'U' IS FOR USURP

ABC Wednesday

'U' is for usurp
The word USURP has a weird body language and tongue twisting articulation that aptly suggest the nature of its semantic contours. It has to do with something, which is against propriety, righteousness or harmony of life. It pertains to some sort of injustice; taking something by force which is legally or otherwise not yours.

History is replete with such instances where to achieve ignoble ends the usurpers perpetrated untold sufferings and miseries on innocent people. After assuming power through dubious means, the usurpers resorted to inhuman treatment to subjugate the ruled to perpetuate their hegemony by guile or threats.

For example, the two world wars bear testimony to the inhumanity of man-to-man. These happened because of the perceived notion of Germans belonging to a superior race, fiercely propelled by Hitler. His maniac dream of conquering the world and becoming its supreme leader, led him to usurp power through shrewdly crafted psychological methods. To this end, he destroyed everything, which came in the way of usurping power. It is another thing that he could not succeed in his vile ambitions. His megalomania made him exterminate the Jews through a holocaust so terrible that it changed the history of the world.

Dictators everywhere manage to usurp power with the help of the army or through the cunning shenanigans of an Oligarchy. This is what Russian despot Stalin did after the October 1917 revolution. There exist countless such dreadful examples if we peruse world history.

On a micro level in India, there are numerous reported cases where a cunning sibling annexes the share of other siblings in property and betray their trust by conniving with dishonest revenue officials.

Most of us are witness to situations where an aggressive person usurps the chance of others to express their opinion by out shouting them.

A bully in a school or college or in the play field does grave injustice to others who are too mild to resist. It is however, a blot on the skewed social fabric of our times.

The usurpers or aggressive ones in any field of life appear to be gainers as compared to the righteous and mild mannered but eventually they land in the abysmal pit of diseased mental state. So do i think! Perhaps it is a false consolation!

Friends, I await your reactions!