The
Free Speech And The Anger
With the Internet, and therefore
freedom of speech not quite well developed or developed in the controlled print
alone, Indian English media feasted on stories criticising Modi for more than
10 years. Although as an episode, 2002 Gujarat riots dint go unnoticed in the
West during the cyberspace's infancy, coinciding with it becoming an adult and
as surprising as a socialist bud blossoming in the capitalist space, the feast metamorphosed
into a 'starter' in the West when Modi started his ascent for the PMs office.
Examples:
Get out of the "Fear of the
Unknown". This article is a pure junk as the west is envious of India now.
Says Latha Reacting to Sunni Handal's post on CNN
It is completely biased and INSULT
to people of India Screams Virat
'..such crap' says VR to There's A
Dark Side To The Prime Minister Who Just Won India's Election By A Huge
Landslide
Another says 'Stop peddling this
trashy lies CNN' to Will Modi be India's Putin?
But
Why Are The Indians Angry?
Unexplained by racism (Many
reporters are of Indian origin); what makes them vilify these internationally
recognised depended media houses? Are these just emotional outbursts or have
the Western media houses crossed the mark offered by media ethics and freedom
of expression?
Almost aired by the overcrowding of
UK airways by the English non trusting non-English state's TVs (Al Jajeera, RT,
French TV etc.) that have chosen to offer their own perspectives, the ideal of
neutral journalism is yet to be achieved. In the Indian/BJP context, this is
said because of the following reasons.
With all inferences relying on data
and data on source, intentional or unintentional choice of wrong source or
disregard of the right source gives a wrong conclusion. Sadly this seems to be
the case with the Western media, at least in relation to its recent reporting
on Modi/BJP/India.
Showing trust on some people's views
but not on Indian judiciary, all articles harp on Modi's guilt on 2002 Gujarat
riots. As if the goal was to create fear, the main mantra appears to be 'Modi
will divide India'. The scaremongering thus initiated, almost like a Hollywood
plot, its substantiation alone is made a goal. While anything that boosts this
is given credence, anything that doesn't is either disregarded or modified to
fit in. Untouched by irrelevance, 'Let's move on' or 'Let bygones be bygones'
history is excavated and modified as necessary. Even 'mythology' is dragged in.
With them being used as a vote bank,
changing demography and causing local resentment that at times bursts into
riots, Illegal immigration is a greater problem for India than for UK and USA.
With Hindus being persecuted and even being grossly reduced in numbers in
Bangladesh and Pakistan, it accepts them as refugees. Far from being
anti-Muslim, having a tradition of accepting persecuted groups like Jews and
Zoroastrians, tradition tracing BJP will accept the persecuted Pakistani
Ahmadiyya Muslims, and even add 'Guest is like a deity'. Disregarding that fact
but twisting Modi's anti-illegal immigrant election rhetoric into anti-Muslim
view, the scribe tries to substantiate the goal mantra.
And when Modi shows a pro Muslims
stance by touching the feet of 104 years old Muslim, almost as a win by any
means, David Danelo of CNN accuses him of aligning with Netaji - the feared
Indian revolutionary!! The man quoting and praising Gandhi is disregarded. To
substantiate the mantra by maligning RSS, he digs into what he, possibly,
considers mythology, and brings in erroneous historical facts about Gandhi and
the Mahabharata. Coming back to the present, he commits the same mistake as The
Economist does with the 'puppy' remark of Modi. As if showing a desperate move,
merging past and present, he even drags today's businessman's view on history's
Netaji.
And when a virtually unknown BJP
member said something about sending Pakistan backed Modi opposing Muslims who
regard Pakistan as 'holy' to Pakistan, it was misquoted as him saying 'Modi
opposing Muslims should go to Pakistan'.
The list goes on ..
What
is Not Seen
But then, what they don't see are
these clearly discernable facts
The detachment is such that lacking
self reflection, these reporters fail to see the Western ideals oozing out of
Mr Modi. While his rise from a humble beginning to the present is akin to that
of Abraham Lincoln - let alone the rags to riches American dream- his oratory
power is as mesmerising as that of Obama - with whom he happens to share social
discrimination. While going beyond protestant work ethics he hasn't taken leave
since the last 12 years, going beyond a householder wish, he has offered his
salary to the poor. Despite vilification, he has shown love for freedom of
expression and offered praise to the Indian media for making him prominent.
Despite being called divisive and
media pointedly dragging him into religion, he has consistently refused to see electorate
on any line other than on development. In fact, done earlier only by a sympathy
wave (Mrs. Gandhi's death), his message of development has created history by
making voters transcend faith, ethnicity, language and cast. Even Muslims, who
are supposed to fear him, voted for him. Despite making a feast of politician's
mistress scandals in the West, him sacrificing his wife for the sake of the
country is not seen. Also not seen is his love of freedom of speech. His use of
3D technology not done in USA or UK is awaiting record recognition. After
victory, almost as a statesman, through Twitter he has asked some oppositions
party stalwarts to work together for the sake of the country. Continuing
statesmanship, while he sees every citizen important, seeing neighbours as
important he has invited all SAARC leaders.
Even if the scary Hindutwa is
invoked to scare Muslims, its core belief, amazingly, is respect for all
religions!
With the educated and optimistic
Muslims, who voted for him not sharing the reporters' apprehension, this
scaremongering itself becomes an insult to their intelligence. Furthermore,
like Ms Clinton not finding Modi's mass graves, they will not find their views
proven in the future.
And
Finally...
And finally, though Indians have
shown anger against the misguided reporters, unlike them, the man who has also
been called Nero despite having the deepest regard for his mother, will rather
praise them for making him prominent! This is exactly what he did to the Indian
media people, who feasted on criticising him for more than 10 years. This
should bring the vive of Gandhi, whom he respects so much.
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