A Melody moment, a snubbed journalist, and the sound of propaganda

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat 

A few recent incidents have consumed most of the airtime of self-proclaimed national media and social media platforms. The first was the fiasco of the press conference in Oslo, which could have been handled better. Then came the Modi-Meloni "Melody moment," which only rubbed salt into the wounds of ordinary people suffering from energy price hikes and an uncertain future.

The media then picked up the Oslo story, in which a reporter asked, "Why should the West trust India?" — and Narendra Modi avoided her and left.

We all know Modi has given minimal respect to Indian media, converting it into a propaganda arm of the ruling BJP and RSS. Worldwide, leaders take a few questions from the press after meetings; it has been a tradition. Many leaders enjoy engaging with the media. Vladimir Putin, for instance, can speak for hours without notes and answer questions from the so-called media, using these platforms to convey his viewpoints.

The Norwegian journalist's question undoubtedly carried Western arrogance — a tendency to be judgmental about everything. Yes, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark are great countries, but they also enjoy a larger-than-life image because of their European alliance and NATO, which protects and secures their borders. Their human rights standards are tailored to European norms.

Currently, Norway and other Nordic countries are actively promoting anti-Russian sentiments and pushing a war agenda against Russia. Yet on Israel's war against Palestine, they differ from the European bureaucracy. But do we not know who they gave the Nobel Peace Prize to this year? To someone who wanted the United States to invade her country and seize its resources. If this is the democratic model being exported through the soft power of Nordic countries, everyone should be careful.

So the question may have been poor, but a leader must be capable enough to handle such questions. However, when you have made yourself so vulnerable in India that the only questions you wish to hear are "You work extremely hard 24x7" or "How do you eat mangoes?" — even if you don't give interviews, the crisis in the Bania-Brahmin media has only deepened.

Indian media has always been Brahminical, owned by Banias. The only difference is that in the past, it pretended to be liberal, questioned governments at various levels, and wrote strong editorials when needed. But Narendra Modi and the BJP have brought it to a level worse than one could possibly imagine — worse than the Emergency era of 1975.

The only difference is that during the Emergency, Doordarshan and All India Radio would black out opposition news and report only on Sanjay Ji and Indira Ji. Today, the government first finished the national broadcasters and then created hundreds of channels in the name of "liberal media vomiting poison and creating fake news."

India became the capital of fake news and hate messages on social media. The world knows it well. But then all that talk of human rights that the collective West speaks of will disappear once you have opened your markets and bought their products. The iniquitous "deals" between UK-India, Europe-India, and US-India are examples.

None of these deals will benefit ordinary Indians or farmers. But as long as you succumb to their pressure in the grand anti-Russian design, you are the world's biggest "democracy." If you assert yourself, human rights issues are manufactured and discussed. These are the same governments that denied Modi a visa for years. So what changed? Nothing except the exposure of the crumbling, capitalist vampire of the West. In the name of liberalism, they only want to push their own agenda.

Obviously, for right-wingers in India, Europe, the UK, and the US are ultimate heavens. But the problem is not with them alone. India's so-called liberals share the same issues, trapped in a kind of craving for "recognition" from those who shamelessly kept quiet about the war on Iran and justified Israel's onslaught in Gaza — and now in the US backyard, from Venezuela, Cuba, and Colombia to Bolivia.

Yes, people are fighting, and the globalist media "define" them according to the convenience of the Empire. We form our opinions based on their narratives. This happens when we destroy our institutions and educational structure.

India could have become the voice of the Global South and attracted huge markets. Look at what Russia and China are doing, knowing full well that there are vast markets and possibilities beyond the Western hemisphere. The West still dominates because it has powerful institutions and an uncompromised education system — unlike India, where RSS people have been placed everywhere.

Look at TV anchors earning huge sums, living glamorous and privileged lives by simply being spokespersons and propaganda tools of the BJP and Hindutva. The level of debate is so low that anyone depending on them to build knowledge will fail, at least outside India.

All countries we could learn from — including Europe, the USA, the UK, China, and Russia — have one thing in common: an education system that builds scientific temperament and focuses heavily on modernisation. None of these countries indulge in street politics, whether democratic or "dictatorial." You won't find fights over who eats what or sleeps with whom. Religion remains a purely personal matter.

Religious gurus are respected but kept away from politics, focused on their religious affairs. China and Russia have a different culture on that. There is growing fear in the US about the Christian right wing, but due to the strength of institutions and public pressure, one hopes it will not descend to the level we have already reached.

Yesterday, various clips of the so-called national media covered Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to China. Most anchors referred to the Russian President as "Putin" in their conversations, much like Western anchors do deliberately. I was not amazed by these spineless propagandists in India, who can never say the same to Narendra Modi; he will always be referred to as "PM Modi."

They can't speak on national television as "Modi," but for others, they loudly say "Putin," "Trump," and "Xi."

While the media is at a pathetic level, the Indian Ambassador's class in Oslo was a classic example of how our bureaucrats have to defend the most difficult tasks. We must understand their problem. As long as they are in the job, they must defend the indefensible. If they speak the truth, they are no longer required.

The crisis is severe. Politicians always loved speaking to the media until we got one whom we placed on such a high pedestal that he only wanted to deliver a monologue. But why should we complain about something that was never ours? Democracy, frankly speaking, is alien to us when we cannot allow our children to decide what food goes on their plate or whom to marry.

We have turned our media into a daily soap opera, a circus where people are told when to clap. That is capitalism — converting people into mere objects and democracy into a branding exercise. You create a brand, and the mass media cleverly imposes it on the people. Such brands always compromise and serve the powerful business classes.

Democracy's colonial model is exposed everywhere, as it is controlled by big businesses — the same people who control our mass media and opinion makers. In the modern digital world, your life is nothing if you don't have followers and likes.

Now, the Norwegian journalist says she will fight on behalf of Indian journalists for press freedom in India. This might look awkward, but this is the making of the ruling party and its trolls, who are abusing her and trying to bully through their massive online presence — and that actually exposes them.

The online world is not everything. Someday, we will have to accept the ground realities, which are not as rosy as presented. In the modern capitalist world, media is part and parcel of the global elite who have monopolised our national resources at the expense of ordinary people. They will continue to sit in judgment over every activity you do, because journalism is nothing but propaganda and agenda-setting — whether they ask questions or keep quiet.