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By Ranjona Banerji​
A journalist says that “they†should be killed first, before they kill us. Another journalist claims that two people died and that these deaths were being justified because provocative slogans were raised. A third, very senior, journalist puts out five names and says that these are responsible for the attack on a school bus in Gurugram, Haryana.
Welcome to the world of journalism by Twitter, where it is mandatory to practise journalism by never checking the facts, or yourself, and for ensuring that you pander to the basest instincts while you do so. Or is that a simple, pat explanation for what is going on here? All three of these journalists are targeting Muslims as perpetrators of crimes, with no proof and a clear sense of fomenting trouble.
Is it necessary to go through what happened at Kasganj, which is the event that TV journalist Jagruti Shukla and Mail Today editor Abhijit Majumder were tweeting about? Or to go back to the attack on the school bus by the Karni Sena, protesting against the film Padmavat, where Madhu Kishwar decided that Muslims (she even had five names) were responsible?
The reports from Kasganj, in the Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh, saw clashes between local Muslim communities and ABVP and VHP activists on Republic Day. The local Muslim communities were celebrating Republic Day and had put up the National Flag and chairs for the occasion. A group of ABVP-VHP men on motorcycles, carrying saffron flags, insisting on riding in procession – for which they had no permission – through the Republic Day celebration. The tension escalated in the larger area, someone took out a gun, one man was killed and another injured.
For this, Jagruti Shukla felt that all Muslims should be killed: “Always carry lethal weapons. Kill them before they kill us. #Monday Motivation,†says a tweet she put out. People have complained to Twitter India about the tweet, but that apart, what does it say about us journalists? Having a personal belief is one thing but inciting murder is quite another (see pic).
Meanwhile, there’s Majumder. We have been colleagues in a couple of organisations over the years. Of late, his persona on Twitter has become increasingly Islamophobic. As news of the Kasganj violence broke, his tweets revealed not just Islamophobia and a provocative stance, but a complete lack of responsibility for someone who is editor of a newspaper. Why not just check the facts before tweeting? How difficult can that be with someone who has more resources at hand than most?
Instead, in his tweet (see pic) he implies that those who called out his lies were “justifying†the death of Chandan Gupta. Let us not ignore the fact that Majumder decided to “kill†Raul Upadhyaya as well. Upadhyaya however is alive and quite upset that he is being used to “incite violenceâ€.
I don’t think there’s any point in getting into a lecture on journalistic ethics or calling on the bosses of such journalists. We have gone beyond that. Instead, why assume that these bosses do not know what is going on? In fact, I would say it seems reasonable to assume that the bosses are happy. But this deliberate blanking out of facts and calling for violence and retaliation is dangerous for all citizens. When journalists think it is all right to start sectarian violence, are they in fact journalists at all?
The only saving grace is that these two were called out by other journalists. Abhisar Sharma of ABP News, reporters at Aaj ​Tak (part of the India Today group where Majumder also works) both lied and then told the truth about what happened. Majumder deleted one tweet and then resorted to classic “whataboutery†to defend his outright lie about the events and the deaths, by snidely referring to some attacks on churches that happened a while ago to somehow blame “liberals†for his lies. Being too clever by half can be amusing but in times like this, it is childish, idiotic and dangerous.
That leaves us with Madhu Kishwar, once the formidable editor of the feminist magazine Manushi. She is now a well-established devotee of the prime minister as well as of what is now called the “WhatsApp universityâ€. Therefore, it is only natural that she should retweet and spread any lie that vilifies the Muslim community.
From the Times of India’s Hyderabad edition, this is from an article based on comments made by the District Magistrate of Bareilly, Raghavendra Vikram Singh​:​
“A very strand trend has started of late. Take out processions by force through Muslim-dominated localities and raise anti-Pakistan slogans. Why? Are these people Pakistani? The same think happened in Jhailam village of Bareilly. Then stones were pelted and FIRs lodged.†U​P​ Governor Ram Naik, of the BJP, has called the Kasganj incident a “blot†on UP.
People and officials know exactly what is happening. Sadly, it is us journalists who have become the biggest blots.
Also read:
Mail Today editor Abhijit Majumder spreads fake news on Kasganj violence
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/man-declared-dead-in-kasganj-speaks-up-people-were-using-me-to-incite-violence-5044154/lite/?__twitter_impression=true
Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She is also Consulting Editor, MxMIndia. The views here are personal