A nation under siege

The author, Ravish Kumar, is not only a well-known Hindi television news anchor and correspondent but also a dogged critic of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. Presumably, being just one is tough enough; being both has got to take its toll. And that strain shows in the book. One can easily sense that Mr Kumar is trying hard to answer his critics and convince his well-wishers. That approach leaves little room for fresh reflection. It is for this reason that Mr Kumar, who is at once reviled for being biased and celebrated for being unbiased, depending on the political choices of the audience, comes across as a TV anchor under siege. 

The short book is not very different from his monologues with which he initiates his “Prime Time” show on NDTV India each night at 9 pm. The only difference is that instead of taking recourse to sarcasm, as he often does while anchoring nightly debates, in the book, Mr Kumar spells it out even more clearly. Yet, if a reader has even remotely followed his TV show or reporting, there might not be a whole lot new to read. And for those, who are convinced that Mr Kumar is unjustly out to malign the government of the day, much of what he says is likely to be water off a duck’s back, anyway.

Neither of those sentiments, however, should diminish the central message of his book: That Indians need to become more aware of a growing atmosphere of fear in the society and the rapid depletion of the free voice. The book is divided into nine chapters but is the first five that take bulk of the space and are, sort of, bound in some common narrative. The last four are essays and excerpts from his speeches and cover a variety of disparate topics ranging from the importance of Supreme Court’s judgment on the fundamental right to privacy to poking fun at the godman culture in India. 

The first five chapters are a summary of the way the public discourse has evolved or, more appropriately, degenerated in the country ever since the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government took the reins of power in 2014. Mr Kumar refers to it as the “National Project for Instilling Fear”. This project is being articulated in different ways. There is the so-called information technology cell, which employs trolls to browbeat any dissenting voice, even as it resorts to a heavy dose of whataboutery to deflect attention. Similarly, there has been the growth of the fake news industry in which dubious media outlets would initiate fake news which tugs at voters’ biases and ill-informed impressions. This message is then relayed to everyone via the “WhatsApp University” and people, unwilling to make an effort to verify such false claims, simply gobble it all up. 

Making matters worse is the involvement of politicians, even reputed ones. Mr Kumar gives the example of Mr Modi citing a meeting between Indians and Pakistanis at the Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s house in the run-up to the crucial Gujarat Assembly elections last year. Without really verifying the details himself, Mr Modi gave voters the impression that the Congress was undermining national security and let voters pickle in their apprehensions. Similarly, Mr Kumar cities the prime minister following and continuing to follow, one Nikhil Dadhich, who celebrated the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh last year after abusing her posthumously. Mr Kumar sees such instances as a way to signal both to the rabble-rousers as well as to the general public, the government’s tacit support for the obscenity and injustice; and he compares this to what had happened during the Holocaust under the Nazi rule. 

Much of what Mr Kumar points out is, sadly, the bitter reality of today’s India. Every second or third month, one hears about some Muslim or Dalit being lynched or butchered or flogged on some wild rumour. The law and order, which is often deflected by the Centre as being a “state subject” even though almost all states where such incidents happen are often also ruled by the BJP, is so limp that such murders are caught on camera and pictures relayed the world over. And yet, the wheels of justice appear jammed. 

The last bit of Mr Kumar’s caustic commentary is on the role of the “Godi” media. In other words, that part of the mainstream media which “sits in the lap” of the government and essentially conducts its propaganda. 

By the end of it, the book does show that it is not just the TV anchor, Mr Kumar, who is under siege — it is the nation as well. He exhorts the citizens to do their bit for democracy and not just reduce it to participating in elections. Questioning the government of the day is not just an option, but a duty. 

The Free Voice

On Democracy, Culture and The Nation

Ravish Kumar

Speaking Tiger 

177 pages; Rs 499