Follow principles, not person

By Sudha Vidyasagar

Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, Subhash Chandra Bose ....all were great leaders with great principles. People admired them, respected them and even worshipped them.

Thus the journey which had started with the principles ended with the person. And after the person left us, the principles also started leaving us gradually. Mahatma Gandhi led the country in the freedom struggle using the magic wand of non-violence. But after Gandhiji died, people continued to worship him but forgot his principles.

Most recently, when social activist Anna Hazare sat on an indefinite fast to press the government to enact a strong anti-corruption act through the Jan Lokpal Bill, many people across the country took to the streets in support of Anna Hazare. They lit candles, organised marches and showed their support to Anna through social networking sites.

But how many of us are really aware what the Lokpal Bill is all about? How many of us have stopped bribing to get our work done?

I really don't know the answers to these questions. But I believe that if we really respect Anna's principles, it would be more appropriate to practice them ourselves. We need to stick to our principles and adhere to them. This will be our biggest tribute to those who fought for us and are fighting our cause.