The Invisible Proxy War of Unwarranted Slander

“Calumny is a toxic vapour which, though it may temporarily obscure the most brilliant virtues, is ultimately dispelled; once the atmosphere clears, the light breaks through unimpeded.”

— Voltaire

Human social existence operates within defined emotional boundaries, populated by familiar interactions, professional negotiations, and personal relationships. Beyond this recognizable perimeter lies a vast, detached arena devoid of shared histories or direct associations. Remarkably, it is often from this valley of complete detachment that the most virulent verbal assaults emerge—a sociological phenomenon known as calumny or unprovoked defamation.

When an individual dedicates energy to character assassination, targeting someone they have never met and with whom they share no personal, financial, or professional grievance, human society faces an existential paradox. This anonymous hostility points to a deeper crisis within the perpetrator. Literature, philosophy, and psychoanalysis reveal that such unprovoked slander is a psychological proxy war. The detractor is not genuinely fighting the external target; rather, they are battling their own profound inadequacy, internal vacuum, and spiritual isolation. As the noted author and scholar Humayun Azad observed:

“Slanderers are essentially parasites; entirely devoid of creative capacity, they attempt to sustain their own existence by preying upon the vital achievements of others.”

A Psychological Dissection

When analyzed through the foundational tenets of psychoanalysis, the structural pathology of the detached slanderer is clearly exposed.

The Freudian Dimension: Projection as a Shield

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) established that unwarranted slander is rarely a rational response to external events. Instead, it serves as a highly distorted psychological defence mechanism termed projection. Deep within the unconscious mind lie repressed flaws, immoral urges, and failures that the conscious ego refuses to acknowledge. To preserve a false sense of moral equilibrium, the ego projects these unacknowledged flaws onto an external target.

The slanderer, therefore, perceives their own repressed shadow self within the person they vilify. This behavior stems from a volatile friction between the primal urges of the id and the societal constraints of the superego, manifesting as a form of psychological sadism where gratification is derived entirely from inflicting emotional injury.

The Lacanian Mirror Stage and Destructive Desire

The French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan (1901–1981) expanded this framework by introducing a structural and linguistic dimension through his definitive theory of the Mirror Stage (Le stade du miroir). Lacan asserted that during infancy, a child views its reflection to form a unified concept of identity—an image that is fundamentally an illusion. For the pathological slanderer, this mirror stage remains permanently unresolved.

When they observe an integrated, fulfilled, or highly successful individual from afar, that person functions as a mirror, forcing the slanderer to confront their own fragmented reality. Unable to endure the internal torment of this perceived inferiority, they weaponize language. Lacan famously argued that human desire is systematically shaped by “the desire of the Other” (le désir de l’Autre). When a detractor witnesses another person enjoying a level of success or happiness that they themselves cannot achieve, intense envy is generated. Lacan noted that the slanderer does not necessarily wish to steal the target’s physical assets; rather, their objective is to completely obliterate the target’s peace and joy. Defamation is the hostile mechanism employed to achieve that ruin.

Philosophical Foundations: Ressentiment and Nihilism

From a philosophical perspective, the act of engaging in unprovoked slander is an explicit declaration of existential bankruptcy. The nineteenth-century Bengali poet Ishwar Chandra Gupta (1812–1859) articulated this behavioral pattern:

“One’s own well-being is readily embraced as truth,

Yet when another prospers, the malicious mind converts that excellence into fault.”

The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) investigated this condition through his profound analysis of ressentiment. This state occurs when an inherently weak or unsuccessful individual harbors deep-seated, unresolved bitterness regarding their own lack of agency. Lacking the internal capacity to rise, they adopt a Slave Morality, attempting to reframe the excellence, beauty, or talent of others as a moral transgression.

Slanderers are the living manifestation of ressentiment. Just as darkness reacts violently to the introduction of light, the slanderer acts out not because the target has committed a wrong, but because the target radiates success. Philosophers argue that when an individual finds no authentic meaning within their own life, their existence descends into absolute Nihilism. In this vacuum, they seek a superficial sense of validation by attempting to tarnish the lives of those around them.

Literary Reflections of Human Envy

The recurring pathology of motiveless malice and public character assassination is extensively documented across global and Bengali literary traditions.

Global Archetypes

In William Shakespeare’s (1564–1616) tragedy Othello, the character of Iago serves as the absolute literary personification of unprovoked malice. Neither Othello nor Desdemona had ever harmed Iago; yet, driven by an unprompted desire to witness human ruin, he systematically constructed a web of lies to tear their lives apart. Shakespeare explicitly illustrated this psychological destructive force within the play:

“O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;

It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock

The meat it feeds on.”

The French novelist Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850), in his masterwork Le Père Goriot, compared detractors to societal pygmies who, unable to attain natural stature, seek to amputate the legs of others with a sword to reduce everyone to their own level.

Similarly, Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821–1881), in his seminal novella Notes from Underground—widely recognized as the foundation of existentialist literature—demonstrated that when an individual fails to achieve self-respect, they inevitably project hatred onto external society. The unnamed “Underground Man” exists completely detached from mainstream networks. Consumed by personal isolation and deep-seated inferiority, he directs intense vitriol at social progress, human happiness, and collective well-being, using bitterness to mask his own existential failure.

Bengali Literary Context

The societal malady of slander is equally well-chronicled in Bengali literature. Rabindranath Tagore, in his concise Kanika collection, summarized this behavioral trait perfectly:

“The malicious villain cries, ‘Grant me your blessings, O Master,

Trample upon my spine as heavily as you please.’

The shoulders of the righteous bear no undue burdens,

Yet the wicked ever lay themselves flat to receive the blow.”

In Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s classic novel Pallisamaj, the characters Beni Ghoshal and Gobinda Ganguly epitomize the community defamer. The protagonists, Ramesh and Rama, sought only the structural and social development of the village. Despite causing no harm, the narrow-mindedness of Ghoshal and Ganguly led them to weaponize social gossip, weaving a destructive web of slander to deliberately tarnish a pure relationship.

This dynamic is mirrored in Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay’s Kabi and Ganadevata, where village assemblies are frequently dominated by idle individuals whose primary occupation is transforming minor rumors into widespread public scandals.

Tagore’s short story Laboratory similarly exposes how self-styled moral guardians eagerly dissect the personal affairs of completely unrelated individuals. This cultural tragedy is captured in the moving verse of Kazi Nazrul Islam:

“Nothing exceeds the majesty of human existence, nothing is more grand!

…Yet it is humanity that constantly invents songs of disgrace against its own kind.”

The Digital Era: The Rise of Virtual Trolling

While defamation was historically restricted to physical spaces like village squares, tea shops, and domestic parlors, modern information technology has transformed it into a global, institutionalized industry. Social media networks have become the ultimate breeding ground for unprovoked defamation. Platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter) have equipped detractors with an impenetrable digital shield: anonymity through pseudonymous accounts and fake profiles.

Concealed behind a screen, individuals can execute total character assassination against a stranger in a matter of seconds. Modern sociologists define this pathology as the rise of the “keyboard warrior.” Driven by a desire for digital engagement, likes, shares, and algorithmic virality, individuals show zero hesitation when exposing the private lives of others to public execution.

Many have fully financialized this behavior, utilizing platform monetization models to transform targeted harassment and slander into a stable income stream. Crucially, social media algorithms are mathematically engineered to prioritize negative content, deliberately exploiting primitive human inclinations toward scandal. recent years have shown the destructive impact of various expatriate influencers who generate income exclusively by distributing hatred, profanity, and civil provocation. In this digital environment, physical familiarity is no longer required to launch coordinated, toxic smear campaigns, steadily shifting global society toward an unfeeling, hostile dark age.

Canonical Mandates and Legislative Restitution

The propagation of defamation is met with uncompromising prohibition across historical legal frameworks and major theological systems.

Scriptural Injunctions

Major world religions uniformly categorize slander and backbiting as severe moral and spiritual transgressions:

• Islam: The practice of backbiting (Gheebah) is explicitly compared to the horrific act of consuming the physical flesh of one’s deceased brother (Surah Al-Hujurat, Ayat 12). Islamic law also dictates eighty lashes for leveling unproven accusations against chaste individuals. Crucially, listening to defamation without intervening carries identical moral culpability to originating the lie.

• Hinduism: Slander is identified as a major sin (Mahapapa) driven by Tamasic (dark and ignorant) impulses. Scriptural doctrines explain that backbiting rapidly burns away an individual’s accumulated spiritual merit (Punya), ensuring severe negative karmic consequences in the future.

• Christianity: The Ten Commandments explicitly declare, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.” The New Testament places tremendous emphasis on controlling the tongue, warning that unbridled speech can completely destroy a person’s life.

• Buddhism: A central pillar of the Noble Eightfold Path is Right Speech (Samma Vaca), which demands the absolute abandonment of slander, falsehoods, and harsh words in favor of constructive, truthful discourse. The Buddha commanded followers to remain calm and intellectually detached when targeted by false rumors.

Despite these unambiguous religious boundaries, a stark contradiction persists in contemporary society. Religious commentators, speakers, and institutional leaders are frequently observed deploying severe slander against opposing belief systems or those who contest their doctrines. A matching pattern exists within global politics, where statesmen legally bound to uphold the constitution regularly employ systematic defamation to undermine political rivals.

Comparative Legal Frameworks

Conclusion

Ultimately, the act of originating unprovoked slander inflicts the most profound damage upon the defamer. As the classic proverb dictates, “He who throws mud at another loses ground first; his own hands are instantly defiled.” The individual who resorts to public defamation merely displays the contaminated nature of their own mind—a fundamentally self-destructive path. This continuous stream of vitriol from detached detractors is the cry of an isolated psyche that cannot tolerate the existence of brilliance or moral clarity. Those who lack the courage to stand in the light are condemned to operate from the shadows, spinning intricate webs of deception.

The eminent aerospace scientist and former President of India, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, offered a powerful philosophy for surviving public slander:

“If people criticise or slander you, do not be disheartened. Remember, in any stadium, it is the spectators who make noise, not the players. Continue to play your game.”

Calumny can temporarily complicate an individual’s journey, but it is mathematically impossible for it to permanently block the trajectory of truth. To completely eradicate this psychological disease from contemporary society, it is insufficient to simply challenge the individual slanderer. Society must collectively recognize the deep psychological darkness prompting the behavior and systematically isolate it. Only when human focus shifts entirely toward creative development will this hostile impulse toward the success of others be permanently neutralized.

Professor Dr. Mijanur Rahman, University of Dhaka