BENGALURU: Development is devoid of urbanisation, Europization and Englishisation. Both cannot be equated. Development can be catalysed based on the civilizational principles of Bharat and that translates to real progress, asserted Prafulla Ketkar, Editor of the Organiser Weekly Magazine. Speaking at the Media Conclave, 2025, Organised by the Vishwa Samvada Kendra on the topic “Decolonising Bharatiya Minds”, Prafulla ketkar expressed the misconception associated with the process or the path of development. He said that the development must be based on the civilizational lines of Bharat and its cultural ethos, which imbibes the real and true form of development.
He further argued that colonisation of Bharatiya minds did not end with British imperialism in India; the political events of the early post-independence decades also fuelled this process. In fact, there was a rigorous attempt to integrate Marxism and related ideologies into the minds of the Bharatiya, said Prafulla Ketkar. Thus, the need of the hour is not just the decolonisation of the Bharatiya mind, but also the renationalisation of the masses, Prafulla Ketkar exclaimed. Thus, the idea of Bharat must be intellectually cultivated and nurtured within Bharatiya minds.
Reinvent the idea of Bharat
Speaking about the unity in diversity in India, Prafulla Ketkar stated that it is indeed the country’s strength. “Bharat is a unique and unified culture expressed diversely”. Thus, decolonising Bharatiya minds refers to celebrating the country’s unique cultural ethos. Thus, he asserted that the “idea of Bharat has to be reinvented”, culturally, spiritually, socially and politically, and the mind of the nation has to be rechannelized in the Bharatiya way, to seek intellectual arousal and understand the essence of the real development of the country and its people.
Role of media in the decolonisation of the Bharatiya minds
Speaking about the role of the media in decolonising Bharatiya minds, the editor of the Organiser Weekly affirmed that the media has a significant role and responsibility in the process of decolonisation and renationalisation of Bharatiya minds. In Bharat, the media is a very comprehensive domain, and it is an umbrella with varied means and instruments of information dissemination aimed at intellectual arousal with the aim of guiding the nation in the right direction. Thus, media does not just include mainstream or large-scale media; it encompasses every source, from the national capital to the grassroots.
From national-level TV channels and newspapers to pamphlets distributed at the grassroots level, every channel and every measure is a medium that must work for the revival of Bharatiya minds. All these channels have to be reinvented, reoriented and re-energised on the Bharatiya lines with the ultimate motive of decolonising the Bharatiya minds and renationalising them. Media platforms must reflect the loopholes, drawbacks, and bottlenecks faced by universities, think tanks, and other institutions in the country that are entangled in Eurocentric views and perspectives.
Media houses should help these national institutions overcome challenges and historical faultlines and disengage from Eurocentric ideas. The media platforms have to be reoriented on the nationalist lines by decoupling from the colonial catastrophes that engulfed the country both in the pre-independence and certain decades in the post-independence era as well, asserted Prafulla Ketkar.
Media should anchor the truth to unmask the colonial misdeeds
When asked why major media houses were afraid to speak the truth and unmask colonial-era misconceptions or fabricated narratives constructed against the Bharatiya civilisation, Prafulla Ketkar exclaimed that media houses should mould themselves into the defenders and definers of the truth. They should raise awareness that Europeanization and Englishisation are not real development. Unfortunately, no media house is objective and strives in this direction.
The colonisation of the Bharatiya minds was so strong and immense that Indians or the Indian media subjugated themselves, unable to align with the parameters or benchmarks set by the European ecosystem. Indian media began to seek external validation and strived to work for the mechanisms, aspirations, or ideologies of the West. This colonised media mindset must be dethroned, and media houses should march in the path of national awakening, as they are catalysts who must play a critical role in the journey towards decolonising Bharatiya minds and renationalisation. The media thus should unapologetically speak the truth about British imperialism or the atrocities in the following era, thereby enlightening the masses about the imperial truth, who are unfortunately entangled in the European franchise.
Role of media in social transformation and reclaiming civilizational justice
Prafulla Ketkar also discussed the role of the media in social transformation and in reclaiming lost civilizational justice, which was suppressed by imperialism. He strongly questioned why the media never speaks about the much-awaited civilizational justice that Bharat is striving to achieve. He further reiterated that in the post-independent era, the media have forgotten the role of social transformation. In the present times, it is the duty of the Bharatiya media ecosystem to burst the myths surrounding westernisation, the monopoly of the western media and the fake narratives crafted by them against India. The media should stimulate and revive the spirit of nationalism.
The editor of the Organiser Weekly further espoused that in order to catalyse the media houses of Bharat in the path of decolonisation and nationalism, the maiden task is to nourish the journalists in that direction. A journalist should ask the fundamental questions, before airing a news, which includes,
- What is a news
- How & on what criteria a piece of information is entitled as a newsworthy
- What is the purpose of disseminating a piece of news or what is the envisioned impact
- Is a particular news piece scripted based on solid facts and adequate research
This is the basic spirit of journalism which has to be nurtured among the journalists. The journalists with these attributes will indeed be a predominant catalyst in scaling the social transformation leading to the decolonisation of the Bharatiya minds and reclaiming the civilisational justice, said Prafulla Ketkar.
