The last resort
By: K S S Pillai
People in democratic countries are empowered to decide their country’s fate. Politics in those countries is expected to be a part-time profession of every citizen who protects the rights and privileges of free men. Unfortunately, this is not always true.
When a politician asked reporters the other day with a straight face what was unnatural in finding more than thirty lakh rupees in cash at his home by an investigating agency, I thought I had the answer to my friend’s problem. He had asked my opinion about the profession his son should adopt.
The boy was thick-skinned, avoided telling the truth, was good-looking, a good speaker and actor, and an expert in wriggling out of difficult situations. It dawned on me that he had all the qualifications to become a successful politician.
I had heard of politicians who used to stay in modest houses with many family members. When they came to power, there was a flow of money from different quarters, proving that power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
They shifted to mansions worth crores of rupees and invested large amounts after remaining in power for a few years. Some who had failed to reach the tenth standard had become chief ministers, deputy chief ministers, and ministers with lucrative portfolios.
I asked the boy to join politics. The only worry was whether his passing the higher secondary examination would be an obstacle.
Some movies have highlighted the unenviable condition of politicians. In one, the hero participates in processions and public meetings of various political parties at different times for cash. It is his regular source of income.
Free transportation to the venues is provided to all. Political parties, flush with money, are worried only about vacant seats, not the participants’ allegiance when their leaders address public meetings.
In another film, a candidate visits a voter’s house. Showing bonhomie, he snatches a dirty child with a running nose from his mother, plays with him, and cleans his nose with his handkerchief. Later, he soaks his body for a long time in a tub filled with warm water infused with a generous measure of lavender, cursing the day he decided to join politics.
Everybody knows that money plays a decisive role in our elections. The police check vehicles during elections and get hold of large amounts hidden ingeniously. In a country with many illiterates, it is common knowledge that poor people usually cast their votes in favour of candidates who are liberal with cash and liquor.
Politicians appear differently nowadays. They have become conscious about their overall looks and visit beauty parlours regularly to make themselves presentable. They are seen in public in freshly ironed white shirts and other dress items.
It has become the practice across party lines to offer numerous freebies to the electorate. Some have their vote banks whom they keep in good spirits with promises.
As no party is blameless in this respect, no one has gone to courts challenging the process, though some had threatened to do so. If they are forced to be in the opposition, they fight, sometimes violently.
When it is believed that violence is the quickest way to get publicity from news-hungry television channels, it is no wonder that there is violence in politics.
When asked, a party bigwig said there was no other way to win elections. The expenditure will be borne by the taxpayers. As the other parties would demand the fulfilment of all promises, there was no other way to remain in power.
I remembered the days in my village when children, attracted by the colourful party flags and musical sloganeering, joined processions without knowing anything about the party. The candidate’s compound had several mango trees with ripe mangoes. Though fuming inwardly, the householders did not object when the supporters climbed the trees and plucked the fruits, leaving them fruitless after a few hours.
When I observed that political parties were full of incompetent and corrupt people, I was told it was bound to happen when honest people shunned party politics.
I wonder whether the narrator was fully awake when he said, “Politics is the last resort of scoundrels.”
(The author is a retired professor of English. A regular contributor to ‘The Kashmir Vision’, his articles and short stories have appeared in several national and international publications.
