Sunday, July 07, 2013
Letter to the Editor:
Is Media Blitz over Mahabodhi bomb blasts one more attempt at pre-election
scare-mongering and polarization?
The news that CNN-IBN flashed about the blast at the site
Mahabodhi temple in Bihar, and the way details were injected every few minutes,
appears to trained eyes as another dirty tricks by elements in the Congress led
UPA trying to match BJP’s communal salvo on disputed Ram Janam bhoomi, with its
own tried and trusted tactic of hauling innocent Muslims and supposedly
fictitious Indian Mujahedin members, to foment strife and polarization to build
up non-Muslim, especially Buddhist vote bank in its favor. These competitive
strategies to win elections by demonizing Indian Muslims, has been so overused
that it hardly sends any ripples around the country. Only Muslims are rightly
distressed that now extremist elements, from possibly both Brahminical political
parties, are trying to outdo each other in winning the next parliamentary election,
not on the basis of governance, development, corruption and widespread
dissatisfaction due to mismanaged economy, but on communal demonization of
Muslims. The Muslim votes are supposed to be the marginal votes that make or
break any political party in at least over 100 constituencies and the dirty
trick is to scare and hound Muslims so that they will flock to their tormentor
to seek redress. The harried Muslims have always voted for Congress, on pain of
reprisals, before and even after the elections. Before the elections, they are
targeted as warning not to attempt to desert Congress or else. After the
elections, as revenge in case they had deserted Congress. The entire scenario that
is coming out of the Home Ministry is lapped up by subservient and communal
media – paid or otherwise, without an inch of integrity or will to investigate
or at least place a note of caution to such open and blatant demonizing of the
entire Muslim community by planting such disasters on them, as the most reviled
terror mongers. The fault-line between Buddhists and Muslims in neighboring Myanmar
has come around this time as a handy tool, to divide Indian polity and corner
Muslims as terrorists --- now presumably taking revenge on Buddhists. All media
should realize their sacred duty to protect Indian citizenry from the machination
of political parties to use dirty tricks to divide the country and initiate
strategies to win votes through intimidation, fear and demonization. Even Election
Commission could form a vigilance group to keep an eye at the manipulation by
political parties to win votes by inciting polarization, strife, bogus terror
scare, fake arrests of innocent citizens, and the media’s slavish parroting of
Government agencies’ handout as gospel truth. Justice Katju, as Press Council
head has been virtually silenced for his frank comments on national issues. But
this is one issue that could snowball in distorting Indian democracy by means
of media propaganda and should not be ignored by him as Press Council Chief.
The stakes are too high for the nation for him to remain silent. Muslims too
should be prepared to haul media to courts, in case of their irresponsible and
widely exaggerated news coverage.
Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
<ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com> 
