NATIONAL MEDIA STANDS EXPOSED

It Only Panders to the Agenda of the Fake Secular Forces

By S R Ramanujan

The NDA government is quite right in denying the Sonia Congress the status of LoP. Let’s not get into any Constitutional quagmire.  It has nothing to with the requisite number of MPs the party has in the 16^th  Lok Sabha,  which, anyway, is lower than the Delhi temperature during the summer as pointed by a comedian-turned MP. But the reason, which is justifiable enough, for NDA’s decision is that the ruling alliance has its own opposition within and why should it recognize an opposition outside its circuit. Moreover, the national English media is doing or rather overdoing its role as watchdog, sometimes creating an identity crisis between a watchdog and a mad dog. So the Sonia Congress need not exert itself much to take on the ruling coalition on this issue or any other issue. The Vice President of the Party can happily go round the globe and when he gets some spare time come to Parliament to relax or to relieve himself from jetlag.

The MSM (Mainstream media) is already on the job of disruptive opposition and is trying to create a perception that communal forces are out in the open with Narendra Modi at the helm. It is ready to twist any incident so as to give it a communal colour. Stray comments from loony elements, which should normally be ignored, are blown out of proportion with never-ending debates on them.Hard news is an old-fashioned jargon. What is trending is opinion at the drop of a hat, high decibel debates, trial and judgment. The media  has to prove a point. It has to be seen as prophetic as Nostradamus. During the run up to the 2014 campaign, an apprehension was created in the minds of the people that if Modi were to pip the post, the country will turn into a communal cauldron and minorities will be terrorised. Can the national media, powered by armchair political pundits ever go wrong? It, therefore, started looking around with high-powered telescopic cameras to watch every nook and corner of the country to see whether such a trend is emerging. As luck would favour the MSM, there are instances provided by nondescript leaders belonging to the BJP or its allies. Official spokespersons of the BJP are so moronic that they do more damage to the cause than bringing any clarity or sanity to the debates on the channels. Simply they tie themselves up in knots.

Let’s come to the issues recently seized by the MSM to indicate, again to put in their own pet phrases, “emergence of majoritarianism”, “RSS agenda being executed”, “Modi is Mounimanmohan-2”, “Modi’s silence endorsement of communal hatred of fringe elements” and the like. Shiva Sena MPs’ thuggish behavior came quite handy. Was it really communal in nature? Sena MPs went berserk, no doubt, unbecoming of elected representatives, in Delhi’s Maharashtra Sadan on July 17. But did they indulge in any communal act atleast in this case?  A national English daily, after a lapse of six days, front-paged this news story on July 23^rd completely morphing the event with communal overtones. As if on cue, the national TV channels picked it up and communalized the issue for three days.

 According to an independent journalist’s column in the media portal (thehoot.org), “the Marathi media, print and electronic, had been reporting this incident from day one but none of them gave any communal colour to it. That includes the national daily’s Marathi counterpart. In fact, what was an issue for the Marathi media before, on and after July 17, was never considered worth reporting by the national media not even the vandalism by MPs inside a government property. So it is really puzzling to see the national daily to do a four day old story and add a communal angle to it.”

What comes easy for the national media is to tag such stories. This episode was branded “Chapati gate” The video clip that was telecast non-stop for 3 days with the anchors screaming that a Muslim was forcefed when he was fasting for Ramzan. Yes, there was an ATTEMPT, a most uncivilized and boorish attemept though, by the MPs to forcefeed the catering manager at the Maharashtra Sadan. But he was never forcefed if the video clip has to be believed. Of course, it was thrust on his face saying “Khake dheko”. According to the Hoot report, “almost all the media persons who were present on the spot were witness to the whole drama, as it unfolded, never thought there was a communal angle to the story which is why it was never reflected in any of the coverage of July 17 or later in the Marathi media”.

Therefore, the question is why was such a story planted in the national media after four or five days that too giving completely communal colour to it. It is alleged that the deliberate design was to divert the heat from Maharashtra chief minister Prithvirag Chavan who was already facing trouble on the Narayana Rane resignation issue. How the national television media shed tears for three days, non-stop, for the manner in which a Muslim employee’s religious sentiments was hurt is history. This is one clear example as to how national TV channels have compromised themselves for partisan politics.

The media could have continued even on the fourth day, but, Dr Lakshman, came to its rescue. Dr Lakshsman, who is not a known figure outside Hyderabad, would not have imagined that he would hit the national headlines. Yes, he was on the national news for all wrong reasons. He was only trying to corner the Telangana chief minister for his double standards and poor thing Sania Mirza was caught in the crossfire. The national media did not have time or patience to understand the background to the issue. There was not even a hint in Dr Lakshman’s statement that he was doubting the patriotism of Sania nor casting aspersions on her integrity. The entire protest was against KCR for choosing an ambassador who neither lives in Hyderabad nor speaks the language while nativity criterion was invoked for students. Whatever it is, Dr Lakshman enjoyed the status of a national icon for a couple of days. Fair enough.  And Sania could gain some sympathy with her tears for the camera.

Soon followed an outlandish statement from someone who is most influential.  She said: “Telangana and Jammu & Kashmir were both separate countries and forcibly annexed to the Indian Union after Independence. India needs to come out clean on J & K. Few parts were not ours, we should agree, we should redraw the international lines and move one”. If you think these pearls of wisdom could have been from Arundati Roy, you are mistaken. This was from our own TRS MP Kalvakuntla Kavitha Rao. What was the response from the MSM?  Deafening silence!