Or, to raise a more pertinent question, is the BJP-led government at the Centre a reason why the anniversary-related coverage was so meek?
By M Reyaz, TwoCircles.net,
I have always considered The Indian Express bolder than most in the country, not afraid to take stands on most issues, whether I agree with those views or not.
But December 6 turned out to be different. Considered ‘black day’ of Indian democracy or Shaurya Diwas (Victory Day), depending on which side of the fence you are; the 22nd anniversary of Babri Masjid demolition deserved decent coverage, especially in view of the BJP-led dispensation at the Centre.
The newspaper that claims to uphold the ‘Journalism of Courage’ had all but a 100-odd word story, that too by a news agency Press Trust of India, from Ayodhya dateline about the security arrangements there. Nothing else on the event that changed political equations in India, the court cases related to Ayodhya-Babri Masjid-Ram Janmbhoomi pending for decades now.
Only a day ago, the paper had carried a report from ground zero that the BJP local workers are planning to celebrate the day as Bhagwa Diwas (Saffron Day). And then December 6 was virtually blank.
Not just Indian Express!
Then I checked other newspapers, all from what is supposedly the mainstream English media. The situation was no different. The Hindu barely had about 300 words story tucked away on page 10 titled ‘Sangh Parivar keeps temple issue alive’. The newspaper with highest readership, Times of India had on page 17, a story about a ‘Low-key Shaurya Diwas in Ayodhya on Babri anniversary’, the same that was reported a day earlier by IE. The other popular English daily, Hindustan Times wrote on page 15, ‘Babri demolition: Youth vote for development over dispute’.
That’s all. Rudimentary coverage acknowledging the day! On December 7, to be fair, most newspapers had some coverage on the demonstration as well as ‘celebration’ (Shaurya Divas) of what was victory for many 22 years ago. The 15th century structure called the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya was demolished by hard core saffron-wingers on December 6, 1992.
Again, Express decided to give more coverage (complete with a bigger photo and bigger font sized headline) to ‘With Hindu-leaning govt in power, Ram temple will be reality soon’, while the protest report was carried with a small and not very clear photo and headline, which actually made little sense. The barely over 100 words report’s headline, ‘For first time in 22 yrs, Muslim groups protest’ was either incomplete or wrong, to say the least. It was certainly not the first time that the right minded people – not just Muslims but also people from other faiths – had registered their protest.
The reporter, I understand, wanted to say that for the first time several groups – 30, according to the organisers – came together to put up an united protest at Jantar Mantar, but even then it was not ‘Muslim groups’ alone, for several Sikh groups, about 17 groups and parties from the Left, besides various human rights organisations had extended their support here. And I doubt if this was the first time!
The IE had another story on page 16 titled ‘Keeper of Faith’ that was a detailed feature on Mahant Satyendra Das, chief priest of the makeshift Ram temple at the disputed site, and how “As another anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition comes and goes, Mahant Satyendra Das is largely indifferent.”
It is completely understandable from journalistic point of view that the issue has been dragging for decades and so much has been written about it already. There could hardly be anything new. But does the anniversary of the single most critical event that turned the political landscape of the country not deserve some space?
The riot that followed killed hundreds and the polarisation that happened then has only deepened over the years. The cases have been dragging without any end and justice has not been done yet?
Last week, Hashim Ansari, the oldest and prime litigant in the land dispute case, declared he was fed up of politicization of the Babri case and does not want to fight the case any further. Surely, these all would have given enough fodder for some space in the paper, an article, a small editorial or some Op-Ed!
BJP government at the Centre
But more than anything, this is the first anniversary after the BJP – the party responsible for mobilizing the hysteria over Ram Janmbhoomi movement – has formed a majority government at the Centre. Clearly, this singular development could have been the ground for some introspection, if not by the BJP, by the media.
Or, to raise a more pertinent question, is that – the BJP-led government at the Centre – a reason why the anniversary-related coverage was so meek?
Online medium was no better, but one could still find some reports/articles here and there. However, the most outrageous was carried by India.com, a sister concern of Subhas Chandra-owned Zee Group, titled ‘22nd Babri Masjid Demolition Anniversary: 15 eye-opening facts you wouldn’t have known about Ram Janmabhoomi issue!’
In the very first paragraph of this write up, the author makes it clear: “After decades of suppression and appeasement policies by the subsequent governments, the Hindu community had enough and Babri Masjid demolition was just the beginning of the saffron juggernaut.”
The portal shared it openly as “#ShauryaDivas Special” on its social media handle.
p.s. The social media, meanwhile, has shown who rules the country as #ShauryaDivas continued to trend the whole day
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(M Reyaz, Assistant Editor at TwoCircles.net tweets at @journalistreyaz )