[ALOCHONA] ‘More reasons than ever to be proud’

`More reasons than ever to be proud'

Courtesy New Age 07/04/11

I SHARE the pride that Ali Abbas and Fatema Hossain expressed about the successes of Musa Ibrahim and Dr Yunus in a letter published in New Age on April 3. Their triumphs are indeed an inspiration and an example to us all. But, respectfully, I cannot agree that we have more reasons than ever to be proud. I wish I was wrong.

These reasons to be proud are but flashes, mere glimpses, of the potential and possible triumphs of our people. We are a great people with much to offer the world. We have no small share of the fortitude and intelligence needed to make our fair contribution to the betterment of humanity. Tragically, the daily news headlines indicate our true condition. Our headlines are a shameful festival of folly and foolishness. Our only relief is the progress that is inevitable due to the march of time and the steadfastness of the common man in the face of unbelievable odds.

We all know our condition and yet rarely confess it in public. It is as if we cannot bring ourselves to admit just how far off the track we are. We all join hands in this mutually comforting strategy. As if by keeping quiet about our true condition, we can escape this nightmare. There are not enough hours in the day to define our wasted opportunities and outrageous mistakes.

At the root of all our problems lies not the public as every politician will tell us in private. At the root of all our problems are our politicians. They, and their so-called politics, crush the very possibility of inspired leadership. The leadership we crave is the leadership which by definition denotes a new era of personal responsibility and personal accountability. We need an era that raises high the platforms of civic duty and civil society; that obliges principled compromise and shared sacrifice; that strengthens our institutions and upholds the rule of law; that draws our brightest young minds into public life and stops our talented people from fleeing abroad; that aggressively addresses our environmental and population problems; that sees us turning our backs on traditional politics and our worst vices.

It may seem that such an era is a dream. It is not. Other countries have had such eras. And we need such an era, not just to claim our place in humanity, but to ensure our very survival.

Our politicians seem to do everything possible to delay the dawn of this era. May we one day look upon them as we now look upon dinosaurs. Only then can we truly hold our head high with pride.

Ezajur Rahman

Kuwait

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