Politics is indeed a discipline—but it doesn’t operate by the book. It has a language of its own. The wishes, preferences, likes, and dislikes of those who engage in politics often determine the path, rhythm, and pace it takes. That’s why one doesn’t need a degree in political science to be a politician. In fact, even a proxy qualification will do.
In our country, the Election Commission requires candidates to provide certain mandatory information on their nomination forms. One of these is educational qualification. This refers to the candidate’s level of education and any degrees earned. Some candidates have written that they are "self-educated" while filling out this section. It’s a fitting term. A degree carries market value, and openly declaring the absence of one could damage one’s public image. So they call themselves “self-educated.” Some have even written it as a joke.
Those who acquire a licence to practice politics are what we call political parties. A party may follow one or several doctrines. To guide its operations, it has a constitution. To define its goals and aspirations, it has a manifesto—crafted in the most beautiful and noble language imaginable. But it doesn’t end there. During elections, parties release new documents with fresh promises. These are called election manifestos, regardless of how the word is spelled. The manifesto usually starts with a long preface, where the party declares itself as the sole savior of the people. Only they are the true friends of the people—all others are enemies. This is followed by a long list of promises.
Broadly speaking, political parties can be divided into two types: old and new. The old ones showcase their past activities, especially their achievements while in power. Everything is painted in a positive light—they claim to have done no wrong, hurt no one, or said anything offensive. No files were ever stuck in any government office. All around, there was nothing but happiness. If any allegations of wrongdoing exist, they are dismissed as malicious propaganda spread by mischief-makers.
Some parties are old, but although they may have walked the corridors or stood on the verandas of power, they’ve never actually entered the inner chambers. Their rhetoric usually goes like this: “We lost—or were made to lose—because the elections were neither free nor fair. But if we ever get a chance to come to power, we’ll turn this country into a land of gold. There will be no problems—only peace and more peace everywhere.”
Then there are others who say, “In this decaying bourgeois society, there can never be a government for the poor. That’s why we need a revolution.” In this country, there seem to be more revolutionaries than mosquitoes and flies. There hasn’t been a single year when a revolutionary party hasn’t splintered. They break apart constantly. Then the fragments unite again to form alliances. These alliances, too, eventually break. Each fragment joins forces with different “bourgeois” parties, claiming it to be a “strategic alliance.” They’ll point to how Mao Zedong once allied with Chiang Kai-shek as justification.
There are also completely new parties with no prior experience in elections or political alliances. They are swimming—more like floundering—in the waters of politics. They can’t find solid ground under their feet. Some of them have clean pasts, no dark spots. They lack experience in the tricks and traps of politics. They don’t know what to say and when. One day, they blurt something out; the next day, they realise the mistake and say the opposite.
Then there's a group in our country we call the Facebookers or TikTokers. They're quite sharp. This is one area of technology where our teens and young adults could put even Silicon Valley or NASA scientists to shame. They keep a record of who said what, when, and where—and they dig it up at just the right moment to spread it all over social media.
What more can I say about our social media? So much antisocial behaviour takes place there that calling it “anti-social media” might actually be more accurate. It’s a platform where it's hard to predict who will be praised, who will be torn down, who will be saved, or who will be attacked.
Let me give you an example. Suppose I wrote an article 12 years ago and now I write something different. A Facebook user jumps on me, saying: “You said this back then—why are you saying something else now?”
But how do I explain that in the past 12 years, I’ve read so many books, encountered so much new information, and grown intellectually? That I’m far more informed now than I was then? It’s hard to make them understand—because they are like creatures of a stagnant pond. There is no current, no flow, so they don’t grow in thought or understanding.
This brings us to the role of political parties. A party that was once in power may have made many mistakes and committed wrongdoings during its time in office. That same party is still active in politics and wants to return to power. But what guarantee is there that, once back in office, it won’t repeat those same wrongdoings?
This is where self-reflection becomes necessary for political parties. Mistakes can happen while working—only those who do nothing make no mistakes. So if a mistake was made, what’s the problem in admitting it?
Among our politicians, there exists a certain mindset. They believe that admitting a mistake would somehow end their political careers. This is a misconception. People, in fact, want to see that if someone has made a mistake, they own up to it, feel remorse, and promise not to repeat it. But political leaders rarely take that path. To them, their past is always glowing under the full moon; there is no darkness, no errors.
But people forget nothing. They assume the party or the leader is lying. And it's not that politicians don’t understand this—they do. But they fear that admitting mistakes might make them politically ‘irrelevant’ or push them out of the game.
The conflict between old and new is eternal in any society. Their perspectives differ. A person who once, in their youth, was ready to give their life selflessly for the people and the country, often changes with age. Eventually, their mind becomes rusted—they turn dishonest, greedy, corrupt, power-hungry, even oppressive.
And yet, our hopes and trust still rest with the youth. Generation after generation, it is they who have carried the light to show the way to those of us lost in darkness.
*Mohiuddin Ahmad is a writer and researcher
#The opinions expressed are the author's own