There was something crazily intriguing in that little clip doing the rounds, of a conversation between Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Times Now’s TV Person in Chief, Navika Kumar. Kumar has long been an outright and loyal supporter of the Narendra Modi regime at the Centre and of the BJP in general.
But even she seemed a tiny bit surprised that the BJP welcomed a whole lot of “tainted” politicians from other parties into their fold. Why, she asks Sitharaman, why these people with corruption charges. Sitharaman replies that “everyone is welcome in the BJP”. Kumar persists. The answer is the same: “The party welcomes everyone”.
In that other world in which we used to live when we were a democracy, TV people would have had conniptions over this subject. Corruption, BJP’s Washing Machine – all the phrases coined by opposition parties would have been used by the media itself. But since we live in this semi-fascist world, we have to be content with smirking a bit at the seeming surprise of the anchor when faced with the blank prissy acknowledgement of the minister.
All is well when the King Emperor and his Chief Lackey make the decisions.
Or there’s that other image. Of Narendra Modi, prime minister of India, sitting comfortably with his former mentor LK Advani, while the President of India, Draupadi Murmu, stands to one side like she’s an attendant. The President presented Advani with his Bharat Ratna, a reward perhaps for his role in the demolition of the Babri Masjid and the subsequent turmoil in India. Or as a sop for the mentor from his disciple for sidelining him once he rose to the top.
That’s the politics of it.
But the “optics” – a horrible word which today people love – told another story. Of an Emperor without grace or manners. And a system which has dumped protocol. The ascent of Murmu to India’s President was to underline the fact that she is a woman and a tribal. But this photograph emphasized how little Modi and the administration respect both those aspects and the office of the President itself.
Again, for the Indian mainstream media, this was a non-issue. What does it matter if the office of the President of India is insulted in this manner. The main player is Modi: nothing else matters.
And so it remains: Modi’s lies about how he had made electoral bonds transparent. His false claims about Katchatheevu. The Supreme Court directive to the Election Commission on a paper trail for EVMs. The enormous rally in Delhi by Opposition parties in support of jailed Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. The newest reports of hunger and unemployment in India. The falling rupee. Nothing but nothing moves the media.
As one TV person screamed to a panellist on her show: I will always defend the prime minister of my India, so India’s mainstream media remains in a stupor. Or rather, supine in front of Modi and his cult.
That a youtuber like Dhruv Rathee can so easily get 67 lakh views, in less than 24 hours, for his latest video on India’s fall to dictatorship, tells you how irrelevant the Indian mainstream media has become.
Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal.