Politicians are not Leaders

We Nagas think that all politicians are leaders. This is because there was a time when people who led us eventually became politicians. But the important thing is they were leaders before they became politicians. For instance, leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Dr. S. C Jamir, HokisheSema and many of their contemporaries were leaders who became politicians. Today, we look at politicians as ‘the leaders’ and expect them to be the Messiah for all our problems. We must be barking at the wrong tree since the problems of yesterday are still the problems of today.
In fact, many of us serve them like they are gods and look at them with awe and reverence. I don’t mean that all politicians are not leaders. There are some of them who are really good leaders but the caveat is a politician do not become a leader per se by winning elections.
The reason why we have corruption, unemployment, lack of basic amenities like water and electricity, deplorable road conditions and pathetic health system is mostly because of the wrong perception we have about leaders. The real problem is not leadership. It is politicians who pose as leaders. This has plagued our society for so long and perhaps it will continue in perpetuity if we do not start looking for competent leaders as politicians.
We do not talk about this often but another factor that stop us from progressing is the reluctance on society to give leadership to young people.
The irony is we do not give responsibility to young people when they are energetic and full of idealism. We look for experience and the so called wise men to serve society. They may have the wisdom and experience yet the problem here is they lack the youthful energy, vision and idealism to live and die for the people. To be honest, most politicians today look at election as a business venture. It is a give-a-few and take-a-lot game for them.
Another batch of politicians are retired bureaucrats who have nothing else to do but to contest elections and live in the same past glory where people called them Saheb.
Truth be told, the fundamental reason why they were given retirement is not because they exuberate freshness and visions. Retirement is a way of telling them, “You gave your best service when you were young and energetic. Now it is time for you to leave the rest of the work to others who are young and full of energy to serve the society.” The future cannot belong to the younger generations if we are not given leadership and allowed to participate in important decision making process when we have the energy and the strength to serve society. Trust your young people. Not too long ago we were pagan worshippers who practiced head hunting and indeed our society is quite young to be fair yet we have to move forward at the pace of a growing global economy.
In order for us to participate and engage with the dynamism of globalisation, I believe it is not late for us to change the way we perceive and choose who our leaders are. Politicians will come and go but a leader remains steadfast in serving the people and the community. We are given yet another chance to choose our politicians. I hope we do not simply elect politicians. Leaders are what we need desperately today.
Toshi O. Longkumer,
Advocate, Gauhati High Court, Kohima Bench