Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently celebrated his 75th birthday. Among the gushingly fulsome birthday wishes to Modi, a video by actor Sudesh Berry took the veritable cake.
In the video, a visibly emotional Berry not only likened Modi to an avatar of Lord Vishnu but also appealed to all Indians to show their gratitude to Modi by donating Rs 1 into Modi’s bank account. Berry’s video was startling. It suggested that an elected prime minister needed to be monetarily compensated for his apparently supremely generous act of “developing” India. According to this video, Modi doesn’t really have a duty to need to govern, enact policy or work towards implementation of administrative decisions as prime ministers of democracies are constitutionally bound to do. Oh no. Instead, each of Modi’s actions are seen as extraordinary acts of munificence towards the public, for which a grateful nation must pay him.
A deadening sycophancy has taken hold of our country in the last 11 years of the Modi regime. A self-abasing, undignified, chamchagiri is now the recourse of certain VIPs who have been reduced to fearfully quaking trumpeters of the suffocating Modi cult. The film director and former censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani once proudly stated, “ I am proud to be a Modi chamcha.”
This time on Modi’s birthday, film stars, sports personalities, industry leaders all poured out their extravagant wishes to the prime minister in what can only be described as an orgy of sycophancy. One sports personality got caught out– mistakenly copy pasting a tweet-obviously sent to him by one of Modi’s PR agencies-which stated his name at the top, indicating these were pre-drafted tweets sent out by name to celebrities and influencers.
The newspapers and TV channels were awash with Modi publicity banners. Modi advertisements, films on Modi’s life story, Modi’s different headgear, Modi’s photos—showing a 56 inch chest flaunting strongman leader striding like a colossus or glaring fixedly into the middle distance or waving like a deity from a golden chariot—, Modi’s sayings, Modi’s books were plastered all over the media. The newspapers were like Modi magazines, every page bearing the PM’s visage, as BJP leaders, business houses, civil society institutions rushed to publish advertisements proclaiming their devotion to “Modiji.”
Our society is prone to hero worship. The powerful attract reverence and awe, they are seen as the rising sun. The phrase ugta suraj ko sab pranam karte hain is commonlu used. (All salute the rising sun.) But when cloying sycophancy and obsequious chamchagiri become the national default mode, society loses life-giving vigour.
Writes the Congress leader later Swatantra Party stalwart and the first Indian governor general, C Rajagopalachari or Rajaji: ‘If subservience and slavish adulation take the place of independent thinking and criticism is never resorted to but with fear and trepidation, the atmosphere breeds political diseases . . . careerism, intrigue and various types of degrees of dishonesty.” Rajaji also writes: “ Talent and energy [must] find scope for play without having to cringe and obtain special individual permission from officials and ministers, their efforts [must be] judged by the open market in India and abroad . . . statism must go . . . and the Government reduced to its proper functions.’ ( quoted in Sagarika Ghose. Why I Am A Liberal) Penguin. Delhi 2018. P. 127) It is indeed shocking that sportspersons and artistes who have proved their talents in their respective fields, still need to cringe and bow before the prime minister in the way that they did.
In the past political leaders have tended to use birthday celebrations as affirmations of the party’s identity. Lalu Prasad Yadav was known for his secular birthday cakes—his 55th birthday cake was baked in the shape of church, mandir and masjid, Jayalalithaa once had a Parliament shaped cake and Mayawati was known for her giant sized birthday cakes. These occasions are times when parties celebrate their tall leaders with gatherings, garlands, and cultural events and the popularity of the leader is emphasised and projected. Sometimes giant hoardings of the leader are placed in public places to emphasise the leaders’ saliency among the public. Jawaharlal Nehru’s birthday is celebrated as Children’s Day, Indira Gandhi’s birthday sees celebrations of her “Iron Lady” image. Parties often use the leader’s birthday to project their mass appeal, and person-of-the-masses- public connectedness. On Modi’s birthday in 2019, the BJP’s supremo was presented with a 569 kg laddoo.
But an important distinction must be drawn between a political party commemorating its leader’s birthday, or the day being marked by service to a cause such as the welfare of children, and a birthday in which the civil society and the entire state machinery are harnessed to the celebrations. To actively orchestrate and organise all of civil society—film stars, industrialists, sportspersons—into becoming an on-cue chorus line of admiration for a prime minister, shows a drive to impose an undemocratic authoritarian and imperial dominance. Modi is PM with 36% votes, he’s not a hereditary king.
This year industry leaders put out videos and statements about their flattering views on Modi. Movie stars disseminated their personal stories about Modi.
Modi’s birthday this year was not just a BJP celebration as leaders birthdays tend to be. The tentacles of sycophancy were sent far into civil society.
Modi’s PR machine took the PM’s birthday publicity to an unprecedented level. LK Advani once described Moi as an excellent “event manager” and indeed Modi’s media machine and social media and mainstream media outreach is the largest most well-organised force of any PM so far. Modi’s birthday blitz was mounted on a huge scale and cleverly covered the range of media outlets.
The mainstream media, print and TV all carried expensive ads. Important questions must be asked: when Public Sector Undertakings took out ads for the PM’s birthday, what amounts of money were spent by the taxpayer? How much public money was spent? Today every major state is in debt. The debt of 28 states has ballooned to over 59 lakh crores. Can the exchequers of states bear the burden of massive ad spends only to send wishes on the PM’s birthday? Clearly all purse strings have to be opened to bolster the cult of Modi, which in any case is promoted 24*7 across media year round.
Delhi recently witnessed a collapse of civic infrastructure and drainage during a very heavy monsoon season. But on Modi’s birthday the Delhi government staged a mega show with drones at the Thyagraj stadium. The Delhi government would have been better off spending the resources of the state machinery on the woes of citizens instead. Shockingly, there is zero accountability on these massive extravaganzas paid for with tax-payers money.
When cultural and business figures are pressed into the service to pay obeisance at Modi’s cult, it’s like converting society’s leaders into Dickensian Uriah Heeps. Uriah Heep, a character from Charles Dickens novel ‘David Copperfield’ is the quintessential sycophant. Perpetually obsequious, manipulative and deceitful, he uses false humility to advance himself and keeps up a pretence of cringing servility and submissiveness.
It would be a tragedy indeed if in the world’s largest democracy, marked by a vibrant civil society which has, in the past turned out for causes and protests, the leading lights were forced by state power to become various versions of the appalling Uriah Heep.
Even schools and puja pandals were not spared. A school (my former school I must add) put out a circular asking students to make birthday cards for Modi. The Delhi Chief Minister urged Durga Puja pandals to place photos of Modi at the feet of Goddess Durga inside the pandal. This is an unheard of interference in a traditional and devotional celebration where the presence of the goddess is the focus of the ceremonies.
Why should schools, durga puja pandals, actors, sportspersons and industry leaders, find it necessary to make public statements on the birthday of the person who happens to be holding the office of the PM? And why isn’t there a pushback to this breath-taking industrial scale vyakti puja (worship of an individual)?
Granted, there have been personality cults before. Congress leader DK Baruah once said “India is Indira. Indira is India.” But Baruah was pilloried in the media for this chamchagiri remark, his political career in fact nosediving indeed more or less ending in 1974 after his infamous statement. Indira Gandhi’s personality cult may have dominated politics but there was always robust interrogation of her both in the media and in Parliament.
The difference today is sycophancy has been normalised. Sycophancy is considered acceptable and routine. There is widespread normalisation of sycophancy. So much so that a refusal to bend and bow is seen as an act of aggressive defiance and seen as threatening the mahul of pervasive servility with dangerous subversiveness.
A former Vice President of India has said Modi is a “gift of god” to India. None other than a Supreme Court judge has pronounced that Modi is a “versatile genius.”
In interviews with Modi, even mainstream journalists ask smarmy questions like “Do you ever get tired,” or “do you carry a purse.” When GST reforms were recently announced, full page ads again appeared with a message “Thank you Modiji”, again an absurd echo of Sudesh Berry’s we-are-so-grateful genuflection, as if tax reforms are somehow a gift from the divine.
The question arises, is all this fawning worshipful publicity a sign of genuine admiration or crippling fear of the Inspector Raj or the dreaded enforcement agencies?
It is worth noting here that Nehru once himself wrote an anonymous critique of the adulation he received, in his famous essay, “We Want No Caesars.” The draftsman of our Constitution, BR Ambedkar too warned that ‘bhakti’ or hero worship in politics is a road to degradation. But Modi wholeheartedly participates in his own personality cult building and in promoting sycophancy, with his carefully choreographed solo photo ops and refusal to share photo frames with others.
Sycophancy and promoting false subservience is actually a sign of the lack of legitimacy. A crisis of legitimacy manifests itself in many ways. For example, when politicians claim to be ‘gods’ or ‘messenger of god’ they actually reveal their own insecurity as they feel compelled to use the power of religion to establish their own leadership.
The same legitimacy crisis is seen when sycophancy is encouraged. When birthday wishes are orchestrated, organised and choreographed through media and PR agencies, it reveals that the so-called Supreme Leader requires birthday endorsements from high achievers and celebrities to somehow rescue his fast fading legitimacy.
