In a survey, to a question posed to explain the reason for violent removal of public leaders in South Asia: Pakistan (Bhutto and Liaquat), India (Indira and Rajiv Gandhi), Sri Lanka (Bendranaike), Bangladesh (Mujeeb and Irshad), Burma (U Aung Sang), Nepal (The gentle King), the answer preferred was that they ascended the driving seat through mob action and subsequently it was mob dynamics that removed them.
Well, in the case of Indira Gandhi, it was perceived that she had arrived through a democratic process but after imposition of emergency, she converted or morphed herself into a mobster. M K Gandhi suffered from his countryman’s hot blood.
It is interesting that the expletives used in the common languages in South Asia remind us of the brutal culture which existed in the years of yore. This is also evident from present day happenings and in earlier decades. We have also witnessed torture and brutality exhibited in cutting to pieces women and children in 1947 and 1971.
Hence, political leaders aspiring for higher offices better not depend on emotions alone but work on solid platforms cemented by proper manifestos and organising political parties, not just movements.
ZAFAR OMER
Islamabad
