http://www.thehoot.org/web/home/story.php?storyid=4491&mod=1&pg=1§ionId=1&valid=true
*From the **Free Speech
Hub*<http://www.thehoot.org/web/freetracker/indexfree.php>
* *
These days, all major newdailies are flooded with news and analyses on
"naxal” violence and the police“action” against Maoists for the past several
months in the states of WestBengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh,
Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh whichhave suffered the intensity of violent
occurrencesthe most.
Recently, the union governmentlaunched Operation Green Hunt to flush out and
eliminate Maoists in thesestates on the grounds that they were threats to
internal security. And, oneheard and saw Union Home Minister P Chidambaram
and the Chief Ministers ofthese states constantly airing their views on the
need to wipe out the Maoist menace.
News reports indicated that evenas the state paramilitary forces take strong
action against the Maoists, effortsto promote development would
simultaneously be undertaken in these backwarddistricts in these states.
Clearly, the message being conveyed to the publicwas that the Maoists were
thwarting the state's desperate efforts to take developmentto the backward
districts of the country and were posing obstructions to this effort.
Of course, there is nomention, let alone a discussion, about why there was
no development in theseparts, even after more than 60 years of Independence.
Similarly, there is no mention orunderstanding of how the state would
identify the Maoists and weed them out fromthe masses in these states in
order to eliminate them.
Even as these reportscontinued pouring in, an advertisement issued in
“public interest” by theMinistry of Home Affairs, Government of India, in
several national dailies (seeThe Hindu, March 20, 2010, p.14) for nearly a
week added anelement of intrigue to the goings-on.
It showed a frail woman lookingdown despondently with the following lines
attributed to her: “First, theMaoists came promising prosperity; then, they
took away my husband; then, theyblew up the village school; now, they want
to take away my 14-year olddaughter. Stop, please stop this mindless
violence; (and then in bold capitalletters) I want to live!”
A line pops up alongside: “Abjureviolence, support development”. The
background depicts a broken hut with pots,pans and other belongings, lying
scattered, of a family squatting in front oftheir home, and another image of
couple of school boys standing in front of ademolished building, which is
obviously a school.
This advertisement from theMinistry of Home Affairs appeared on page 14 of
the newspaper which curiouslyhad a contradictory story on page 12 of the
same edition. The news item on page12 read: ‘Witnesses allege biggest
anti-naxal operation of 2009 was fake.'
According to the story, somewitnesses from a village in Chhattisgarh's
Dantewada district said that 12 ofthe 30 people killed by CoBRA (Commando
Battalion for Resolute Action), aspecial force of Central Reserve Police
Force (CRPF) raised for Operation GreenHunt, had no links with Maoists and
that six of them who were picked up werekilled in cold blood.
The witnesses described indetail the manner in which these men went about
their daily chores such asherding cattle before the forces picked them up
and shot them. They alsomentioned the manner in which the forces destroyed
parts of a school which wasalready demolished.
The publication of the reportand the advertisement in the same issue of the
newspaper created a peculiar situationin which an advertisement in one part
of the newspaper emphasized an issueconsidered untrue by the news report in
another part of the newspaper. Theadvertisement was issued by the Ministry
of Home Affairs which, incidentally,is also responsible for Operation Green
Hunt.
The advertisement smacks ofpropaganda. We are used to seeing such
propagandistic advertisements bypolitical parties during their election
campaigns in a bid to influence publicopinion, or by corporates slamming one
another's products in brand wars. They projecttheir supposed accomplishments
while deriding those of their opponents.
But, why should thegovernment indulge in propaganda? When a government
adopts propaganda as a mechanismto reach out to the people, it is a tacit
admission of a people's divided thinkingon the role of the Maoists.
An uncanny parallel ranthrough the actions referred to in the ad: *took away
my husband*, *blewup the village school*, and the actions attributed to the
paramilitaryforces in the news report: *picked up, destroyed parts of a
school.
*
It was as though thegovernment was seeking desperately to airbrush its deeds
and project them onthose they consider their opponents. And what is the line
about the taking awayof the 14 year old daughter insinuating?
Such propaganda reeks of thegovernment's desperation to legitimize its
violent actions against its own citizensby vilifying Maoists who seem to
have gained not just the support of the peoplein the tribal districts but
also the sympathy of the middle class readers ofthese national dailies.
The government stands exposedin the claim, ‘Issued in public interest.' How
can an authority whoselegitimacy is shaken by the inconsistency portrayed in
the advertisement andthe news report speak of the interest of the public?
Also, how can itshamelessly utilise tax-payer money/ public funds to
disparage a section of thepublic while seeking to influence another section?
Anyone with common sense andsensitivity can see through the dubiousness of
the state role.
Finally, a couple ofquestions on the need for public vigilance on media
ethics: How can newspapersaccept advertisements from anybody claiming public
interest when theythemselves are the conscience-keepers of the public
domain? Is all advertisingand such space offered by the media for revenue
sieved through some policyparameters based on morality and ethics of
journalism?
Even as we contemplate therole of the state, the role of the media, which
brings to us our knowledge ofthe world, should also be looked at critically.
--
You cannot build anything on the foundations of caste. You cannot build up a
nation, you cannot build up a morality. Anything that you will build on the
foundations of caste will crack and will never be a whole.
-AMBEDKAR
http://venukm.blogspot.com
http://www.shelfari.com/kmvenuannur
http://kmvenuannur.livejournal.com
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