“I really do not want my pictures in your offices, for the President is not an icon or an idol. Hang your children’s photos instead and look at them each time you are making a decision”– Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President Ukraine.
He is 44 but is riding a crest of a wave of popularity and respect seldom acquired by statesmen twice his age. The defining image of him wearing the uniform or his refusal to give in to Russia with one slogan, “We are Ukraine” to what may become one of the most famous lines ever spoken by any leader, during wartime, “I do not want a ride. I want ammunition” (to the USA, politely refusing a safe passage), Volodymyr Zelenskyy has given serious leadership goals to those who aspire to play any role of leading teams or nations.
But there is something beyond each of these things that stands out, and these lines uttered when he took over as President in 2019, the words which we have quoted in the beginning of this article, which should become the benchmark for all leaders.
As Goa gets ready to have a new government post March 10, can it take the pledge that it is not constitutional heads they should look up to but look inwards into their homes and lives and make their most important decisions by looking at pictures of their children?
Everyone’s child is a child for the future. A child of the future. The Constitution of India mandates having pictures of the President, the Prime minister, and the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi. But every Goan politician should understand the meaning of President Zelenskyy’s words, “Hang your children’s photos instead and look at them each time you are making a decision.”
Can all potential MLAs say with hands on their hearts that every decision taken by them has been taken in the best interests of their children and others who are the future?
Can they ever justify every bribe allegedly taken and given, by even attempting to say that it was done keeping the best interests of the future of their children?
Can they justify allowing every decision, not in the interest of Goa and Goans, be it the dumping of coal, double tracking, destruction of forest for Mopa land? Even keeping silent and not speaking up is a decision and these decisions have cost Goa dear.
Can they justify Goa being stripped of its natural resources, its environment, and its very identity? Forget the outside world. Can they justify this even to their own family?
Can they justify their defections, their stealing of mandates, or the untruths spoken to get votes?
Can they justify their non-performance as leaders, MLAs, and ministers, even as they grew richer at the State’s expense?
But if they step back and realise that the best value that they can give the children of the future is strong decision making and leadership and courage in the face of adversity. Many may have mocked the President’s initiative to give weapons to ordinary citizens to fight the war against Russia. But did anyone notice that no one refused to take up arms? From former presidents to young women, they all took arms and are going for training. They are willing to show their faces to the enemy and take a bullet for their land.
In Goa, our enemy is political greed and corruption and the decimation of a value system that is destroying our land. One is not saying Goans should take up arms, but they should be armed with all the tools needed to fight a bad system packed in a box of courage and determination. The people of Goa know that
their patience is running out. And they have and are taking to the streets repeatedly. Unlike in Ukraine, the people of Goa do have confidence in a single leader who will lead. But the leader who is ultimately found post-March 10, must be a leader of the people and the believer in the words of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy: “The President is not an icon or an idol” and realise that icons and idols are common Goans and they need to see them before taking any call.
