Matters of honesty

National Honesty Day is celebrated on April 30 throughout the United States. The purpose of the day is to encourage everyone to be honest in all fields of life, especially politics, relationships, business and historical facts.

Honesty Day is attributed to the anniversary of the first inauguration of great legendary leader George Washington, held on April 30, 1789. The presidency of George Washington started on April 30, 1789, when he was elected unanimously during the first presidential elections.

No doubt, honesty is a great virtue, and every religion urges the followers to maintain highest levels of honesty at any cost. Like every religion, one of the significant core values of Hinduism is to ensure honesty for the sake of betterment of the society. It is believed that if a person is honest and truthful then, despite facing temporary troubles, he/she will be successful at the end of the day.

Hindu scriptures, while defining about truth, emphasize that “Where there is truth, there is religion; where there is religion, there is light; and where there is light, there is Happiness, peace and prosperity.” On the other hand, the way to falsehood and cheating leads to darkness, sorrow, grief and destruction.

A good human-being, therefore, never ever tries to engage in immoral activities. Once a good person recognizes his/her mistake, sincere apology is offered openly to seek repentance. Contrary to this, a person who doesn’t have such human virtues is rejected by the fellows, once his/her cheating exposes. Such person is neither considered a trustworthy friend material nor a faithful companion. This is a universal fact that nobody is interested to keep relations with someone who breaks the trust intentionally and practices unethical ways.

In order to maintain honesty and truthfulness, it is urged to follow four principles in daily conversations: (i) keep quiet instead of speaking nonsense; (ii) ensure the truth at any cost; (iii) use soft and pleasant words; and (iv) speak that which is in conformity with religion. It is therefore very necessary for every person to adopt a pleasant way of talking while expressing truth.

Since my entry into parliamentary politics 18 years ago, I have seen that our national politics is revolving around achieving personal gains. Obviously, there are a good number of honest politicians in parliament. However, after winning elections, many politicians forget all public promises and start focusing on their personal agenda.

This is indeed a very painful situation for all genuine politicians, who believe honesty is the best policy. In my view, we must follow Quaid-e-Azam, who succeeded in maintaining the highest standards of honesty during his entire tireless struggle.

Honesty Day demands every one of us to ensure best ethical practices in our entire life. We must speak the truth. We must not forget that our real well-wisher is one who identifies our mistakes. Today, we must be thankful to the media for all the criticism. However, the media must also highlight positive steps by the government in an honest way.

The writer is a member of the National Assembly and patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council.

Twitter: @RVankwani