One of the more visible themes I observe on Gandhian values (Gandhian values = values that Gandhi lived by during and after the Indian freedom struggle) is that they are not valid in the 21st century. The arguments cited included that non-violent protest wouldn’t gain the attention of the media.
This concern is valid. Like most educated people, I have lost faith in modern journalism. India has generated a news channel ecosystem that dedicates solid portions of a day to exploring thought-provoking concepts like the afterlife, asks the leader of India’s neighbor (Pakistan) if surgical strikes by the Indian army on Pakistani soil would lead to war (I mean seriously, do you not know what sovereignty is?), spends time exploring conspiracy theories and here’s the kicker – engages in irritating nationalist worship. No, really. Since 2005, every article about Indians has had one tune: How rich Indians owning companies started by their grandparents, able to achieve monopolies in India through bribery, corruption and other questionable activities, are acquiring companies abroad and hence putting us on the world map.(nothing reeks of underdog behavior more than stating every Indian achievement as an assertion of our geographical boundaries) Every year we learn about Bollywood showing its power (they make movies. Why is it admirable if they can pull strings?).And every game India plays against Australia is about 24+ aged men troubled by Aussie mind games. They are fucking adult men. They don’t need you to defend them because they are just as big dickwads as anyone else who is playing the game.
The Indian media is a fucking joke. I guess this is the curse of 24 hour news. You hire people to generate so much crap 364 days in a year to fill 24 hours of every one of those days that on the one day something important happens, you have the collective journalistic capability and insight of a mediocre high school graduate.
Don’t agree with me? Monopolies and oligopolies are the biggest curse you can heap on an industry. Yet, all of India’s most powerful industrialists are the media’s darlings. The BCCI has been glorified by the media for the power it wields over the cricket world. Yet this one organization is responsible for the future of India’s most popular sport. We are a nation of 1 billion. We cannot generate opportunities for such a large population through one organization that conducts 2 domestic leagues. This organization is so caught up with its lucrative ventures that the Indian team is guaranteed to be tired before any major event thus putting our chances of winning the world cup at a severe risk. The BCCI is bad for the nation. The media doesn’t even question its monopoly status and its aggressive behavior towards any players who participate in a non-BCCI-blessed league.
And of course I read this economic times masterpiece: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/features/the-sunday-et/people/Its-time-we-beat-the-West-let-the-East-rise/articleshow/5681401.cms
The headline of the fucking story is, “It’s time we beat the West & let the East rise”. Really? Here’s a 2-bit manufacturer no-one knows anything about and he uses his only marketing avenue to speak about how he is the soldier in a war against a civilization. And the paper which is the “exclusive” marketing avenue (self-proclaimed) has reporters and editors with the IQ to publish this article. The kicker is that product will first launch in the United States. How is that for building goodwill?
Gandhi achieved what he did because he ensured that the injustice he faced did not go unnoticed. He took the blows and then ensured that this went on record and that the world got to see it. Non-violent protest itself wasn’t a powerful tool. It needed journalism from an unbiased organization to achieve its goals since this gave credibility to the protesters’ cause. To combat non-violent protest, the oppressors had to adopt methods outside the legal system and it would be hard to pull this off quietly if you attracted the media’s attention.
I do not believe that our media is capable of assisting another Gandhi, if a situation ever calls for an individual to assume a role similar to his in India’s struggle for her independence.
I hear you. I wonder though about the source of the newly gained Indian chauvinism… I get quite exasperated of my Indian friends always bringing up into a conversation how India is the “largest” democracy in the world. What’s saddening, is that they believe the statistics more than the common sense.