Manufactured rage: From Burdwan to Malda, right-wing's 'Project West Bengal'

A protest turned violent in Malda leading to arson and injuries to some persons including policemen.

Fortunately, there was not a single death. Any sane person would condemn the violence.

However, Malda violence has been blown up as a big security challenge for the nation--by section of media and BJP leaders.

In a country where people taking to streets and resorting to violence is a such a common practice, it was clear that rage was being manufactured on social media, as well as on the ground.

The mob targeted the police station but it DID NOT EVEN TOUCH THE TEMPLE on the premises of the police station, reports BBC correspondent Ravi Prakash who went to Maldah to cover it, later.
READ IT HERE

It was not a Hindu-Muslim issue. In fact, media kept reporting, wrongly, that there were 2.5 lakh protesters. It was nothing but hyperbole, lies and exaggeration. Where did this figure come from and how could lakhs gather in this small town for such a protest?

Lies, exaggerations, misinformation campaigns

Malda city has barely 20,000 odd Muslim males and even if all of them came to protest, just imagine the extreme exaggeration, how they floated a figure of 2.5 lakh.

Malda is a Muslim majority district but the city has Hindu majority, with nearly 1.5 lakh population and around 45,000 being Muslims--half of them males. Assuming all males, except kids, reached, it would barely make 20,000. The number of people who were part of the protest was barely a few thousand.

Editorials were written, TV channels were discussing Malda in prime time and BJP sent its delegation there. The scale of violence was nothing at all, compared to recent Patel agitation in Gujarat, where property worth hundreds of crores was burnt.

Remember, scale of violence in Patel agitation in Gujarat

In Gujarat, nearly six persons died, and there was lawlessness in entire state. Gurjar agitation is not something of distant past. In fact, it is unfortunate but people setting up vehicles and even police stations afire, is not uncommon in this country.

After Malda, right-wing groups organised 'Shaurya Diwas' in Madhya Pradesh, and there was arson, attacks, burning of shops, but THERE IS NO RAGE now. Why? There are reasons why there won't be rage in any other such incident.

Aim is to defame Mamata government!

For almost two years, there is a systematic attempt to DEFAME Mamata government, to paint Bangladesh as a land where 'Jihadis' [read Muslims] are flexing muscles, to somehow create communal tension--ahead of elections.

The manner in which Malda was made the single most important issue in the country, shows how the right-wing lobby is targeting TMC [Mamata Bannerji-ruled WB]. It is not very difficult in this era, when channels are crazy and going to any extent for TRPs, even turning a few thousands into LAKHS.

How rage is manufactured, cyber army is in place

How rage is manufactured! It needs organised people to run campaigns. There is a huge machinery in place doing it. Tens of thousands of ideologically like-minded people on Twitter and Facebook, began talking about Malda.

You tag the journalists, make Malda 'trend' on Twitter, and force everyone to take notice. Then, there are 'bigwigs' in media--planted for the purpose, 'the bhakts' who can go to any extent to push up such stories that lead to hysteria. [Don't you know the names!]

This huge cyber army is now capable of making any non-issue into an issue. Not just the 'paid cyber army' but also the right-wing supporters, who number in thousands (may be even more), are suddenly in action, when there is any such incident.

Remember Burdwan case!

And, who bothers about facts and figures, when there is hysteria. This is exactly how Burdwan case was blown up for months, it was made the single most important issue in India. Remember, NSA's visit to Burdwan, and how it was used to tarnish Mamta Banerji government!

Of course, once BJP fails to win the election, Project Bengal will be over. There won't be focus on incidents in Bengal. The next state would be targeted. Perhaps, UP or some other state. That's the harsh reality.

Burdwan: Media & National Security LINK
Violent protests in India: Mohammad Anas' article HERE

Media and national security: How Indian media views Burdwan, Manipur blasts differently

This post once again brings to fore the serious issue that how our media is now viewing incidents of similar nature, differently, and is creating scare in one situation while it completely ignores the other.

For weeks, in fact, two months, everyone on the national security beat in TV channels and newspapers, seem to be talking about Burdwan blast in West Bengal. 

It is being described as one of the biggest issues as far as law-and-order is concerned. Day after day, we see reports about it, the concerns expressed in this regard.

Top officials go to Burdwan [now Bardhaman], politicians take up the issue and media has made it a national security issue of such magnitude, which we haven't seen in the last  year or so. 

It's fine because that's the job of investigative agencies to look into anti-national activities. We all agree that such disruptive elements [like those involved in Burdwan blast] should be chased, caught and completely crushed. 


However, it is not that fanatic elements haven't died while making IEDs or bombs before in the country. From Bajrang Dal activists in Kanpur to Himanshu Panse's module in Nanded, Maharashtra, there has been a long list. None of these incidents in the past got as much media focus. 

Still, we must welcome the media's seriousness towards it. But, the recent blast in Manipur, remained off the media radar. In fact, after the incident, there was hardy any special stories, capsules or discussions in prime time. It was not even carried in the headlines by 'national' channels.

In one report on IBN Live website, the headline was 'Blast in Manipur kills one'. Read this short report at IBN website at this LINK. This incident was serious, especially, as it happened just before Prime Minister's visit to the region. 

In fact, this report in IBN didn't even mention that the 'person' who died was a child. It wasn't taken seriously, else the report could have been updated, as it happens later in online reports. Other papers, channels and agencies also didn't consider it worth reporting. 

It was a general report with no focus on the organisations or extremist groups involved in the incident. Prime time discussions weren't conducted. If TV has no time or finds little TRP on North East, newspapers could have covered the story properly. But no, there was no interest or focus.

Why? 

Of course, nothing about modules, no suspects, no Terrorism angle, no name of terrorist or extremist outfits or worries about threat to India's security. There have been no follow-up stories either about this incident. Just one Hindi newspaper, Amar Ujala, on its website gave the news some importance. LINK

In fact, we hear nothing about arrests of suspects, which otherwise continues for days, nothing, just nothing. Silence. That's not the first. Of course, we know West Bengal will go to polls 2 yrs from now. We also see other developments. [Also, read the report in Asian Age]

But does it mean that media would take one incident so seriously that it would go on to demonise all Madarsas, and go to obscene levels of reporting. And in a similar other incident, there is hardly any effort to even report it, let alone talk about outfits, ideologies, local factors, law-and-order issues.

The factors are clear. Certain states and their demography, and presence of certain outfits in these regions, stir media more, than say, states that have outfits of different ideologies or even Naxals. The latter may commit even more heinous acts, but they aren't taken seriously. 

No wonder, media's credibility has hit rock bottom. But isn't this too worrying?