Monday, 26 October 2015

Why Target Media?

If you are reading my blogs, a logical question can be why pick on media when the whole system is bloody corrupt? The reason is simple: reach. 

People see and hear what media shows them. If they lose trust in it, it would become much easier for demagogues like Arvind Kejriwal to spread rumours and misguide people. With its independence and reach, media has considerable power and is rightly considered one of the key pillars of democracy. Additionally, since it is out of government control, theoretically it should be easier to reform them and use it as a starting point for positive change in the nation. Conversely, any positive change will become double hard if media is either corrupt or simply a tool of government propaganda. 

Key issues are that such a media house would have lukewarm friends and red hot enemies. The very people it tries to save may destroy it. Without a well-resourced, well-connected person determined to change things for good, this is unlikely to happen. This is a paradox as if one is rich and well connected, they are less likely to be motivated to change things. Why not profit from the current situation instead like Kejriwal? Thankfully we now have one such person in India: Narendra Modi. While he is not perfect, he is the best this country has had so far (with exception of Lal Bahadur Shastri) and I am hoping he will make a positive change to the nation. That is if he is able to overcome the stiff resistance both from the left and within his own party. He is the country's best chance in decades, and I hope he delivers. And if he hopes to be successful, he should not ignore the current state of media.

Friday, 23 October 2015

Time to hold Indian Mainstream Media to Account

How many people in India (or outside) have heard about Canning riots in 2013? The fact that for many it won't even ring a bell without Google says a volume. In summary, a crowd of “misguided youths” with no religion burned Hindu homes and shops, leading to around 2000 of them being displaced and forced to live in relief camps. Strangely, I could not find any statistics about loss of life due to limited coverage overall, with most of the webpages removed. No awards were returned, there was no outrage about the damage to secular fabric, and of course no media coverage. This is just one of the several examples of selective, agenda based reporting by the mainstream media in India. All violence needs to be condemned and punished. Crude tactics to shame the majority to benefit the minority is a dangerous game to play (or the other way round). Balanced, issue based reporting is the need of the hour (fat chance). In pursuit of electoral maths and power both political parties and media have lost sight of the nation.

For example, the key issue is that why parts of India have such low level of human development index even after several decades of independence? I would love to see an in-depth issue based analysis on the performance of various governments since independence and the lessons we can learn from it. May be a panel discussion on what can be done to change reservations, as clearly the current system is not working? Or, a daily discussion on how we can realign our political system to look beyond electoral maths?

The crude, decibel intensive, shallow, negative, biased news that we are seeing today is playing a negative role in the Indian democracy. The challenge is to legislate to make it accountable without damaging its independence. 

Following may help:
  • requirement to clearly label strictly factual news, opinions/ conjectures/ gossip/ rumours, and paid news. 
  • speeding up court decision times to kill rumours soon
  • if a media house has run a news extensively 24/7 so as it is likely to damage somebody's reputation, they should be required to run a clarification multiple times over similar number of days at prime time to demonstrate their intention to do fair reporting. The number of clarifications should be determined by hours of footage, language used, negative opinion espoused, and history of false reporting. Serial offenders should be heavily fined
  • the same should apply for any false positive news, if so proved in a court of law
  • clear guidelines should be established on reporting in sensitive situations (riots, wars, terrorist attacks)
  • a media channel should clearly indicate what kind of news they aim to cover and ensure that their viewers know what they are watching. E.g. if the intention is to cover and sensationalise a select list of cognisable offences, they may as well say it clearly



A well-functioning democracy needs a strong, independent, ethical media. It is about time that the media articulates what role it wants to play and how it will determine the ethical and cosntructive behaviour of its members. I sincerely hope to see the emergence of a media group that works towards issue based reporting and improving the state of our democracy.

Tuesday, 20 October 2015

Hindu Values: Women are not second class citizens

या देवी सर्वभूतेषू शक्तिरूपेण संस्थिता,
नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः।

“O Goddess you who reside everywhere in form of power
I bow to thee, I bow to thee, I bow to thee.
-Markandeya puran

Hindu value #3: Women are not second class citizens

This value may come as a surprise to many Westerners given the perception built about crime against women and the actual social status of women in the Indian society today. Let me say this categorically. Anybody who considers women to be a second grade citizen does not know Hinduism (even if they call themselves Hindu). The issue, however, is a complex one and I will try to address it to the best of my ability. I will first talk about the theological stand, then talk about its implementation in ancient India, and finally about its distortion after the arrival of the Original Sin.

Theologically, women are deemed slightly superior to men in Hinduism. The ultimate creator of the world is deemed Mahalakshmi, who created the primary Gods (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva) and their consorts (Saraswati, Lakshmi, Kali). She is the source of all power, wisdom, and wealth. You reckon the great Mother Goddess would care about the opinion of her husband about her dress? She is the quintessential power woman who does not even have to try to be a man. Three things in particular struck me while reading the scripture:

(1) Dressing was not a big deal, and going topless with nothing but body paint (sandalwood paste) was deemed ok –which to be honest makes sense for a hot place like India. There are several descriptions of various manifestations of the Mother Goddess in the Marakandeya Puran, with many going topless.

(2) Drinking was not a big deal. In many battle descriptions, Mother is depicted as having a bowl of “Madhu” in one of her hands, which she sips merrily during the battle while kicking demon butt. Is it honey? I don’t think so as the description elaborates that she slurs after taking a mouthful, indicating intoxicating effect of what she is drinking. There are several such descriptions.

(3) Sex was not criminalised. It is seen as necessary to creation, which is highly addictive to enable the creation to go on. It is deemed to be a powerful force and ability to control it is essential to attain salvation. It is, however, not seen as an anathema. The womb is worshipped, and the key mudra to worship the Goddess is called the “yoni” (womb) mudra. Same for the phallus, taking form of linga worship.

How did this translate into real world? While I cannot claim that women held a superior social status in ancient India, it did see levels of women freedom not seen even today in modern Europe and US. A good example is Kautilya’s Arthashastra, which describes the various law and order mechanism employed to secure the king and govern the city. Three key highlights:
·         When the king slept, the pack of guards in the adjoining room consisted of specially trained women warrior skilled with the bow
·         Prostitution was legalised (as was gambling and drinking) and not seen as a fringe profession. They had defined rights, and many of them were actively recruited for spying and monitoring any new comers to the town. The most skilled of courtesans (referred to as “roop jeevikas”, the one who lives off her beauty) would be tasked with training the young rich (guys and girls) in the art of love.
·         There was no dress code to mandate wearing something on the top. Given the hot climate, jewellery and thin muslin with a dab of perfume/ colour was deemed sufficient.

Besides these, there are umpteen examples of women scholars, saints, and professionals, though they were not allowed to actively participate in war for practical reasons.

If you are still with me, you may be thinking what changed? How did we ever end up the way we are today? To answer that we need a brief history lesson.

It is to be noted that by end of the first century the Hindu culture was at its zenith, and eerily similar to what Europe is today (slightly better though). Years of prosperity meant people did what they liked and were generally peaceful, well-educated, intellectual, and arrogant. They thought there is no God like theirs, no king like theirs and no science like theirs. “Dharma” was the key, and there was a strict code of conduct for war in which civilians were not harassed or killed unless they took up arms. So, even if war was going on in a field, a farmer could work nearby without fear. Even unarmed soldiers were not to be harmed. With every generation (especially due to pacifist influence of Buddhism and Jainism) war was seen a game for kings, waste of money, and not good for the soul. The result was ever lesser investment in defence.

This prosperous, rich, snobbish, peaceful fruit was ripe for plucking when the barbarians arrived at the gate in form of the Muslim hordes. To the barbarians everything in the Hindu culture was an anathema, especially the worship of the phallus, idol worship, and the uncovered women. They had no respect for any rules, no regard for civilian life, no intention of keeping their word, and no idea what freedom for women meant. The hundreds of prosperous kingdoms, ever engaged in petty squabbling, did not know what hit them. E.g. the invaders asked the soldiers in a fort in Kashmir to surrender, promising safe passage. The few soldiers promptly surrendered only to be butchered and the fort being put to torch. This new enemy knew only plunder. Cities were burned to the ground, women raped, people taken into slavery, temples destroyed. With time the Hindus learned to cover their women and increasingly pushed them to the status of second class citizens, emulating their invaders in the hope of protecting the women. The great Gurukuls and Universities were put to torch (it is said that the books of the Nalanda University burned for 4 days). The land that once produced the Vedas and boasted universal education slowly slipped into ignorance and illiteracy. Not all of India succumbed as easily, with the South and the East holding out for longer than others. It is a shame that the mainstream history books don’t talk as much about Vijaynagar and Ahoms, and the brutal long-term impact of the invasions. We never really recovered from this setback.

Today we are at such a juncture that even people within India will not be able to accept the level of freedom accorded to women in scriptures. Nevertheless, it may help to remember what our real roots are, that we are born out of love and are the one pure consciousness (and not really born out of sin), that sexuality is normal, and that women are not second class citizens. Enough said.