War is no good, unless it can be consumed. That seems to have been the motto for most of the media houses. Following the horrific Pulwama episode on the 14th of February, the fourth pillar has been baying for blood and reeking of a war-fetish. But the most persistent shelling has in fact been on our minds.
In the past few weeks, we have seen anchors in uniform literally holding guns, propped up with ballistic graphics in the backdrop and vitriol in their dramatization and much more. They have virtually turned newsrooms into “war rooms“. What started since the time of the gulf wars has come of age wherein wars are today as good as what the celluloid can package for us. So when the nation watches its leader say, “अब घर में घुस के मारेंगे (We will beat them in their own house),” the script expects uproarious cheers in the audience.
Now, let’s just take a moment and reflect. Why does a general in the Republic’s studio scream “Yeh dil maange more“? While using this most iconic caption of a soft drink giant from the wee years of consumerism in the 90s, what the general wants is to whet our appetite for more. But what does that make us? Consumers, not patriots.
And, if blind nationalism is the product, Modi the label, and we the consumers, then Kashmir, in fact, has been reduced to merely a means of production. Like the proverbial cow, it continues to remain an issue that can be milked at will by political forces on both sides of the border. So never would they bring the people of the valley to the centre stage for any plausible resolution. For as long as a resolution is kept in abeyance, India can continue to station more men in uniform per square kilometre of the valley and Pakistan can continue to provide safe havens for un-uniformed gunmen in its territory. The consequent volatility entails more curfewed nights for Kashmiris, more losses of security personnel, and a spiralling dehumanization of the valley. But that seems to be the necessary cost for the rulers of the day as after all it opens up the market for hate, for jingoism, for war-hysteria. And with enough consumers for the same, they hope that it can translate into votes.
What they needed, after all, is polarization. And for that, the external borders were never enough. They needed enemies within. First began the hunt for Kashmiris across the country – be it shawlwalas, students, or professionals. Mobs were scourging through lanes looking for innocent and helpless Kashmiris. Such bravado! In a south Delhi colony, a Kashmiri family was asked to vacate in the middle of the night. Upon enquiry, one learnt that the landlord pleaded that though he has no ill-feelings, he was afraid that if the saffron thugs find them, then they would not spare him and his family either. He was a Muslim. Given the toxic cocktail of hate and jingoism in air, his fears weren’t unfounded. Muslim parents are already having to deal with their kids being taunted and bullied in school. With hate being anchored deep into impressionable minds from TV screens, parents and educationists have expressed concern.
Finally, the whip of war is particularly directed at dissenters. “चुन-चुन के हिसाब लेना मेरी फितरत है (Taking revenge is in my nature),” said the PM. Dissenters today is a broad category that includes any and every voice that may have a slightest of difference, doubt, question or logic. It ranges from Prashant Bhushan to Sachin Tendulkar.
None of the “nationalist” anchors or their saffron masters would cover or address the struggling ex-CRPF and army personnel demanding pension. But the same anchors and spokespersons would then unabashedly use them for their own posturing to build a larger narrative. War-mongering is a crucial component to sustain this narrative. It’s a narrative that may have many beginnings, but in the end, one is either with Modi or with Pakistan.
Hence it is not a surprise that our PM thinks that the capture and subsequent release of wing commander Abhinandan is merely a “pilot project” and that “अभी रियल करना बाकी है (The real-deal is yet to happen).” It is therefore not surprising that a majority of India’s media houses do not want a “de-escalation” and are branding all pacifists as “anti-nationals”. For they know that in these last few days before the general elections, it is only the opiate of war that can keep them safe from every other pressing concern of the day. And the handful amongst the journalist fraternity who happened to put facts before claims, who posed a few questions (read, who did their job), have been instantly branded as “agents” of Pakistan.
Meanwhile, as more of us remain consumed by blind nationalism, what gets subsumed are the monumental failures of the present government over the course of the last five years. Be it the deepening agrarian distress or the falsity of 2 crore jobs, be it the disastrous fallout of demonetization or the Rafale scam. They want to drown every other real concern that plagues the people today. And what does that make us? Fools, not patriots.