As the gruesome carnage in Mumbai comes to macabre end the politicians, especially of the ruling party, are under severe attack for their ineptitude to read bold letters of terror on the wall. The failure that these coward politicans show in protecting innocent citizens borderlines treachery. But politicians and the terrorist are not alone in this ghoulish drama of Muslim appeasement and ghastly killings that usually follow that are worringly becoming a common picture. The media should be equally blamed for their biased propaganda that nurtures the Muslim terrorism. At least politicians have to care about the vote banks. But Media is answerable to none.
Media is fast transforming itself from merely publishing the happenings to actually creating the happenings. Moreover they have gained uncontested power in recording the history as they please. Mostly owned by conglomerates these news organizations have became a profit seeking predators and they can go to any extent, not to acquire the truth but to get the advertisers.
The case with Indian media is peculiar as these media houses are aligned themselves with political parties. So not only that these media houses more worried about making money but they are also concerned about keeping their political bosses happy.
The recent attacks on Mumbai were not only heinous in nature but the audacity of the terrorists to produce rampant mayhem was never witnessed before. And all though the enormity of the incidence is yet to settle into Indian conscience the media is working overboard to insert the jaundiced view that ranges from the recent terrorist attacks simply being a reaction to ‘Hindu terrorism’ to unsatisfied Muslim population and finally settling onto US foreign policy.
The public discourse regarding the Islamic terrorism that these media houses propagates is very similar to the policies the so called ‘secular’ parties tries to implement. The message that the Muslims are the victims in India and Hindus are hell bent on destroying them is constantly dished out. This rhetoric has finally created a monster that is spreading throughout India like a cancer. To illustrate my argument let’s analyze the a verbal exchange between terrorists and the victims published in recent edition of Wall Street Journal
…Restaurant workers there ushered guests closest to the kitchen inside. The assailants jumped in front of another group that tried to run out the door. "Stop," they shouted in Hindi. They corralled 16 diners and led them up to the 20th floor. One man in the group dialed his wife in London and told her he'd been taken hostage but was OK. "Everybody drop your phones," one of the assailants shouted, apparently overhearing. Phones clattered to the floor as the three women and 13 men dug through their purses and pockets and obeyed.
On the 20th floor, the gunmen shoved the group out of the stairwell. They lined up the 13 men and three women and lifted their weapons. "Why are you doing this to us?" a man called out. "We haven't done anything to you."
"Remember Babri Masjid?" one of the gunmen shouted, referring to a 16th-century mosque built by India's first Mughal Muslim emperor and destroyed by Hindu radicals in 1992.
"Remember Godhra?" the second attacker asked, a reference to the town in the Indian state of Gujarat where religious rioting that evolved into an anti-Muslim pogrom began in 2002.
Gunfire was reported at luxury hotels, a restaurant, police headquarters and a train station.
"We are Turkish. We are Muslim," someone in the group screamed. One of the gunmen motioned for two Turks in the group to step aside.
Then they pointed their weapons at the rest and squeezed the triggers.
Similarly Gujarat riots took place because 59 Hindus were burnt alive in a train by Muslim mob in Godhra, Gujarat. The riots, all though bloody and deplorable, were reaction to the gruesome murder of innocent Hindus.
Following is another example where truth is purposefully twisted in the name of secularism. All though this interview was conducted long time before Mumbai carnage, the questions that Shekhar Gupta asks will astound any sane reader. Unfortunately it is the common man that bores the brunt of this inanity. My favorite questions are “But why is your state a major victim? Is it because Gujarat is next door? And • Do you think Maharashtra is paying a price for being Gujarat’s neighbor? The questions were in regards with prior bomb-blasts that shook Mumbai.
(http://www.indianexpress.com/news/it-a-breakthrough-is-expected-as-early-as-possible.-i-cant-say-whe.../8691/)
I have not seen anyone mentioning that three of the biggest Hindi movie stars are Muslims along with numerous old luminaries. The last President of India was a Muslim and so were two more in laste 70’s. The most successful captain of Indian cricket team was a Muslim. Till recently richest Indian was an Muslim too. In fact, current commissioner of Mumbai is a Muslim and yet not a single Hindu is pointing fingers at any of them. The constant portrayal that Muslims are marginalized by a nefarious design is simply not true. As India is dusting poverty as well as other social ills off its clothes, there are opportunities everywhere. But only a hard-working and ambitious person can grab them.
As the facts are filtered and the context and the perspective are muddled, all that is left a misinformation on which terrorism feeds itself. On one hand we have so called ‘secular’ politicians who for their petty interest try hard to appease Muslims and on the other hand we have extremely biased media that support the inherently counter-productive rhetoric. These two players play major role in accelerating self-victimization in the minds of Indian Muslims. It’s easy to see how a whole community high on half knowledge consistently produces youth who think it’s their right to take revenge.
At least we can vote out the politicians but how are we going to deal with the Media?
No comments:
Post a Comment