The closer you look at politics, the more you see a game of power where the people’s role is merely to provide votes and perpetual problems
Raqif Makhdoomi
I have always said it, time and again: the more vocal they are, the more they are betraying their own people. Let us understand—it has always been this way. Behind their vocal performance, they want to hide the betrayal. “Insecurities are always loud.” It is very easy: speak loud, and none shall notice what is really happening.
We need to understand that they have learned the art of survival, and we have mastered the art of becoming fools. Let us keep it going.
It is said, “For the peace of your own mind, don’t try to understand everything.” Once you understand everything, you shall never have peace. It is better to be uninformed. Someone has rightly said, “Ignorance is bliss.” Ignorance is bliss, even in disgrace. When it comes to understanding the inner workings of any office of power, it is better to be somewhat uninformed. As I already mentioned, for peace, do not understand everything. The more you act like a fool, the closer you will be kept by those in power. But once you start acting wise, they will grow tired of you and begin finding ways to get rid of you.
This goes for every person and every party. The only thing people in power hate is when you question them. They want you to accept everything and question nothing. We have always seen that the “yes man” is always close to the power establishment. Never question power, always accept it, and you will see how closely they keep you. But once it is the other way around, they want to get rid of you.
To understand how things in politics go, you only need to understand how and why it is all happening. Keep your eyes open—the very act of observing makes you understand. We must keep telling ourselves that everything is staged. Nothing here, especially in politics, happens without a reason. It is all well-drafted and well-staged. We just need a bit of understanding to see how it is all crafted and presented.
The general public thinks that whatever is happening is just a reaction—but it is not. It is a well-crafted drama. There is a saying: “Politics is the art of presenting personal needs as public interest.”
When we see major changes in business rules or shifts in rates, the main beneficiaries are never the general public. The people who fund them are the direct beneficiaries. The thing is, we are made to believe these changes are for us. The public starts praising the government, while those who truly benefit remain silent.
We are told that the government frames “policies” for the general public, but that is not what we see. The government is not run by the people—it is run by the giants. Political parties are funded by giants; their campaigns are funded by them. To gain our votes, they must attract us—and to attract us, they campaign with funds from the giants. How simple.
Things like these are easy to decode, yet everything is designed and presented so well that we do not feel anything is wrong. Politics has never been “people-friendly.” It is always for friends, self, and the giants. For us, it is a drama—nothing more.
Bills come and go. But do we even see or try to understand what is written inside them? No—never. Most of us have never read the wording of the bills. In the assembly, bills are presented in such a way that we feel we shall benefit, but the wording says otherwise.
No doubt, some part of politics is “people-friendly”—after all, they have to return to the public and seek votes. To utilise the funds they get from the giants, they must do some people-friendly politics. Everything in politics is a game plan.
Above all, nothing in politics has “emotions.” Everything is publicity. We see political leaders visiting grief-stricken people and expressing sorrow—that is not emotion, but a calculated move to stay relevant and known. One of the main things a political party or politician wants is to remain in the headlines. For headlines, a politician can stoop to any low—this is no secret. We see what they involve themselves in just to stay visible.
In politics, the three Ps are all anyone focuses on:
P for Power, P for Press, P for People.
“P” is what politics revolves around. Power is what everyone loves, and political parties do everything to gain it. Everyone says, “Politics is a dirty game.” But what makes it dirty? The thing that makes it dirty is this very power. Once you taste power, you get addicted. You do not just want it—you want more and more.
There are people in the same political party who hate each other because they cannot bear to see one grow more than the other. This is politics: you can never let another person become more powerful or famous than you. You want everyone to grow—but not more than you. You want your party to win elections, but you want to be the epicentre of politics yourself. Often, a party leader even helps someone from another party because they do not want their own party member to win. This is how politics goes. There is no real “party constitution”—it is all about how to get power and stay in power. The tussle within the party never ends. Everyone smiles simply to hide what is really happening inside.
Remember: politics never wants your problems to end. Your problems are their source of income. Do not take politics as something rare or extraordinary. We often use the phrase “once in a blue moon” to describe something that happens very rarely. But politics is not like that. Just as someone is a shopkeeper, a doctor, or an engineer, someone becomes a politician. We see politics differently because these politicians become MLAs or MPs and frame laws for us, which makes it seem special. But if you, too, master the art of turning people’s suffering into your “source of income,” you shall also become a politician.
Raqif Makhdoomi is a human rights activist
ra***************@***il.com