Strongmen always equip their followers with prisms to view issues. Besides, they can polarise masses using strong emotions and instincts — like fear, anger, hatred and revenge — at will and with alarming success. This translates into electoral success many times. Most of the democratic institutions do offer some initial resistance; however, in due course, they are filled with the strongman’s ideological cousins, if not clones. Only history will tell how successful a free and fair media will be in resisting the progress of the present-day strongmen (“Rise of strongmen leaders and the challenge to domestic institutions,” Feb. 24).
A. Venkatasubramanian,
Tiruchi, Tamil Nadu
