A chance comment I heard {never mind where} drew my reaction -when someone obliquely referred to an
anti-corruption crusading party as being "sanctimonious". The word sanctimonious
means, as per google, "making a show of being morally superior to other
people", while Merriam Webster website refers to it as hypocritically
pious or devout. Let us get to the bottom of this meaning - hypocritical means
"behaving in a way that suggests one has higher standards or more noble
beliefs than is the case." as per google and "a person who claims or
pretends to have certain beliefs about what is right but who behaves in a way
that disagrees with those beliefs" as per Merriam Webster...
Let us forget the particular panel for a
moment, as well as who specifically said it to whom. That is not important in the
larger scheme of things. I will make no comment or reflection on the panel
member, or why he said it. This is not a reflection on that person, he may have had his reasons. What is more pertinent is to whom this was stated.
You have an anti-corruption campaigner, and the best you can refer to him is
being sanctimonious? The participant was from the AAP. Regardless of the
election performance, their manifesto, and their mistakes, the fact remains
that AAP is a party that, as its core, is fighting against corruption. What
does this speak of our own tolerance for, acceptance of corruption, and of our
moral values?
The election results prove beyond even a shade
of doubt that corruption is not a
platform on which parties can win elections. The electorate values being smart,
having realpolitic, rhetoric and solid economic and national policies as more
important. Let us tackle this first, in the interest of fairness. Yes, having
solid policies, and a clear action plan as well as proven credentials is
absolutely vital; we cannot afford to hand the nation over to unqualified
people. The first week of the new Government has, to be fair, has given us
plenty of reason to cheer – as I shall look at in my next post. That is
unquestionable. That is also not the thrust I am making in this article. Let us
get that impression out of the way.
I am specifically referrring to our general
attitude towards anti-corruption campaigners, including AAP as observed in the
news, on social media as well as Whatsapp messages, the ugly and insulting
references to these people. It is fine if you don’t vote for them in a national
election just yet – as I already observed above. While I may or may not agree
with that, the precedence to policies is understandable and appreciable from
the society, and augurs well for our democracy. What is more important is our
attitude towards these people, who are fighting this fight to make lives easier
for all of us, and our condescension towards them and their efforts. It is
certainly not fine if you don’t even appreciate these people who have set up a
political party, taking on the big guns, and fighting a tranaparent fight based
on principles.
This goes to the core of our values, and to the
importance that we as a society place on due process, morality, values,
integrity and honesty. It is also,sorry to say, a brutal indicator on our total
ignorance. It is especially sad to see
even the highly educated erudite and learned gentry make derogatory remarks,
and ignore the core values being espoused by these people. These indicate
that we, as a society, do not value the above attributes. Not only that, it is
also a sad comment on our selfishness and ingnorance. Selfishness – because we
refuse to do things the right but more difficult way, under the specious grouse
of “the world works this way; and ignorance - because we are totally ignorant
of the damage corruption causes the economy, and the drag it is on the GDP
growth of our nation. We continue to pay bribes as a people, ignorant of the
immense damage we are wrecking on our economy and our country – and call
anti-corruption campaigners fools, or impractical, or theoretical, or worse. I
know this to be a fact since I do not pay bribes – and have heard these words,
and far far worse; still continue to do.
So long as we as a people continue to regard
the anti-corruption campaigners as being sanctimonious, or putting on a farce,
or being hypocritlcal, no progress is possible in the fight against corruption.
It is high time that we, the people realized and accepted that it is not the
anti-corruption campaigners who are being sanctimonious. It is we the people
who are fault; it is we the people who are are ignorant; it is we the people
who are willing participants in the looting of the corrupt; it is we the people
who are selfish; and it is we, the people who are in dire need of a correction
of our base value systems, or values and our entire attitude towards integrity,
honesty and decency.
It may be hard to believe for many, but corruption
does harm everyone. Our stunning ignorance of this matter, and of how
corruption damages the nation is a cause of deep concern, as is our deep-seated
cynicism of anti-corruption efforts. This is in dire need of correction, along
with our now-defunct moral compass. We have seen in previous posts how
corruption hits the common man in everything, including security and personal
safety. We can see from S Hussain Zaidi’s investigation how corruption plays a
role in crime and terrorism. Hypocrisy is not in fighting against corruption;
it is in making fun of anti-corrption campaigners, and in paying bribes. And so
long as we, the people, continue to be cynics or hypocrites, there can be no
real success in the fight against corruption.
Jaago, Sonewaalon…
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