Character assassination

Character assassination is fast becoming part of the culture of political parties. This trend needs to be arrested. In this war of insinuations, basic issues such as grinding poverty, youth unemployment and declining health standards will get relegated to the background. Leaders assembling at their party conventions must ponder over ways to tap national resources and generate gainful employment and take measures to wipe the tears of the poorest of the poor, instead of indulging in political stunts or personal attacks. History shows that when ethics and economics come into conflict, victory is always with economics. Vested interests have never been known to have willingly divested themselves unless there was sufficient force to compel them. Political tyranny is nothing compared to the social tyranny and a reformer who defies society is a more courageous man than a politician who defies government. What are we having this liberty for? We are having this liberty in order to reform our social system, which is full of inequality, discrimination and other ills, which conflict with our fundamental rights. There was a time when the politicians acted as a watchdog of democracy. Today, true politics has become a rarity. The politicians have a significant role in formulating public opinion. But they ignore people's issues such as poverty, corruption, and raging communalism. Customized and profit-oriented politics have come to replace spirited politics. Gopal Sengupta Canada E-mail : gopalsengupta@aol.com