World over, history is strewn with examples where an individual or a faction has caused mass destruction for personal gains. The current political scenario in India is very much the same
In India, it is seen that to achieve political power political parties get ready to form alliance with each other. But sometimes, political parties, who join together, do not have common ideology and this gives rise to opportunism and expediency.
In our country, the use of violent means to promote political interests have been increasing day by day. Parties make use of religion as a tool, play caste politics and throw mud on each other. There are also numerous scams. Self aggrandisement has become the principle of life and political power is being used to achieve this objective.
Most regional parties are confined to particular areas. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress are no longer national parties. A common feature among them is that these are one man/woman parties and it is the personal ambition of these leaders that determine the course of politics pursued.
In the Mahabharata, Duryodhana boasted that he would not give even a small piece of land equivalent to a needle-tip to the Pandavas without a fight, such was his greed and lust for power. lust for power is surely to be counted as one of the worst characteristics of a human being.
It makes a man absolutely unscrupulous and robs him of all finer sensibilities. It is, of course, the political power that is most relevant to us here. We are dealing with ‘democratic’ politics of our country. It is so because political position of an accepted leader gives him or her supreme power to impact the nation.
The best example in the Indian context, in the 20th century would be Jawaharlal Nehru, whose intense desire to become the Prime Minister of India made him tacitly support the demand for partition of India in 1947. That it would lead to immense sufferings and death of millions of his countrymen did not deter him from pursuing this ambition.
In China, Mao Zedong or Mao Tse-tung started the infamous ‘cultural revolution’, uprooting millions of people in the process. later on, the next generation of Chinese leaders crushed the simmering Opposition by enacting the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Adolf Hitler in Germany too was similarly drunk with lust for power to look at the enormity of destruction caused in the World War II. Marshal lon Nol was a testament to the Cambodian genocide.
In West Bengal, the Naxalbari movement turned notorious and eventually died down due to factionalism among its leaders who were individually pursuing their desire to achieve power by leading the movement as the supreme one. They enjoyed wielding power so much that they incited the cadres to kill anybody who opposed or represented opposition to them.
Even in post-liberation days, communist leaders were ruthless in their approach to the reconstruction of their country. The name of Russian leader Joseph Stalin comes to mind in this connection. All through the medieval history, especially in India, most of the invasions can be attributed to Islamic expansionist tendency. Even terrorism/extremism activities are due to this lust for power.
In the recent US election, it was obvious that the fight was between two power hungry individuals who were prepared to stoop to any level to capture power. This is becoming evident in India too where most regional leaders are vying for the position of the Prime Minister, where all the political power lies.
(The writer is a commentator on contemporary issues)