OUTLINE:
• Introduction
• Reasons of Blind Adherence
o Lack of Education
o Financial Issues
o As a tradition
o Role of Media
• Conclusion
ARTICLE:
Blind adherence can be defined as the way of following any political leader or any political party based on personal likes and dislikes but not concerning their performance and work for the nation and then also covering, supporting and defending all the wrong acts done by that specific leader. Blind support of any political leader often leads to the corrupt system in the country. There can be various reasons for the blind adherence.
Blind adherence is often seen in the developing countries where the literacy rate is not as good as the developed countries. Even in our country, it is one of the major issues of today’s worse political condition of country. In Pakistan literacy rate is only 58% which leads in difficulty in understanding societal issues and lower community participation in politics and unawareness of current issues. They just support the political parties by noticing others.
Some people of backward areas do such acts just for the sake of money. They sale their self-respect to get money and due to this reason, they support them in their every action and are even ready to do illegal tasks for them. In other cases, poor people are given hopes for their improved financial conditions. And such poor people support the specific political leader just to have a better life for their kids. But after getting all their benefits these politicians often forget their promises after winning the election and they prefer their lives over those who helped them in winning.
In our backward areas some people just support the political parties or leaders because their elders have been supporting that leader since ages. This has been a major factor in Pakistan politics. In Sindh you can often see people living in worsened conditions but still quoting ‘Bhutto Zinda Hai’ [Bhutto is alive] and expressing their views that they are giving their votes to his party since the very beginning. They bestow their votes to such leaders because their forefathers have been supporting them as well.
Our media is one of the biggest reasons for blind adherence to political leaders. Media gets heavily paid by such politicians to give them special coverage. Here in Pakistan
majority of people watch more and read less. The tend to believe more what is on air rather than what is on the paper. Media hype of a personality creates hurdles in peaceful going of the country as when any of these personalities call a strike or protest, people follow their call and are ready to jam the system any second. In such situation they don’t even hesitate to damage property of other civilians.
In conclusion, blind adherence is one the biggest hurdles in the way of progress of any country. As for as there will be the blind adherence of political leaders, it will be very difficult for people to know the difference between right and wrong. So, there should be awareness among the common masses to have proper information about any political leader. People must be educated about politics. If there is no blind support for a political leader, people would tend to ask questions on their policies and services. Moreover, media should play their role very well and in positive way. Media should work for the progress of the country and show the truth the people. And media should be regulated by regulation authorities as well. As soon as blind adherence is eradicated, our country will move towards progress.
By: Hafiz Waseem Zafar.