It Doesn’t Make You A Leader, Kanhaiya Kumar!

By now, the entire nation knows who Kanhaiya Kumar is and I need not give any introduction. The clever chap has risen to fame as any other celebrity or politician and has managed to remain in the news for quite a lot of time now. Presenting himself as a youth icon, a classic and living example of the ‘freedom of speech’, Mr. Kumar has played wisely to get an effortless entry into politics. Or, dirty politics, if I were to be more precise! But, dear Mr. Kanhaiya Kumar, that does not make you a leader!

Okay, this guy, Mr. Kumar has undoubtedly played well I must say. By now, every other true Indian at heart has recognized his bad game and strategy to shoot to fame and enter politics. The guy first controversially raised anti-India slogans and subsequently got arrested which got him immense fame, not only in India but across the world. His arrest made headlines even in the international media and the issue became more sensitive than ever.

Then, we have a set of many educated fools in India who supported the guy, criticized the government, demanded his release and also debated on the issue. And, as we have a great media that is always TRP-hungry, the guy got more publicity than ever, than he actually deserves and the issue became a national concern. After he was released on bail, Mr. Kumar has been making speeches at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), questioning the government and criticizing the Prime Minister, Mr. Modi. The poor guy feels that he is a leader now, or that is what some fools and the media are portraying him as!

But, Mr. Kanhaiya Kumar, no! You are not a leader! Yes I agree that you have played a wise game, you are now a popular person, the media, and some people are now projecting you as a leader and you have good prospects to enter into politics. But that really doesn’t make you a leader! A leader is someone to who understands the problems and agony of his country, of his people and emerges with solutions to curb them. They don’t stand on a stage and merely highlight problems or criticize the government.

Mr. Kumar wants to prove to the nation that he is very patriotic and cares about the present and future of Indians. But he has miserably failed in my opinion. For, a patriotic person is the one who loves his country and does something for it. You may not have the courage to go to the borders and safeguard our nation and that is perfectly okay. But at least, don’t extend your support to terrorists who don’t have any religion of patriotism, not even humanity. They are the vulture who only desire to kill people. And, supporting a terrorist makes you equally guilty as much as Afzal Guru was!

I don’t understand what is wrong with the youth of today. Of course, I don’t mean to generalize here, but there have been a few youngsters who have come up recently in the name of patriotism, religion, and caste to criticize the government and ask for their rights. We had Mr. Hardik Patel, a mere 21-year old, who rose as a leader to ask for reservations for the Patidar Samaj in Gujarat. And now, we have another sensation, Mr. Kumar, who thinks shouting slogans and serving a few days in jail has made him a leader, an orator and an icon of the youth.

Youth are the most valued assets of any nation. They are the future of the nation that they live in and they are supposed to safeguard the country while taking it to new heights of progress with their knowledge, skills and expertise. But, youth today have been becoming more destructive than ever, one again, I don’t mean to generalize here, but the last few months has proved this enough. They yearn for quick publicity and desire to become leaders. Of course, this is a good thing but the path chosen for this kind of fame and publicity has been leading them to more destruction than ever.

Both Hardik Patel and Kanhaiya Kumar have distinguished skills, good orator skills, and the capability to become leaders. If only, they would have used their knowledge and skills in a positive way, India would have seen more capable people contributing to its development and growth!

Something’s Burning Out There – The Issue Of RESERVATION…

As I write the word RESERVATION today, no one needs an explanation on what I’m going to write on! Yes, the last few days have been crucial for Gujarat and India as a whole as the issue of ‘reservation’ progressed something from what was limited to a few strikes and demonstrations to a movement involving lakhs of people and attracting the attention of the Central Government. Reservation has always been a sensitive issue for the people in India, largely because we still somewhere believe in castes and creeds and do not want to be in equal with people of the other castes.

Okay, so basically, reservations were started for the people who were deprived, downtrodden and untouchables in the traditional times and did not have the right to seek education or get jobs in sophisticated organizations. In order to uplift these people was the concept of reservation implemented by the government in the first place. But over the years, it has now become one of the most misused privileges by the people of India. I do not mean to offend the people of any particular caste or category by saying this; in fact, I myself belong to the OBC category but no, I don’t support the reservation system since the sole purpose of it has been lost over the years.

So the issue of reservation has taken an ugly turn in Gujarat and has ultimately culminated into curfews being laid, the army being called and even into casualties. And, the reason being a petty thing like ‘reservation’! Now this is something that can literally cause a war in the entire country if people of other castes come up with such demands too. My basic question is, why does one need reservation at all in today’s world? Do we not have the capability of achieving things on our own, getting admitted to reputed colleges or securing a job for ourselves in government firms? And then, this 21 year old ‘leader’ Mr. Hardik Patel, claims the movement to be non-violent when I can see the news of 3 casualties being reported in the Gujarat violence!

This guy Hardik Patel is surely a brave fellow; being merely 21 year old, he has managed to lead a movement that has grown big enough to get the attention of the entire country and that surely needs to be praised. But, I would have supported this guy if he would have asked the government to abolish all sorts of reservations from government jobs or college admissions. What sense does it make in asking reservation for a community that has lakhs of people? If his demands are met today, someone else will come up tomorrow with a similar demand. What is the government to do then?

Another reason for me not supporting this guy is the violence that is movement has caused in Gujarat and the destruction of public property. I mean what is one going to get by vandalizing the public property and killing people? Is that what the community wants? Things can be sorted out by mere talks and there is absolutely no need to make such a great issue out of a petty thing.

What happens next and how the government reacts to the mess is what is interesting me right now!