“Media”—the word sounds amazing, full of a gala life. But the fact is that life in media is difficult and different. Media life is challenging, full of struggles and only passionate ones can succeed.
Media plays an important role in communication. As a journalist, I believe that journalism goes beyond simply writing for newspapers and magazines.
I am attracted to the idea because it gives me a chance to work on the ground and meet people from all walks of life.
Indian journalism evolved within the context of a fight for democracy, in the tradition of anti-colonialism. It was represented by leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and others.
We call “India” a secular country, but unfortunately it is quite the opposite. India has seen a rise in hindutva (Hindu supremacist ideology) since 2014, when Narendra Modi came to power, as the prime minister of India.
Subsequently, hindutva fanatics have killed writers, historians, and scholars who raised their voices against the government, its ultra-right ideology, and its social imposition on citizens, often endangering the latter’s constitutional rights.
The hindutva factor has hit India like a tsunami wave, where people are being forced to chant “jai shree Ram (victory to lord Ram)” for no reason, in the 21st century.
It is interesting to note that a woman leader in India has to wear the same robe of patriarchy worn by her male counterparts to be accepted by the people at large. Has India ever had a Jacinda Ardern? No, instead, it has had ‘iron lady’ Indira Gandhi (more similar to Margaret Thatcher of the UK).
It is no surprise that India cannot accept a progressive and freethinking woman political leader.
The female critics of hindutva’s construction of the state—whether through a secular, feminist or leftist perspective—are violently attacked on social media. Hindutva advocates use social media to threaten women with rape and murder, stalk them, and post nude pictures without consent.
A sad fact about mainstream media: it’s QUIET on this matter!
Thus, it comes as no surprise that hindutva propaganda based one patriarch’s control over all his subordinates, regardless of caste or gender, has spread faster than fire, paving the way for Modi’s second term as PM.