Author: Dr. Rajnikant Lahri
Publication: INDOlink.com
Date:
URL: http://www.indolink.com/displayArticleS.php?id=022305045250
Thomas Babington Maculae, in Feb.
1855, had said that a single shelf of a good European library was worth
the whole native literature of India. He wished that the Hindus forget
their past and get familiar with the English by means of literature and
as a result cease to regard them as foreigners, speak of their great men
with the same enthusiasm as the English do. In due course they are sure
to become more English than Hindu. We cherished the idea that in independent
India, we will be free to cultivate ancient values and tradition suited
to modern times. The freedom dawned on August 15, 1947. Since then we have
been witnessing that though the English are gone, English prevails and
English traditions still rule. It got a strange fellow, the Marxists, as
the aim of both was the same, to keep the country off its ancient values.
We had even before seen on record such a friendship in the form of a pact
between the opposing sides of a German Max Mueller and The English Maculae
for the agreed cause of uprooting ancient Vedic values.
Today we have an English media impressed
and influenced by the west. Then there is the Marxist media of foreign
origin totally cut off from Indian values and roots. Unfortunately our
independent India has not developed any such media in English that has
roots in the soil and among the people. The English press has become notorious
for its neglect of Indian traditions and cultural heritage.
I have the following points to raise
in this connection in good spirit.
1. The English media invents its
own phrases to suit their requirements and one such prase is Hindu Nationalist
Party. Do you know what image does it produce in the mind of a reader who
is not well versed with Indian culture and tradition? This phrase is used
to attack BJP, a national party ruling today. It has secular credentials
and stands for a secular India. Never ever it has even hinted at the idea
of a Hindu nation. The media is "pleased"to put a prefix Hindu National
before it. It means that the party stands for a nation of Hindus, an absurd
idea of infant fancy. In foreign eyes, it is meant to equate the party
with the Islamic fundamentalists. They are liable to think that BJP stands
for a Hindu nation, which is like Muslim nations where other religions
are not tolerated. BJP is never so but the attempt to project it in this
light is damaging. Will the media like to stop it or find an excuse to
continue with the design? The label is mischievous and distorts the picture
of a true Indian democracy. Is not the Hindu nation theory product of media
image and its vested interest? Does it not distort the values of Hinduism,
which is founded on the firm conviction of unity in diversity?
2. Vajpaiyees BJP - This is another
product of English media imagination. Every one knows that BJP is an all
India party with a constitution and regular elections of its Presidents
and others. It has never been a one-man show. The very English media once
published that Vajpaiyee has been cornered in BJP. It now says that it
is Vajpaiyees BJP Is it not hurling insult to a democratic setup of a party,
which has an all India base? However there are parties with a one man show
like Mulayam Singh yadava' SP; Mayavati and Kashiram' BSP; Ajit Singh'
RLD; Lallu Yadava' RJD, Ram Bilas Pasvans , Lok Jana Shakti, and many more
to address in that way but the media presents them in a very honorable
way and never as one man party. The media has also spared Congress. It
was never Narsingha Rao' Congress though he ruled unchallenged for five
full years. It has chosen only the BJP and that too in a very baseless
and unrealistic way. Why so?
3. Hindu fundamentalist party- the
media prefers to use it for RSS and VHP. I am sure the media knows what
being fundamental is. It has been accepted as extreme and is unwelcome.
The experience justifies it. We have witnessed it in case of Islam fundamentalism
and their description of Jihad. How many of them really believe that Jihad
is inner struggle and journey rather than a bloody expansionist combat?
They take it to be a holy war against infidels and justify killing of innocent
children, women and unarmed civilians. The ' Jihad' phrase has substantially
contributed to tension and the press has to inspire the muslim-leadership
to come out openly for its right definition and denounce those who use
it in their vested interest in favor of terror. Is RSS so? Media forgets
the difference between a nationalist and a bigot. RSS activities time and
again have been useful to the nation and there was a time when even the
communists worked with RSS in defense of democracy and civil rights. The
RSS does not impart military training as the other fundamentalists do,
nor the RSS indulges in unlawful acts as they do. The fundamentalism of
Hinduism lies in the belief that man is essentially divine and there exist
freedom of ways to follow in the life of live and let live. This is what
a Hindu believes in. Does any other religion believe in this norm? The
media calling the Hindu majority party as fundamentalist in the spirit
of equating it with other fundamentalist religious parties is ill- founded
and a deliberate misrepresentation of reality
4. The misuse of the word secular-I
think most of us do not know that the word secularism has never been defined
and is being used by the media in its own way to serve its purpose. It
is productive of more mischief than good and the English media finds it
useful to engage it in its design. The word secular does not appear in
the Preamble of the constitution it finds only a single casual mention
as ' Economic, financial, political and otherwise secular activity' in
article 25(2c). 25 years later in 1975 ,during emergency, the lameduck
Lok Sabha through 42nd.amendment, got the word secular prefixed to the
description of India as a 'sovereign Republic.'No definition was ever given
to the word. It was in 1978, during Janata rule that secular was defined
as ' equal respect for all religions'. The Congress was out not to accept
any definition. It got the amendment rejected by the Raj Sabha. The word
secular remains in the preamble as a political slogan, meaning nebulous
and negotiable. When India was partitioned, it was divided on the basis
of two-nation theory. The fight was between Nationalism and Communalism.
Hindu majority India chose Nationalism and its nationalism was based on
pluralism and belief in unity in diversity. Indira Gandhi in the interest
of her political survival gave it a new turn with the connivance of communists.
She turned Nationalism versus Communalism into Secularism versus Communalism.
Now there is no idea of nationalism. Every one is for the party and govt.
Vote bank idea is important. Society can be divided into castes and subcastes,
caste groups can be formed and high posts can be filled by caste and vote
considerations. They are called secular. Slogans and half-truths and incitements
with a view to garnering votes can be done in garb of secularism. The media
highlights these as secularists and patriots. They would rather see the
country burn to ashes than see any problem settled in favor of Hindus as
it loses their votes. Hindu baiting is a game that does not matter as they
gain by it. The English media fails to highlight the exploitation of religious
sentiments of the minorities by some sectarian majority Hindu parties who
have in it rank communal minded elements. The media fails to distinguish
between parties purely based on caste appeals and exploitation of minorities
by creating fear complex in them. It rather willingly labels these parties
as secular and patriotic. What a game?
5. The latest example of bias is
the editorial of India Post dated March 29,02. The heading is,' Ban Groups
Preaching Religious Intoleration'. I read it several times to figure out
which groups the editor means. To my great dismay there was only the VHP
as if no other group in the eyes of the editor existed in India to be banned.
It seems that he deliberately intended to pick up the VHP for attack. The
reasons forwarded were baseless and presumptive. He charged that the VHP
intends to take out Ashti Yatra of Godhara carnage victims. The said yatra
was neither proposed nor ever carried out. The second point raised was
the attack on Orissa Assembly by the Parishad' activists. For this the
VHP had already expressed regrets and no action against it was ever taken.
The third was in form of a likely personal attack on the International
VHP President Sri Ashoka Singhal. It charged that he flouted the law and
challenged the authorities on Oct. 17,01 in Ayodhya. The editor has to
know that no action was taken against him on the said charge by the govt.
as it was considered within rules of conduct. The whole exercise of the
editorial shows the spirit of bias. It forgets that Singhal at age 75,
is a life long bachelor engineer devoted to the Hindu cause and has contributed
immensely towards Hindu unity and self-assertion. I am told that the editorial
is imported from India for consumption in USA where VHP of USA has done
a great commendable job in the sphere of Hindu awareness and assertion.
The English media is known for its attack on VHP in connection with the
attack on Christian missionaries. The VHP is opposed to any forceful conversion,
which the missionaries deny. The media fails to see that as an effect of
proselytisation, the converted tribal are forgetting their original culture,
belief and tradition. Inspired and tutored by the evangelists, they are
even trying to influence the non- convert brothers. Media has always preferred
to quote Gandhi on important issues but forgets to quote him on conversion
as he was vehemently opposed to proselytisation in India by Christians.
. As a consequence ,the clashes based on misunderstanding and distrust.
Some other facts that should be
noted:
1. There was a killing of a Christian
girl and a boy in Mandasur village in tribal area Kandhamal.dist. The situation
would have worsened but the police nabbed the culprits quickly. In the
meantime the Hindu parties were being blamed but ultimately it was revealed
that the killer belonged to Christian community and to the same village.
2. Phoolvati was murdered in Feb.
1999 in Orissa. As usual the bishop blamed the RSS and the VHP. The chief
minister Patnaik had to be replaced by a Christian CM Girdhar Gomongo of
the Congress. Later on May 15, a Christian youth Ranjan Pradhan was sentenced
to death for the murder. In the meantime the English media had sufficiently
damaged the reputation of India in the world by accusing RSS and VHP for
the same.
3. The much known Jhabua Kandof
Dec 1998. Four nuns were raped and looted. As a regular exercise RSS and
Bajrang dal was blamed and targeted. The news shook the Christian world.
And the judgment? On April 2000, 10 people were awarded life -imprisonment,
6 for 2 year jail and one for one year prison Out of these 17, PL note,
15 were Christians. But the English media had done what it intended an
incalculable damage to Hindu cause.
4. Now about the Media -indifference
to Hindu cause. Shyamal K Gupta, General Sec. of NE, Sudhakar Dutta Div.
Organizer or Agartala , Dhirendra Natharhe, organizer of Assam and Subhankar
Chakravarti Dist. Organizer Dharmanagar--- all these four social workers
were proceeding to Banavasi Kalyan Ashram in Agartala on Aug. 6, 1999 when
they were kidnapped by Christians of NE and later killed. There was no
report in papers or any editoralin the English media, which remains ever
alert to publish such incidents about minorities. Why so? In a different
context, J. Jailalita, the CM of Tamilnadu says,' It is very strange and
saddening to see that when such acts are perpetuated against the minorities,
all political leaders rush to issue statements of condemnation, but when
persons belonging to majority are subjected to similar perpetuation of
heinous crime, not a single political leader so far has issued statement
condemning this barbaric crime' The psedo- secular leaders and the English
media are birds of the same feather
The English media has failed to
present the positive side of the Hindutva wave and its related contributions.
It has overlooked the RSS and VHP effort for a dialogue with bishops on
different issues facing them. It has also failed to discuss how and why
in JK, the only Muslim majority state in India, the Hindu minority of Kashmir
pundits was totally thrown out as refugees in their own land? Does it not
lead us to conclude that when and where Muslims are in majority, they pay
no regard for democratic norms or secularism? Why were no representative
voices of Muslims heard against the atrocities in JK? About 10,000 Kashmiri
pundits have been shot dead over the years, and 3.5 lakhs rendered homeless
and uprooted. The English press publicity remained poor, indifferent and
insensitive . Even in their reportings , they described it in a routine
way. No one used words like genocide, ethnic cleansing, Talibanization
, violation of human rights or holocaust , as they are in usual habit of
using it against any Hindu reaction. Even when Mumbai was blasted with
Pak support , the English press did not use the words slaughter, fundamentalists,
fascism and anti-secular, human right violation , which could have been
used legitimately, but it uses it to defame Hindu rising in self-assertion.
This results in giving false information and keeping people in dark.
The English media does not care
to find out why is there no leadership for a mutual dialogue on contentious
issues like Ayodhya? The English media has failed to let us know the causes
why the Hindu population in Pak declined from 14% in 1947 to 2% today,
where as the Muslims in India, despite the media presentation of their
insecurity, rose from 10% to 14% during the same period? The media has
an obligation to detail the nation about the condition of Hindus in Muslim
countries and especially in Bangla Desh where they are raped and tortured
regularly. The print and the television have failed to picture the rape
scenes and burning of the innocent people which it shows time and again
in case of minorities in India. The media has a responsibility to let us
know why the Muslims and the clergy distance itself from immoral acts of
its fellowmen but never condemn or publicly denounce these barbarous acts.
The Hindu Shankaracarya and Hon'ble Ravi Shankar have offered themselves
for mutual talks and settlements of issues facing them but why is there
no such offer from the Muslim side? Is not this the result of Hindu baiting
and political appeasement of the minorities to the detriment of national
interest? The media intensifies the sense of minoritism and there by keeps
them at a distance from the main stream majority The English media has
failed to criticize the growing trend of international interference in
our internal affairs by countries which have a record of human right violations.
The people have a right to know about the frequent foreign trips of these
media men and admissions and fellowships to their wards and job for progeny.
The media is expected to adhere
to proper norms and standards of reporting. It should not indulge in distorting,
exaggerating or employing intemperate, inciting and unrestrained language
or phrase deliberately meant to give wrong impressions. The media is a
peacemaker.and not at all a political backer, a disease the English media
badly suffers from. The media is expected to promote peace and harmony
and not to present a picture of incitement or create such a trend, which
disrupts peace directly or indirectly. If it indulges in this design, will
it not be an anti- national act? It is said as you sow so shall you reap.
A Hindu does not say that every action has a opposite and equal reaction,
a phrase put into the mouth of Modi, the CM Gujarat, by the press, which
he vehemently denies having uttered. The Hindu faith lies in the belief
that every one has to reap the consequences of his action in this or in
consecutive lives and the press is no exception. Let God kindle our path
from darkness unto light. AUM
