Leadership =Courage =The ability of an individual to get out there and stake everything on what he\/she truly believes in. The fundamental idea of democracy has a flaw though. It assumes all decisions are of the collective, that nothing major will get decided unless there is a majority in the parliament. And those of us that have watched how the parliament works (on TV), it is a wonder that any decision takes place ! If I were to direct a film based in the principle of consensus, I would not be able to take a single shot in the whole day. So when we say we lack a great leader, are we not then burdening that leader with the collective principles of democracy ?
\nThat has long been the argument of the Armed Forces and the Bureaucracy in India. “Those bickering fools in the parliament are just a bunch of dithering monkeys, and we are the ones that really running\/defending the country inspite of them”. It is an argument that is difficult to refute if you have spent two confrontational days in the parliament. Remember the swell of public sentiment that once wanted Sam Manickshaw to take over the reigns of the country ?
\nThe current political crisis in India leaves me in no doubt that as we have no strong leader, the collective is bringing the decision making process down. Not in ‘the best interests of our nation’, (the mantra they keep repeating everyday), but completely in their own selfish interest.
\nA leader needs to be bold, passionate. Needs to carry the the parliament with his\/her beliefs. Needs the respect of even the opposition. And needs to place the needs of the country above both, the self and the party interests. We have not had one like that since Nehru. That’s just one in almost 60 years. No wonder we are a mess. Can India afford democracy as we know it in a modern and Global world ? Are we going to go on dithering like this or change the system.
\nTo a system where minister’s are NOT elected politicians (who trusts that process in any case ?), but appoint the best proffesionals in the field to lead. So why not have head of Infosys as the minister of IT ? Or our best Military tacticians as the Defence Minister. Allow such highly skilled professional to lead the executive decisions, and to leave the Parliament to discuss, argue, fight over issues of over-all policy.
\nI for one applaud Manmohan Singh’s decision to go ahead with the Nuclear Treaty and stake everything on it. It’s what he believes in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Leadership =Courage =The ability of an individual to get out there and stake everything on what he\/she truly believes in. The fundamental idea of democracy has a flaw though. It assumes all decisions are of the collective, that nothing major will get decided unless there is a majority in the parliament. And those of us […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-point-of-view"],"yoast_head":"\n