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Tell-tale ‘tweet’

Leaders of the present ruling entity, both in and beyond the government, have made a fine art of taking extreme,…

Tell-tale ‘tweet’

Leaders of the present ruling entity, both in and beyond the government, have made a fine art of taking extreme, provocative, positions on issues concerning accepted norms of freedom and civilised governance, only to either retract their words or have someone more senior “clarify” the position.

This is increasingly being perceived as “testing the waters”, and hence, for example, the supposedly-personal views of the defence minister on the no first-use policy on nuclear weapons created not a few misgivings. Falling into the same dubious category was a “tweet” from the minister of information and broadcasting regarding an “external regulator” for the media.

No doubt that the message issued on National Press Day was quickly deleted and an amended version issued more in line with what the Prime Minister had said on the occasion, but with the one-day ban on a prominent television channel still “pending”, the original tweet is being seen as an insight into the thinking of the I&B minister; and it is little comfort that M Venkaiah Naidu has acquired the image of a “bull in a china shop”.

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Memories of VC Shukla and the Emergency were recalled by the initial message that “if the media fails to do self-regulation, there should be another mechanism to do so”.

The subsequent, diluted, version was “if media fails to regulate its own conduct, that would provide a justifiable reason for outside intervention”. The underlying message was clear: the press is free to present its own opinion — provided it projects Modi sarkar in shining light.

A reflection of the same attitude of intolerance that caused the minister to be divested of the parliamentary affairs portfolio — or was he “promoted” to try and pressure the media into toeing the official line?

The insensitive and authoritarian attitude of the present government is manifest in several dimensions — the most recent being a rejection of the hardships unleashed upon the common man by the withdrawal of high-value currency notes. Those woes are being written off as “inconvenience” and people who held the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes being painted as tax-evaders, without asking from where did they get those notes?

Most ATMs and banks had issued only those notes for several months but that does not “register” with ministers and spokesmen of the BJP — would any of them dare to carry a portable microphone and spin the same tale to those in the queues that they do in TV studios?

The larger point being a refusal of the government/party to do what it demands of the media — look within, exercise restraint and responsibility. Is the nation hurtling back to the “Indira is India” era? As is suggested by that tell-tale tweet.

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