The bias of media persons in Kerala has pushed the state to the brink after the CPM cadres unleashed violence on the basis of concocted media reports
Krishna Kumar
Setting aside the sexist overtone it bears, media persons in Kerala were rightly called Fourth Gender by enraged lawyers, after a scuffle broke out between them over media coverage of courtroom proceedings. However, the recent incidents, including the AKG Centre episode, validate the slanderous albeit apocalyptic comment passed by the lawyers. When the drama of protest staged at AKG centre in Delhi on June 7, was reported by the national media just as it was, a media syndicate in allegiance to CPM tacticallty played it against RSS.
According to journalists who were present there, it was nothing more than just a sloganeering against CPM. As reported by many national newspapers, the protesters, who introduced themselves as ‘Hindu Sanatana Sena’, were brutally manhandled by the CPM workers before handed them over to the police. There was no attempt of manhandling Sitaram Yechury. On being asked whether they belonged to ‘Sangh Parivar’, they said a loud ‘No’.
On the contrary, creating panic among the violent cadres of CPM, a majority of Malayalam media reported that Yechuri was hit by two protesters who had allegedly ‘barged’ into the AKG Bhavan and raised pro-RSS slogans! Many raised eyebrows at the baseless media reports as the AKG centre was fully guarded by security staff and without an insider’s support, entering into the office was nearly an impossible task.
Owing to their ideological inclination, the majority of the media persons have no shame to showcase their loyalty to CPM leaders even in TV channel debates and press conferences. Rendering loyal service to the masters, they make timely interventions when the CPM leaders lose the debate while some are seen vocal in glorifying Communists and rebuking the BJP, thanks to the parliamentary greed
rampant among them after some of the
fellow journalists were roped into the Assembly by CPM last year. Those who were rejected by the people have come back to the newsrooms and again
started mudslinging on BJP through their extended mouthpieces of CPM.
Obviously, the ferocious antipathy of biased media towards BJP is well-known in the state. But this time with airing the concocted report, they set a cat among pigeons. After the panic call given by the ‘comrade journalists’, a series of massive violence on RSS-BJP workers broke out across the state. Reportedly, so far, over 348 such violent incidents took place in the state. In other words, the journalists with partisan bias instigated the riots.
The existence of a media syndicate against BJP has so far been snubbed as a wild allegation. As a surprising twist to the story, a screenshot of a WhatsApp group conversation exposed the conspiracy of CPM stooges
accommodated in various media houses. A journalist working with Deshabhimani, the Communist party mouthpiece which has no credibility even among the CPM cadres as it is notorious for malicious and defamatory contents against their political rivals, posted a cooked-up report of the alleged ‘attack’ on Yechury in the pro-CPM group of journalists. Immediately, Sreejith a reporter with Mathrubhumi News advised his fellow comrades, “Don’t give it as Hindu Sena attack, but in the name of RSS”! A journalist with Scroll.com is also seen asking if it was confirmed by police. Amusingly, the group is titled ‘Today’s Programme’ which indicates the very purpose of this group. A social worker has lodged a police complaint against the journalist for abetting violence.
Recently, frustrated by the victory of BJP and Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh, a news reader with Manorama News channel who has a penchant for attacking BJP leaders in debates, blatantly declared on the screen that she has lost her faith in democracy!
The words of CP Scott, “Comment is free, but facts are sacred”, have turned out to be a joke in the post-truth journalism where the independence and credibility are overridden by political aspirations and partisan views and the journalists have deteriorated to be the members of CITU, the trade union of CPM.
(The writer is a blogger)
