Ghulam Nabi Azad slams Congress ‘sycophants’: How the word has become a part of India's political lexicon

Congress stalwart Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday tore into Rahul Gandhi while quitting the party, saying all senior and experienced leaders were sidelined by a ‘new coterie of inexperienced sycophants’. When 23 senior leaders flagged the “abysmal drift” in the party, the “coterie chose to unleash its sycophants on us and got us attacked”, Azad added. Azad’s outburst comes just two days after Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill quit the party and alleged that sycophancy is eating into the organisation like ‘termites’ In a letter to party chief Sonia Gandhi, Shergill resigned from the post of the national spokesperson and said the primary reason was that “the ideology and the vision of the current decision makers of the Congress is no longer in sync with the aspirations of the youth and modern India”. “Furthermore, it pains me to say that decision making is no longer for the interest of the public and the country, rather it is influenced by the self-serving interests of individuals indulging in sycophancy and consistently ignoring ground reality. This is something I cannot morally accept or continue to work with,” he wrote. “However, I shall forever remain indebted for all the opportunities the party has granted me during my association with it,” Shergill added. The word sycophant seems to be popping up more and more in the Indian political lexicon. Let’s examine the definition and origins of the word: Dictionary.com defines sycophant as a “self-seeking, servile flatterer or a fawning parasite.” In ancient Greece, sykophantēs meant “slanderer,” as per Mariam Websters. The word derives from two other Greek words, sykon (meaning “fig”) and phainein (meaning “to show or reveal”).

But how did that happen?

One theory has to do with the taxes Greek farmers were required to pay on the figs they brought to market. Apparently, the farmers would sometimes try to avoid making the payments, but squealers—fig revealers—would fink on them, and they would be forced to pay, as per the website. Another possible source is a sense of the word fig meaning “a gesture or sign of contempt” (as thrusting a thumb between two fingers). In any case, Latin retained the “slanderer” sense when it borrowed a version of sykophantēs, but by the time English speakers in the 16th Century borrowed it as sycophant, the squealers had become flatterers. Dictionary.com retweeting a Washington Post article in 2017 said Mike Pence praised Donald Trump in Cabinet meetings every twelve seconds gave a link to the definition of sycophancy. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .