We Need An Astute Statesman, Not A Loquacious Leader

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 25 September 2023 Roman emperor-philosopher Marcus Aurelius (121 CE-180 CE) once said, "When the idiosyncrasies of a foolish king are not only followed by his subjects but are also justified, rest assured, the whole kingdom is a huge mental asylum." By the way, the concept of a mental asylum wasn't prevalent 2000 years ago when Aurelius ruled. He used the archaic Latin word 'Empuara' (an assembly of fools). While translating into English, Professor Bulwer Lytton used mental asylum for an ' Empuara'. There's no doubt that India will soon become Bharat, though it hasn't yet been officially christened as Bharat. It's still India. Yet, sycophants and boot-lickers have started calling the country Bharat and even 'educated' ones are displaying this in their DPs. These people are justifying why India must be called Bharat. But this didn't occur to them until a year ago! One whimsical and quasi-educated ruler suggested a new name and the whole country is chanting that name just like when he suggested Taali-Thaali during the pandemic, people of India temporarily became drummers and clappers. Plato observed in The Republic that incompetent rulers resorted to slogan-mongering because the masses loved slogans. Political catch-words and 'witty' phrases are doing the rounds. Even this exasperating term Sanatan is a very recent religio-political construct to intoxicate the majority with the opium of faith. John Stuart Mill believed that religiously inebriated masses could be easily ruled because their brains were dead. The brain-dead majority will slavishly follow what the ruler decrees. It's really a matter of concern that in less than a decade, a whole country has changed so drastically and become so fanatic. This also underlines the fact that demagogues are more successful than genuine leaders. Perceptive readers may have observed that at the moment, the whole world is facing a crisis in proper (political) leadership. Whether it's the Indian PM, Canadian PM Trudeau, US Head Biden or French President Macron, there's no one of the stature of Mandela or Kennedy. They're all political clowns. None of them is a statesman. We need statesmen. More than any other country, India does need a balanced individual at the helm, not a garrulous garrison of gibberish. ------ A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/astute-statesman-loquacious-leader/d/130749 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism