Media and Riots in India

In response to the article by Dhruv Goyal in the Harvard Political Review: Goyal's Article

Interesting article. Sadly, the venom of the Congress-paid English media has held sway for way too long and has distorted events that many do not know any more to separate the chaff from the grain and nor does anyone have the time to do so in our busy lives. The current revelations made by Madhu Kishwar who spent 6 months in Gujarat to investigate Modi and his claims, came back and wrote a book based on her observations- this lady is one who has left leanings and is an alum of my old school JNU, not easily swayed by the RSS vision of the world. She has clearly stated how Mr. Modi is truly a politician India should be feting, not framing. Her interviews are here:Madhu Kishwar's Modi interviews

Modi is a systems guy- he is excellent in process and team building. His initial work on the Bhuj earthquake (ref. SAARC report on Tsunami by Sri Lanka acknowledging the Gujarat disaster plan: p 23-24) before the Godhra horror establishes him very clearly on how he works and the speed he demands. Godhra was a horrific event in India's history but what many people don't realize is that the first attack on the train was on RSS supporters (Hindus), not muslims, and then there was an immediate backlash. How much of it was trouble fomented by anti Modi groups is up to debate as this entire sequence of horror unfolded within hours of him winning the elections and taking the oath of office. Because, if Modi wanted to look the other way, he would not have called the army within hours nor asked his neighboring states for immediate police support. Nor was it to his benefit to spoil a wonderful moment of triumph- after winning with a clear majority- with a decent size of Muslim votes. The entire decade of calling him names and blackening him in the media even after he was found not guilty by the courts (in a congress run government) speaks volumes.

I was a teen in 1984 when Indira Gandhi was assassinated. Our school was out as it was the last day of the month, Oct 31st (teachers' work day- yeah, it was a Govt. aided school). We lived in a decent part of South Delhi close to Sujaan Singh Park where there was a small community of Sikhs and several of the stores in Khan Market were owned by Sikhs. There was a Gurudwara on Subramania Bharathi Marg. I still remember the unquenched riots during the first week of November, when so many of the Sikh shops were gutted, sikhs killed in a mad frenzy, Congress mobs taking to the streets and burning parked taxis (owned by Sikhs). We could see thick black smoke billowing from the shops from our windows. When we went back to school after curfew was lifted- on that first day, while walking to our school in Lodhi Estate, we saw amputated body parts lying on the road, not yet cleared by the NDMC near the Gurudwara. 

Which media made it a crusade for a decade and take Rajiv Gandhi to court for allowing Delhi to be taken over by mobs (I personally liked Rajiv Gandhi as he was naive- I still have an autographed photo of his as I sent him a letter of condolence for the loss of his mother in such a tragic way)? Congress leaders like Jagadish Tytler openly came out in anger and made some horrible comments against the Sikhs. And this very same party has the temerity to cast stones on a man who did everything he could do hours after being sworn in as Chief Minister and ensured the complete suppression of a crazy mob within 72 hours.

I don't know how many of the commentators on this thread have lived in India and seen how mobs can be incited. In some areas of Tamil Nadu where father was posted (he worked for the Indian Govt.), you can get a bunch of people together within 2 hours to incite trouble for just a bottle of booze (this was in the 80s), now they demand a lot more! i have personally met a few "goondas", when they don't play the role of a goon and it is all in a day's work, not because they are committed ideologically to one party or another. Sometimes the pay off is admission to college (politicians have power to decide who gets the "reserved" seats), sometimes it is medical care for a family member (again, the politico has clout in getting you into the local government hospital without you having to pay the doc- which is what it ought to be anyways!

In the entire time I lived in India, there were very rare instances of a "spontaneous" mob that demands "justice" by becoming rioters. Indians by nature prefer peace to conflict. Our history is rife with examples of how we took centuries before we overthrew colonial rule or allowed the Muslims to rule us for 800 years! Even now, for almost 2 decades, Indians have not given a single mandate to one political party, in spite of the Congress trying to buy its voters (check out wikileaks on payouts). 

Conflict is created by groups (primarily political) who want to make a statement by fomenting trouble. Political parties use "mobs" to create fear and/ or "blackmail" the people in power to get "their" way. We have a weird idea of a "secular" press that believes that being pro-Hindu or pro- majority means being anti- secular. So, even if the annual Muslim festivals like Muharram turned rowdy, it is acceptable and they will be given right of way to pass through temple streets and prevent Hindus from going to their temple on that day, but if the Hindus wanted to celebrate a festival on their temple street, then the government will bring out the rule book and explain how it will be considered a public nuisance and minorities may feel overwhelmed by such multitudes.

Researching all the riots that have broken out in India since Independence, and who had what agenda behind it, would make for a very illuminating thesis.