Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Lackluster Leaders I

India produces some of the most sycophantic leaders.

Here is one example from THE HINDU:

Senior Congress leader and Union Minister for Human Resource Development Arjun Singh on Sunday renewed his pledge of loyalty and commitment to the Nehru family.

In a statement issued here, Mr. Singh said that when he met Jawaharlal Nehru in March, 1960, he pledged his loyalty to him and his family.

“This was the commitment, which is an article of faith with me. For the past 48 years of my life, I have scrupulously adhered to it. I shall do everything to maintain the loyalty and commitment to the remaining members of the family till I live,” he said.

What kind of constitutional democracy is this? How different are we from the immature neighboring democracies where one leader bequeaths her party and position in a will to someone in her family?

Why is a pledge of loyalty to certain family so important in a constitutional democracy? Isn’t this what dictatorships practice? Isn’t this a pledge all Nazis took to show their commitment and loyalty to Adolf Hitler? Actually, we have gone one step beyond the dictators. Here, we are committing ourselves to the leader’s progeny and family as well.

That’s how Nehru Gandhi got founded – bringing all the sycophants under one roof. First, we had Mughal Empire, then the British Empire, followed by Nehru-Gandhi Empire, thanks to Indian sycophants.

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