Protector - Protected relation

I have lived in a hostel since childhood. When I was younger, I would often hear my peers and hostel mates blame the administration for some failure - bad rooms, intermittent water, power cuts, mismanagement, etc. The administration consisted of some from the school administration and some elected members - who were elected by the students from amongst themselves. It was a belief that the administration has a responsibility to provide our needs, and since we have voted them to and pay our fees regularly (well, then only about 4% of the students would have the right to complain - the others were exempted from paying the fees for various reasons, or some who manipulated their financial condition to fit within the exemptions, and some who simply did not pay the fees), they have to be our caretakers. Hence, speaking against the hostel administration was normal, and widely acceptable. The administration, on the other hand, would not act against everyone who speaks against it. Maybe, dissent was a right then.

But the management was not bad. Barring few exceptions, we had decent rooms, sufficient water normally, 24x7 electricity on most days. The food was good, the atmosphere within the hostel was great. We lived like a family, celebrated all festivals together. Further, the administration protected us from externalities. If stray animals, robbers, etc tried to enter the hostel, the security protected us.

The Administration protected the residents!


Then I moved to college, a different hostel where I found a reversal in the role. The administration did comprise of the college administration and elected members, but the elected members were quite vocal here. They overpowered and often silenced the officers in the administration. The hostel mates had a different role here. A majority of the students supported the administration. While this was a good sign, where the beneficiaries comply with the providers, the supporters were not only vocal but also vindictive. The residents of the hostel considered the administration as their baby, and if anyone complained about lack of any facility or any chicanery, the supporters would pounce upon the complainant and attack his mind, soul, and body - in that order. The complainants were labelled as anti-hostel and were often taunted to change their hostel, irrespective of their right to stay in the hostel.
Complaining and dissenting started seeming like a crime. The role reversal, where the students now protected the administration was very weird. Now, the residents protected the administration. And then, everything the administration did, was shown to be right. Accounts were fudged, narratives were manipulated, the entire hostel spoke, (well, only the majority could be heard, the minorities were silenced) in one voice, the voice that the administration wanted them to raise.