Bertrand Russell has said “Economics and sex are important but it is power that ultimately matters” Here is the story of the power game that was previously published on 25-08-2007 but is as relevant today as it was then.
It is not known who invented the rules of the power game. In all probabilities, power itself has been setting its rules from the times immemorial. Slaying the rivals, poisoning the competitors, and advancing over the dead bodies of all possible contenders have been the age-old traditions, practiced by most seekers and wielders of power. Among Shah Jahan’s sons three were eliminated in the power struggle, leaving the fourth to reign for half a century. When Gamal Abdul Nasser came to power along with his colleagues in the Officers Movement, the first among his initial steps was to put his comrade-in-arms, Saleh Salim, behind the bar. They had jointly launched the Officers Movement and jointly weaved dreams of a grand revolution.
A week after Saleh Salim was taken into custody, Gamal Abdul Nasser went to see him:
In his book on Nasser, the great Egyptian scholar Mohammad Hussain Haikal writes:
“When Saleh Salim asked why he had been imprisoned, Nasser replied—You are very dear to me Saleh. But Egypt is dearer—And Egypt can’t afford to become a sheath to accommodate two swords. So it is the end of the road for you.”
When we look at the current power tussle in our own country, we are rudely reminded that it is not just in love and war that everything is fair. In the power game too, nothing one does is considered unfair.
In the case of the exiled Sharif Brothers, neither the Government has been able to come up with the exact truth, nor the two brothers. Resultantly both appear to be half-lying. The Government is right when it says that there was an agreement, but wrong when claims that the said agreement was between her and Sharifs.
Similarly Sharifs are lying when they say they did not make a bargain, but are right in saying that the bargain was not made directly with Pervez Musharraf….
This game of half-truths and half-lies may be looked down upon in normal life, but in the power game, even blatant lies are digestible.
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s reputation as a great survivor has been further strengthened in recent times. After her debacle in 1990-91period, she came back from nowhere to strike a deal with the Military. She was able to find in the breakaway Muslim League of Chatha and Watoo, a useful ally.
Betrand Russel was so very very right in declaring in his famous treatise on Power that, economics, sex, principles sentiments, loyalties, bonds and scruples may all be important for a while—but only for a while;—in the final reckoning it is power that matters.
