The last Kennedy is finally leaving office in the US. That’ll mean it’s the first time there won’t be a Kennedy in Washington since 1947.
Hooray.
How I wish South Asia would follow suit.
The halls of power in just about every South Asian country are filled with the wives, husbands, sons and daughters of politicians.
India is routinely called the greatest democracy in the world, yet you’d be hard pressed to find a state where there are no politicians’ wives, girlfriends or children on state or federal payrolls, and where the fourth generation of Gandhi is being openly groomed for the reins.
In Pakistan, the corrupt widower of the corrupt daughter of a corrupt father is the latest in the family to be Prime Minister - no doubt keeping the seat warm till his son comes of age.
In Bangladesh, the widow of one leader and the daughter of another have been playing revolving door politics for years.
Of all the millions of educated, talented, capable people the region has produced, are there really no other choices for leadership?
on Feb 16th, 2010 at 4:43 am
Well Dheera, this is one issue where I totally agree with you..;)…
This is the tragedy of our subcontinent- false democracy. The power is in the hands of a few families, just like the royal families of the erstwhile undivided India. We all resent it as it has led to rampant corruption,nepotism and general favouritism. And sadly, it isn’t helping the subcontinent and is the rootcause of all the problems we face daily:poverty, unemployment, Maoism, to name a few.It is not that we don’t have talented people who could lead the country, it is just that their potentials are nipped in the bud. If you see current history of India, the few who political leaders who could have made the difference, strangely lost their lives in the primes of their careers. Coincidence or intrigue, I can’t say. I keep taking this issue of power in the hands of few, up with other political party leaders, associations and the intelligentsia- nobody has the guts or resources to match them! More than a decade back, I had the opportunity to discuss this issue in detail with the ex-chief minister of Karnataka, Late Sh. Ramakrishna Hegde, at a seminar in Amritsar. He listened to my views about all this. His reply was,’Why don’t you join politics? I am making a new party-Lok Shakti that is based on your ideology. We need people like you to run the country?” I mulled over the idea for a moment but declined as I was the sole attendent of my spouse suffering from cancer. I suggested that he recruit the intelligentsia in his state for his party and ban the corrupt leaders. Strangely, he agreed. He did keep his promise for some months, but later, I read in the newspapers that he had inducted those banned leaders in his party. A year later, he was back in Amritsar for another meeting and I questioned him about it. His eyes were moist when he said,’I am sorry to break the promise but we need corrupt people to fund and run the party!” That’s the tragedy of India! BTW, Dheera, my childhood ambition was to become the prime minister of India!
on Feb 16th, 2010 at 4:56 am
Read more about Ramakrishna Hegde-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramakrishna_Hegde
on Feb 16th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
How much life we could see as a country mature and grow! Very little of it indeed. As life goes on things will change in time. May be a life time is not enough to experience that change. But for sure the change will happen. Dheera hoorayed about the absence of a Kennedy in Washington! It is not that change of personalities of a family that matters. Whether from one family or many, it is their vision and leadership to lead the country to power and prosperity that matters most. Comparatively the Kennedys’ seems to have done a better job. Things will change for other countries too, including India, the greatest democracy in the world! The growth of a country is a bit vast for just a human life to watch and assess! There shall be a day when we see the fall of family politics too. Great dynasties have fallen off in history and this family politics too will one day die off. We may not be lucky to experience it, but our children may or may be their children. But for sure that change will come!
on Jun 22nd, 2010 at 7:34 am
I had no idea India was ruled by a few hundred families before I read this post. Sounds almost like a virtual monarchy.