Author: Gautam Mukherjee
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: October 14, 2008
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/127557/Barbarians-at-the-gate.html
Tough leaders in democracies, without benefit
of absolute power, do get a lot done, besides calling people names. Look at
how Mrs Thatcher called the Left's bluff, Reagan forced the USSR's collapse
and Mrs Gandhi dealt with terrorists of another hue
Tough leaders in democracies use pejoratives
when they are frustrated. These are vaguely derogatory, depend on tone to
deliver their bite, and not outright swear words. And they target not just
the Opposition, because, after all, it is its duty to oppose, but also fellow
party members, colleagues in Government, advisers, hangers-on, and allies,
particularly in coalitions. In short, anybody, or in reference to anyone,
who has the temerity to feel uncomfortable when firm steps are taken to deal
with situations. Firm steps that carry risks, electoral risks!
In the long ago 1980s, 'Iron Lady' Margaret
Thatcher, a good friend of our own Mrs Indira Gandhi, used to call a wide
range of people, in her own party, elsewhere, in her household, even certain
less than forthcoming domestic pets, "wet" -- and whole collectives
"wets".
This curious and panic inducing description,
particularly in a country given to near incessant rain, was liberally used
by the grand dame in public and private, in personal audiences with Queen
Elizabeth II, and even in Parliament. So much so, that it inspired a very
popular and melodious British pop group of the time to call themselves wet
too, not once, but thrice over, as in, 'Wet Wet Wet'.
Nearer home and present times, it is sometimes
the Opposition that does the describing, describing the incumbent Prime Ministers
as "weak" and "weakest"; but probably feels a little foolish
when he manages to have his own way in the end.
But not all elected leaders are quite so decorous.
US President Richard Nixon liberally used expletives to describe many of his
contemporaries and situations. He also recorded his performances for posterity,
so that all the world could admire his fluency. He was a Mormon, but also
a consummate foul-mouth who probably wanted to be portrayed by history warts
and all. And, not surprisingly, that is how we remember the Republican President
who delivered the body blow to the 'Iron Curtain' with his bold tilt towards
China.
Dictators, kings, chieftains, rulers, billionaires,
and paupers, for that matter, are often coarse; but they don't even have to
brush their teeth, like Chairman Mao, if they don't want to, let alone win
elections.
But tough, attitudinal leaders in democracies,
without benefit of absolute power, do sometimes get a lot done, besides calling
people names. And the 1980s must have been particularly good for tough democratic
regimes.
Mrs Gandhi liberated Bangladesh to no great
lasting benefit but with undeniable courage and in defiance of the US. She
also crushed the Maoist movement in West Bengal using the redoubtable Mr Sidhartha
Shankar Ray, all the while calling all sorts of people "elitist"
and "anti-poor". The duo used the Emergency, in 1975 to unleash
a police and para-military crackdown to effectively wipe out the Naxailite
movement.
It was bitter medicine for a virulent disease,
but also resulted in a political revulsion among Bengalis that saw the end
of Congress rule in West Bengal, replaced, ever since, for over 30 years,
by a ruinous and toxic Communist rule that persists to this day.
But Mrs Gandhi didn't let possible political
consequences deter her from doing her duty by the country. She did it again,
authorising Operation Blue Star in 1984, arguing a terrorist was a terrorist
and a Sikh was a Sikha, refusing to be confused between the two. She paid
for this conviction with her life, but it was a tremendous demonstration of
character and does explain why she admired Joan of Arc in her childhood.
Her son, Rajiv Gandhi, as Prime Minister,
put in Mr SS Ray once again as Governor to mop up in Punjab and also Mr Julio
Ribiero and Mr KPS Gill, tough cops both, with a mandate to end the Khalistan
movement. This they most ably did.
Rajiv Gandhi, a soft-spoken gentleman, was
moved nevertheless to speak of action that would remind the terrorists, and
the Pakistanis who supported them, of their grandmothers -- "Naani yaad
dila denge" -- and was not swayed by the criticism that followed. In
his own way, he was determined.
Mrs Thatcher, on her part, broke the backs
of very powerful trade unions, used to domination ever since World War II
and pampered by successive Labour Governments. Their version of Socialism
wouldn't have allowed Britain to move into the 21st century, wouldn't allow
closure of industries that were bankrupt, ports without traffic, mines that
were spent. It was a difficult path to tread, and Mrs Thatcher was forced
out of office, eventually by her own Conservative Party, but not before she
had brought Britain back from the brink of being a failed state and restoring
a little of the once 'great' nation.
Her counterpart in America, Ronald Reagan,
called 'Reaguns' often enough by disgruntled Left-wingers, played a pivotal
role in ending the sufferings of Eastern Europe by completing what his predecessor
Nixon had started.
Reagan ended the Cold War by upping the ante
on the USSR with his multi-billion dollar 'Star Wars' defence shield and had
no compunctions about calling the Soviet Block "The Evil Empire".
It was Reagan who precipitated the disintegration of the USSR, bankrupting
that country as it tried to keep up and forcing the pulling down of the Berlin
Wall. Reagan, avuncular and steely at once, was the only one among his global
contemporaries who pulled it off without losing any of his popularity.
Today, as we look around us here in India,
the epitome of a soft state, bullied by our neighbours, intimidated by multiple
pressure groups, reeling day-to-day from the havoc being wrought by jihadis,
Maoists, 'freedom fighters', Communists of various hues, and other assorted
thugs, we might do well to remember Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Mrs Gandhi
did not play ducks and drakes with India's internal security.
There was then, as there is now, much public
debate, much media critique, motivated, narrow, and sectarian politicians
pushing their agendas, equally vociferous civil society caterwauling; and
just as many accusations of victimisation and persecution of minorities.
Thomas Sowell, an American writer and economist
from the 1930s, wrote: "If the battle for civilisation comes down to
the wimps versus the barbarians, the barbarians are going to win." That
there are barbarians at the gate is beyond doubt. We must be busy with our
understanding of civilisation, but either way, for our survival, we cannot
afford to be wimps.
