The society has, just as the media has, a vested interest in considerable losses and catastrophes. These wars, famines, floods and quakes meet well-defined needs. Man wants chaos. In fact, he has to have it. Depression, strife, riots, murder, all this dread. We're irresistibly drawn to that almost orgiastic state...created out of death and destruction. It's in all of us. We revel in it.
Sure, the media tries to put a sad face on these things, painting them up as great human tragedies. But we all know the function of the media has never been... to eliminate the evils of the world, no. Their job is to persuade us to accept those evils and get used to living with them. The powers that be want us to be passive observers.
And they haven't given us any other options...outside the occasional, purely symbolic, participatory act of voting.
English media in India seems to have created a Hindutva Hero out of Varun Gandhi.
Saturday was fully devoted to Varun's Surrender. Media was there at the crack of the dawn when Varun was leaving Delhi for Pilibhit, it was there when he courted surrender and it was there to ask the Jailor about what he ate (dal/chawal and roti was the reply).
So what is this media frenzy about? Yes they are biased. And Varun's comments on minorities are deplorable. But media is really hoping that controversies like these never end so that they can conduct TV debates and their TRPs get a boost. BJP is confused that this will actually help it or will it cause more harm then good. Congress is confused as well. On the one hand they have got an opportunity to malign BJP, on the other they are frustrated with the support Varun had got from Hindutva quarters.
In my opinion, Varun is just a novice politicians, who, too desperate to win his first election, got himself involved in cheap divisive politics, and suddenly became a scapegoat for Congress and media.
But I am sure that the hype created by Media, will actually cost BJP a fair share of fringe voters. And as an Indian of almost the same age as of Varun, I am hurt because he could have gone to the minorities and majorities alike, and use his charisma and more importantly his "surname" to reach out the voters on the promise of development and could have won the elections, in spite of the colour of the flag he is contesting with.
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