The ceasefire after Operation Sindoor will go down in Indian history as a dynamic episode that has not only broken the myth called Narendra Modi but also underlined the limits of an industry-manufactured personality cult. This episode had the potential to put Modi among the great leaders of this century, but, alas, he could not transcend his own limitations as a leader. The Modi government had launched Operation Sindoor to teach Pakistan a lesson so that India would not face an ugly war of terrorism in the future and innocent lives would not be lost. But the sudden declaration of a ceasefire, without any logical reasoning, has disappointed not only Indians at large but also Modi’s own staunch supporters because this was done at a time when the Indian army was dominating the war and inflicting serious damage on Pakistan.

The absence of a logical explanation for the ceasefire has created serious doubts in the minds of the people that the Modi government did so under pressure and, in the process, compromised national interest, which has led to serious loss of credibility and trust in his leadership. In the past eleven years, Modi and his team have created an aura around him of a leader with exceptional qualities who is destined to make India great again. For his supporters and party sympathisers, he was a god-like figure who could commit no wrong. But the ceasefire has dented his image as a strong leader, and from now on he will be walking on a very slippery slope. It will be a miracle if he could ever again attain his original image.

Friedrich Nietzsche and Max Weber, two of the greatest thinkers who have analysed and written extensively on the role of an individual in history-making, believed that such leaders........

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