We have seen it in India in the past. In the 1960s, a chief minister of West Bengal resorted to a protest against his own government. In 2014, we saw the chief minister of Delhi spending a night on the streets while staging a dharna.
And now, we see the idea of self-opposition getting exported across the Atlantic when US President Donald Trump says that the country he is leading isn't "so innocent".
Trump said this in an interview while justifying his support for Russian President Vladimir Putin who the interviewer called a "killer" and asked the president why he respected his Russian counterpart.
Trump will not speak a career politician's language; but why make controversial remarks?
That "our country isn't so innocent" statement explains the entire Trump phenomenon that has now rattled the entire world. The real-estate mogul is not a politician and one cannot expect him to speak in the language of career politicians. But by 'externalising' himself from the rest of the US or rather its statecraft, even while ruling the nation is a difficult, if not dangerous, game.
Trump certainly cannot make changes in the rules of statecraft. The term "innocence" has little significance for the nitty-gritty of running a country and doesn't call for ethical judgment. A nation has to serve its interests ruthlessly to survive. In realpolitik, good or bad has little implication. What matters is whether a killing gets me my desired objective.
Is Trump's stand on Russia driven by his businessman instincts?
Trump's confusion becomes obvious when he sees more fault with his country's "killers". In no way is the US innocent, as Trump has rightly said, but what makes him take a soft stance on Putin? His businessman's instincts?
That he has to trade with Russia, a country with massive resources, via Rex Tillerson – a man known for his positive image in the Kremlin?
Trump looks to be in a hurry to alienate his own country and drive it down a wrong path rather than getting the US back to the negotiating table with the Russians. A US-Russia rapport is good for the world no doubt, but that can be done even without making remarks that favour peace less and fuel controversy more.
The acts of criticising one's own establishment can yet be pardoned when it comes to chief ministers of a developing state. But if the leader of the world's only superpower makes irresponsible remarks that alienate his own country in a bid to show his own greatness in being politically incorrect, it only paves the way for humiliation and danger.
Did Trump remember how many problems his country's representatives – formal or informal – living in other countries could face just because he robbed the US of all its "innocence" in one stroke? And just because he failed to show American solidarity over the issue, the Kremlin had the audacity of seeking an apology from the channel for using the word "killer".
Statecraft involves little morality and Trump cannot change it either. He is too rich, right-wing and content to call for a Castro-like revolution.
As the president of the US, Trump can only respond to the ambience that has developed over the ages and try to better things. America will remain great whether he wants to be part of it or not. But the 45th incumbent will only make himself and his country look foolish if he continues to make remarks that are, at the end of the day, hollow and purposeless.
Grow up Trump! You are the president of the United States of America.
