A kurukshestra begins at home when a strand of long black hair is discovered on the collar, and we try to lie about it in a most clumsy fashion. Here again men have been so unsuccessful throughout the centuries in coming up with a great convincing act. In the political front, our great "leaders" who have been showing their pompous finger at us for so many years have set the example of lying-to-jail comic act for their dedicated followers to emulate in future.

For such poor liars, wise men of the past have said many interesting things that are worth reproducing here to substantiate this article. For example, way back in time Greek sage and scholar, Aristotle, warned: "The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold." Meaning, one lie will lead to another. The chap with the long black hair on his collar will be able to elaborate on this point.

Abraham Lincoln said: "No man has a good enough memory to make a successful liar." So, future liars, do not rely too much on your memory while lying. And here is what Thomas Carlyle had to say about the liars: "Make yourself an honest man, and then you may be sure there is one less rascal in the world." A bit hard on the glib liars isn't it? Can we get away by saying a half truth? No way. Listen to what an old Yiddish proverb says: "A half-truth is a whole lie."

Let us sum up this journey into the realm of truth and half truth by quoting from the greatest short story writer, O. Henry: "There is no well-defined boundary between honesty and dishonesty. The frontiers of one blend with the outside limits of the other, and he who attempts to tread this dangerous ground may be sometimes in one domain and sometimes in the other."

Let us now come back to the real world. Since January this year, and since many episodes of incredible events happening in quick succession, we have been getting caught between lies, half-truths and denials coming from questionable people occupying respectable positions, such as prime minister, minister, judge, lawyer, university professor, college teacher, high government official and so on.

Separating their half-truths from the lies, or vice versa, often seemed like a Sisyphean task for commoners like us. Is he telling the truth? Is she lying? Why is he denying everything now? Such questions clouded our minds as soon as these people opened their mouths. By doing so they have committed acts of misdemeanor and, at the same time, demeaned the institutions they represented.

Backtrack a little. Respectable judges behaved and performed in a shameful way to hold on to positions of power. They worked at the beck and call of some corrupt politicians, but denied it at every opportunity. The EC is the best example of this drama. Then we have seen the free-for-all spree of corruption going on in the PSC. Here again, we have seen how educated people resorted to lying and telling half-truths. In the law ministry the "anointed one" sat there for the last five years with a copy of the constitution under his armpit, scripting the acts of the drama staged outside. But he never said anything straight. For five years he smiled his way out of trouble. But he could not go any further in the end.

Then came the turn of the plunderers and looters. Once apprehended, the looters had stories to tell about the 300 crore, 500 crore, 1000 crore in banks, Hummer, Lexus and Prado in the garage, tons and tons of corrugated tin in ponds, bottles of foreign liquor in bedroom, 130 flats in Dhaka, numerous flats in Dubai, Malaysia, London and New York, acres and acres of land throughout the country (100 acres acquired for Tk. 500 only!), numerous TV channels/newspapers, and so on. Everyone claimed to be telling the truth until the "real" truth came out, just as the one crore Taka in cash popped out from inside the mattress of the chief conservator of forests.

Today, the nation is caught in a vortex of lies and denial. Whom to believe really? Can anyone blame the commoners for having lost faith in the "talkative" leaders who are in denying mode today? But aren't they the same people who had taken the country to the edge of the precipice? Aren't they the same people who had told us that great progress was being made in the "dialogue?" Didn't they tell us every month that electricity would be available in plenty the next month? But everything turned out to be a rude joke on the people.

But what surprises and angers us most is that none of the leaders has ever apologized for the wholesale plundering of national wealth by his/her party men! The denial mode is glaringly obvious even behind the tinted sunglasses. The arrogance embedded in the voice and body language totally betrays any trace of remorse for the anti-people activities of the party, therefore, can we trust people having no worthy antecedents with state power? Shouldn't we look for better ones?

Shahnoor Wahid is Senior Assistant Editor of The Daily Star.