Seasons of the Patriarchs

This summer has been a tumultuous time for global politics. India, the world’s biggest democracy, has endured a long season of political campaigning. The Indian General Election was expected to end in a landslide victory for Narendra Modi’s BJP party. However, these predictions were eventually proven to be incorrect, as Modi was elected on a reduced majority.

Modi is a divisive figure in India. Some regard him as heroic, for re-establishing India’s national and cultural identity. Others believe that he is merely a populist demagogue, preying on the fears of a fragile populace to maintain power. It is obvious that he is imbued with delusions of grandeur, a symptom common to all leaders of populist movements. His comment that he was not born “biologically” but “sent by God” to save India illustrates this perfectly.

However Modi’s narcissism is borne out of fragility. He was born into a low caste family and was a tea boy at the railway where his father worked. After leaving school he became a political activist, and fought in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. Seven years later he received a degree from Delhi University in political science and five years after that he received his Masters. He has dedicated the rest of his life to the political and cultural restoration of India as a Hindu nation.

His rise to power was either cynical or admirable, depending on your point of view. His ascendance has been attributed to the manipulation of people’s fears about Muslim dominance in the country. This has been his chief selling point, until relatively recently. He is just one political figure in the world who relies upon fear to cement power. He also knows that emotions about nation, religion and culture can be played on for political purposes.

Presidents Putin and Trump know this playbook, and are exhibiting exactly the same behaviour. It is a devious trick that they play on the people. Gabriel Garcia Marquez mined this familiar theme in his 1975 novel “The Autumn of the Patriarch”. This is a magical tale of a mysterious dictator.

He is a grotesque figure, afflicted with a Messiah complex. He wields his power in wicked and evil ways, lives in luxury while his people suffer in poverty. He believes that his authority is absolute, no matter how terrible the situation becomes. Even a mass outbreak of deathly illness fails to topple him from power. Only the death of the patriarch himself liberates the people. Everyone in the world now recognises these figures, and it is concerning that they continue to have influence.