18

Oct

Media, Truth, Democracy and NEP

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New Delhi, 18 October 2023

Consider the skewed priorities of Indian media. It can't journey to Manipur in 150 days, but it swiftly reaches Tel Aviv in 72 hours. It labels Hamas as terrorists and paints Israel as a victim, all the while projecting a false image of reality.

Shivaji Sarkar

Do we truly comprehend the purpose of our gathering here today? Perhaps most of us are aware, yet some might be oblivious to the pressing matters at hand. Welcome to the paradox that is Indian society - a realm where knowledge is professed by many but understood by few. Wilber Schram devised a propaganda system to counter another in Germany, which later evolved into what we now recognize as Communication Studies. For the next half-century, campaigns, propaganda from the West, the repetition of lies until they become truths, misinformation, and disinformation from the Soviet system dominated the global stage.
Some label this era as that of "Godimedia," while others argue it belongs to the "anti-Godi media." Both sides are biased, favoring their own narratives, leaving public welfare and genuine social dialogue by the wayside. One side glorifies the idiosyncrasies of the powerful, while the other is fixated on exposing these very traits.
Consider the skewed priorities of Indian media. It can't journey to Manipur in 150 days, but it swiftly reaches Tel Aviv in 72 hours. It labels Hamas as terrorists and paints Israel as a victim, all the while projecting a false image of reality. We are caught in a battle of biased media outlets, forcing us to question, whom can we trust?
Have the Godi or anti-godi You Tube media outlets delved into the issues plaguing our farmers, the phenomenon of brand new ten-year-old cars being discarded for the profit of automakers, or the dismissal of three critical CAG officials who audited vital infrastructure projects? Do we truly understand the implications of the National Education Policy (NEP)? 
The media, rather than shedding light on these crucial matters, seems to be complicit in their silence. That is the usual view.
Media has analysed the problems of NEP and finds at least in three states Indore, MP; Shimla, Himachal and Bengaluru, Karnataka facing problems in understanding and its implementation. Teachers now speak out. And we have CAG and other critical stories from the newspapers.
Media is not that bad perhaps despite many of its hyped failures a serious media exists, Wire, Print, Indian Express, Telegraph, Hindu Dainik Bhaskar exist. 
Still there are questions on Hamas attack and Israel? Who should we support? On humanitarian issues possibly there is soft corner for Palestinians. But Hamas has not been less harsh than Israel in dealing with civilians. Could we condone either of them? Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “crush and destroy” Hamas. “Every Hamas member is a dead man,” he said in a televised address. Is he right?
It is a Hobson’s choice. Let us summarise Indian policy on Palestine. Pandit Nehru supported Palestine as Mahatma Gandhi was sympathetic to 6 lakh Arabs losing homeland.  India's close ties with Soviets and their tilt for Arabs influenced India. Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao in 1992 changed policy and recognised Israel. India supported Palestine but they remained pro-Pak even on Kashmir. Modi has good personal equation with Isarel PM Netanyahu and Israel has usually pro India approach. Arabs have now accepted Israel and would prefer to continue trade ties with India. Palestine was a dead cause for Arabs. India has investments at Haifa port and other projects. Would Hamas move lead to a change in dynamics?, wonders Chinmay Gharekhan, former external affairs secretary. And on Oct 12, 2023 govt said it abides by age-old stand of independent Palestine state.
Is truthn casualty in public discourse new? No, media does not lie but it is used to spread it. Politicians of all kinds of all parties are thriving on fake news. Even in the US, Europe and where not? Have you forgotten US President Donald Trump’s Post Truth, Arab Spring managed by the US,  weapons of mass destruction (WMD), nuclear weapons, chemicals of the Iraq hero Saddam Hossein? The US itself admitted, these were never there. International Atomic Energy Agency did not find any. You were made to believe these were there. Saddam was brutally killed for committing no crime and Gaddafi was brutally interned in a container in the open sun to die with his kins. You do not know about Syrian ISIS terror and subsequent refugee influx to Europe and more mayhem. That is the partial truth. 
For 500 years Europe has been weaving lies and their excess overpopulation exported to the New World, America. They wiped out the aborigines of America. For 100 years, they wove lies and implanted Israel on Palestine and simultaneously partitioned India to kill two million Indians because a section of them believed in their manufactured theory passed on as of MA Jinnah’s two-nation theory. Strangely, Mahatma Gandhi is touted as the villain and his killer glorified. Why? Possibly for social degneration? Surprisingly, the newly formed tolerant Indian nation did not try to stop annihilation of a section of religious group in West and East Pakistan or Bangladesh, yes, in the Indian subcontinent without a whiff of protest. Intervention, never.
You are not supposed to quote Al Jazeera. It did a fact check with Elon Musk’s  Twitter. It says there are 50 million fake news identified by the twitter, including on Palestinians and recent Hamas attacks. Can you trust BBC? It repeatedly says Israelis are killed and Palestinians die – beautiful cover up of Anglo-US-European machinations or is it bias?  
Don’t trust social media. Yesterday got a video possibly in Arabic marked as Palestinians calling names to Hindus. Query by me was retorted with nasty threatening trolls. Finally they admitted it was of 2022 as reaction to Nupur Sharma comments on the prophet – a fabricated misinformation.  Is not the messenger silenced? With it, are not the social dialogue and open discussions stifled to protect vested interests?  This isn't just a problem within our borders. The G7, a powerful consortium of multinational corporations from seven countries, is orchestrating a global narrative solely for profit. Recent tweet war between a BJP and TMC MP Mohua Mitra gives sharp indications. 
Who is the villain in this story? Can you identify them? Perhaps not. It is the poor journalist, unfed, unpaid, frequently sacked, faces a dilemma - tell the truth and be cast aside. Audience, the common man, is the sufferer. 
Do you understand what the NEP entails, what its policies are, and how do that affect you? You are the future leaders.  Sadly, the truth is buried beneath layers of obfuscation. The NEP was thrust upon during the height of the COVID-19 lockdown, with no room for discussion or debate. Vice chancellors, Faculty and Students, the very stakeholders in this policy, were denied a say in their own educational future. How can we accept a policy implemented without their  consent?
Why is nursery education now mandatory? Why are grants for universities drastically reduced, leading to the forced privatization of education? Why the rush to push everyone into a graduation program? These questions remain unanswered, ignored by those in power. 
Our current education system is akin to a cacophony of confusion, where policies are dictated without understanding the ground reality. The implementation of the NEP demands reconsideration. Let's pause, halt its execution, and engage in detailed studies and discussions for the next two years. Simplify it, shorten the educational tenure to 12 years from 16 years, no actually  19 years as per 3+3+5+4 system so that our demographic dividend can be optimally utilized. Young minds should complete their post-graduation by the age of 18 and contribute meaningfully to the workforce. You should have vibrant students and faculty unions to achieve goals. A number of central university VCs were sacked by its employer only. 
We must advocate for an education system tailored to India's needs, not a borrowed, ill-fitting version from elsewhere.Europe still has 3-year-undergraduation unlike the US that is being thrust on India. Let us change it, so that students learn fast and faster join the mainstream workforce for a future where education serves the nation, not vested interests.

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