Daily Times

It is well said that “The qualities of a leader are reflected in the standards he sets for himself.” So, leaders should have such standards which are inspiring for others. But what happens when we come to our own leaders. If we empathize and look in the way they set their standards, the question that arises is that do they have the attitude of a real leader?

Our leaders are the ones who do not care for their public. What they say in front of the public contradict with what they practically do. Before they turn to public to get votes for nomination, they convey motivational speeches and try to inspire people with their revolutionary thinking. But what happens when they take the charge? They eventually forget their promises.

With their behavior, they show that they don’t really care for the people but alas! There are people who voted for them in the first place and the ones who gave them the place where they are acting arrogant now. These leaders are making people’s lives a living hell. When they pass by, on the roads, they make people wait for them. They do not care that others’ routine has been disturbed just because of them. They show no mercy for the people stuck in emergency situations like inside the ambulances. They even don’t care that new lives are being born on the roads. They consider their security more important than anyone else’s.

With the passage of time, such a behavior is now being reflected in every aspect of their life. It’s not just the security protocols now. We often hear an incident regarding the misbehavior of VIPs, with the government departments’ officials, because they think that they are not obliged to follow rules these departments are imposing. For instance, a security officer was slapped by the security guard of Senator ‘NayyerBukhari’ for checking him. An evident reason for this could be that the poor officer made a mistake and forgot that the criminals are just the lower class of the society now and a political leader cannot do anything wrong. But if that’s the case then what was the hesitation in checking?

Now let’s focus on another scenario. The boarding flights are delayed because of such politicians. They have no concern that the other people will suffer due to them. They don’t care about anything or anyone because according to their thinking, they are in the charge and they have every right to run the departments of state at will. A research study concluded that the thousands of flights have been delayed because of VIP’s boarding.

The other example that has been prevailing in the society is that commoners have to wait for several hours in lines in front of government departments for identity cards, passports etc. but the VIPs come and their work is done in a couple of minutes. The VIPs don’t care about the people standing before them. They just see themselves as important particulars of the society.

To our bad luck, the leaders have made this an old and a strong habit. But the bigger problem that arises is that the elite class of our society has captured the same behavior. It is a saying that whatever the leaders do, it becomes the culture of the society. Now the mentioned class thinks that it should be the one at top of every list. These people exploit resources just because they have money. They consider the lower class inferior to them and have no right to do anything against them. The best example in this regard is that of the ‘Noshero city’ where the landlord punished the two brothers because their cart was smashed into his car. The source of such harsh and discriminating thinking of rights is VIPs.

Another problem now looming over the heads of Pakistanis is that the parliamentarians are demanding a raise in their travel allowances and incomes. It shows that their pay is too low to survive and they are running short of petrol thereby, demanding an increase in the wages and quota. For once if they consider the life of laborers, who work day and night to get 500-1000 rupees a day, they will know the problems a commoner has to face but they don’t do that. In a way, I think that these people are not ‘very important persons’ (VIPs) of the society, instead they are ‘very ignored part’ of the society as they are deprived of true emotions and feelings. As a result they do such despised activities to get others’ attention.

But now the patience of the people has reached its peak. They should break the ice and let our so called LEADERS know that they are representatives of the common people, not the custodian and ill user of the rights provided to them. The campaign of these VIPs can how be fruitful against their own generated culture? People have to raise their voice for their own. If this pertains, then the roots of this VIP culture will become a menace for the society. Our upcoming generation will face the same thing. In addition to the people, Government departments should also make themselves stronger to stand against these VIPs. Is it should be or not?