India needs to revisit lessons from one of its greatest sons, writes Ashutosh

Those who are worried about the kind of journalism practiced by TV channels in India today should read Bhagat Singh. In the mid-1920s, India witnessed horrendous riots that shook Bhagat Singh. He wrote a long piece in Kirti Magazine in 1928. In this write up while analysing the reasons for the riots, he squarely blames newspapers for the communal flare-ups. He writes, “The second factor which added fuel to fire was the newspapers. The profession of journalism which was once regarded as a very noble one, now has become evil. These people arouse public sentiments by writing bold headlines in the newspapers against one or the other and compel people to start fighting with one another. Not limited to just one or two places, riots started in many locations just because of the fact that local newspapers had written articles that stoked passions.”

Bhagat Singh, of course, used strong words and called newspapers ‘Evil’. But his words underlined two things. One, in a communal situation, journalism in India finds it difficult to remain neutral, and most often, it flows with the current and ends up adding fuel to fire. Two, India as a society since then has not grown much. Despite all the claims of the Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb and rainbow heritage, we Indians more or less are guided by our basic instincts. And communal prejudices play a big role vis-a-vis our feelings for members of the other religious fraternity. Bhagat Singh was very right when he wrote that ‘very few writers maintained their cool in such situations.’ He further writes, “The actual duty of newspapers is to educate, to liberate people from narrow mindedness, eradicate fundamentalism, to help in creating a sense of fraternity among people and build a common nationalism in India, but these papers behaved in a manner entirely antithetical to their duties. Their sole motive was to spread hysteria, preach narrow-mindedness, and fundamentalism, instigate clashes and destroy the common heritage of India.”

TV news channels today are doing exactly the same thing. With a few exceptions, TV channels since 2014 have changed their tracks totally. They not only have become spokespersons of the government at the centre but are also spewing venom against the minority community, that is Muslims. Creating a wedge between Hindus-Muslims is their timepass. Anchors have become hate mongers. Their idea of editorial leadership is to project Muslims as Frankensteins who are the biggest threat to national integrity and security. A minor communal statement from some anonymous Muslim leader is spread like the biggest story of the day and the divisive politics of the Hindutvavadi leaders is painted as universal truth, a unifying creed. Hate mongering by the Hindu Dharma Sansad is ignored completely. The call given by the Yati Narsinghanand and others for ethnic cleansing of Muslims is shoved in a corner of the idiot box but a fake story about Tablighi Jamat as the super spreader of COVID during the pandemic is run day in and day out and the whole community is condemned; and when the high court criticised the government for the same, the story was never carried.

A Muslim and a Kashmiri who are invited as special guests to speak on a particular topic in a TV debate are not allowed to speak and are heckled for no reason and every attempt is made to portray them as anti-national. There is no scope for an alternate view on the issue of Kashmir and Pakistan. Human rights violations of Kashmiris are never discussed. In the eyes of the TV anchors, fundamental rights ordained by the constitution, have no meaning in the valley, it is meant to be curtailed and their voices have to be muzzled. A sane debate on Kashmir is not possible. Few retired army generals are hired to shout at anyone who is willing to have a sober discussion on the subject. Peace no longer has any place, rage and warmongering are the new truths of journalism. ‘Hindu Khatre me hai’, is the best argument to suppress any kind of divergent view and secularism has long been dumped in the dustbin. So I am not surprised that International media no longer takes Indian TV seriously.

It is in this context that the advisory issued by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry should be a welcome step provided the intent of the government is serious and is willing to say enough is enough. This advisory has clearly criticised the portrayal of communal issues on TV. It has also highlighted that many channels are running fake stories about the Ukraine war which can have serious repercussions on India’s foreign policy. I am reminded of a note many years back, given by the Centre’s interlocutor on Kashmir in which he mentioned how the nature of the coverage of Kashmir was worsening the situation in the valley, though surprisingly, no follow up actions were taken. This note had mentioned channels by their names.

It is possible that now the government has realised that in the context of the TV coverage of the recent communal riots or riot-like situations in seven states during Ram Navami and later, has crossed all limits and a minor provocation can trigger a situation that will be difficult to manage for the government. There is no doubt that society is badly divided and polarisation around religious lines in total. And along with communal politics, TV has also played a major role in this and the possibility of major riots or huge law and order situations cannot be ruled out.

Indian economy is in a dire state. Inflation is very high, unemployment is huge, demand is low and economic recovery is a distant dream. State after state is reeling under huge debts. India desperately needs investment, specially foreign, to boost its economy. And in certain quarters it is being visualised that if things are not controlled, then sooner or later, a Sri Lanka like situation can’t be ruled out and if the situation on the ground remains volatile and unstable, religious conflicts are the order of the day, and if law and order worsen then no new industry will come and investment will not grow.

India’s image at the international level has taken a very strong beating. The global perception is growing that India is no longer the vibrant democracy, it used to be. It is being realised internationally that in India, the press is no longer free as it used to be. Rather the press has become an extended arm, an instrument of propaganda for the government; it no longer fights for the citizens’ rights. Vibrant democracy and free press was the soft power that made India an attractive proposition in the past but now it is perceived as an ‘electoral autocracy’. There is a growing image that in India, democracy is in peril and globally the BJP government is being blamed for this.

This advisory by the ministry has come at a time when it is being believed that India is treading a dangerous path and it might be heading for a distant civil war; when it is being said that India can no longer boast of a common heritage where different traditions and faiths co-existed peacefully for centuries, the intermingling of the believers of different religions was the usual practice; where peace and non-violence defined its basic nature and where kings and sultans have not bothered to disturb the religious fabric of the common man. But now, when the country is witnessing a new normal where the basic DNA of the society is being transformed and TV channels are an active accompanist in this endeavour, I am reminded of Bhagat Singh again who long back has advised that the country should take corrective measures and it should separate religion from politics. He said, “We feel that the true well-wishers of India would follow these principles (separating religion from politics) and save India from the suicidal path it is on at present.” Will India listen to one of its greatest sons?

(The writer is Editor, SatyaHindi.com, and author of Hindu Rashtra. He tweets at @ashutosh83B)