Saturday, September 17, 2011

Silver Spoon

By Siddarth Sehgal

In India, like any other country, if a person wants to become a doctor or an engineer, one would have to go through tests and assessments which would measure his/her abilities and there are no exceptions to that.

If a doctor wants his son to follow his footsteps, the son would have to prove his worth; he can’t get a degree in medicine just because his father is a physician. Same rule applies to all government jobs. Exceptions are made in cases where the sole earner in the family passes away leaving dependents behind but somehow this regulation does not applies to Indian politicians.

In my country many politicians, if not most, seek ways to pass their political inheritance to their kith and kin. Fathers promote sons, brothers promote brothers and husbands launch their wives on the public platform to keep the power within the family circles. Great many political parties in India have become nothing more than a family business. Those of you who know, India is called ‘Bharat’ in Hindi language. It got its name from Bharata, the king who united and founded present day India. This righteous ruler passed his throne to a child he adopted on finding out that his own sons were incompetent to rule the kingdom, a step quiet contrary to what is practiced in current scenario.

Leadership always plays a crucial role in the growth of a country. A corrupt leader cannot provide an honest heir. It’s a plain simple fact my fellow citizens have to understand. We all have seen the potential of the people who come to politics using the name of their powerful relatives. I don’t know about others but I for one haven’t seen anyone whom I can call a man or woman of the people. Most of these candidates don’t even know how it feels to be an ordinary citizen; they always had a shortcut in life. This favoritism is not only limited to family members. Party members and friends who made their way up through sycophancy are often rewarded with significant positions in the government. It’s an ugly but true fact that the fate of 1.21 billion people of my motherland rests in the hands of few privileged individuals.

Now since it’s the question of merit, it is justifiable to ask the standards of excellence. Our history books have some examples of meritocracies, some were good, some were bad but all of them had their own standards of distinction. Napoleon Bonaparte chose people on the basis of their ability, Genghis Khan tested men on the basis of their loyalty and valor. Even the murderous Nazi regime chose the best among its troops to form one of the most formidable fighting units in the history, The Waffen-SS, who is known for both its bravery and crimes.

For our politics the standard should be honesty and loyalty. As fantasy it may sound but this is what we need, if we have any desires to see a better tomorrow.

Other posts by Siddarth Sehgal:

Indian Government’s schemes to weaken Team Anna

The Problem of Caste-based Reservation System in India

Why Anna Hazare is Important?

Siddarth Sehgal is a graduate student at University of Alabama at Birmingham and a columnist at the University student newspaper. He frequently writes on international issues, politics and human rights.

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