Sony V. Mathew for BeyondHeadlines
Some are born to become heroes. Some are born and work their way up to become heroes. People like Sachin Tendulkar or A.R. Rahman can be counted among the former and they are better termed as destiny’s children. A politician or a bureaucrat will fall in the latter category as they can be counted as heroes only through outstanding credibilities developed through pro-people policies or activities.
For me, Kiran Bedi was truly a hero until a few days back… someone who had fought hard to save the country from corruption, within the legal boundaries… within her officialdom. But in India we have enough evidences in the last decade that show heroes becoming zeroes overnight. The cases of Satyam Raju and Sreesanth have hardly been erased from public memories.
Kiran Bedi may not have had a criminal offence against her name but an offense of a more improper nature has put her in trouble….something that can put the future of the country in jeopardy or that can tear apart the history of this secular nation into pieces. In other words Kiran Bedi’s tweet in the ‘140 words world’ that she will vote for ‘namo’ can be better termed as hypocrisy at its best.
In my mind an idol fell down, broken into pieces and was wiped out…
Nothing is wrong with ‘Hindutva’ as Hinduism is undoubtledly the culture that we all have embraced from birth. Nothing is wrong with leaders like Vajpayee and Advani who stand for a broader philosophy when it comes to hindutva, and have a clear take on their stand from the word go. What is in question is whether it is appropriate for a self-claimed secularist to declare and support someone who propagate ‘hindutva’ brand of terror politics. Modi might think twice before resorting to such terror tactics in future, but what about the fear factor he has generated among the minorities across the country. How can he douse the fear that he generated among the solemn voices from his own state, Haren Pandya being one among the scapegoats.
Kiran Bedi was not invited to join the Anna Hazare bandwagon. She came of her own propagating herself as an agent of change. Too much media attention brought her into trouble as people associated with her earlier, started to reveal stories of misappropriation of funds through her NGO and inflated air ticket bills. As a Bedi admirer I didn’t want to believe this earlier …but with her tweet, Mrs. Bedi reveals herself.
I believe Kiran Bedi would have done democracy a favor by keeping mum on her brand of politics… and will do a favour by doing so, still …
(Sony V. Mathew is an IIMK Alumnus & Independent Branding & Communication Consultant. He can be contacted at sonmat7@gmail.com)
