That thing called 'Power' : Elections and Democracy

“With great power comes great responsibility”, the ever relevant words of Voltaire, the man who greatly influenced the French revolution that gave the world the ideas of Liberty, Equality and Justice. The psychology of power is very intriguing and leads us to a better understanding of as to why men/women with power behave the way they do. With great power also comes the fear of losing that power. It is the fear of losing this power that leads to moral corruption that forms the basis of any corruption. Probably it is this fear of losing the power that compels our politicians to follow every possible way to retain and sustain themselves in power. If only they could realize that the power comes with a responsibility that requires a commitment to commit themselves to a cause of greater welfare of the people, things would have been very different all over the world. Almost everywhere in the world you can find dictators from the continent of South America to Africa to closer home in Pakistan. When they fail to deliver up to the expectations of the people and resort to corrupt means to subjugate them to their power then it leads to another struggle, one of the kind that we saw in the French revolution. Fear of subjugation to this brute power also leads to chaos. One such example in the recent past is the Arab spring. Democracy is a good way to keep in check the trend of dictators assuming powers for a long time, consequently ruining others at the cost of their own good. The success of democracy is India is a glaring example of power of people acting together for a common cause. Hope the successful elections in Kashmir will lead to a responsible and accountable government who will bring together all the different parts of Kashmir. The results of Jharkhand elections are also encouraging from the perspective that the new government will be stable and will devote itself to the welfare of the state.