- As the popular saying goes, it’s easier to preach than follow what is being preached. Mind you, all of us have an opinion on everything under the sun and hence, would not mind dispensing with precious preaching, though we might not be equipped or qualified to indulge in the first place. Nonetheless, the urge to be heard/recognized/conferred with drives us to dish out pearls of wisdom which might not be accepted or even considered worthy of embracing. Despite this, we do not stop from being heard. Aren’t we? What about those who are at the helm of affairs, entrusted with the onerous task of administering critical aspects of governance/administration? Are certain policy decisions meant for the general public alone, not the administrators?
PC: Middle East Institute
- If so, then such a country must be anything but a democratic form of governance where freedoms are curtailed for the people but liberally allowed to be breached by the authorities. That’s termed as hypocrisy of the highest order. This is precisely what was reported from Iran recently, where the powerful elite’s hypocrisy stood exposed. Do as I say, not as I do, is the classic authoritarian schema. Sometimes this double standard gets so stark that people’s tolerance, or gullibility, is breached. That’s what happened with Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, a top Iranian official and Khamenei confidante who led the crackdown on the Woman, Life, Freedom protests not so long ago. A video of his daughter’s wedding has surfaced of late. Guess what it contains!
PC: Jagran
- The video shows the bride, her mother, and many attendees without any headdress. Note that it’s the contrast with how Mahsa Amini’s life was cut short for not wearing a hijab that makes the stylish strapless wedding dress in the video so jarring. Of all the ruling elite’s hypocrisies, the ones inflicted on young persons are the worst. The freedom they confer on their own while pillorying its larger circulation serves a gatekeeping role. If its opportunities don’t get into broader circulation, privilege can keep reproducing seamlessly within the ruling class. Social mobility be damned. In India, we have seen politicians decry English-medium education and Western culture while making sure their heirs attend the choicest of rich countries’ institutions.
PC: Al Jazeera
- Hypocrisy is prevalent everywhere, including the most advanced ones. Near home, Taliban officials are known to treat their daughters to driving privileges and modern education, even overseas colleges. What are people to do then? Every time govts invoke a crisis to tell everyone to accept hardships for the greater good, check if there’s new austerity at the top too, and don’t stop asking what caused the crisis. Hierarchy is more insidious in the age of representation than in the we rule because we are born to era. Thus, we must be alert to patriotism, tradition, merit, and reform being weaponized against us. Elite hypocrisy is also excellent data – it can reveal how much freedom holds how much power. Like it or not, double standards and hypocrisy will exist. Period.
