The noble and constructive endeavour of politics, an effective tool to serve humanity and uplift the society, has come to connote a criminal demonstration in south Asia enacted by the men devoid of any moral character. It entails a serious deliberation to figure out as to what has made the noble souls of today abhor the field the great men of yesteryears would prefer over other professions to serve the humanity? South Asia has the distinction of producing some of the world’s finest politicians who, by dint of their commitment and character, shaped the course of the history by leading their people against mighty imperialism. But today, people generally feel political vacuum across south Asia because the priorities of politicians have changed from lofty people-centric to debasing self-centric.
The presence of men like Kashmir’s former Minister of State for health, who faces allegations of sexual misconduct, in the politics have further tarnished the image of the field and alienated people from it. It is unfortunate that persons whom people authorize to legislate to make society crime-free are the ones who indulge in criminal activities and don’t give a damn to such laws. He is not alone, though. Many in his tribe face similar charges of sexual misconduct but unfortunately continue to hold big positions in the state. The names of many pro-India politicians, along with some bureaucrats and security officials, had figured in infamous sex scandal, the emergence of which had rocked Kashmir for many months in 2006. They were tried in a non-local court and then after years of lingering proceedings were “let free for lack of evidence.” While their involvement in the crime of sexually exploiting the poor and disadvantaged girls was not ruled out, the court let them free because there was not sufficient evidence as required by the law to prosecute them. They returned to their respective public positions, unabashed. But, if there was not a sufficient evidence to prosecute them as required by the law, the nature of the crime committed demanded that they withdraw from the public life. And if they lacked the scruples enough to do so, it was the peoples’ collective duty to ostracize them. But it can only be described as irony that some of these persons were again elected by the people to represent them in the state assembly. People who protested against their crimes also voted for them. Till such behavior is not corrected, nothing different from the recent incident can be expected.

KR Desk