“With great power comes great responsibility” so said Voltaire. Another wise man added thus “Justice and power must be brought together, so that whatever is just may be powerful, and whatever is powerful may be just.” Interestingly, recent developments in the state involving ministers, the locals and bureaucrats on the one hand, and certain army officials on the other, repeatedly over the course of a few days reflects a contrast to the above sayings. While there obviously is a misalignment of communication or understanding between the parties involved in the conflict, it is clear that there has been a clash of bloated egos and intimidation. Also, it is a matter to be pondered over, that when a minister or a high official of the government is detained or made to wait his turn for whatever may be the reason, the incident makes it to the front page, while there has been precious little publicity on the plight of the numerous traders and small time businessmen having to endure countless hours of being frisked and probed along the many check posts on the way to Moreh-the border town, or everywhere a little remote for that matter. What also needs to be considered is the fact that there has been an increasing demand from various quarters of the social spectrum, including a large number of high ranking bureaucrats and representatives of the people themselves to do away with the “VIP Culture” in the whole of the nation.
And while the never ending tussle for supremacy and one-upmanship amongst the high and mighty has even put a halt to the everyday life of the common public, one man strode in so unobtrusively but with a clarity of purpose and the power of conviction that belied his apparent simplicity. The unfolding scenario regarding the election at Delhi this very day has validated the point made by Arvind Kejriwal, an anarchist by his own admission who threw conventions to the wind and set out to reform the very system that is sucking in every machinery and bureaucracy, even the well-meaning and efficient ones, like a black hole of decadence, corruption and favoritism from which there is no visible escape. The power of the common people has triumphed in Delhi. The message cannot be any clearer. Be it the army or the government, the power and authority they so blatantly wield and not so infrequently abused comes from the people, and can be taken away if needed. There should not have been such unfortunate clashes of egos and authorities in the first place, have these officials and representatives not get clouded by their own self-importance and misplaced concepts of authority. Humility and simplicity is a sign of greatness and not weakness, for it takes much more courage to admit one’s mistake than to intimidate another to accept it.
