Politicians
cannot stay away from publicity. They depend
and thrive on it. Through propaganda, politicians
suggest that the polity is in good health, even if the reality might be
completely to the contrary. While at other times, this publicity culture
creates dense smokescreens of misinformation, in times of a pandemic, it could
be fatal.
The
publicity culture unfolds in the following way. Often there will be a leader
who is ‘doing something.’ This act is inaugurating a new public work or
donating for a charitable or worthy cause. If it is an inauguration, the leader
will pause a few moments before cutting the ribbon for the photographers. If it
is a donation, the giver and the receiver will also pause so that their
generous deed is recorded for posterity. The brief moment when these leaders
and philanthropists ‘pause’ for the camera is the moment of publicity.
The
most recent example of the dependence of politicians on publicity is the
statements of Goa’s Chief Minister, Pramod Sawant. While Goa enjoyed a
relatively COVID-19-free April, at least going by official figures, the CM
jumped the gun to declare Goa a ‘Green Zone.’ The reason was that no new cases
were being reported in that month. However, it was common knowledge that many
Goans, either in India or abroad, were to be repatriated in the first weeks of
May. Naturally, there was a likelihood that more COVID-19 positive cases would
come to light. And
they did! By the end of May, the official number
of cases rose from 7 to 70 (and counting). Now Mangor Hill in Vasco is
a containment zone.
One
wonders why the CM was so hasty to declare Goa a green zone. The reasons become
apparent as one observes the positive coverage in the national press. The
national press hailed Goa for being the first COVID-19-free state in the
country. Perhaps the country needed some positive news, or it was good PR by
the Goan government. But the Goan government and the national media discarded
commonsense. They prematurely celebrated the absence of new cases for April.
The result was a miscommunication of COVID-related information to the Goan
public; people felt that they were safe from the disease.
The
health and economic crisis created by the pandemic is a severe challenge to the
leadership pretensions, one created by carefully crafted PR, of the politician.
The Corona crisis tests a politician’s ability to take decisive actions to
ensure that the state or country does not descend into chaos. In times of
crisis, one expects politicians to enact laws that protect the citizens; make
financial resources available to tackle disasters; and provide the citizens
with accurate information about the crisis. The shocks and destruction that the
pandemic is leaving in its wake, as, for instance, in the migrant worker
crisis, is proof that most of the elected representatives have failed the
people.
But
the need for publicity is not just a necessity of the politicians. Everyone who
engages in a public act of leadership or philanthropy indulges in the publicity
culture. I watched with horror as many people reached out to the poor and
vulnerable without any regard for the social distancing norms. The images of
someone giving foodstuff or medicines to the older person, and thereby standing
close to them for a photo-op, was a cause of concern. What if the corona virus
was transmitted in the process of ‘handing over’ the foodstuff, medicines, or
money?
And
politicians, being leaders, are reinforcing such irresponsible and foolhardy
behavior. So hungry are our politicians for publicity that social distancing
norms are violated to gain publicity. Recently, the CM was pilloried for not
following his own orders when he showed up to inaugurate the grade separator of
a flyover in Dabolim. More than anything else, the inauguration of the grade
separator was a move to earn publicity. The CM and his cabinet colleagues were
standing close to each other, no doubt to be photographed as politicians ‘doing
something’ for the people of Goa.
I
am not questioning the charitable motives of all those who reached out to the
poor and vulnerable without social distancing norms. It is important to reach
out to the vulnerable and provide them with essential care and relief. Philanthropy
is fine so long as it is not done merely for publicity—and in times of corona,
done with social distancing.
Our
leaders could have lived by example. In other words, they could have set aside
the publicity-seeking culture, or altogether jettison it. Photo-ops are not
necessary to show that the government is working for its people, or that the
elected representatives are performing their constitutional duties. These
photo-ops rather suggest that the government is not doing enough for the
citizens. After the Mangor Hill cases came to light, the CM was nowhere seen,
and the press conference was conducted by bureaucrats. The photo-ops also
suggest that there will be no change in the political culture after the corona
crisis.
We
can easily see how a culture of publicity in our politics and public life could
end up being disastrous. In times of severe crisis, our publicity-seeking
political culture creates more problems than it solves. In other times, when
there is no pandemic or natural disaster, the publicity-seeking culture leaves
a trail of ruined or decaying public infrastructure projects. Who among us have
not uneasily entered ramshackle buildings or driven over potholed roads? Funnily
enough, these infrastructure projects were once inaugurated with fanfare and
photo-ops. The commemoration plaques that gather dust and the photographs of
the inauguration of any infrastructure project are a grim reminder that our
leaders fail us daily.
(First published in O Heraldo, dt: 3 June, 2020)
