Ranjona Banerji: Much anti-Dalit prejudice in newsrooms

By Ranjona Banerji

Once more into the breach: That is how the Indian media deals with news breaks. From flip-flopping over the Pathankot attack and a number of senior editors and journalists trying to protect the government from accusations of inefficiency and worse, we now have journalists trying to be fair on Dalit issues. Forgive me if I sound cynical. It is only because I have seen too much anti-Dalit and anti lower caste prejudice from upper caste journalists in newsrooms, especially in recent times. This is nothing but a massive tragedy because if journalists do not stand up for the underprivileged, then who will?

So now we have a situation where a research scholar at Hyderabad University, Rohith Vemula, commits suicide under some very unfortunate if not almost criminal circumstances. India discovers that he was part of a group called the Ambedkar Students’ Association, which is considered “radical” by members of the BJP’s student wing the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. Vemula and four other students were suspended by the university over a fight with the ABVP. Vemula’s stipend was withheld for months, leaving him and his family desperate.

What made the case worse was that a BJP minister wrote to the HRD ministry to inform them of the ASA’s apparent assault on the ABVP and that these students were “anti-national”. Further, the HRD ministry consequently sent a number of letters to the university until these five Dalit students were suspended. The BJP, as is its wont these days, took too long to respond and several journalists decided to concentrate on the fact that the Congress vice-president rushed to Hyderabad rather than discrimination against Dalit students in higher educational institutions in India or government interference in support of a political party’s student body, which perhaps were the bigger stories.

This is not the first time that we have seen upper caste anger against Dalits at institutes of higher education in India. IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, IIT Roorkee, Hyderabad University – these are only some examples of discrimination and prejudice against Dalits. It is a story that ought to be looked at thoroughly and not through the prism of upper caste angst as is evident in websites like Swarajya, for instance where takes the position that these Dalit students, by demanding their rights and holding “uncomfortable” positions, are somehow the problem. By Indian law, caste discrimination is illegal: should journalists be aware of this?

On the evening of Thursday January 21, NDTV and India Today TV focussed on this issue. Times Now and NewsX were engrossed on a probable scam in Bihar and CNN-IBN looked at students’ suicides at Kota coaching centres. However to be fair, the media as a whole has made Rohith Vemula a household name and only a few of the usual suspects have been left scrambling to protect the BJP government at the Centre.

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Bhupendra Chaubey of CNN-IBN, who has lately stewarded the channel back to a more professional mode since its ownership turmoil, found himself the butt of jokes on social media and had to face the rage of Bollywood. While interviewing Bollywood actress Sunny Leone, he focused for too long on her past as a porn star, to the extent that he was offensive and misogynistic. His questions included asking her if her presence in front of him would morally corrupt him. He also suggested that actors like Aamir Khan would never act with her. Leone was dignified throughout, which only added to her charm.

As it happened, Aamir Khan tweeted he would be happy to act with Leone. Firstpost.com put up this defence of Chaubey, which was a superb move considering that they are sister concerns.

http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/in-defence-of-bhupendra-chaubey-outrage-about-the-sunny-leone-interview-is-misplaced-2592884.html

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The death of Dr Aroon Tikekar this week marks a sad day for Indian journalism. He belonged to that old school of erudite, informed and free-thinking journalists who cared more for their convictions than for corporate success. He will be sorely missed in all his capacities but especially as a thinker and a mentor. I feel privileged that he considered me a friend.