Aam Aadmi – Empathize or Impersonate?

Don’t need impersonation or rhetoric

Politics is changing – the way it is done and the way it is perceived. There is absolutely no doubt about that. Is this solely because of the Aam Aadmi Party’s spectacular debut in Delhi? No, not solely. The voter is evolving, and in the context of Kashmir – so is the ‘non-voter’. This evolution is a result of disgruntlement with decades of status quo politics that has been inherited now by an intensely opinionated and articulate generation – a generation that refuses to conform to the traditional specter of politics, as we knew it. Something is churning at the grassroots level. And that churning and restlessness needs to acknowledged and respected. As political parties – we need to change from within to relate to the change outside.

However, rhetoric is the nemesis of change. There are two ways to deal with an evolved electorate – we either impersonate him by dressing in a certain way, speaking in a certain way and acting in a certain way – wearing masks of austerity and posturing as purists ordained by God to save the world. That, in my opinion, is the fastest and most effective way to show our contempt for the common man – by stereotyping him and undermining his intelligence. This ‘impersonation’ of the “aam aadmi” has already become nauseating. Reminds one of the inimitable R. K. Laxman’s common-man cartoon strips.

The common-man cannot be defined and suffocated into a convenient political mould. And how will impersonation translate into genuine change? How will rhetoric save the sinking ship?

The other way is empathizing with the common-man. The common-man needs empathy – not impersonation. The leaders don’t need to go to great heights to look like them and live like them. What the leaders need to do is work for them – day in and day out. What the leaders need to do is understand the rank pessimism that has engulfed the electorate and the need to do away with traditional, rusty, hierarchical partisan politics. The deliverance of change will be a derivative of how dynamic and imaginative political parties choose to become inside the four walls of their institutions.

I’m a big fan of the charismatic, affluent and blue-blooded John F Kennedy. I’m equally inspired by Jose’ Mujica – the President of Paraguay, popularly known as the “poorest President in the world”. Does a Mujica trump a Kennedy by default? No – absolutely not. Leadership is beyond the definitive games of curating a popular, synthetic brand-image – leadership is about effecting drastic, systemic changes that have long-term benefits – about leaving behind a legacy. And measuring that change can only be done on the basis of performance – not tall promises or rhetoric alone.         

As for newcomers and aspirants for leading the State, it is understandable that they cannot be measured and judged on the basis of performance. And that cannot be held against them. However, they should certainly be judged on the basis of their ideas and plans. For now, none of the new political formations and alternatives in J&K have defined their vision of reform – there are no policy papers, no concrete plans. Nothing. Just rhetoric and rhetoric about the need to reform the political system. And that too is a manipulative approach to exploit the empowering evolution that is taking place at the grassroots level – unfortunately an effective way to nip it too.  

And as for those who have already been prominent, powerful parts of the political dispensation since decades – they are duty-bound to justify their past actions as well as inactions on crucial policy fronts and simultaneously offer definitive and unambiguous solutions to the problems that confront us. That too has not happened.

Unfortunately the political engagement between established political entities in the State as well as in the entire country has been a typical tit-for-tat, acrimonious and negative quarrelling in newspapers and TV channels. Nothing discourages the common-man more. Nothing feeds the ocean of cynicism with greater efficiency.    

We are dealing with an educated generation with comparative perspectives and with an exposure that is unprecedented – both in scope and depth. Let us – irrespective of political divides and differences – respect the evolution that has taken place and engage with our citizens by involving them in shaping policy. That and that alone is what will satisfy the Aam Aadmi’s’ thirst for change.

(Junaid Azim Mattu belongs to the J&K National Conference. Ideas expressed are personal. Feedback at junaid.msu@gmail.com)