They whipped people into a frenzy..

Some religious leaders whipped up people into a frenzy which led to communal riots all over the city

Despite his immaculate English speaking skills, foreign education and chocolate boy looks, he is very much the rabble rousing politician his dad was. He can whip his followers into a frenzy and instigate them to come on roads, torch buses and close down shops at the drop of a hat.

What happens when you whip eggs or curd – there is a lot of energy and froth accumulates at the top. It’s as if the energy is bubbling over in an irregular, mindless fashion.

Similarly, when a politician whips up passions in people, their energy bubbles over in an uncontrollable fashion usually displayed in form of buses being burnt or stoned, railway trains being held up, roads being blocked and so on.

When a religious leader whips up his followers into a frenzy, the feelings are aroused and what usually results is a riot.

Whipping up in a frenzy essentially means inflaming passions and exciting people’s feelings to make them go violent or extreme state.

Let’s take some examples:

1. Mark Antony’s speech after Caesar’s death in  Julius Caesar whipped the Romans into a rage and they went on a rampage looking for murderers of Caesar.
2. There is no need to whip up passions into a frenzy over some false images from a distant country especially when our own countrymen are facing so many problems.
3. After several decades, we seem to have begun realizing that the politicians who whip us into frenzy against other caste or religion groups have only their own interests in mind. They are least bothered about the interests of groups they claim to espouse.

The end result of whipping feelings up may not always be violence but the drift is clearly towards strong, aggressive feelings.

Let’s take a couple more examples:

1. The tales of misbehavior towards union leaders whipped the laborers into a rage.
2. This is no time to whip up passions. It is time to sit together and find solutions to problems.