All that matters in Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia, according to some Indian news outlets, is that evidently lots of Indians who live in Moscow are very excited. For some reason, these strange outlets also showed us people in New York who are very excited by Modi, although it is not completely clear why they are excited.
Is this excitement over the fact that in India, people showed they were not quite as excited by Modi?
In the days since the general election results, we have seen the following things happen in India:
An increase in lynching of Muslims by Hindutva gangs, with affiliations to the BJP/RSS.
A number of bridges collapsing in Bihar, 12 in two weeks.
Massive floods in Assam, with loss of life and property.
Massive rainfall, landslides in Uttarakhand, with damage and loss of lives.
A stampede at the religious event in UP where at least 120 people died.
Huge consternation over leaked papers in common entrance exams, mass cancellation and students in severe distress.
Continued violence in Manipur over a year after the near-civil war began.
Increasing economic distress, industry slowdown, inflation high, retail sales in trouble.
Terrorist attacks in Kashmir.
You can add anything you want to this list, almost none of it good news.
What is most notable is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been missing from action in all these problems listed. Why the Indian media thinks random people singing and dancing in Moscow and New York is of any significance is not a question worth asking. Or is it? It underlines once again how Modi’s PR machinery and his captive media continue to sing to their own tunes, regardless of the reality around them.
Editor in Chief Chamchagiri: “Find me six Indians in Moscow and make them say they are excited about Modi.”
Staff: “Madam, what about Manipur?”
Editor: “Don’t talk rubbish, you Rahul Gandhi stooge. We only exist for Modi ji and dancing foreign fools.”
Something like that must happen in these newsrooms.
It is not that the mainstream media is out of touch with reality. Or it does not know what’s happening. But because it remains unable to disassociate itself from the Modi-means-publicity dance it has performed for so long, it cannot provide sufficient coverage to matters of pain and suffering that the average Indian may feel.
Consider the amount of time wasted asking people whether Rahul Gandhi had “insulted” Hindus by calling them non-violent or by saying that the BJP version of Hinduism is not Hinduism. This is a total non-issue and was only drummed up because Gandhi’s speech as Leader of the Opposition showed Modi and the BJP in a poor light.
While media outlets wasted their consumers time on stuff like this, problems over NEET exam leaks escalated, the monsoon did its damage, bridges collapsed. Is it then business as usual for the media? Regardless of the election results, regardless of the voice of the people, can the media recover from over 10 years of supine worship? Is it worth wasting newsgathering expenses on happy Indians in Moscow when you did nothing for all the Indians who died in heat waves and are now dying in monsoon fury?
The best is, you won’t even really find out what this trip to Russia has achieved, apart from dancing Indians and some bear hugs…
ANI amused me the most in this “who loves Modi more” game. It put up a photo of a statue of the Mozart monument in Austria as a highlight of Modi’s impending visit to that country. How do you think ANI and other such lapdog outlets will now contrive to prove Modi’s lifelong connection to Mozart?
Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal.