Is not calling a person as fool uncultured?

Democracy is essentially a process where peace and harmony should prevail and animosity and hatred should be done away with.
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By N.S.Venkataraman

(March 22, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) It was reported in the press that President Rajapaksa has called his opponent Presidential candidate Mr. Fonseka as a fool.

Many thought that President Rajapaksa would not have said this and he would deny outright that he used such term to describe his political opponent. Unfortunately, there has been no such denial from President Rajapaksa, leaving one to the conclusion that the President would have said this.

One of the primary requisites for success of democracy and civilized politics is that everyone involved should show respect and treat the opponent with dignity even if he had to disagree with him on one count or the other. Such remarks, while being extremely uncultured , creates a sense of bitterness in the country’s political climate and would pave way for conflicts of extreme intensity, that would not do good to the country or to its politics or to the people who have thought it fit to make such remarks.

Should not the persons occupying the top positions such as President or Prime Minister exercise utmost restraint and caution in making adverse remarks about other persons ? When such remarks are attributed to the President, will it not happen that the whole dignity of the country which has reposed faith in a person to occupy the position of President, will be lowered and the country would stand humiliated.

In any democratic society, only a fraction of the populations gets involved in active politics and large number of people attend to their own interests and contribute to the welfare of the country to the best of their capability. There are many scientists, technologists , academicians , religious heads, artists etc. of high attainments and capable of lofty thinking who would feel extremely sad and frustrated that the top most leaders of the country would make such careless remarks that are full of hatred. Such people are really those who build the country and keep aloft the reputation and prestige of the country much more than the politicians. These men of substance and attainment must be fretting and fuming helplessly that top leaders make these kind of remarks and make the whole country as a laughing stock in front of the world opinion.

Democracy is essentially a process where peace and harmony should prevail and animosity and hatred should be done away with. Otherwise, democracy will become a counter productive procedure of governance. The top politicians should realize this and understand the importance of maintaining dignity in their utterances and reactions both in private and public. This is applicable to democracies all over the world.