Credit must be given to the Indian media for playing its role of a “watchdog” in defusing last month’s Ayodhya crisis. If the Ayodhya issue has lost its original relevance, the media have contributed immensely to this. If the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies have adopted a strong stance against the government tilting toward its Hindutva-minded associates, the media have played a major role here too.
During this hour of crisis, the Indian media have driven home the point that news and images carried by papers and the television should not be assumed to be publicity tools for the Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists and its political associates. Had the media remained a mute spectator to the VHP’s plans and designs, the NDA allies would have probably cited the lack of any hard evidence about the murder and mayhem in post-Godhra Gujarat.
Despite the “rhetoric trap” set up by authorities in Gujarat and at the center, the Indian media have ensured that “secularism” is not thrown to the winds. It has stared at the communal fires in the state with courage and determination. There have been commentators who have questioned the media’s response to the burning of VHP activists in Godhra. Whether they were militants or not, killing them was never justified. Assumptions made that Muslims and secular Indians have either ignored Godhra or reacted passively is simply not true. The “secular establishment” — and one hopes that includes the prime minister and the home minister — did not take long to condemn the incident and announce compensation for the victims.
Besides, had the media shut its eyes to Godhra, how did it make front-page headlines? When the Fourth Estate gave it the required importance, it is amazing why its “secularism” should be questioned. Yes, those who set fire to the Sabarmati Express should be punished. However, to use Godhra as a handle for unleashing terror packaged as “revenge” cannot be justified.
Did the VHP goons have the right to take the law into their own hands? Did they have the right to claim being representatives of the entire Hindu community? To ignore or downplay the VHP’s excesses would have amounted to giving them a free hand to pursue their Hindutva aspirations.
The politico-religious platform provided to the VHP and other vocal elements of the “Sangh Parivar” by the government allowed the situation to go “out of control”. Shouldn’t those responsible for the situation to reach such a flash point in Godhra be behind bars? Had even a dozen Muslims indulged in the sort of slogan shouting that the Hindu militants were reportedly indulging in before Feb. 27, the authorities would not have taken long to punish them. This certainly is suggestive of Indian leaders’ “secularism” being confined to the trap of rhetoric.
Indian media have come a long way from where it was in the 1980s. It did not ignore the Godhra tragedy nor did it sideline the atrocities indulged by VHP activists in the towns and cities of Gujarat. In fact, rather than be caught in the trap of political rhetoric, the media presented a true picture of houses being burnt, people being killed, women being raped by mobs and goons with covert and direct political support.
Gujarat is not burning because of any Hindu-Muslim conflagration; the VHP does not represent the Hindu community, and the media have certainly exposed this. The fear of Dec. 6, 1992 being repeated has also been allayed thanks to the media’s alertness.
Despite the electronic media bringing viewers face-to-face with what is going on in Gujarat and what happened on Feb. 27 in Godhra, the public has not been swept away by communal passion.
If the Gujarat tragedy was enacted to ensure polarization of vote banks along religious lines for future assembly polls in the state, that “opportunity” has been lost. Had the media confined their Gujarat coverage to the stand adopted by the state’s political and bureaucratic machinery, it could have been accused of having fallen into the “rhetoric trap”.
Had the real news been ignored and importance given to only “manufactured news”, it may have amounted to an increased polarization along communal lines. Due credit needs to be given to the Indian media for not allowing this communication error to take place. And here, the media and the civil society have definitely scored.
The battle against communalism in India remains half-won. Until extremists stop subjecting the nation to their own politico-religious agenda, the war will continue.