A misunderstood leader

            It was during the good old days when men came back home tired after a hard day’s work and women were at home taking care of the children, an age before the age of machines or the revolution that is information. It was during that golden era of mankind that our hero lived and worked. Let’s call him the leader. During his childhood, when generally boys his age were more concerned with battling dragons, the leader thought about the whole of humanity. “ Why should decisions involve so much talk, talk does no good we need action and when we know the will of the Lord, we should carry it out,” thought the leader and unsurprisingly he led a friendless and dull existence. Then times passed and times changed and the leader transformed from an imaginative young boy to a resourceful man, a man with hopes, dreams and passions and obviously a man in love with his land.

            The golden era also had changed, his people had suffered defeat in a war, an event which had humiliated them in the eyes of the world and which had created a whole new generation of young men, men dissatisfied with their elders and their talk, men who dreamt of a better future for their land, a future which would give them a sense of safety and security, a future which would bring happiness to the land and a future which would win them back the respect they had lost after the defeat in the war. But these men needed a messiah, a man like Moses who would lead them away from slavery and bondage towards a future of milk and honey. These men, therefore, needed the leader. And as we all know when the youth want something they generally get it therefore the leader was appointed as their messiah. The leader promised the men, “ Friends, I will give you a better future, a future of peace, justice and security but for that, we must kill them who betrayed us during the war and we must remember that peace only belongs to the strong and therefore can only come through war. From today decisions will no longer involve any deliberation or talk as I who can listen to all your problems as well as know the will of our Lord will be the best man to take decisions.” As the speech ended the crowd clapped cheered and whistled in approval as they welcomed their messiah the man who would lead them to the light and would destroy the vermin who had betrayed them.

            These so-called traitors were people of a particular community who were prosperous and had clamoured for peace during the bloody war, the greatest sign of treachery according to the leader. Thus by the leader’s decree, their property was confiscated, their privileges were revoked and their positions were removed and they were declared as non-citizens whose murder was not a crime, in fact, the citizens were encouraged to kill the male non-citizens and rape the female non-citizens after all as the leader said, “The Lord decrees that the traitors must be punished, their ill-gotten gains should be reclaimed, their women should be ravaged and their children killed.” Thus the over-eager citizens began obeying the orders of the leader to the fullest as the streets became littered with the bodies of the traitors and even from a distance the screams and shrieks of non-citizen women could be heard. The leader was also fond of children and therefore one day he declared that “Today the Lord spoke to me in my dreams. He ordered me to save the children of our great land and that I shall do. From today onwards all forms of abortion are declared to be illegal and shall be punished with death to the woman who dares to have them and disobey the Lord’s will.” And from that day onwards abortion was declared illegal in the land.

            From that day the Lord began to appear in the leader’s dreams quite frequently. One day He ordered him to create a list of his special devotees and give them special privileges, the other day He ordered him to reexamine the curriculum of schools and make the teaching coherent with His will. In fact, a few citizens wondered as, “Why does the Lord only show himself to the leader? If the Lord loves us all equally? Why does He not show himself to us?” These people even distributed a few pamphlets regarding the same. But then the Lord again showed himself to the leader and ordered their execution and the issue was resolved.

            Finally, the lord implored the leader to prepare for war and punish those who had defeated them in the earlier war. The leader on the eve of the war announced a great gathering of all the citizens and gave a grand speech where he said, “My fellow citizens, by Lord’s decree, starting from tomorrow we go to war against the peoples who long ago had defeated and humiliated us. The times ahead are tough for us but we must remember that our Lord the Almighty is with us. He has ordered me to undertake this Holy War for His glory and I promise you my fellow citizens that I will do my duty to him the best of my capability.” Amidst all the claps and cheers the leader got, a few people became skeptical. They thought that “Who is this Lord that he wants us to fight his Holy War and die while fighting it?” They also disobeyed the will of the Lord and were quickly called in for questioning by the guardians, an organization created by the decree of the Lord to keep an eye on those who disobeyed Him. In fact, anyone who was called in for questioning by the guardians was never seen again.

            However, preparations for war began with great pomp and fanfare as large queues began to form for army recruitment offices. When the Lord was satisfied with the preparations for the war he urged the leader to begin the war and thus began the Holy War. However, the army of the Lord was not very successful against the might of the other armies and they not only incurred heavy losses but also a humiliating defeat. This humiliating defeat broke the trust the people had in the leader and in his Lord as demonstrations and protests shook the land and keep the guardians eternally busy.

            One day in the main thoroughfare, a large gathering of people were amassed to listen to Peggy Thornton, a mother who had lost all her children in the war and her sister due to defects in her fetus and due to the criminalization of abortion. Peggy at first a die-hard follower of the leader and a devotee of the Lord who had now changed sides began her speech to warm applause. She said that “Friends, I am here to tell you today about my life. I have my dead children and my dead sister as rewards for my devotion to the leader and his Lord. But now I have come to the conclusion that his Lord is not our Lord for our Lord cannot be this cruel as to let His sons and daughters die without any attempt to save them. If his Lord was our Lord, would he make our sons die in his so-called ‘Holy’ wars, would he let our daughters with fetus defects die rather than have an abortion? Would he allow to let his few special devotees reap all the benefits? Would he allow for secret police that makes people disappear without any trial? Would he allow our own brothers and sisters who rightly urged for peace during the previous war to be declared as non-citizens and therefore allow them to be raped and murdered? If this is our really our Lord, then I refuse to believe in him and I refuse to obey our leader….” Suddenly her speech was cut short as a whole company of guardians ambushed the gathering and opened fire killing, everyone.

            This ambush was the last straw for the people as all of them except the special devotees were now against the leader and his Lord. What followed was utter chaos as mobs roamed the streets and massacred guardian officers and the special devotees of the Lord. What had happened to the non-citizens and the disbelievers was now happening to the followers of the leader. Finally, a huge mob stood outside the leader’s palace. The leader now helpless stood on the balcony of his palace and tried to give one of his famous speeches. He said, “Citizens you have misunderstood me your leader who has not only listened to your grievances dutifully but has always obeyed the will of your Lord….” But he was interrupted by an angry farmer whose son had died without medical attention because the hospitals were busy tending to the Lord’s special devotees, the farmer said, “ And what about my son who died without a doctor?” Another voice shouted, “And what about my father who died due to your Lord’s ‘Holy’ war.” Another voice shouted, “Who is your Lord ask him to come to us we want to see Him!!!” To this, the crowd cheered and applauded as “Death to the Lord” slogans were being shouted. The leader again tried to say, “Please do not misunderstand…..” But his voice was drowned by another voice which said, “Who gave you the right to make decisions for us? Who is this ‘Lord’ of yours? Tell him we want to have a say in the decision making like we used to! Tell him we want our deliberations back!!!!! Tell him we want democracy back!!!!” Now “Democracy” slogans filled the air as the mob broke through the palace gates and set the palace on fire. The leader tried to escape but in vain as he burned to death after being misunderstood by his own fellow citizens.