We The People

Wherever a mass problem or a wider issue exists, there is a need for a leader. Common people are too shy or too busy with their own everyday struggles. But, they can easily gather behind the one who appears to talk about their welfare and gives voice to their collective woes. A true leader will strive to solve their problem at the earliest. Indeed, he carries a clear vision of the intended solution. However, no sooner the problem is solved, the need for the leader also disappears. This is the catch.

Having accomplished the mission successfully, a true leader will move on to other things in life which may or may not give him similar mass recognition. But, many leaders cannot face such an end. Hence, they turn into either politicians or self-proclaimed leaders of aggressive organisations fighting for public cause through violence. Both know that their survival depend upon keeping the problem alive and the issue burning. No wonder then that so many issues in the world are still open even after many decades and many so-called leaders.

I refuse to believe that common people are interested in any kind of violence or prolonging any problem. No common man was happy at the killing of an eleven-day old baby by the mob recently in Srinagar. It is, therefore, entirely up to the common mass to recognise a true leader and reject the calls of so-called leaders with vested interests. It is now high time that ‘we the people’ stop becoming pawns in the hands of such self-proclaimed leaders. Failing this, common mass would remain condemned to the destiny of unending problems and continue to bring more misery upon itself.