After Corona scare the one thing that has not stopped in India from doing its work is the hate mongering by those who were supposed to act as the torch bearers of sanity. That the country is deeply divided and many want it to do so because their politics flourish on these deep rooted divisions. Never had we seen such filth and garbage being placed on the platter at 9 pm shows as is being today. The TV anchors have been virtually fighting against each others and become the spokes-persons of the political parties mainly the ruling party. Even the spokes-person still speak better as being political means the opponents are not your enemy but look at the garbage that Arnab Goswami offer to his ‘clients’ are full of racists, casteist and communal bigotry. In any country, where rule of law function, this man would have siezed to be called as a journalist long ago but it is in India where he is not merely being encouraged but perhaps being given new ideas.

Is Arnab and other are new face of politics in India. Will the politics be defined by such anchors who will make the political opponents look petty and small. I think the answer lies in yes. Anyone, who has seen shows of these garbage producers can vouch that they have nothing but hatred and therefore work against the spirit of the constitution of India. It look that they feel that there is no end to their power hence they are ready to go to any extreme.

I may and may not agree with the Congress Party or Sonia Gandhi but the language of Arnab Goswami is despicable to say the least. It is open defamation. He has TV channel so he is being allowed to say anything. Why is the ruling party behaving in such a way even in these times of crisis. Will the BJP, its leaders, our honorable Ministers speak up against such defamatory language ? Will they condemn such media ? Is it a deliberate encouragement to destablise the Maharashtra government ?

I dont think they will because since 2014, he has been allowed to go on rampage and speak whatever he wish to. FIR being filed against those who are bringing to the people the public issues. People are facing draconian laws for their ideologies and perceptions. Even in this crisis when nation need to be one we are witnessing charges against media persons while those who are abusing and openly threatening people on social media as well as their media channels are roaming free and shouting louder.

The most depressing thing is that there seems to be no recourse, neither national nor international. Every institution has its own limitations and perhaps the thin line of demarcation between the executive and these autonomous institution is now completely diminished. It look all ‘autonomous’ institutions have now become part of the executive and government. That is the ‘biggest’ ‘achievement’ of the government.

Electronic channels have almost zero credibility and most of them are providing shield to the political masters and giving ‘ideas’ to their ‘devotees’ to defend them. The business dealers who own them enjoy more power. Media was called watch dog of the government but now it has become watch dog of the intellectuals and opposition parties. That is another achievement of the ‘democratic’ India. The virus of communalism, hatred, bigotry and racism has now entered into the mind of the people and they dont think twice before they push their forward button or approval.

World over, people are getting united in these times of crisis. As a humanity we need to stand together to overcome this crisis. Doctors, scientists are working over night to ensure that people are saved from the pandemic. They speak of physical distancing but building social solidarity but here in India where we are still much better off and hopefully so in dealing with it along with other South Asian nations, this crisis has left us more divided. Was it not the duty of media to build the bridges but rather it has become habitual of finding a Muslim angle to every crisis that India is finding. At the time, when media and saner voices should have used their medium to heal people from deep rooted scars and prejudices, we are finding that they want to deepen these prejudices for ever. It is deeply painful and disturbing. Now as we feel deeply helpless in these situation when courts have no time and media unable to take a stand against such garbage, we can only wait that good sense will prevail as the hatred might inflict scars on the opponents or victims but it will not leave the perpetrators too from its negative impact. We sincerely hope that political class and particularly the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting must categorically call bluff to such filth otherwise the damage on our society as well as polity will be irreparable. ( Views are personal). ( www siyasat.net is Ahmedabad,Gujarat,India based website)