Courtesy: www.mapsofindia.com/maps/manipur/
By Ranjona Banerji
News about Manipur eventually filtered into the mainstream media. Accompanied by the news is an endless stream of “expert” commentary. Most of which is enough to scramble your brain, especially if you are unfamiliar with the politics and social construction of the state. And as ever, our experts are topnotch at “confusion worse compounded”, to quote John Milton.
To some, it is all tribal warfare. To others it is all drugs. To some it is religion. To others, plain old politics. Or caste. Or money. Or forests. Or land. Or immigrants. Or neighbours. Because of the media’s obsession with Delhi politics, Narendra Modi and life around the National Capital Region, everywhere else is just some “remote” place where remote things happen.
In reality, if I can be philosophical, there is no real centre. Wherever you are is your centre. When you look up at the night sky, you can assume that the Universe spreads around you from you are. And it is the same for anyone else on any surface.
But not in India. In India, the Indian media remains wilfully ignorant in spite of all our civilisational and technological advances. For some, the centre is where Modi campaigns or makes speeches. Currently, that is Karnataka. The Prime Minister of India is so busy with his “road shows” that he cannot really be bothered about people killing each other in Manipur. He is busy making absurd accusations and even more absurd claims so that his party can win an assembly election and remain in power. Since he cannot be questioned by the mainstream media, he is free to spread his unique combination of bombast and social and political division.
The obsession of the Union government with the “image” of India is inextricably tied in with the image of Modi and to this, the Cabinet and most of the mainstream media fall over themselves to prove their loyalty. If a private weather forecaster predicts a below average monsoon, even that is a blot on India’s image and the weight of the administration has to come down on the forecast like a ton of carbon emission. Wait for videos of Modi stopping the El Nino current with the sound of his speeches alone. I’m joking of course. But am I?
The External Affairs Minister can be heard in a video doing the rounds dismissing the latest Press Freedom Index ratings for India, released annually by the prestigious Reporters Without Borders. Or Reporters Sans Frontieres, an organization which has since 1985 worked in close association with the United Nations to promote the need for a free press, and provides defence and help to journalists on the ground working in conflict areas.
“Some organisation,” said S Jaishankar or words to that effect, as he dismisses RSF. It is unclear why the RSF ranking upsets the Modi government. It has after all worked as hard as it could to reduce the independent media in India to a mere cipher. And the rest to yapping lapdogs. It should be proud that under its watch the Indian media has slipped to the lowest ranking ever. After all, out of 180 nations monitored, India is at 161. Who knows where we may be next year, at this rate?
Meanwhile, let me remind you that all those medal-winning wrestlers, right there in the middle of Delhi, the centre of all things, protesting against sexual harassment and assault, remain largely invisible…
Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal.