Jesus was an amazing teacher and an ideal leader. The qualities needed in an excellent leader are reflected in his life and teachings. He has compared an ideal leader with a good shepherd and a bad leader with a hired servant who runs away when the wolves come to attack the sheep. During his lifetime he had noticed in his own community, leaders behaving like hired servants and even as wolves. History is a witness to some leaders who became wolves. Adolf Hitler, who was responsible for murdering 9 million people, including 6 million Jews, is one among the most notorious leaders in the history of the world.

What Jesus taught about 2000 years ago is relevant today and we observe sometimes leaders of all hues forget that they are shepherds and behave like hired servants and even as wolves in some cases.

A good leader knows the strengths, weaknesses and needs of his people and he is concerned about each one of them. He goes in front or leads from the front, presenting himself as a role model and protecting his people from all possible attacks and dangers. He is ready to take any risk, even to lay down his life for the sake of his people. On the contrary a fake, egoistic and self-centred leader leaves his people in the midst of danger or crisis to fend for themselves. Sometimes he may even resort to exploiting and annihilating his own people for his self aggrandizement.

Jesus proved that he is a perfect leader by laying down his life for people. Mahatma Gandhi is one of the greatest leaders the world has ever seen, and he also laid down his life for his people. That is why people of India honour him as the ‘Father of the Nation’.

Unfortunately, many of our leaders today behave not only like hired servants but also like wolves in certain situations. The violence that took place in Lakhimpur Kheri in UP on Sunday 3rd October, in which  Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra and his son are alleged to be involved, demonstrates how the leaders can become killers of people.

A shocking video circulated on the social media shows at Lakhimpur Kheri a group of protesting farmers moving forward on a road next to farm fields and then being mowed down by a grey SUV that speeds up from behind. One man is thrown up over the bonnet before the vehicle speeds away, leaving a jumble of bodies on the side of the road. The BJP MP Varun Gandhi tweeted on the incident, "This video will shake anyone's soul," and appealed for "immediate arrests".

According to the media reports, Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra agreed that the SUV shown in the video is his own, but denied that his son was in the vehicle. But the protesting farm leaders have accused that the son of Ajay Mishra was sitting in the vehicle that mowed the farmers. As per the media reports, total 8 people died, including four farmers, in the violence that erupted on Sunday October 3, 2021 in Lakhimpur Kheri.

Farmers had assembled in the district to protest against the visit of Ajay Mishra and deputy chief minister of UP Keshav Prasad Maurya because they were angry with the central minister over his earlier statement of threatening them. The farmers were staging a demonstration on the road when the minister’s motorcade allegedly ran over them, killing two protesters and injuring others.

The opposition leaders like Akilesh Yadav of Samajwadi Party, Priyanka Gandhi of Congress and Bhupesh Baghel Congress CM of Chhattisgarh were not allowed to visit the families of the diseased farmers and they were stopped on their way. Priyanka Gandhi was in police custody for more than 48 hours without any FIR and Bhupesh Baghel was not allowed to proceed from Lucknow airport. While the persons who are accused of murder are roaming around, the opposition leaders who went to express solidarity with the families of diseased farmers are either detained or arrested. Retired Supreme Court judge Madan Lokur said that “Priyanka Gandhi is being kept illegally”.

The same play book was used by the UP government in Hathras gang rape case. The body of a girl, who was gang raped and died later while undergoing treatment in hospital, was cremated in the night even without allowing the family members to take part in the funeral rites. Opposition leaders and journalists were prevented from visiting family members of the girl. 

A journalist from Kerala Sidhique Kappan was arrested under stringent UAPA while he was travelling to Hathras for reporting on the case. For more than a year he has been languishing in jail without bail.  All these violations of fundamental rights are done under the guise of protecting law and order. The UP government under the leadership of Yogi Adityanath has shown scant regard for the rule of law while claiming UP to be a role model of good governance.  

The BJP has different norms with regard to the opposition ruled states. When there was violence in West Bengal after the declaration of election results in May, the BJP sent a special delegation for investigation. Ministers and MPs not only visited the victims of violence but made public protests against the TMC government. In the case of Lakhimpur Kheri even a chief minister and a deputy chief minister are not allowed to visit the families. This is a blatant violation of fundamental rights.

The main reason for the eruption of violence at Lakhimpur is highly offensive statements attributed to the BJP leaders, threatening and belittling the protesting farmers.  As reported in The Indian Express, the following statement is attributed to Ajay Mishra. “Aise logon ko kehna chahta hun ki sudhar jao, nahin to samna karwake hum aapko sudhaar denge, do minute lagega sirf (I want to say to such people to ‘mend your ways’, otherwise I will make them face me and set them right in two minutes).”
 
The day farmers were mowed down and killed at Lakhimpur Kheri, Manohar Lal Khattar,  BJP CM of Haryana was inciting his party men in Haryana to arm themselves with lathis to ‘reply’ to farmers. He also told them, “If you stay in jail for two-four months, you will become a big leader. Don’t worry about bail.” Earlier a farmer had been killed and several injured after an officer of the Haryana government was filmed saying that his men should "break heads" of protesting farmers.  Chief Minister Khattar brazenly instructed his party men to unleash violence against farmers. 

No action has been taken against those who are actually indulging in sedition while hundreds of innocent people are booked under the sedition law and are languishing in jails. According to renowned Supreme Court lawyer Dushyant Dave, the son of Ajay Mishra and Manoharlal Khattar are to be arrested under the sedition law and Ajay Mishra has to resign immediately. No impartial investigation can take place if he remains as Minister of State for Home Affairs.  
 
In a democracy the citizens have the freedom to protest or dissent, and it is one of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution of India. The BJP governments at the Centre and in many states have been passing laws without taking into account the views of people and imposing them on people. The three farm laws, passed in a hurry without proper discussion in the parliament and dialogue with the farmers and the states, are part of the laws imposed on the people of India. The BJP and its ideological mentor think that they have a license to impose on the people of India whatever they want.

In recent years, democracy in India has been reduced to capturing power and retaining power by hook or crook. If a party is not able to win election, it resorts to purchase of MLAs through large scale defections from other parties. The BJP has proved to be adept in this Machiavellian tactic. The leaders, once they are in power, consider themselves to be masters and take people for granted. 

We have many examples of political leaders instigating their followers for violence. In fact they behave like wolves instead of serving people as good shepherds. The East Delhi communal violence in which 53 people were killed was triggered by highly provocative communal speeches by a few political leaders. Unfortunately no action has been taken against these leaders whereas many young people who were protesting non-violently against the Citizenship Amendment Act were charged under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and are still in jail.

The phenomenon of leaders becoming hired servants and even wolves is not limited to politics alone. Religion is another area where the leaders consider themselves as representatives of God and take decisions and impose them on the faithful without consulting them. They hold the view that they are accountable only to God and not to people. According to them, the role of people is to blindly obey what they command. They are not even ready to accept the blunders and grave mistakes they commit. Instead of accepting their failures in humility they often become self righteous and go on justifying their wrong actions. They often punish individuals who question their wrong decisions and actions. As a result, they are losing their credibility and influence on the wider society.

Why do the leaders become hired servants and wolves? Lack of democratic education is the main reason. In the absence of educating people on democratic leadership, those who aspire to become leaders see political leadership as a means to amass wealth and acquire power and fame. India has been functioning as a democratic country for about 75 years, but our educational system failed to educate young students on democracy and the constitution of India. The vision of India as a pluralist country where all citizens can enjoy Justice, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity and Individual Dignity is not imbibed by the people of India, especially the young students. On the contrary, negative forces have succeeded in instilling in the minds of people an exclusive and divisive majoritarian ideology. As a result, we have many leaders who sow the seeds of hatred and violence. What happened in Lakhimpur Kheri is only one of the many hate induced violent incidents taking place in different parts of India. 

The second reason seems to be growing religious fundamentalism in all religions. Fundamentalism kills spirituality that is based on scientific temper, reasoning and humanism. In an atmosphere where religious fundamentalists have upper hand people are fed with superstitions and blind faith. They easily become victims of identity politics and are ready to resort to violence to protect their religious faith. In such a situation politicians exploit religion and make use of religious leaders for achieving their political goals. History has taught us that the mixture of religion and politics is a dangerous and poisonous cocktail.  Hence religions in India have to undergo a process of de-politicization and de-commercialization. There is an urgent need for reinventing religions with revival of spirituality based on the core values taught by religions.

Education on democratic leadership coupled with revival of the spirituality of practising core ethical and human values taught by different religions can prevent shepherds becoming wolves.