Category: Top Stories

Madhavi Latha, the BJP candidate for Hyderabad, “found herself in the midst of a controversy” says a Times of India article. The controversy was one which Latha appears to have caused herself by going to a polling booth and asking Muslim women in burkhas to lift their veils so that Latha could check their identity cards. Or perhaps TOI meant that the controversy part was because someone released a video clip of Latha doing this. Had the video not been made public, there would have been no controversy to be in the midst of?

 

I write this on May 13, as India votes in Phase 4, and there are reports all over social media that voting is being stopped by election officials, especially in UP, because large numbers of Muslims have turned up to vote. These are unverified accounts but they point to the general pattern of “controversy” which the rank Islamophobia and undemocratic behaviour of the BJP and its supporters engenders.

 

Does this also qualify as being in the midst of a controversy for the BJP’s second chief campaigner Amit Shah, also part-time Union Home Minister? That Raghav Trivedi, a TV reporter with moliticsindia, was beaten up at Shah’s Rae Bareli rally? Perhaps according to the venerable media, Trivedi caused a controversy by asking questions of people at the rally? Questions, as we know, cannot venture further too far from the “how do you eat mangoes, stay fit” mould when it comes to BJP politicians. Especially important ones.

 

Interestingly, the Indian Express article on the same event has updated itself faster than TOI, to include the cases filed by the Hyderabad Collector against Latha for “undue influence at an election” and “obstructing public servant”. The article also mentions Latha’s earlier act of firing mock arrows at a mosque, while campaigning.

 

I even saw a headline in the Express which said that a low voter turnout in Madhya Pradesh was bad for the BJP. However I think this may be compensation for esteemed Express columnists like Surjit Bhalla and Tavleen Singh telling us that the Indian economy is doing better than ever although there is no evidence of this or that Narendra Modi’s not mentioning his own achievements is the fault of a long election season.

 

This sort of pussyfooting from the traditional Indian media explains why Youtubers like Dhruv Rathee can get over 7198528 views on a video within a few hours of release, and 11 lakh likes. The video is one more in a series where Rathee explains to his viewers how Modi’s entire past, from being a tea-seller to being poverty-stricken was a cleverly constructed lie.

 

It may seem amazing to someone who gets into the story late that there was no consistent debunking of these lies about Modi when they first appeared. Because Rathee has done nothing more than use long-available material as evidence. Instead, the media just amplified the lies put out by the massive PR campaign built up around Modi. Knowing very well that they were lies.

 

 

Rathee’s videos get their views. Other Youtubers who debunk political waffle, have been taken down on official request by the government when their focus has been on the BJP.

 

I once again expect to hear spurious explanations of how scared the media is, especially from people whose vast media experience comes from having one friend/ niece/ nephew/ uncle/ aunt in a newsroom. And I once again refuse to accept them.

 

The media cannot be excused for the current condition we find ourselves in. This election and after.

 

Ranjona Banerji is a senior jouralist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal.