When our leaders lack even the basic etiquette on a public platform, what respect can we accord them?
At a recent press meet, former Samajwadi leader Amar Singh got upset at the criticism about using luxury vehicles during his much-hyped Purvachal Yatra. Singh took off his trousers to show the wounds he developed on his lower limbs on account of the long journeys he had undertaken on foot as a part of his yatra.
This incident has sparked off a debate on whether our politicians need etiquette training. Removing trousers at a press meet was a strange way of putting his point across. Agrees Ruchi Kapur Mishra. “Politicians can resort to anything to prove their innocence, but this was most bizarre. It’s rather sad that the times when as countrymen we want proof of the work these leaders do, they have nothing to show. But he removed his pants to show his boils. He could have made his point without stooping to this level, lack of common sense shows shamelessness,” she adds.
“Of course, they need training in basic understanding of what should be said and done in public,” avers Parul Shekhawat, a professional. She adds that a politician’s image should be clean and he really shouldn’t behave in this manner.
There’s a line of decency that divides what should be kept private and what made public. When responsible people fail to respect that, it’s cause for concern.
As Gautamtheking commented online, “Why we need education? in India, when illiterates can rule our country?”