How Do We Make Collective Decisions Against Our Own Convictions ?

Yesterday I was watching a TV programme aired by the Asianet News Channel in Malayalam language titled ' Akalangalile India' (അകലങ്ങളിലെ ഇന്ത്യ) which means the India far away. Every week this programme took up a news story that normally those Indians sitting in their comfort zones fail to realize about the realities of life their own country men face else where within their country.

Yesterday the theme that they covered was the plight of common people living on either side of the India-Pakistan border in the north-west.

Political ambitions of a few elite Indians belonging to two prominent religions caused India to be divided into two while the Britishers decided to hand over the reigns of governance to the locals some six decades ago. Many in the British political echelons of those days perhaps were of the knowledge about the rivalry of a few emerging Indian leaders in the Indian political organization that the British had created and nurtured for training the locals for future democratic governance of India. After all the British had realized the aspirations of the emerging educated non-royals of India in getting themselves elevated to the neo-royalty of modern India of the twentieth century. Politics has always been a life threatening adventure of those who have overcome the basic needs of life and the emerging leaders of India were no different !

The British could have tried to bring about a forceful peace among the warring Indian leaders and extended their decision of handing over power to the locals at an appropriate time later when the leadership issues among the Indians are sorted out. But the Indians outsmarted the British by instigating religious passions of the illiterate masses and the British had perhaps no alternative but to divide India, that too on a totally arbitrary basis quickly worked out on the basis of religious proportions, something never tried in administrative parlour  ever before in this land.

A Himalayan blunder was made by a few that caused the Indian holocaust of 1947. Had a little bit of wisdom prevailed in the minds of one or two Indians of the emerging Indian politics and one or two in the British government, this blunder and this holocaust could have never happened.

For the mistakes of these handful of people, thousands killed each other and committed all sorts of inhuman acts of  butchery that even the beasts would be ashamed of.  

They had unknowingly became the pawns in the hands of their ambitious leaders and committed such a deadly sin that even their future generations were not going to be spared !

And those who were directly in the midst of all these have all perished. It is their future generations who have ultimately became Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis who keep paying for their sins !

It is generally believed that seven generations have to suffer for such sins. That is believed to be a divine decree.  When no one of their future leaders of these countries appear to be so unconcerned of their plights, one may be inclined to believe in the prevalence of such divine decrees.

If you ask any of the leaders of these countries individually and personally, they all admit their sympathies with the suffering of the people at the borders of these Indian origin nations. They are all concerned when they speak personally. They are all humane when they speak out their minds.

But when they take collective decisions, their decisions never reflect their personal feelings. All their decisions are for aggravating the sufferings of the border land peoples.

I keep wondering about this kind of a situation in governance. Who or which is that force that directs the decisions in any government ? Individually you talk to all of the top functionaries in private. They all would perhaps say something quite contrary to their own collective decisions.

Why is it like that ?

How do we make our collective decisions ?

Is it actually a democratic majority decision ?

Is there any unseen and unrecognized force that causes such decisions that go against the self convictions of the individuals in the collective governance ?

In any case, the Indian border lands appear to be cursed regions. We may have to wait for seven generations to over come the curse ! Otherwise why these Indian nations collectively decide to spend all their resources in gathering arms and ammunition to be put on fire across these borders that used to be their heartland some time ago ?

I have no answer !

Do you ?


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