I deleted my Facebook account a few months back
because that social media was blocking me off and on. Initially it blocked me
for a day each. Then it became three days, seven days, and so on until they
blocked me for a whole month. The reason: I was satirising the ills that plague
my country. The evils that I questioned were ostensibly promoted by Facebook
which had no issues with the various individuals as well as agencies that
advocated sectarianism openly on the platform. Facebook views me as an antinational
person because I want peace and harmony in the country!
This is the tragic situation in the
whole country. Sane voices are stifled and sheer madness is promoted as patriotism.
Media is one place where you see it blatantly in practice.
India has been sinking pathetically
in the ranking of press freedom ever since Modi took charge as Prime Minister. Now
the country stands at a low of 150 out of 180 nations in the press freedom
index. Modi has taken India close to despicably illiberal countries like Pakistan
and Afghanistan.
When the Prime Minister’s closest friend
and corporate honcho, Mukesh Ambani, owns over 70 media institutions in the
country which are followed by over 800 million citizens, and another honcho [Adani]
is swallowing a media like the NDTV, the country has little reason for optimism
with respect to media freedom.
Modi’s India hates media criticism of
the government. Modi is scared of criticism altogether. Funny when we know that
he presents himself as the bravest citizen of the country with swashbuckling
bravado. Facades can be comic as well as grotesque at the same time.
Too many journalists have been punished
in various ways for being critical of Modi. The Prime Minister makes use of
such agencies as the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department, and the
Central Bureau of Investigation to raid and/or harass his critics. Many critics
are arrested as antinational people and thrown behind the bars. Some are even
killed.
But Modi remains a hero for the
majority of Indians. His heroism is a fabrication. Fabricated by a humongous
propaganda machinery which consists mostly of the media.
It is easy to manipulate the media
today because the media has gone digital. According to a recent study by Reuters,
78% of Indians now rely on smartphones for news. Globally that figure is 85%.
Social media play a vital role in such a situation. A lot of people get their
news and other information from Facebook and such places. News is fabricated in
such places which are nothing more than commercial ventures meant for making
profit. Facebook has no moral commitment to any value. It is sheer commerce.
Truth dies a thousand deaths on that platform every minute. And governments
celebrate those deaths. Indian government has much to cheer in this regard. You
find hundreds of thousands of tweets/posts which are just copy-pasted by paid
agencies of the government. Utter falsehood which becomes truths merely because
they are repeated ad infinitum blindly and senselessly.
India has become a country of
falsehood and hatred under Modi’s leadership. Good people go to jails as
criminals occupy seats of power in the legislatures. As eminent journalist,
Siddharth Varadarajan, said
recently in his 21st Narendran memorial lecture in Thiruvananthapuram,
India is grappling now with “attempts to demean, belittle and outlaw dissent
and protest” and media is the first victim of those attempts. What we now have
in the country is a mockery of democracy with open horse-trading of elected
politicians going on throughout the country like a farce scripted in hell. As
long as our media remains a slave, a lapdog, there is little hope for
democracy. Dictatorship will masquerade as democracy here.
Darkness has engulfed the country’s
media, said Varadarajan in his lecture. But there is light on the other side.
There are still some media agencies clinging to truth bravely and fighting for
the light. Let us not think that those who are in the light are a tiny
minority, he exhorted. We are many. We shall not succumb to the forces of
darkness.
💯💯
ReplyDeleteThanks, Merrin.
DeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteWell said... the stifling of opposing views is becoming prevelant even here, but rather more subtly and thus, in some regards, more dangerously. In India, it is blatant - yet still manages to flourish (it seems). May the voices of light, including yours, continue to shine! YAM xx
Modi can do this openly because his bhakts take him for a deity. The situation is ludicrous. I don't understand how so many people can be fooled so easily.
DeleteCBI, ED and ITD are used against media persons, politicians and others. So many side with Modi. Even Mamata Banerjee has become soft towards Modi.
ReplyDeleteModi is going to be PM till 2029. That's why, I think, people are beginning to kowtow... Survival depends on that!
DeleteNice Article, Keep it Up. You may also Know more about an Indian State essay on bihar state.
ReplyDelete