A counter narrative which firmly believes in the Constitution of India is the need of the hour to stop the juggernaut of the Bharatiya Janata Party, film-maker Saeed Mirza has said.
Delivering a lecture ‘On the politics and culture of fear’ at an event organised by the Kerala State Chalachithra Academy here on Thursday, Mr. Mirza said that as Narendra Modi swept into power in 2014, any form of a credible Opposite had completely vanished and the juggernaut seemed unstoppable. However, the situation had changed now. As Mr. Modi was elected democratically, he should be fought democratically.
“What we require today is a counter narrative that can capture the imagination of all the citizens. The extraordinary victory of the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, the story of Kanhaiya, the political victory in Bihar, the Left Front victory in Kerala, things are changing. Much more needs to be done,” he said.
Mr. Mirza said that a pan-India cultural front of artists, film-makers, writers, musicians, playback singers, who could come together to celebrate unity and diversity, should be created. That front should have a firm faith in the Constitution of India and the citizens should have the freedom to question the government without fear.
“If you see track record of the English news channels, they are not what they were in 2014, 2015, and 2016. They see the writing on the wall and they are playing both sides. Earlier, they were genuflecting before this juggernaut, but now they have started asking questions. It is primarily because they know things are shaky and people are angry,” he added.
Fear factor
Mediaperson Sashi Kumar, who delivered a lecture on ‘Where the mind is without fear’, said there was fear of the nation, religion, and economy, among others. He, however, pointed out that there was no public sphere to speak about it. The role of the public intellectuals had been taken over by godmen and film stars, in that order, he said.
Earlier, writer M.T. Vasudevan Nair released Chalachitra Sameeksha, a magazine brought out by the academy, by handing over a copy to Mr. Mirza.