Spiritual Politics - En Vazhi Thani Vazhi

Mr. Rajinikanth, as part of his announcement of entering active politics by starting his own political organization, mentioned about practicing “Aanmeega Arasiyal” or “Spiritual Politics” in Tamilnadu.

This announcement stirred up a hornet’s nest.  People from various political organizations started speculating on what spiritual politics is.  They either welcomed it or criticized it depending on the stand that they wish to take as and when Mr. Rajinikanth starts his political organization.

From the public comments made by some of the prominent politicians in Tamilnadu, it is clear that they have no clue of what spiritual politics is or they are cleverly and deliberately confusing the people for the sake of their own political survival.

This article is my attempt to demystify spiritual politics.

Spiritual Politics

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.  
We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

- Teilhard de Chardin

We are the manifested form of the unmanifested reality, the Source of existence.  

The Source manifests itself into physical forms through a set of natural laws or principles which transcends the time and space realm, i.e., these principles do not change with time or place.  They are universal and timeless.

Some of these principles are fairness, integrity, honesty, humility and so on.

By understanding these principles and living in harmony with them empowers us to live a very high-quality life and enjoy the fruits of our actions.  

By denying or ignoring these principles and violating them condemns us to live a very low-quality life and suffer the consequences of our actions.

Though this article is focused on infusing these principles into politics, the same principles may be infused into our personal, family and professional lives.

Let us begin.

Stakeholders

Stakeholders are those who are impacted by our contribution.

Who are the major stakeholders of a political organization in Tamilnadu?

While people of Tamilnadu are all the major stakeholders, we need to refine it further to make an impactful appeal.

Many political organizations operating in Tamilnadu have chosen segmented approach to appeal to stakeholders and attract them to their fold based on:

• Ethnicity (Dravidian, Tamizhan and so on)
• Religion (Islam, Christianity and so on)
• Community (Dalit, Vanniyar and so on)
• Occupation (Farmers, Laborers, Traders and so on)
• Ideology (Communism, Socialism, Hindutva, Rationalism and so on)

This segmented approach is a double-edged sword:

People, who identify themselves with one of those targeted segments, may rally around and vote for those political organizations who promise to champion their causes.  This may help those political organizations to garner few seats in constituencies where the targeted segment is concentrated.

The downside to this approach is that it is exclusive and in some situations, divisive.  People, who don’t identify themselves with the targeted segment of those political organizations, may actively vote against them.  This may prevent those political organizations from forming the government on their own.

To overcome this challenge, few political organizations appeal to multiple segments hoping that this approach may make them appear to be an inclusive organization and help them garner enough seats to form the government.  In reality, people perceive such organizations as opportunistic.  They may still vote for such organizations due of lack of better alternative.  As and when a truly inclusive alternative emerges, such opportunistic political organizations will be summarily rejected.

Who are the major stakeholders of the political organization which promises to practice spiritual politics?

Those people who yearn to live their lives in harmony with universal principles.

Though Tamilnadu is performing well on major economic and social indices as compared to many other states in India, the value system in Tamilnadu has been diluted so much in the last few decades that majority of the people feel that they are living a very compromised life tucking their conscience deep into their pockets.

Many people have reconciled to this corrupted reality and have even learnt to thrive in such a polluted environment.

But deep down, they yearn to live a meaningful life centered on principles.

Now, one may wonder how many such people are there in Tamilnadu.

In reality, all human beings yearn to live a meaningful life centered on principles but the degree of the yearning may vary.  It ranges from very strong to very weak but the yearning is always there.

All one needs to do is to appeal to this unfulfilled yearning of people and they will rally around in large numbers.

Spiritual appeal is truly inclusive as it doesn’t segment people based on ethnicity, religion, community, occupation or ideology.  It unites people across all segments based on their spiritual yearning to live in harmony with principles.

For the sceptics, let me remind you that the political system in India does not require political organizations to win absolute majority of 51% or more votes to be elected.  They require to garner just enough more votes than the highest contestant.

I am sure when the underlying principles of spiritual politics are communicated clearly and extensively across Tamilnadu, enough people will rally around and vote for this political organization to enable them to form the government.

Mission

Mission is the purpose of existence – of an individual, a family, an organization.

It has been observed that many people, who join political organizations, leverage their political connections to enhance their income generating potential – both legitimate and illegitimate.

Mr. Rajinikanth had clearly and repeatedly communicated to his proposed political organization volunteers not to join his organization for making money.  He has told them to continue with their occupation and volunteer for organizational work only during elections.

When a political organization is truly going to be driven by volunteers, it is all the more important that all of them are connected to a larger purpose – a mission.  Mission inspires, energizes, gives focus and sense of direction to the volunteers to enable them to work with missionary zeal.

Mission is also important from the perspective of moving from a personality-driven political organization to a purpose-driven political organization.  This will ensure the stability and sustainability of the organization.  

Typically, a mission statement is drafted by a core team, who are fully aligned to the principles of spiritual politics, and then taken to core volunteers of the organization to seek the views.  Based on the collective views, the draft mission statement is finetuned and the final mission statement is published.

From then on, the mission statement becomes the reference and rallying point for the leaders and volunteers of the organization.  It is the constitution of the organization.

Vision

Vision is the desired perception of a future state of existence - of an individual, a family or an organization.

Political organizations, who are elected to govern the state, get a tenure of 5 years to deliver on their promise.

While 5 years may not be sufficient to totally stem the rot in the political system in Tamilnadu, 5 years is good enough tenure to show significant improvement in all aspects of governance.

When people see genuine intentions being demonstrated to correct the corrupt political system in Tamilnadu, they will give more opportunities to govern.

So, it is very important that the vision document is prepared with clearly measurable outcomes to be delivered at the end of the 5 years tenure.  It should also have clearly measurable milestones to be crossed every year so that they can be monitored, reviewed and corrective actions taken to get back on track.

Preparation of vision document requires elaborate brainstorming sessions with different stakeholders to understand their needs and aspirations.  It also requires informal discussions with key people in the government to understand the challenges and opportunities.

A vision document prepared and presented during the electioneering process can, at best, be a draft version as access to certain vital information may not be there.  On forming the government, the process of preparing the final version of the vision document to be initiated and completed within 3 months.  This document should be available in the public domain and a scoreboard highlighting Promised Vs. Delivered to be presented on completion of every  year.

Mr. Rajinikanth had clearly said that if he can't deliver what he promises within 2-3 years of forming the government, he will resign.

Core values

Core values are those principles that are really important at a given point of time – to an individual, to a family or to an organization.

This is where spiritual politics will be significantly different, not just in degree but in kind, from other forms of politics practiced in Tamilnadu.

Many of you may remember the famous mission statement of Velu Naicker in the movie, Nayagan:

“Naalu perukku nallathuna ethuvum thappilla.”

This can loosely be translated as: 

“If it is beneficial for few people, then whatever we do is not wrong.”

It appears that few political organizations in Tamilnadu have literally bought into this approach of no values - anything goes, whatever it takes, by hook or by crook.

And we all know what happened to Velu Naicker in that movie.

Though in the movie, “beneficial for few people” was meant to take care of members of the public who are vulnerable and can’t protect themselves, few political organizations seem to have misinterpreted this and have taken “beneficial for few people” as beneficial to the members of the first family and their coteries.

My point is this:

While right outcome is very important, the process of delivering the right outcome is also equally important.

Political organization, which promises to practice spiritual politics, need to identify those core values or principles that they will never compromise on.

Though this list may not be exhaustive, these core values may be the critical ones to be demonstrated, in today's context, to change the mindset of the people in Tamilnadu.  

Over the years, this list may be refined to take up more core values which need attention and to drop core values which are firmly entrenched into the day-to-day lives of the people.

By internalizing the principles and processes discussed in this article, the political organization, which promises to practice spiritual politics, will be ready to embark on a purposeful journey which will be both challenging and fulfilling.