Satire: Media neutrality is mostly dead, and 'they' have killed it

By Rumaan Mecci*  

Friends, we have finally reached an epochal moment in history. The media has now become worthy of ruling this country. I suggest we do away with the courts, the police, Parliament, and educational institutions altogether. The media has got it all covered.

Though there may be many notable contenders for the dual post of Prime Minister-cum-Chief Justice, there is little guesswork about who it is going to be, since the nation already knows. There is, however, one caveat: this would not be an elected government, nor would there be a fourth pillar. What there would be, instead, is a pipeline pumping money from the deep pockets of corporations into the tiny treasury of this government.

Prime-time debates could settle national concerns instead of the law. We need not spend on defence then, because words would cut through better than any ammunition could. On the brighter side, while the Supreme Leader racks up hundreds of crores' worth of foreign trips funded by the exchequer, we too would be taken for a ride every day—for free—from the comfort of our homes.

This utopia could not arrive soon enough, because it is already here.

This is not so much satire as it is our tragic reality. The peaceful protest movement of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), founded by Abhijeet Dipke, at Jantar Mantar is a glaring example of the blatant disregard shown by every representative of every institution that exists to protect this janta.

The Delhi High Court somehow allowed the removal of Sonam Wangchuk from the protest site on the pretext of a medical emergency and now claims that it does not want to be dragged into "it"—"it" being the excessive force allegedly used by the police against peaceful CJP protesters.

The police have used tear gas and lathis against the protesters and, in what has been reported as among the worst incidents, allegedly fired pellets at young people peacefully demanding fair education, equitable employment, and efficient governance. Name tags were reportedly stripped from Rapid Action Force uniforms to preserve anonymity, and protesters' hair was allegedly pulled. We can only thank the stars that no orders were given to pull the triggers as well. Where were shanti, seva, and nyaya then? They, too, seemed to have taken the side of the youth.

The government has remained largely silent, punctuated only by occasional bouts of performative concern. All the while, our dutiful Home Minister was busy laying the foundation stone for what was described as the world's largest curd production plant in Bengal. What in the raita is this? To top it off, he inaugurated the Museum of Word (Shabdalok) in Alipore, said to be India's first immersive language museum. The irony writes itself.

And as for our Prime Minister, I do not know whether to ask him directly or simply go to Kiran Rijiju—or the "sources"—who seem to do most of the talking for him these days. Perhaps we shall learn his personal opinion on the NEET paper leak when he sits down for another interview with Akshay Kumar next summer. My guess is that his answer to this important question would be: Raspuri, Banganapalli, or Totapuri. This is, after all, a developing story.

Our dear media—the saviour of our times—has, as always, risen to the occasion. It has played the role of the government, the police, and the courts all at once. It has kept us, the janta, "safe" by not showing us the reality of the protests or the use of force by the police.

In a manner of storytelling that would put Christopher Nolan to shame, it has made villains out of peaceful protesters in the name of preserving peace. It declared the CJP anti-national and foreign-funded, with the leading contender for the aforementioned dual post branding it a Rahul Gandhi-Congress proxy. It did not mention the deep, systemic rot and corruption that, in my view, have only worsened under those in power.

The internet was throttled, metro services were disrupted, and cabs stopped running. The truth did not reach many of us until independent reports began surfacing on social media.

From several thousand kilometres away from Delhi, my only access to information has been through sifting enormous amounts of material—through propaganda, really—on social media, trying to determine what is actually happening. Mainstream media, which ought to have been the most direct source of information, instead showed us the opposite of reality. And not everyone has the time, means, or bandwidth to sift through such vast and unsettling volumes of material in search of the truth.

Within twelve hours, as the mainstream media reported events, I watched Dipke be recast as an opportunist, a puppet of the opposition, and an enemy of both the youth and the nation. Talk about projection.

I am afraid, but I am also hopeful. While much of the media derives its narrative from what I believe to be baseless propaganda, the reality on the ground appears entirely different—and deeply inspiring. The youth have arrived. So have the farmers. The country is witnessing a unity it has not seen in fifteen years, one that had, until now, been forcefully bottled up.

The education system will change. It is high time the mainstream media did too.

And if it does not, the real fourth pillar is peacefully marching toward its doorstep as we speak.

Satyamev Jayate!

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*Contact: rumaanmecci1996@gmail.com