Stupidity of the Rulers is Evident Now

Long ago there lived a thug in a country. He had developed his mastery in fraudulently making money. Beguiling the king of the country was his unique idea he had hit upon. After deciding to try his hand in the royal court with the help of some bureaucrats there, he was successful in having access to the king of the country. He was introduced to be an expert in weaving a rare and seldom found quality of a cloth. The king, very anxiously, got ready to have that wonderful cloth, so he agreed to approve the budget for the project. The assessment given to him by the thug, as the cost of the project was tremendously high, but the rulers in the third world countries, majorly in the Muslim countries, may they be of the past or present, have been fond of rarities and squander huge amounts of money for such things. Rulers, with the kingly nature, arbitrary powers and dictatorial authorities, as we have even in the so-called democratic countries, are importunate like the kids. They squander for splendid display and pomp and show and foolishly and lavishly shower their favours on jesters and mimics. It does not matter to them the depository will be dissipated in such spendthrifts. They do not shy in earnest begging from IMF, World Bank and ‘Friends of…’

Singularity of the cloth the thug had claimed to weave was that it could be visible to only the wise persons. Foolish and brainless people could not catch sight of the cloth. Due to this particular quality of the cloth which was going to be weaved made the king extremely crazy about having that kind of cloth. He ordered his concerned minister to provide every facility to the weaver to do his job of weaving peacefully. After he had set his weaving tools the thug started pretending to looming the threads. Now the official visits started for making sure that the process of preparing the unique cloth was going smoothly and satisfactorily. The members of royal cabinet came there and looked over the place stretching their eyes to their full. They saw hands of the ‘craftsman’ moving and heard the sounds of loom but could see nothing. Just avoiding to be counted in the list of foolish people they posed as if they could see the cloth and applauded the art of the weaver.

Bureaucracy was watching the drama with its hiding mischief. The cabinet ministers were doing the same what we see the ministers and advisors of the rulers generally do. They started beating the drums and were competing with each other in high praise and paying tributes to the king who had got the wonderful project started in his country, a sign of industrial progress which no other country had made. They were trying their utmost to prove that the project was a testimony of the wisdom of the king. Every one of them was in the race to win the pleasure of the king by proving his era a golden age of the history of the nation. They were drumming the fictional and mischievous idea of the weaver into the people, make them believe that the project undertook with the interest and boosting of the king would rapidly elevate the country to the top of the industrial countries.

The time at last came when the weaver proclaimed that the project was over and the strange cloth was ready. Bureaucracy got the top fashion designer of the town engaged in the mischievous plot. The cabinet ministers proposed to make dress from the cloth, first of all for the king. The particular fashion designer was hired to ‘sew’ the royal dress. Entire government machinery was busy to applaud the king for his wisdom and a progressive step in the field of textile industry. Moreover the uniqueness of the textile pieces prepared in royal custody was a test because according to the weaver’s pretence it was not seeable to the foolish people. Government servants, high class officials, advisors, ministers and prominent dignitaries in the line of the courtiers were not ready to expose themselves to be foolish saying that they could not see the cloth. So they were flaunting and singing the praises of their king who, as they said, was making history by getting invented a unique type of cloth under his auspices.

Now the next part of the plot was exhibition of the newly loomed cloth. A flattering proposal made the king ready to ‘wear’ that entirely uncommon dress and take the round of the capital in his royal carriage. Celebrations of the festival were declared and a crazy atmosphere was created with propaganda to bring the people on the streets to see their king in an extraordinary fashion.

The king boastfully stood on an open carriage to let his public see him ‘wearing the clothes’ which could be visible only to ‘wise’ and not to the foolish. There were milling crowds on the streets clapping as the royal carriage passed by them. Many were laughing to see the ridiculous situation. There was a big number of the people who had closed their eyes with modesty and being ashamed but no one was there daring to speak truth. Only an innocent little child holding the finger of his father shouted: “Baba! Look, our king is standing naked on his carriage.”

The story does not end here. It becomes of all the periods because, actually, it indicates the natures more than the incidents. This happens to the rulers when they are artificially establishing their credibility with support of corrupt, opportunist and wicked advisors who account their nudity for adornment. They keep their eyes closed from the facts which the children can easily see. They make people believe the black for white, the lies for truth, the backwardness for progress, poverty for prosperity, debts of IMF for wealth of the country. They advise the people to buy cake if they do not afford a piece of bread. Their sanity eclipse, conscience sleeps and sense of honour dies. And then happens that happened to the king in the story. What is then stupidity if nit this! But now as evident in the Middle East and Arab countries, not only any kid but millions of the people have come to know that their rulers are naked.