Kamal Ghorui
Why age cannot wither the names Mir Jafar, Quisling, Judas. They haunt us across time
As Kerala, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu go to polls, SIR has shrunk all their voter rolls. By 3.2%, 10%, and 11.5%, respectively, so far. Behind these cold numbers, lie countless human stories. TOI has reported, for example, that at least 346 descendants of Mir Jafar have been struck off. He was, of course, the commander who betrayed the Bengal nawab at the Battle of Plassey. That was in 1757. Still, the phrase Mir Jafari karna continues to mean, to date, to act as a traitor. As disenfranchised voters appeal before tribunals, it must seem to many that they, too, are being Mir Jafar-ed. By their own.
Across cultures, there are names that live on and on, as synonyms of betrayal. It’s not so much because these betrayals were the most consequential, as because they felt the most personal – a trusted insider crossing to the enemy. That psychological wound is what makes the betrayer’s very name immortal, as an insult. Biplab Kumar Deb compares Mamata to Mir Jafar. She lobs the honorific back at BJP. It’s a popular pastime. In Europe, Quisling does the same job, after the Norwegian Nazi collaborator. It seems to be the driving theme of history overall, with empires often falling to internal treachery. It’s also at the heart of every moral tradition. Mahabharat is essentially a meditation on loyalty and betrayal within a family. There is Judas in Christianity, and munafiquns in Islam.
Faiz’s Subh-e azadi, written during Partition, is an anguished reflection on Independence betrayed. The Godfather hinges on being stabbed in the back by trusted allies. In Beyoncé’s Lemonade, it is infidelity that is chipping away at the artist. Enron, Lehman Bros, Bernie Madoff…the business world too is littered with unforgettable Judases. They haunt us. Because betrayal hits different from other negative experiences. It breaks the central social covenant: Trust. That’s what family, tribe, nation, friendship, faith, even workplaces, are built on. We are not built to be betrayed by those we trust.
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