But though the Crusades lasted some 200 years (1095-1291), they ended, for the most part, with inconclusive results that persist to this day. The term ‘crusading', however, entered the lexicon, and the hearts of most evangelists, reformers, would be do-gooders, activists, social workers, and populist politicians. But then, all politicians are required to be populist to a lesser or greater extent, depending on whether they need to conform to the democratic franchise-based model or are exempted from the vote, as in one-party Governments of the Left and Right, monarchies and dictatorships. But even those who don't need to get elected still need a modicum of popular support, and the Crusades were designed to focus unified attention on the enemy after all.
So it is poignant that in recent memory, most crusaders, nationally and internationally, turn out to have proverbial feet of clay, sundry skeletons in their cupboards and other disappointing integrity issues. In our polity, which is presently outdoing itself with new, improved assays in audacious and ever-enlarging corruption, it is surprising to see the long somnolent and moribund Ministry of Environment and Forests suddenly becoming so hyperactive, though in a manner that produces much thunder and lightning but precious little rain. Read the full report here.
Source: Gautam Mukherjee, The Pioneer, New Delhi.
