<B>By Deepa BHOOKHUN</B>

Prime minister Ramgoolam said on Tuesday, as he was celebrating his father?s birth anniversary in Belle Rive that the political struggle of the Labour party was about the dignity of the people.

If you didn?t know any better, you could be forgiven if you had given in to the urge of clapping and cheering as the PM?s supporters in Belle Rive heartily did.

It?s a beautiful word, dignity. Having it is even more beautiful.

We should ask Anil Chiniah, former acting secretary at the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), his thoughts on the matter.

While we?re at it, we could ask all those who over the years have had their careers cut short because some politician woke up one morning and decided somebody had to go, what they think of the word dignity.

Dignity. A beautiful word indeed. Not so beautiful though when it?s taken away from people.

We should ask the top guy at the TEC what he thinks about this one. Better still, how about having Dharam Gokhool?s thoughts on the matter? It?s not nice to point fingers though; Gokhool is not the only dignity snatcher this country has known.

I guess having such power over people?s lives inflates the ego of politicians, takes them to such highs that they don?t have to think of the lows of other people?s lives.

The only lows politicians know is when they lose an election. But that?s the choice they made when they decided to become politicians.

Most other people - and this includes civil servants - have not made this choice. They have instead made the choice of being professionals, of working to the best of their abilities, of adding their small contribution to the country. And if and when there are breaches, you deal with them according to proper disciplinary procedures.

You don?t sack people on a whim.

You know why? Because professionals derive their dignity from doing their jobs. This dignity is trampled upon and thrown away when decision makers callously make the decision to sack civil servants and employees of parastatal bodies without good cause.

And, as the politician who has sworn on everything he holds dear during electoral campaigns that he will fight for people?s dignity, happily moves on to other dossiers, the revoked person will slowly and unwillingly wake up in the morning and wish he could go back to bed just to be saved from having to face a day that is hollow as it is empty.

But hey, who cares? Dignity is a beautiful word.

But how can people who don?t know its meaning even comprehend what it?s like to be robbed of it?

It?s just a word to them.