All religions use a special mind trick to control their followers. I call it the ‘Maximised Adversity Dividend’ or MAD, and it works something like this: The more pain, the more adversity, the more suffering a faithful suffers, the stronger their faith becomes. Logic would dictate the exact opposite, but that is not how faith seems to work. If the omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent entity I pray to, with the hope of pleasing so that I may reap some unfair advantage over other similar pleaders, comes across as cruel, arrogant, weak, or even absent, my belief in its existence, powers, intent, or design does not diminish. On the contrary. I start believing that this is some sort of a test to see if I am indeed as loyal and as deserving (even though while pleading my case, I frequently and loudly confess I am not) of the love, respect, affection, and largesse of this beautiful, powerful, ever-present entity I have publicly put myself in the hands of. The other reason is that since my confession of my faith is so public and so oftentimes repeated that it becomes embarrassing for me to back out or walk away from it for what others see as the very time this particular entity did not grant me some decidedly minor favour, or failed what can only be mortal and insignificant (in the larger scheme of things) expectations from the small and inconsequential me.
For those who haven’t yet understood how Narendra Modi manages to keep his flock of bhakts together even in face of such humungous failures of leadership, inefficient and corrupt administration, ineffective and incompetent governance, lack of statesmanship or grasp of international relations, a total mess that the economy is, and now this, whatever you want to call it, he has done about the happenings on the border, need only understand how religions work. I’d wager that the worse his record becomes, the more the pain he heaps upon his votaries, the more they will profess their love for him, for not only do they think of every screwup of his that affects them negatively as some sort of test of their loyalty and patriotism, but also have painted themselves into a corner for far too long and far too deeply for them to come out now and say they indeed erred in their judgment of this man and they wish to correct it forthwith, or at least in the elections immediately following.
So, for those who think that the brutal murder by bludgeoning of 20 good men on his watch is the last straw for his bhakts, especially given he rode to popular mandate on the wings of muscular nationalism and pride in the armed forces, do not understand the phenomenon he has created at all.
Modi is here to stay. For every year under him, India will need two to extricate herself from the humiliation, impoverishment, and regression he has wreaked upon the Motherland.
Patriots: Gird your loins and prepare for the long haul.
Also remember: Modi can only be replaced by someone even more divine, more worthy of worship, than him. Not by a mortal.
