My monthly visit to the barber is
always an interesting experience. Apart from riding me of the burden of my
follicular remains, it is a good occasion to catch up about the news, sport and
politics from the perspective of the very friendly and opinionated barber Savio
Lopes.
As I sat into the creaking chair,
I was treated to a detailed report of India’s performance in the world cup.
“You know sir, I think we have a very
strong chance of winning. We haven’t lost even a single match. I hope this healthy
trend continues. Imagine that sir, winning two World Cups consecutively.” said Savio.
rather gleefully, I nodded in agreement when the hair cut officially begin.
“Sir have you watched Badlapur?”
asked Savio, interrupting himself.
“I’m afraid I haven’t, but I
intend to” said I.
“Sir it is such a fantastic film,
you have to watch it. It is one of those films that stays with you after it is
done. Who is the hero and who is the villain. It is all so gray. There is this
scene where…..” suddenly he paused but before I could attempt to ask him to
continue, he proceeded to add
“Ah never mind sir ….watch it and then we can
talk, I don’t want to ruin it for you” said Savio.
“Yes, I beg you to not ruin it
for me” said I jocularly, we both had a good laugh.
“How do you think our government is doing?” I
asked Savio as I always did.
“As have been saying for the past
few months, I see a lot of improvement, Swatchh Bharat, I know my kids are now
doing it in school. Do you know they don’t litter anymore. My son throws his
peppermint wrapper and ice cream cup in the dustbin. Even when we are outside,
he looks for a dust bin and never throws anything on elsewhere. Last week we
took him to watch a movie, during the interval we got him popcorn bucket, he
finished it midway but held to it till the very end of the film and then he went
hunting for a dustbin to discard it. We told him that the cinema hall personnel
will take care of it. But he simply would not listen, for once I was proud that
he didn’t listen to me. I learn from him and now I cleanup all the cut hair on
the floor before I go home. Previously I used to leave it for the next day when
I felt tired or bored. Not now” said Savio smiling.
“What about the budget?” I asked
him.
“The budget is good I hear,
helpful to the ordinary person, train tickets the same, but tickets the same, there
will be more government jobs so it all looks good. I heard Modi’s speech in Lok
Sabha and Rajya Sabha, about their general performance I think it is going
great. I know the opposition is making a lot of noise, but what else can they
do.” said Savio.
“What do you think of the recent
attacks on churches?” I asked him, I knew I was treading into dangerous waters
but what is the point of being friendly if you cannot discuss sensitive matters.
Savio continued cutting my hair while there was a moment of silence, a rare
thing for my garrulous friend. But before I could say anything more to coerce
him, he had his reply.
“Sir, I have many friends in
Gujarat, most are Muslims, and they told me that Modi has done so much for
them, his policies have brought peace into an otherwise riot prone areas. Also,
many of them didn’t have proper job with the Amitabh Bachchan tourism campaign
they have their small businesses such as restaurants, they are drivers and waiters.
Then the industries setup, they all have permanent jobs. One of my friend just
became a manager. So I won’t buy this rubbish that Modi doesn’t care for the
minorities” said Savio, but I knew that he had more on his mind.
“I am Goan, just like you. My relatives told
me how well the BJP is doing and how much they are doing for everybody. My
friend’s entire family were given 10k per head to go to Sri Lanka when the Pope
visited. We have many Christians in the Goa government. So I know that the BJP
would never do this to us. Above all I also don’t care about religion sir. I
want the best man to be in power, the best man to be working for us, not the
best Christian to be working for us. Imagine our cricket team we have the best
Christian, best Muslim, best Hindu, best Parsee, we will end up a disaster. We
need the best. Religion is a manmade. Everybody is free to follow their path. I
don’t judge people by religion” said Savio.
I always knew Savio was a smart
and independent man and now I was certain about it.
“But sir” said Savio with some
concern.
“Yes! Go on” said I, hoping that
he wouldn’t hesitate
“Sir” said Savio whispering now,
“I want to tell you the truth. I am a bit concerned about all the news of
churches being attacked, I don’t know what is going on. I open a newspaper in
the morning and you have these horrible stories. You turn on the new on TV the
same. They even raped a nun. My son asked me yesterday if we will be killed in
a church attack. I had to pacify him. I know
Modiji won’t do it, he will not ruin his own legacy by doing it. But then who
is doing it? It never happened previously. Are some people like Hindu groups doing
it because they know nobody can touch them for five years? Even that policeman,
he is a good man, Mr. Ribeiro says he is worried. When I go to Sunday Mass, I
see many people scared. Modiji is in charge, he should do something” continued Savio.
“He did say that he will not
tolerate any violence against minorities” said I.
“Yes Sir. That he did. But those
are just words. When so many people are saying that these are communal attacks.
I would hope some concrete measures are taken.” murmured Savio.
“Don’t worry Savio. I am sure
something will be done.” said I as I paid Savio and he began scouring his
drawers for a change.
“Sir, I voted for BJP, I am a
supporter, and my relatives in Goa did same. All I am saying is we need some
show of support, beyond words. Even my dad was concerned yesterday when he read
about the nun raped in West Bengal. My dad is not the sort who worries.” said Savio
pausing thoughtfully.
“All I want is peace for my loved
ones my father, my son and everybody else. That’s why I hope Modiji does
something to teach these villains behind this a lesson” whispered Savio as he
handed over the remaining money with his customary salute.
“I agree” said I as I left realizing
that if a reasonable man such as Savio, who is not particularly religious or
political, could be concerned, we have to acknowledge that there really is a
problem that could potentially spiral out of control, if left unchecked.
I therefore decided to do some
research on my own. I went through several articles about the church attack carried
by various papers and websites. But none of the articles had managed provide any
concrete proof about the perpetrators of the attacks on churches and neither were
they able to establish a motive. There were allegations, conjectures and subtle
hints but nothing substantial. I
also found this magnificent article by my
friend Anand Ranganathan in which he
systematically debunks several new stories about the so-called communal angle on
the recent Church attacks.
There is
another excellent article
by Rupa Subramanya also rebuking
the many spurious stories about attacks on churches in Delhi around the time of
the Assembly elections. Then there was this article in opindia where Indian
Express was exposed for spreading lies about the Archbishop giving a clean chit
to Mamta and blaming Modi for the events surrounding the rape of the nun. But
alas these articles are few and far between. The mainstream news media has
made up its mind to give everybody the impression that India is engulfed in a sea of religious intolerance toward churches and the perpetrators are right-wing Hindu
fanatics who have the direct or indirect support of our PM Narendra Modi.
The effects of these stories are
that fair-minded people such as Savio who is not particularly religious or even
political, begin to feel concerned about the safety of places that he or his father
or his friend or his relatives visit quite frequently to seek solace. There may
never be any physical harm but this fear in itself is a very sad occurrence and a victory for the dishonest propagators of lies. When
a mistruth is repeatedly told with loud certitude it can convince people that
it is the truth, especially when there is no narrative to the contrary being presented.
These ‘communal disharmony’
stories have been picked up by the international media. Apart from maligning
our reputation, it can have a consequence on tourism and business. Why would
somebody want to do business or travel to a place where there is religious
intolerance? What we need now is objective reporting. A mere account of the
facts that occurred. Playing the
guessing game about the suspect and their motives are both dangerous and
irresponsible.
So what can be done do to combat
this torrent of falsehoods that have inundated the mainstream news arena? In his magnificent article Anand
Ranganathan suggests that the government carry print full paper adverts in various newspapers that depict statistical information about the attacks on places of worship. An excellent idea.
But we also need to install
controls that will deter the news media from spreading lies without any
consequences. The news media has formed a habit to insult the
front page but retract and apologize in an obscure location of a middle page.
But this has to stop. The stakes are just too high to allow that sort of behavior.
The following measures can serve
as a deterrence for the news media from spreading lies:
- · A clear rule has to be set, any media house that publishes articles that are proven to be factually incorrect especially about matters that can disrupt communal harmony must be compelled to publish a retraction on their front page that is readable to everybody.
- · Nothing pains an commercial enterprise more than pecuniary penalties, hence there should be heavy fines levied on any news media house that propagates mistruths. The money can be given to Swatch Bharat or Beti Bachao andolan or any other charity and hence we will have something constructive from what was destructive.
- · A committee has to be setup that investigates whenever there are allegations of false stories, both sides of the argument should be heard before a verdict is passed on the falsehoods. The committee can be headed by a former judge while the rest of the team can comprise of prominent member of the society from all walks of life. Every news house must have a representative in the committees that can represent their side whenever any allegations come up.
- · Also, all news media houses must be compelled to submit details of their financing, this must be verified and then it should be made public knowledge. We the people must know about the financiers of the newspapers we read of the news channels we watch.
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