The cult of personality — (Part 1) — Historic
In the country of 33 crore gods, one can find idols at every corner. Some start small, initially as local pariahs and later have a metamorphosis into demigods. A singular personality, rising through the ranks of an IT company can attains a status of a demigod in a few years. You can hear the name whispered with utmost respect in a plethora of discussions. Youngsters scramble to emulate these heroes, even faking knowledge about the rise of this personality. We can safely assume that Big-Hero narrative is a predominant way in which our species has managed to communicate over millennia.
All religions, particularly the monotheist ones, have a central figure of utmost reverence. It is around this personality that the premise of the message is constructed. Pagans worshiped several idols and corresponding cults. In the Hindu culture, numerous such figures are revered. Monotheism started as a break from idolatry with the particular emphasis given on what we may call “smashing the idols”. Moses is said to have ordered the Golden calf which the israelites were worshiping to be burned to dirt and their followers executed for idol worship. Muhammad took opposition to idolatry to a different level with opposition to the Pagan cults in Mecca. It even manifested as the complete suppression of idolatry in the Mecca which went viral in following decades. Perhaps one can even wishfully claim that these prophets saw the “real dangers” idolatry posed. Ironically no other figure in history is more idolized and lionized than Muhammad even though making idols and representations of him is banned in Islam.Every mention of his name is followed by “Rest in peace”. Perhaps the curious human nature of fatal attraction toward the forbidden fruit has lead Muslims on this Ironic path. An evolutionary biologist would put this as the defiant genetic makeup of our brains which resists any change away from the age old personality cult narrative prevalent in all human discourses.
In 2015 politics,the cult of Narendra Modi dominates the Indian arena which has hosted the likes of Babasaheb Ambedkar, VD Savarkar, Mohandas Gandhi and others for last century. Internationally, only the Communist regimes of Vladmir Putin, Fidel Castro (Raul Castro) can match the Indian PM in his personality cult. Kim-Jong-Un of North Korea is on an even higher pedestal. Haven't the totalitarian regimes of Saddam, Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot and Mao taught the world enough ? Many history textbooks read Hitler invaded Poland as if he single handedly annexed a country. That is how history continues to be told. The focus on a megalomanaical individual makes the narrative less complex and somewhat more interesting. Great man history also makes “the Fight of Good v Evil” easier to compose.
Though the actions of Ambedkar, Savarkar and Gandhi were polar opposite in many sense, they all captured the minds of masses in the exact same way. These 3 individuals take the role of the shepherd in 3 mostly non intersecting spheres of influence. Is Gandhi the clear winner with his image printed arguably more than any other human being in the history ? In 2015, Indians in reality don't hold on too the image of the “Mahatma” for MK Gandhi. He is often derided in pubic discourse and social media as an extremist in his own sense. But the reverence bestowed upon Ambedkar by the lower castes in India seems almost nauseating. The most revered figure in Maharashtra is the great Maratha ruler Shivaji from 16th century who set up the Hindu kingdom based in Maharashtra. He is not exactly worshiped in the strictest sense of word but that doesn't imply that he isn't idolized. Once you idolized the being tends to be dehumanized. Any criticism, satire or even historic analysis of these idols tends to engulf the masses with flames of visceral hatred which results in acts like the Charlie Hebdo incident.
All communist states have emphasized on the personality cult of the leader. In its application communism treats citizens systemically as masses. The personality cult of the leader might be designed to stunt the individualistic aspirations so as to continue the ambitious experiment of Marxist Communism. The leader is often elevated to an undeserving pedestal with the masses resigned to the base.
Karl Marx, who called Religion the “Opium of masses ” couldn't prevent some of the negatives of Religion getting recreated in Marxist-Leninist Communist model. Arguably the habit of hero-workship is so deeply engrained that fighting it of will take a considerable and focussed effort. Firstly the human community must be shown the error of its ways. These traits which have dominated the human discourse ought to be scrutinized unlike ever before. The following essays will focus on this.
