Debate or driving a wedge?

This post originally appeared here.

That our TV and newspaper debates have become didactic is increasingly apparent. But are they without any purpose? Without any motive? Why do opinion makers feel compelled to lead people in a certain direction? And does this direction lead people to a certain political choice while steering them away from others? The answer can be found in what transpires in these debates.

Baba Ramdev started a campaign against corruption. This campaign gathered so much momentum that the government sent four union ministers to meet the Baba. Things did not go as the government had hoped. The Baba’s campaign acquired a deeply Saffron character. Soon after that we heard TV studios sing in chorus disparaging the Baba and his campaign. We saw TV studio invitees echoing exactly the same thoughts as that of the anchors who themselves echoed thoughts of the government. Switch to a debate in another TV studio and one could not help but think one was hearing an echo of the debate in the other TV studio. This was in sharp contrast with the almost approving nod Anna Hazare’s campaign received. The difference between the two was that Anna’s campaign was strictly “apolitical” while Baba’s was “political” and not just “political” but “Saffron” too.

Take a more recent example. The Karnataka Lokayukta came out with a report on mining scams. Yeddyurappa of BJP was the Chief Minister heading a majority government. Congress and JDS are the political opposition. Yeddyurappa and his family find mention in the report and every TV studio asked for his ouster. Yeddyurappa resigned. A similar thing happened in Delhi. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit of the Congress party has a more serious involvement in the Commonwealth Games corruption. The Shunglu Committee and CAG reports have listed the scam in detail and questioned her role in the same. An equivalent level of campaign for her ouster is nowhere to be seen in TV studios or newspaper columns. The reaction has been disproportionately muted. It was said that the BJP would strengthen its moral standing against corruption by making Yeddyurappa resign. Now we hear the CAG had exceeded its mandate in indicting Sheila Dikshit and that its findings are not final but must be put under scrutiny.

These are but two recent and more popular examples. Scores such examples can be witnessed if one go through most of our debates. The resulting narrative of such debates disadvantages a certain political formation and by default this benefits the grand old political formation. The political formation at advantage has been given the highly desirable character of being secular. With secularism being spoken of favourably and rewarded in TV studios and columns, parties associating themselves with secularism enjoy good word of mouth.

With such debates it becomes difficult for anyone to put the favourable political formation under scrutiny and not attract criticism. The result of such debates is to drive a wedge between the fence sitters and political formations not identified with secularism. Such debates consolidate the committed and make it difficult, almost impossible for the uncommitted to choose anything but the secular choice.

'Brothers across the LoC' won't pay

Here's the latest gripe from the Kashmiris -

"We were eagerly waiting for the beginning of cross LoC
trade, even dispatched thousands of apple boxes to PoK in the start. But, so far
growers have not received a single penny in lieu of the apples," President Fruit
Mandi Sopore, Bashir Beig said.

Your 'brothers across the LoC' won't pay? You don't say! So much for your 'brotherhood'. Bashir Beig further says -

"After three months, we don't know what happened to apples
in PoK,"

Take a guess Beig. I can suggest one, your 'brothers' ate them all without bothering too much to pay for them. How's that for a reality check? So when the dough proved tough to come by from the Pakistanis our Kashmiri friends grew wiser and stopped sending them apples. Left with empty pockets, they have suddenly realised how much better, indeed profitable it is to do business in our country. Not only do the 'evil' Indians make for a good market, they also pay enough so our Kashmiri friends can make up for their losses -

There is other reason that compelled
growers not to dispatch their apples to PoK as the growers were offered
lucrative rates by the Delhi based traders. "Soon after the cross LoC trade
started, the rates of apples have gone up," said Beig, adding that this year all
the losses got compensated by good rates.

So, the Indians don't seem as 'oppressive' any more eh Beig? Looks like the money paid for your apples made up for all your grudges. But not quite, Beig adds -

"The trade is useless unless Government starts a permanent communication link
between two parts of Kashmir," he said.

Well, that still does not guarantee payments from across the LoC, what do you do about that? Besides why would any one want to do trade with someone who won't pay, much less pay enough. The Indians are already covering for your losses.

Javid Ahmad, another Kashmiri says -

"I don't know what happened to my apples in PoK. Government
has to do more to sustain this trade, otherwise in coming months no trade will
take place via Kaman bridge. “

So while it is the Pakistanis that don't pay, yet somehow, it is the Indian Government that is not doing enough. Whatever happened to the 'Autonomy' demand.

The Kashmiri 'grievances' never end, do they? It is time we called the separatist's bluff. The recent elections in the valley exposed the lack of ground support for the 'Azadi' leaders. They make far too much noise, completely out of proportion to their 'support base'. So do their seditious supporters in the media.