Parachute Leaders, Sudden Leaders

https://www.thuglak.com/thuglak/main.php?x=curissue/thalaiyangam_14_04_2021.php

This editorial column was written by Sri S.Gurumurthy in Thuglak magazine dated 21- Apr — 21 (Translated by Rangarajan Chakkara)

Results for the 6th of April assembly elections will come on 2nd May. This month-long gap will affect different groups in different ways. The politicians, who had campaigned for many weeks during hot summer, maybe sweating internally but exhibiting bravado externally. They may be resting themselves too.

The local media in Tamilnadu will run into a period of slowdown, who was working ferociously in the last 2–3 months will struggle for spicy news matters until 2nd may, since there will not be interest for the election matters in the other states. The advertisements related to elections have dried up. For magazines like us, there is no problem, since we are not dependent on such advertisements. Before 2nd May, the readers will be receiving three editions of this magazine. To make use of this period effectively, we want to highlight about three matters in the interest of the Nation.

To start with,

1. How the leaders were formed at the national level and in Tamilnadu
2. How the parties were packaging the descendants (of their party leaders), who were parachuting on the party bandwagon and who does not have any relevant experience
3. How the actors, who were managing stunts with the help of stuntmen, have been hoodwinking the youth, have emerged as sudden leaders and how they converted politics into cinema

What are the consequences of such unfortunate events?

Who is a Leader?

If the intentions are good then such people will be accepted as leaders by the people. Such automatic acceptance as a leader will come neither by the stroke of luck nor by wealth nor by fame generated through advertisements. Thiruvalluvar, who was abused by Periyar and at the same widely appreciated by the Dravidian parties had mentioned on greatness –

வெள்ளத் தனைய மலர்நீட்டம் மாந்தர்தம்
உள்ளத் தனையது உயர்வு

With rising flood the rising lotus flower its stem unwinds;
The dignity of men is measured by their minds

In 10 pithy verses under the subject of “Sovereignty” in Thirukkural (381–390), Tiruvalluvar elaborates about the qualities required for Kings in ancient times as well as for modern-day politicians. In Mahabharata — Santi Parva, Sri Bhishma elaborates about “Rajaneeti” to Pandavas and mentions the requirement of 32 gunas. They will not come by birth but through practice.

In those days, the kings would send their heirs to a gurukul. There, the descendant would be asked to serve the Guru and get trained on managing workload, selflessness, respect for the elders, patriotism, and service to the public. Then, they get anointed as Prince. Even after the training, his anointment as a prince would be subjected to approval by the members of the king’s assembly. In Valmiki Ramayana, King Dasaratha had decided to anoint Rama as the King and said this to the assembly, “I desire to make Lord Rama as King. But, I would request you to judge on the merits, independently”. Many members of the society including a barber, dhobi, etc were sought for their opinion. Rama was trained by King Dasaratha and not by Sage Vasishtha. He was subjected to dangerous tests by Sage Viswamitra. After getting trained adequately, he was chosen as the Prince.

What is training in our culture? As per Neeti-sastra, Until six years old, the child will be treated as God. Between 6–16, they should be treated as a slave. After that, he should be treated as a friend. Through such training, our society prepared the children for future endeavors. To provide such rigorous training, nowadays, the Gurukulas are not there; no discipline in the families. Our schools are not imparting such knowledge. In the upper-middle-class and high societies, we can see the kids are pampered by their families and spoil them. Therefore, in the rich Marwari families, they will send their children to a different factory for the training, instead of to their factories. Except for the few families, training to obtain noble qualities is not available, particularly for the youth of the higher class. Therefore, to make a virtuous leader, our families or establishments are not adequately equipped.

People’s leader vs Parachuted Leader

At the all India level, buoyed by patriotic fervor, many had participated in the Independence struggle, went to prison, worked selflessly for the country went on to become the leaders of Modern India — Nehru, Patel, Rajaji, Kamaraj, Morarji, Sastri, et al belong to this group. They were part of Congress and participated in the government. Members of opposition like Janasangh, Socialist, Communist parties too participate in the Independence struggle. After that generation, we had two sets of leaders — one, members who parachuted from political dynasties, and the others, who had emerged through the struggle for people’s cause. In congress, after Nehru, his family members were parachuted into the cauldron of power and they usurped the Congress party.

After Nehru, they were ruling India for 30 years. On one side, we have such parachute leaders. On the other side, we have had leaders who had emerged out of the struggle — Vajpayee, Advani, Arun Jaitley, George Fernandes, V.P.Singh. At the state level, we have had seen the emergence of such leaders — Mulayam Singh, Laluprasad Yadav, NTR, Annadurai, Karunanidhi. Slowly the Congress culture of parachuting-their-children was passed on to opposition parties. Leaders like Charan Singh, Devilal, Mulayam Singh, Laluprasad Yadav, Biju Patnaik, Karunanidhi, NTR started air-dropping their children onto their political bandwagon. Either the Independence struggle or Ram Janmabhoomi movement or the Dravidian movement had made their members to participate in social struggles. Then the public life, society, and people relation trained them to become leaders. On the contrary, the parachute leaders did not have such opportunities. They were leading a luxurious life.

Rajeev Gandhi was an airplane pilot until he was parachuted into politics. He was called a “reluctant politician”. Even after becoming the leader of the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi was called a “part-time politician”. In India today magazine’s conclave, a journalist mentioned that if you take the surname of Rahul Gandhi then he is one among the lakhs of Rahuls in this country. His surname is the parachute for him. Of late, we saw Udayanidhi Stalin parachuted into DMK. So far, we have not heard of any of his achievements. But, we keep hearing about the no of luxurious cars he is owning and how big is the garage. With such entourage, the leadership qualities will wane and not grow. This parachute leader is the gift of DMK to Tamilnadu. Parachute leaders without leadership qualities and leading a luxurious life are a threat to their party as well as to the Nation.

Similarly, members of the movie fraternity, the movie fame is their parachute. Barring few leaders like MGR, Jayalalitha & Rajini, the rest of them are not adequately trained in leadership qualities. We are all aware of the arduous route taken by MGR into politics. Though Jayalalitha was selected by MGR, she took on the might of DMK, unified the party, and fought against them. Since 1995, Rajanikanth who had shown active interest in politics was mentored by Cho. Further, we wrote in our editorial (03-Mar-2017) that Rajani is not fully evolved and has the potential to emerge as a strong leader. Rajani had the mental makeup to become a political leader. Now is the time for the people of TN to think about the dangers that will come because of these parachuted & sudden leaders.

National Leaders, Party Leaders

If the party leaders confine themselves to their own party, then it is not good for the nation. They should consider themselves as National leaders and operate like one. It is not limited to position, power, or pelf. No one is chosen as a National leader. One recent example of the National leadership is P.V.Narasimha Rao. He had recognized that India’s prestige will go up if we conduct the atomic bomb test. In 1995, he tried to conduct Pokhran atomic bomb test at Pokhran. A tip about the test had gone to Rockefeller foundation from the PMO. This planned test was stopped by the USA. Quoting Rockefeller foundation documents, I had exposed this faux pas in 1995 & 2007 in Indian express. It became a huge embarrassment for the congress govt. Many others had supported this view (https://www.rediff.com/news/2006/aug/22guest.htm ).

Since Narasimha Rao thought that the atomic bomb test would be beneficial for the Nation, he had requested Vajpayee in 1996 (13 days govt), “Since your party had mentioned about the test in the election manifesto, somehow, you should do it”. Since Vajpayee lost power in 1996, he could not it. When he back to power in 1998 the first very thing that he did was to conduct the test. All credit went to Vajpayee. But, in 2015, when Rao had passed away, Vajpayee mentioned this and gave the credit to Rao (https://idsa.in/strategicanalysis/NarasimhaRaoandtheBomb_Ksubramanyam_1004 )

Relation between Ruling party & Opposition party

Narasimha Rao’s advice to Vajpayee was akin to the Raja-Neethi provided by Bhishma (from the death bed) to Pandavas. After emerging victorious in the war, Krishna had advised Pandavas to reach out to Bhishma and learn Raja-Neethi from him. He further mentioned, “It is easy to oppose and difficult to rule; Therefore, take the upadesa from him”. When the Pandavas were hesitating, Krishna led them to Bhishma. Then, Bhishma said to Krishna, “ You are an avatar and you know everything about Raja-Neethi. Hence, you advise them”. Krishna replied to him, “Since your wisdom is based on the experience, it would be apt for you to tender the advice”. The ruling party (Pandavas) was advised by the losing Opposition party member (Bhishma). Why? For the welfare of the Nation. When we have such a noble tradition, why do we need Parachute & Sudden Leaders? This should change.

(To be continued)