God will deal with us in the same manner as we have dealt with others

God will deal with us in the same manner as we have dealt with others

1986 1 January 16 God will deal with us in the same manner as we have dealt with others (44) ‘Amr Ibn Murrah told Mu’awiyah that he had heard from the Prophet that if a ruler closed his door on the weak and needy, then God would close the doors of heaven on him at the hour of his greatest need and destitution.

(Tirmidhi)

Politician or Statesman

19861 January 16 Politician or Statesman (274) “The bane of India is the plethora of politicians and the paucity of statesmen.”

Nani Palkhiwala in We The People

What makes for the difference between a politician and a statesman? In the words of the Vice-President of India, Mr. Venkata Raman:

“A politician thinks of the next election, while a statesman thinks of the next generation”.

Times of India, 17 Sept., 1984

We can put it another way and say, there are two kinds of leaders, true and false. The former thinks in terms of the interests of the nation and the latter in terms of the interests of his own leadership. The true leader is concerned with the future of his nation, while the false leader is concerned with his own future prospects.

The latter breaks with tradition without the slightest hesitation if it serves his end and then he exults in his personal victory. But a true leader will pause and think, ‘How easy it is to break a tradition and how difficult to create a good one’. Therefore, he prefers to preserve it even at the risk of personal loss.

When the false leader sees that he can win by shouting emotional slogans, he does not resist the idea. But a true leader would think twice about doing this. He would think that using emotional slogans to influence the people meant leading the nation along an emotional and unrealistic course, so he would prefer his own political death to plunging his nation headlong into the abyss. It is the sacrifice of a leader which gives life to a nation. Fortunate are those who have such farseeing men to lead them.