Address Pradhan Mantri as Pradhan Sevak to bring in a change in attitude amongst people.
In Satyagraha, Dwarka Anand (played by Amitabh Bachchan) tells a journalist, "The Committee has decided to give direction to the government." (Samiti ne sarkaar ko nirdesh dene ka faisla kiya hai.) "Nirdesh?" interrupts the journalist. "Yes," asserts Dwarka Anand. "In a democracy the people elect a government to be served, hence, essentially, the people are the masters and the chosen ones would be 'sevaks'. And obviously, the masters give directions..."
Democracy effectively does mean the rule of the people. People elect leaders who, they believe will protect their interests and serve them. Instead, the entire phenomenon of democracy has been subverted and perverted into an exercise in undue concentration of power in the hands of those for whom the people are of no concern whatsoever. The entire process of elections has nakedly and transparently become one of investing large amounts of money and manipulation into winning them, only, so that exponentially larger amounts of profits and dividends can be generated.
Manoj Bajpayee, playing the character of a wily self-serving corrupt politician, states it as, "Every politician of every hue invests a large amount of money, effort and manipulation to win an election, so that the poor fellow might earn something in the five years that he holds office. No one has a right to threaten and jeopardise that investment of his." That exactly and clearly seems to be the only ideology of Indian politicians.
India also has the hangover of the feudal mentality, where the zamindars have been replaced by politicians. The common folk, until recently, would view the sarkaar as mai-baap. There was no concept of leaders actually getting elected to serve the people. Barring some socialistic-minded people and Gandhians, political leadership effectively meant lordship over the people. And, people willingly accepted that. The division of labour is clearly defined in democracy. People get to choose and those elected, get to rule.
Our representative democracy seems to have failed. Our legislators are often criminals, billionaire businessmen or beneficiaries of inherited political empires, for whom the position does not require any educational qualification or social commitment. Every democratic institution continues to remain beyond the reach of the common man.
As it happens, while the politicians haven't changed, people's awareness has grown and today they are ready to assert their demands. Politicians still believe that they are impervious to accountability. And this is because the system allows them to be so. Beg for votes, and once elected, not just forget about the people, but, actually, work against them. They can commit crimes which are proved, they can embezzle thousands of crores, they can be callous, inefficient and completely unaccountable, and yet, brazenly continue to be in a position of power. They can blatantly manipulate caste loyalties, create mutual hatred between communities, loot the country, divide the country, actually endanger our future, and get away without a blink.
It is precisely this which has brought us to this pass,where we have a government, and a political leadership, which just does not care. And that is the point Satyagraha tries to drive home. The whole notion of political leadership for Gandhi revolved around the central premise of service and, for him, a politician was clearly a sevak of the people. Today's young India, while it must engage itself politically, it must also change its attitude towards politics and politicians. It would indeed make a significant change in attitude, if the media begins to address the Pradhan Mantri as Pradhan Sevak and Rashtrapati as Rashtra Sevak... This will send a good signal to the public at large and will reflect the true nature of what the politicians should be and how they should be treated by the new emerging India.
Address pradhan mantri as pradhan sevak, Prakash Jha's appeal to media - The Times of India
Interesting take on the politicians of our nation.
In Satyagraha, Dwarka Anand (played by Amitabh Bachchan) tells a journalist, "The Committee has decided to give direction to the government." (Samiti ne sarkaar ko nirdesh dene ka faisla kiya hai.) "Nirdesh?" interrupts the journalist. "Yes," asserts Dwarka Anand. "In a democracy the people elect a government to be served, hence, essentially, the people are the masters and the chosen ones would be 'sevaks'. And obviously, the masters give directions..."
Democracy effectively does mean the rule of the people. People elect leaders who, they believe will protect their interests and serve them. Instead, the entire phenomenon of democracy has been subverted and perverted into an exercise in undue concentration of power in the hands of those for whom the people are of no concern whatsoever. The entire process of elections has nakedly and transparently become one of investing large amounts of money and manipulation into winning them, only, so that exponentially larger amounts of profits and dividends can be generated.
Manoj Bajpayee, playing the character of a wily self-serving corrupt politician, states it as, "Every politician of every hue invests a large amount of money, effort and manipulation to win an election, so that the poor fellow might earn something in the five years that he holds office. No one has a right to threaten and jeopardise that investment of his." That exactly and clearly seems to be the only ideology of Indian politicians.
India also has the hangover of the feudal mentality, where the zamindars have been replaced by politicians. The common folk, until recently, would view the sarkaar as mai-baap. There was no concept of leaders actually getting elected to serve the people. Barring some socialistic-minded people and Gandhians, political leadership effectively meant lordship over the people. And, people willingly accepted that. The division of labour is clearly defined in democracy. People get to choose and those elected, get to rule.
Our representative democracy seems to have failed. Our legislators are often criminals, billionaire businessmen or beneficiaries of inherited political empires, for whom the position does not require any educational qualification or social commitment. Every democratic institution continues to remain beyond the reach of the common man.
As it happens, while the politicians haven't changed, people's awareness has grown and today they are ready to assert their demands. Politicians still believe that they are impervious to accountability. And this is because the system allows them to be so. Beg for votes, and once elected, not just forget about the people, but, actually, work against them. They can commit crimes which are proved, they can embezzle thousands of crores, they can be callous, inefficient and completely unaccountable, and yet, brazenly continue to be in a position of power. They can blatantly manipulate caste loyalties, create mutual hatred between communities, loot the country, divide the country, actually endanger our future, and get away without a blink.
It is precisely this which has brought us to this pass,where we have a government, and a political leadership, which just does not care. And that is the point Satyagraha tries to drive home. The whole notion of political leadership for Gandhi revolved around the central premise of service and, for him, a politician was clearly a sevak of the people. Today's young India, while it must engage itself politically, it must also change its attitude towards politics and politicians. It would indeed make a significant change in attitude, if the media begins to address the Pradhan Mantri as Pradhan Sevak and Rashtrapati as Rashtra Sevak... This will send a good signal to the public at large and will reflect the true nature of what the politicians should be and how they should be treated by the new emerging India.
Address pradhan mantri as pradhan sevak, Prakash Jha's appeal to media - The Times of India
Interesting take on the politicians of our nation.