Slavery Complex

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Apropos of Rattan vs Rahul by T N Ninan (January 17), I have met neither. But I do know that most Hindus suffer from a slavery complex. In their collective memory there lingers a fear that they cannot be masters. Since Prithviraj Chauhan lost the last Battle of Tirana in 1197 AD and Mohammed Ghori installed Qutbuddin Aibak as the Sultan of Delhi, the Hindus were on the retreat. They continued to be so until they ceased to rule over the greater part of India. It became customary for new rulers to come down the Hindukush when the old were exhausted. Hardly anyone indigenous rose to the occasion. When the northern supplies dried up, the British came from the West.

A symptom of the slavery complex is the legendary obsession of keeping others down rather than pushing oneself up. The proverbial story of Indian crabs for export not needing a lid to their container is well known; the creatures do not allow any of their own kind to climb high enough to be able to bail out of the box. A slave rarely hopes to become a master. Nevertheless, he has an ego which he satisfies by keeping other slaves down. The average Hindu lacks the confidence of a master except among his own kind. He could, therefore, be afraid of facing the world at large. This might or might not be true of business and industry today.