Politics without principle

There is probably no precedent to the shameless display of gutter politics going on in MIC.

COMMENT

by Bhavani Krishna Iyer

Seven Deadly Sins:

• Wealth without work
• Pleasure without conscience
• Science without humanity
• Knowledge without character
• Politics without principle
• Commerce without morality
• Worship without sacrifice.

― Mahatma Gandhi

These inspiring words of one of the world’s greatest leaders got me rationalising the vilifications I have been seeing at their worst. I am particularly drawn to the statement which says politics without principle is one of the deadly sins. Is that the reason why Gandhi never took any political office?

Gandhi’s gift to the world was in applying the spiritual truth of love and non-violence to political and social struggles. One that same token, he must have known that politics and principles are on the extreme polarities and they cannot be forced into a marriage of convenience.

All the more now, the madness unfolding daily with shocking twists in MIC feels like truth is staring at us with a quirky smile.

Nobody has said politics is ever clean or easy, but when conscious effort is made with the interest of the people in mind, we can adopt civility and cordiality as a way of managing situations, no matter how ugly they are.

I do not think there is any precedent to the shameless display of gutter politics going on in MIC now. The vileness displayed by each member in office has eroded the nano bit of hope Indians had in MIC.

From the time the ecology of MIC changed with a new leader appointed to helm it in 2011, MIC has seen a downward trend in terms of perceived prominence and reputation. The leader who has adopted the culture to “speak only when spoken to” has perhaps caused irreversible damage to the party. His deafening silence in the most crucial and critical times have led to a cacophonic chorus of outbursts from his colleagues.

Simply put, what we look for in a leader is one who is able to lead with authority and this is earned through his strategic position as the leader of the pack. It appears that factionalisation has been an issue for years now within MIC. As a leader, the President has failed in his bid to bring the parties to the table to resolve discrepancies and disagreements.

The result is what we have in full view of the public, the unfolding of a comedic drama that is keeping the media occupied and the Malaysian Indians at large entertained.

MIC leaders appear to be pretty occupied with enriching themselves, with little concern or worry for the Malaysian Indians, which should be their priority.

The infighting for power, with the musclemen trying to wade through the thick fog of deception for their personal gains, strengthens the sentiment felt for some years now that we Indians do not need MIC.

Perhaps, the Prime Minister should intervene for a timely statistical survey and ask the Indians if they find MIC relevant. We do not need a party with the leadership in constant battle and tussle. MIC used to generate some interest from non-partisan Indians in the past but now the mere mention of MIC creates disgust and loathing.

MIC leaders have forgotten the art of face-to-face communication, preferring instead to speak through the media. We have the leaders exchanging barrages of questions and answers flying from one end to the other with others joining in the fray , adding spice and flavour to the theatre.

MIC leaders fail to realise that people these days do not get excited about old tricks such as fasting and so on. Every man is for himself these days and the leader who chose the path to fasting should know by now from the laughs he generated that it was a silly move.

The point of this article is not about who is right and who is wrong but more about how we deal with tricky situations and problems as they come up, and of course that calls for maturity.

MIC must end this saga by whatever means or start digging its grave.