For the love of it......!!!!

Recently a video showing some of Tahirul Qadri’s supporters hankering over a piece of tissue used by their leader went viral. To some, the video proves the ‘cultish mind-set and make-up’ of Qadri’s organisation/party and of its followers; while others have exhibited revulsion at what they feel is Qadri’s allusions to being some kind of a deific character.

TuQ’s fans squabble over a tissue used by their leader.

It is true that this kind of personality veneration is quite common in religious (and other) cults around the world, but it is also true that in South Asian countries like India and Pakistan, exhibiting certain extreme forms of adoration for living religious leaders is not that far away from actually being part of mainstream (non-cultish) traditions.

Much research has taken place (especially in the West) to understand what social, psychological and emotional factors can lead ‘perfectly normal’ men and women to fanatically subordinate themselves to fantastical and ‘irrational’ projections of certain charismatic personalities.

But, if we simply focus on the act of men and women squabbling over a worthless object of everyday life used by such a personality, then one can suggest that concerns from certain quarters in a society usually emerge if that personality is posing to be a religious leader.

Because no such concern is exhibited as such when, say, rock bands frequently throw drum-sticks and sometimes guitars into the crowd and the fans fight it out to grab the piece of wood used by their favourite musicians.