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OPINION

Let Our Leaders Weigh their Words Carefully
One of the sanest things I have recently read 1s Mr S M All s Commentary published tn The Daily Star on December 20 I must make it unequivocally clear at the very beginning that I place on record my total agreement with his views embodied in the Commentary not because 1 am a votary of the BNP or an opponent of the Awami League, but as a votary of sanity, sobriety, decorum, tolerance and circumspection in all walks of life, particularly tn the turbulent political and social condition of our country when stability is the crying need of the hour.
It must be ruefully admitted that most of our public leaders do not weigh their words properly before using them in public, before making statements and speeches and expressing sentiments. Personal animosity and lack of a generous sense of appreciation and assessment drive many of us to say things which arc often misleading, untrue, confusing and unreasonably contemptu ous. When ordinary people ut ter such words, the impact Is not lar-reachtng. although they may lead to serious personal conflicts and squabbles; but when important people or people holding important positions in life and society speak Incautiously more harm is done lo the country than can be perceived immediately
But when leaders betray immaturity in their speeches a country has reason to be despondent simply because they are not leaders in the true sense of the term, fit and worthy enough to lead the country and the nation to the desired goal of stability, peace, happi ness and prosperity. Immaturity seriously points to deficiency tn understanding and assessing a situation, In discriminating between the proper and the improper, in determining what Is to be said and when to be said, how to be said and lo whom to be said You have very rightly asserted.
A leader must avoid the temptation of making political statements on the basis of guesses. hearsays and . hunches". Needless lo say that such statements expose intellectual bankruptcy and lack of political wisdom, acumen and alertness. Francis Bacon has truly said. "Mens Thoughts are much according to their Inclination: Their Discourse and Speeches according to their Learning, and Infused Opinions; But their Deeds art after as they have been Accustomed". A leader must always remember — "A Mans
• Nature runes •llhcr lo Herbas.
or Weeds: Therefore let him seasonably Waler the One. and Destroy the Other . (Bacon). This implies an alert sense of judgement which is seldom reflected in the statements made by many a people at the helm of affairs.
One can easily trace many of our woes and ills and weaknesses to incompetent leadership which is reflected in weak statements and speeches. After all. a competent leader will manifest circumspection in all his or her deeds, desires and dlsposi tions. His or her steps will be measured and .tuned to the principles and Philosophy he or she. or his or her party stands for. Remarks which are not prompted by any deep sense of responsibility will tend to point to the uncertainty in the principles and philosophy of a parly or an or ganization and these will scare those who are committed to the service of the courttry and the naUon as a whole.
Nobxly much less a leader, has any right to lead "tens of thousands of people" or an unenlightened "cheering crowd" lo believing something which is. both in essence and in spirit, not backed by evidence or fact. There is already a great crisis in matters of leadership in our country. If time and circumstance prove that some of our leaders are not reliable since they are prone to deliberately concoct things to discredit those whom they oppose, the saner and wakeful section of Ihc society will be thrown Into a crisis of trust and faith. "Unsubstantiated charges" only diminish one's stature and destroy one’s credibility and make one Hable to be rejected by the alert section of the people, by those who attach due importance to _yeraclly and propriety.
There has always been, there is now and there will al ways be. rivalry In politics But it should be remembered that rivalry is not enmity and should not lead to unpleasantness or baseless accusations; it should lead to healthy compc tltlon harnessed to the wellbeing of the country and the nation as a whole. National In terest should get upperhand in all mailers al all times and the principles of sanity.. sobriety, good sen sc. judgement and good taste be allowed to pre-wiil in all matters al all times.
M Abu Taher Mojumder
Professor. Department of tngiloh.
Jahangir nagai UtUuenUg.