Wanted Philosopher Kings

There is an old but very relevant saying attributed to Mahatma Gandhi. Given the state of the Indian polity it is worth reiterating that ‘when wealth is lost nothing is lost, when health is lost something is lost; when character is lost everything is lost’. Given the many scams worth astronomical sums involving the political class, the recent news that many of our Members of Parliament (MPs) have appointed relatives as their personal staff may appear to be of little significance. But still it reflects the nature of our polity and character of our politicians. Not only that, it also tells us about the nature of our populace who still believe that they are the subjects and not citizens and have no right to question. The news story first. A recent news item reported in some sections of the media informs that 146 MPs have appointed near relatives as their personal staff who receive salary and allowances from the public exchequer. Given the fact that the said allowances may on an average cost some fifty to sixty thousand rupees a month per member, the amount may be small but its implications are rather big. It is these members of the personal staff that act as the conduit from the many unscrupulous deals that is eating away the resources of this country.

Nepotism has been a major weakness of our Indian society in which Kingship invariable goes with kinship. So there are these 104 MPs of Lok Sabha and 42 MPs from the Rajya Sabha who have appointed around 190 relatives as their personal staff in a brazen manner. It is interesting to know that no political party has come clean on this. Gradually, our democracy is becoming a system of the families for the families. True, there are no such rules that debar MPs from the appointing their kin on their personal staff. But rules are not the sole criterion when it comes to determining probity in public life. Caesar’s wife has to be above board. 

Why our politicians have become so unconcerned about popular perception needs to be found out. There was a time when our leaders used to be epitome of values. The anecdote that follows may throw considerable light on the character of our politicians of the past. This is the story of Sardar Patel who was the then home minister of the country. Some business houses suggested his eldest son Daya bhai to start a newspaper which they would finance. Daya bhai wanted to take approval of his father in this regard and therefore went to Sardar Patel and narrated the whole story. This infuriated Patel who told Daya bhai that the business houses were not financing his project but a venture launched by the home minister’s son. Patel very curtly told his son to not to show him his face again. And he meant it. When the Sardar was on his death bed Daya bhai wanted to see his father. He requested Maniben, Patel’s daughter who was nursing her father in his last days to communicate his wish to Sardar. The unrelenting Sardar asked Mani ben in no uncertain terms to tell Daya bhai to leave forthwith otherwise Patel would not be able to die in peace. Contrast this with the character of our present day politicians. We need men of character to become rulers, or else the country’s future is doomed. And we need to think  why the Greek Wiseman and the   architect of modern day democracy, Plato had said that ‘there will be no end to the troubles of states, or of humanity itself, till philosophers become kings in this world, or till those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus come into the same hands’.