire state.
You ask me why I care. Why, of all sections of the society, think of their side of the story when they literally steal headlines ever so often. I care because the majority of us have got it all wrong. While we blame the politicians for unfairness and illegal appointments, who do you think go to them asking for it? Because it’s certainly not the politicians who come to us with recommendation letters, offering us jobs and opportunities.
Yes, we are talking about corruption, about illegal and dishonest means. But is it possible that only the politicians are corrupt? So much so that the whole state is under their influence and reeling under corruption? Who do you think willingly accept the money generously distributed during elections? Who do you think have associated election campaigns with money? Who do you think, maybe unconsciously, but largely contribute to the corrupt state of our society?
We, the people. People from all rungs of the society. People in the village, the farmers, the students, the church, the educated, the government employees, and if not every member of every section of the society, it is still represented by somebody or the other.
Go to the villages, back to your roots. Ask them about the democratic process of election. Do they really know what they are doing during elections? Why do they vote? Do you know that most of them expect something to be done for them (a government service in most cases) in exchange for their votes?
You wonder where all the funds for development disappear, but when you look deep into the heart of it, it’s not surprising that developmental works take a backseat. We live in a state where politicians are looked at as money minting machines. They are expected to carry money around, wherever they go.
Politicians cannot afford to wake up late, get sick, have a day off, or be moody. When they do, they are in deep trouble. Imagine having to meet all kinds of people as soon as you wake up, to be really sick in bed but not to be trusted, thinking they are simply being avoided, to want some peace but to have endless list of people waiting and wanting a little of your time.
Villagers or the so called party workers come to the capital all the time. They come with 1001 problems. Somebody is sick in the family, or their child has not got admission into a school, somebody’s car has met with an accident, somebody has died, somebody is getting married, somebody is without a job, and so on and so forth. While having problems is natural, dumping all these problems into a politician’s hands is not. As if he owes them a solution to all of their personal problems. Imagine a politician having to take care of every minute details of every household in his/her constituency. Where is the space for social development?
Then, the ever increasing number of organizations with their endless needs. Right from the village level to the state level, who turn to the politicians for assistance. Monetary assistance, to be precise. Undoubtedly taking the easiest way out to take their whatever association/organization to a higher level. And because he is a politician, all of them expect a huge package. Mere thousands wouldn’t do.
I am also told, and I do not doubt that politicians get the best delicacies available in the state. But it isn’t without a price that they enjoy it. Because they end up paying more than what the delicacy’s worth. There are several such instances. We have just too many people who are out there to extract and fill their own personal pockets. It’s just so sad that we have misinterpreted politics this way and that’s where we have really gone wrong- looking to be individually pleased and lifted, individually assisted and supported.
We point fingers at the politicians for every wrong we can find, hardly realizing that we always get the government we deserve.
Vishü Rita Krocha
