Talking Shop: Visceral times

"I have no religion, and at times

I wish all religions (were) at the

bottom of the sea. He is a weak ruler

who needs religion to uphold his

government; it is as if he would

catch his people in a trap..."

— Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

Ataturk-Sir has handed the cudgels back to me. Sure, he did make a sanctimonious yet debatable point, but he also spoke of unheard-of massacres. Whether he sco(u)red or not, he hit the bull's eye with his observations. In Rwanda in Year 1994, 800,000 people were decapitated and dismembered in just 100 days. The strong Hutu tribe was coerced by none other than a greedy and financially-backed journalist on Radio Rwanda to go on a rampage against the very feeble Tutsis. Devastation and chaos were the result, with things getting macabre enough for Hutu husbands to behead their Tutsi wives and their offspring to ensure they were not killed themselves. Wives killed husbands. Children killed parents.

Why? Because Radio Rwanda then had a loud-mouthed and boisterous anchor Georges Rugglu, who exhorted people at the behest of his channel owner Félicien Kabuga, a multi-millionaire Rwandan businessman and génocidaire to decimate the Tutsis. Kabuga was closely connected to then dictator Juvénal Habyarimana's Hutu nationalist MRND party and the Akazu, a group of extremists who helped lead the mass rampage and killings.

These two redoubtable gentlemen, a then wealthy businessman and his media stooge, took things further. They started naming and identifying people, distributing photographs and addresses of the 'targets'. The killings intensified, to an extent that over 2 million Tutsis became refugees in the Congo (then Zaire). Enough history? Then let's take a look at the present—Rwanda hasn't recovered to date. Moral—a single maniac can destroy a nation.

Eerily similar lines

In our own country today, we appear to be moving into a similar space. Barely 10 years ago, India was a very different and new emerging galaxy, galloping along on the road to economic prosperity and global leadership, pipping Japan as the world's third-largest economy. Yes, there were skirmishes here and there, but that is part of life in the Global Village that the world has turned into. Posterity though, as is its virtue, came back to bite us in the buns and nuts. Our exalted leaders, yogis, babas, maulanas and influencers galore, affiliated both with the ruling party and the opposition, have since been spouting vitriol and spreading communal venom. Few are leading and none are ruling, leading to a very translucent portrait of a certain bleak future.

As oft-happens with any propagandist, irresponsible statements and actions inevitably find the Gurus in political quicksand and other murky spots. It is these times that their lapdogs and paid-for allies—the media—are called upon to pull off the rescue act. This is uncannily similar to the media in Rwanda that, just three decades ago, ensured that the Tutsis ran for cover and safety. Today, in India, using inflammatory and biased (often shamelessly incorrect and downright untrue) reportage, many from the Fourth Pillar of our great democracy are forcing crores of Indians to stare at impending doom.

I may be drawing a crazy parallel, some will say and chastise me for writing these words, and for having the temerity to compare Rwanda of 1994 to India of 2022. But look around your lives... We are seeing a breakdown of our social fabric and bonhomie, as a few prejudiced and predisposed sections strategically spread hatred, mistrust and communal mayhem.

Far from the truth

It is sad and heart-rending to see the slithering level of ethics and professionalism exhibited even by the most prominent media houses and television channels now, passing off blatant lies and provocative untruths as 'Breaking News'. I have used the word 'slithering' with utmost care. I say this as there has not only been a steady drop in the quality and accuracy of news reports, even the topics being taken up are getting more and more sensitive, delicate and inflammatory.

The degeneration of the media in India began on a small scale, possibly to just notch up higher TRPs (Television Rating Points) and jack up advertising revenues. Initial topics were often inane, frivolous and immature, such as reports of Lady Sita's tears being found as a river in Sri Lanka, or Lord Rama's 'setu' (bridge) to Lanka being discovered intact. Other fronts opened up, and we had a once-famous anchor shouting at Pakistani guests on live debates and reporters from leading channels were thrown out of government offices in foreign lands. We also had laughable yet tangentially painful reports on actor Sushant Singh Rajput's passing, while his lady friend was harassed and trashed falsely for being an addict, perhaps even a narcotics trafficker. Those days of redoubtable innocence are in the past. We are now seeing scathing and repulsive reports and discussions on culpable rivalry between Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, even Buddhists and Jains. Religious and communal issues are being fanned alight as never before, with scant regard to the impact on the ground—these are the minds of the average Indian, a large part of which are under- or uneducated and, impressionable and ultra-responsive in their immediate action and reaction.

Long-term fallout

The fallout we see today is gory, deadly and very visible, and we witness incidents of public outrage and unrest with mind-numbing frequency. Clashes between communities over the smallest of issues have skyrocketed. Those with connections now allegedly run over agitating farmers, with no worries about media or legal repercussions. In turn and serving out instant karma like the pizzas on our borders for the 13 months of the agitation, surviving farmers butcher the drivers of the vehicles. Elsewhere, bulldozers are brought to bear on so-called illegal construction and riots break out. Prayer meetings regularly witness those in office taking religious oath, bombastically urging those in the gathering to target specific communities, even as reporters and TV cameras capture the anarchy live.

No column on this subject can today be complete without a mention of the events of this past Friday, when protests erupted in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and other Indian cities after the Friday 'namaz' (prayers). As hundreds gathered at places of worship, the discussion turned to a churlish and coarse religious statement passed recently by a spokesperson of the ruling party, who has been rightly suspended. As had to happen, fragile public morality reached a tipping point. Stones were pelted and public property vandalized amid the shouting of slogans and religious chants. The authorities were left with no option but to get tough to rein in the protestors. At the end of the day, as a forced calm finally returned to our streets, hundreds were in hospitals (public and police), hundreds more were arrested, and yet another nail had been driven into the coffin of our already delicate social fabric and conscience. Planned and craftily executed. Mission Impossible X. Accomplished.

Having spoken Rwanda, let me quote James Lovelock, and his quote that reminds me of true life: "There aren't just bad people that commit genocide. We are all capable of it. It's our evolutionary history." That's food for thought. We need to rein in and bring to book those who indulge in deceit and mischief to cut us short. Time is scarce. We need to do it now.

The writer is a veteran journalist and communications specialist. Views expressed are personal. [email protected]