Our leadership
"Here goes my people and I follow them" of leadership, thus spoke M. K. Gandhi a leader of leaders of the finest calibre. He was the undisputed leader of British India and yet he was not in the conventional league of leadership. Leaders of extra-ordinary intellect and greatness like the likes of Jawaharlal Nehru and Moulana Azad, instead of being stifled, flourished under his rather expansive shade! "A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves" - thus goes Lao Tzu (Taoist philosopher).
Ah, our leaders belong to a very different genre. They are leaders by virtue of position in society. They are not followers of their people's aspiration and/or desires. They rather shall lead as per their own aspirations and/or desires. And yes, they have a following too! And that's how, one may say, they are to be measured. This quote from Dennis Peer is but a jeering memento as to the mendacious greatness of our present-day great leaders - "One measure of leadership is the calibre of people who choose to follow you."
When I saw the glowing face of Sheikh Hasina in Logan, Boston (in internet) - I wondered what kind of Jono-Netri is she who can negotiate her own release while scores of her own people still languish behind!! And I also wonder, what kind of Desh-Netri shall plead for the release of a once-enthroned prince who treated her beloved "Desh" with less dignity than a crumpled ball of discarded tissue paper!!
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