The illusion of power Mubarak Ali | Dawn | 17 November 2007
http://www.dawn.com/2007/11/17/op.htm MUHAMMAD Tughlaq (1325-1351) was an innovative ruler of India but he became very unpopular during the last days of his rule because of his brutal and repressive policies against his subjects and his harsh attitude towards his opponents. When rebellions broke out in every part of his kingdom, he failed to crush them. Disappointed at his failure to restore his authority, he summoned Ziauddin Barani, the historian and author of the Tarikh-i-Firuzshai, one day. After talking about the problem he faced from the rebels and the bellicose behaviour of his enemies, Tughlaq asked Barani how rulers of the past handled such crises. While giving his opinion, Barani said that in these circumstances either rulers retired from power and handed over the reins of government to their heir apparent or entrusted their ministers with the responsibility of governing on his behalf. They would plunge themselves in merry-making without bothering about the affairs of the state. The sultan refused to follow Barani's advice because it was a matter of prestige for him to assert his authority and not to retire from office after surrendering his powers to others. To him this would have been tantamount to an insult and an act of humiliation before his enemies. However, before long he died of exhaustion, a disappointed man. Barani commented on his death: "He got rid of people and people got rid of him." There is historical evidence that when power is concentrated in one man, it raises his status and transforms him into a superman, whose authority cannot be challenged or questioned. He perceives himself as a saviour of the nation and any opposition or rebellion against him is regarded as treason. Generally, every dictator has a vision in accordance with which he seeks to build the country and nation. For example, Napolean wanted to make France a great imperial power headed by him with great splendour and glory. Hitler's ambition was to establish the superiority of the German race over all nations. Mussolini's desire was to revive the glory of the Roman Empire. There have also been dictators with ideological ambitions who strove to transform a society within an ideological framework. In most cases these were dictators who usurped power to glorify their person. They amassed wealth by hook or by crook and patronised their family members or their cronies at the cost of the public exchequer. When faced with opposition which they failed to crush they escaped to foreign countries along with their plundered wealth. It is customary that having absolute power, dictators traditionally undermined the role of the state and its institutions making them loyal to his person and relegating the state to the backburner. They therefore shaped the bureaucracy, army, judiciary, special tribunals to try political opponents, secret agencies, police, and special armed squads in such a way that they operated under their direct control and were empowered to kidnap, torture, or kill the opponents. The common practice was to throw dissidents in jail without trial. Police were given full authority to check any demonstration against the government and to disperse the crowd by using full force. Terror was the most effective instrument to silence people. According to Hitler, "Terror is an effective tool; people think twice before opposing us if they know what awaits them in the camps." Dictators control all sources of information and keep people ignorant. State media provide only one point of view which suits the rulers. Napoleon, in fact, provided a model for the modern dictator to rule and subdue people. As soon as he came to power he realised the importance of the press and propaganda. As a result of his policy, French newspapers published only the news of his victories and none of his defeat. For example, the defeat of Trafalgar was not published in any newspaper and the French remained ignorant of this event. Censorship prohibited the publication of a large number of newspapers and magazines which did not carry the government's point of view. Publishers were required to take an oath not to publish any material against Napoleon. He authorised the secret agencies and police to arrest his critics and keep them in prison without any trial. During his rule, police entered the houses of dissidents, searched their belongings, and treated them harshly. To give his rule legitimacy, he held plebiscites which he won by majority votes. He also fully exploited the sentiments of patriotism to win popularity. Though he was not religious but to impress people he showed his religiosity to win their support. This model was followed with more sophistication by Mussolini and Hitler. Germany under Hitler became a subservient state fully controlled by one political party (Sturm Abteilung). The SS (Schutz Staffel) and Gestapo were the terror organs which subdued people and made them subservient to the regime. In the beginning when the judges were reluctant to side with the Nazi party, Goering, a top leader and close friend of Hitler, told them bluntly: "You wait until we get you out of the court." Hitler calmed him down and told him: "Mein Lieber Goering, it is only a question of time." He fulfilled his promise as soon as he acquired power. In 1933 by a Civil Service law all the judges who were not `politically reliable' were dismissed. The judiciary became a pliant tool in the hand of the Nazi regime to use it against its opponents. In Asia, Africa, and Latin America, dictators followed this model more brutally. Marcos, Idi Amin, Pinochet, Suharto and the likes of them plundered and looted their own people and brazenly lived in luxury amidst poverty and misery. They suppressed any opposition against their rule and executed thousands and thousands of citizens to keep their grip tight. They made their countries intellectually barren, economically poor and dependent, and socially disintegrated. Perhaps, as dictators they could have lived and died in peace but history did not spare them for their crimes. They were placed at the lowest category with those who brought disaster, sufferings, and darkness to the common man. People preferred to forget them rather than remember them, as their memories are painful. They just disappear along with their crimes from the pages of history books, leaving no trace in the collective memories of people.
