Reel Magnanimity, Real Intimidation: The Asymmetry of Power
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| Image courtesy here |
There is a stark and characteristically histrionic
irony that unfolded in Indian public discourse in the last few days.
At a recent protest in Delhi, a
15-year-old schoolgirl made rash and objectionable remarks against Prime
Minister Modi. Within days, the full weight of the state apparatus descended
upon the adolescent girl: a Zero FIR was registered by police, her phone number
was leaked online, and she was subjected to terrifying rape- and death-threats.
Facing immense terror, she released an apology video with folded hands, stating
that she was “ashamed” and felt as if she was “given a second life.”
Soon the 76-year-old Prime Minister took
to Instagram in a midnight video message to proclaim that he had “forgiven the
misguided children” and urged society to guide them rather than seek
punishment. In the video, Modi did look like the greatest forgiver in history, the most
magnanimous human that ever walked the earth hitherto. Worse, he played a
victim card which was a devious way to provoke his followers to do worse things
while he himself appeared saintly.
In other words, the narrative is
clearly that of a benevolent patriarch bestowing royal clemency on an aberrant
schoolchild. Step back from the curated social media aesthetic, and the underlying
political posture reveals something highly troubling.
On one side of this new right-wing
game stands the Prime Minister of a nuclear-armed nation, a leader backed by a
massive parliamentary majority, an international apparatus, and an army of frenzied
supporters. On the other side stands a teenager at a student demonstration. The
asymmetry of power
is as baffling as it is ludicrous.
When such a ‘tall’ leader feels
compelled to frame a hapless teenager as a national grievance requiring “magnanimous
forgiveness,” it doesn’t project strength at all. It reveals extreme institutional vulnerability.
True authority doesn’t need to perform midnight mercy on social media over an
angry minor’s outburst; it must have the resilience to tolerate criticism. Even
abuse shouldn’t affect it, if its strength is genuine. Actually abuse reveals
the smallness of the abuser.
What should strike us even harder is the central paradox
in all this. For over a decade, India’s official political discourse has
frequently denigrated historic figures and freedom fighters who laid the
foundations of modern India. Jawaharlal Nehru was routinely targeted with sharp,
personal, and derogatory rhetoric by his present successor who probably thought
of alleviating his unworthiness by making quixotic assaults on the predecessor’s
greatness. Once again, who becomes small in the process?
Modi never exercised any restraint from
attacking people who are dead and gone and hence cannot defend themselves. Yet,
when the sharp language is turned back toward himself by a little girl, the
response shifts instantly to national outrage which seeks the girl’s blood.
While the PM’s Instagram reel speaks
of “guidance over punishment,” the legal machinery on the ground tells a very
different story.
Worse, framing political dissent as “children
making mistakes” is inherently patronising. It reduces legitimate student grievances such
as exam paper leaks and youth unemployment to mere behavioural issues that need
parental discipline.
I’m not arguing that vulgar or abusive language
represents the gold standard of public debate. My view in short is: In a
functioning democracy, there is a fundamental difference between calling out
bad language and unleashing state machinery against a child.
When a society reaches a point where
a teenager must beg for her safety on camera after expressing her anger in
not-so-acceptable a manner, the problem isn’t the teenager’s manners as the
Prime Minister makes it out to be; the problem is with our democracy. True
democratic strength isn’t about performing forgiveness in 60-second reels; it’s
about having the stature to withstand dissent without making a villain out of a
schoolgirl.
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| Image courtesy here |
Thanks for visiting, I miss having a translator with you :))
ReplyDeleteHave a nice Monday, kisses, Andreja!
Why not use Google translator?
DeleteYes. Your Italicized Points and the Bottom Line say it all... With the Powerful Dhvani and the Rasa of Indian Aesthetics and Hermeneutics. PM is Puny and Petulent; And his Bhakts, Blind, Peevish and Puerile, more than their Idol. And DemocracyDemoceacy, that is India, in the ICU.
ReplyDeleteSince you're not active on social media, you don't see the quantum of hatred that spreads there in the name of gods and myths.
DeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteOne wonders at the sense of shock this gives - yet somehow, a lack of surprise. He is consistent in his manipulation... YAM xx
He is quite diabolic, I'm forced to say. India will either perish under him or it will eject him in next election.
DeleteI think he has been in power for too long. Elected officials in a democracy are supposed to be humble executors of the will of the people. A prime minister should not act like a king arrogantly handing down arbitrary judgments from on high. (I know this issue is not unique to India. We in the US have the same problem with our presidents.) And speaking critically, even rudely, about elected officials is everyone's inherent right in a free democratic society.
ReplyDeleteI do not know if this episode made Modi look vulnerable, but it certainly made him look arrogant and petty.
Indeed such long terms in power especially with an effete oppostion, people like him tend to become autocratic. You may be aware that he's started telling people that he is an incarnation of God. Indi has reasons to be wary of him. Instead, vast majority are in awe of him!
DeleteThat is appalling. Anyone who has met teenagers know that is the sort of thing they do. And to unleash such horrors upon one? Absolutely unforgivable. And she won't soon forget this lesson. Don't underestimate her anger over all of this.
ReplyDeleteThere were far too many other serious issues to be tackled. Instead he chose that girl as his target precisely with a diabolic motive. "Absolutely unforgivable," you're right.
DeleteAll elected officials only want to hold on to power and there every move displays that
ReplyDeleteIn India, it's about more than power. They're rewriting history. A Herculean effort to wash away whatever is perceived as signs of feebleness. In the new history, we won't have any enslaving Mughals or British, you see. We'll be proud Indians who own entirely as our own a civilization whose greatness goes back to the origin of the species.
DeleteWhen a leader needs to ‘forgive’ a teenager to look strong, it only exposes weakness. True power is shown by tolerance, not intimidation.
ReplyDeleteSince the girl is Hindu, she's not in grave danger.
DeleteOf course, nobody from any other community would dare do what she did. They all utter their curses sotto voce.
There is a lot to say about all that has been happening over the last couple of months. But, I would just restrict it to: The whole controversy could been handled in a far better and matured manner by the government. They just underestimated the gravity of the issue and the constituency they were dealing with.
ReplyDeleteThey're underestimating the power of youth. The hubris of this government will be broken soon.
DeleteWow! The last 3 lines are so profound.
ReplyDeleteThere's too much pain around and so profundity will come naturally.
Delete