Ghost In The Mirror

It needs a Dante to write about India바카라�s seething purgatory. The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is a vision of hell that has literally brought India to its knees: never before have people in their bewildered, helpless masses not known where to turn. Stark photographs frame the tragedy바카라�of funeral pyres lighting up the night sky, of hospitals running out of oxygen and of people gasping for breath, then dying in front of hospitals gates. It is an unending horror show. It is also a story that has grabbed international media interest.

Yet, over-sensitive Indians are upset at the harsh, bold headlines and stark images being splashed across the world. Supporters of the BJP and the Sangh Parivar are now decrying the int­ernational press for its negative coverage. Is the foreign press biased in its coverage of the pandemic in India?

바카라�Where you stand depends on where you sit,바카라� says analyst Sandeep Shastri . 바카라�In the highly polarised society we live in, it all depends on your politics; issues are no longer important.바카라� For admirers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, anything that damages his image as an efficient leader is a unacceptable. Thus, the foreign media바카라�s coverage of India바카라�s stark tragedy is castigated as being biased. 바카라�This applies to the other side too,바카라� exp­lains Shastri. To those who welcome criticism of the government, the foreign press is depicting the reality. 바카라�It plays both ways,바카라� he adds.   

The Ministry of External Affairs has asked its diplomats abroad to counter what foreign minister S. Jaishankar believes is a 바카라�one-sided바카라� narrative in the Western press. Ironically, Jaishankar, a seasoned diplomat and one well-versed in how the free media operates, should know better if such a strategy would work.

When Rupert Murdoch-owned Australian reproduced a piece earlier published in The Sunday Times, London by Philip Sherwell with the headline 바카라�Modi leads India into a viral apocalypse바카라�, the Consul General of India issued a rejoinder to the newspaper. When it was ignored, the CGI바카라�s tweeted: 바카라�Urge @australian to publish the rejoinder to set the record straight on the covid management in India and also refrain from publishing  such baseless articles in future바카라�.바카라�바카라�

Yet this was not the only unflattering headline. The New York Times published a piece on May 1 that ran: 바카라�India바카라�s Covid-19 Crisis Shakes Modi바카라�s Image of Strength바카라�. The story quoted the PM바카라�s speech at the World Economic Forum meeting in January, when he said India had triumphed over the virus. It also rep­roduced Union health minister Harsh Vardhan바카라�s quote from March, when he said India had reached the pandemic바카라�s 바카라�endgame바카라�. Then there was the piece by Arundhati Roy in The Guardian: 바카라�We are witnessing a crime against hum­anity바카라�. Scholar Christophe Jaffrelot also wrote a scathing article in France바카라�s leading daily Le Monde titled 바카라�India바카라�s Second Wave: A Man-Made Disaster?바카라� When disaster strikes a country of over a billion, the humanitarian crisis becomes world news.

However, as the ravaged sufferers and mute witnesses know, none of this can be challenged. It is revealing that the MEA should then be bothered about uph­olding India바카라�s untarnished image, hoping they can wish away the mounting death toll and the unending agony.

Importantly, the same kind of 바카라�negative바카라� coverage had followed the Covid surges across Italy, Germany, France, the US and the UK바카라�people were struggling for hospital beds as Italy (and later, much of the US, including New York) ran out of ventilators and morgues overflowed. Indians had wondered how this could have happened in the developed world.

As India바카라�s own Covid surge of September-November 2020 ebbed away, Modi prematurely boasted of India바카라�s success in beating the pandemic at the World Economic Forum: 바카라�I have brought the message of confidence, positivity and hope from 1.3 billion Indians amid these times of apprehension바카라�. It was predicted that India would be the most affected country from cor­ona 바카라�somebody said 700-800 million Indians would get infected while others said two million Indians would die.바카라� He added: 바카라�Friends, it would not be advisable to judge India바카라�s success with that of another country. In a country which is home to 18 per cent of the world바카라�s population, that country has saved humanity from a big disaster by containing corona effectively.바카라� After this performance, his government deserves to be held accountable.

Smarting at the coverage of the world press, the Modi government is trying to shift the focus away from the mishandling of the pandemic. Author and journalist Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of a book on Modi, is not surprised at this tactic straight out of the Modi playbook. 바카라�This is part of the general narrative that Modi and his supporters promote whenever it suits them바카라�an int­ernational conspiracy against Hindu India with the support of collaborators within, like the Left, the 바카라�urban Naxals바카라�, Muslims, those who follow dynastic politics (Congress) and liberals. This is nothing new; it is part of the authoritarian template. Modi uses conspiracy theories. Indira Gandhi did the same and used the bogey of a foreign hand.바카라�바카라�   

Indians in general, and Modi supporters in particular, are forever craving for appreciation from the West. A pat on the back for Modi by, say, Time magazine sends his supporters into raptures. The 바카라�praise바카라� is tweeted, re-tweeted, discussed and celebrated. Criticism, however, is not tolerated, and negative opinions rattle the government. By now, it has managed to ensure a relatively tame Indian press where trenchant criticism of its policies are rare. The government has now come to expect the same treatment with kid gloves by the foreign media.   

Yet, for many educated Indians too, the pictures of burning pyres flashed across the world were deeply abhorrent. Former diplomat Bhaswati Mukherjee was appalled by the Le Monde leader art­icle, which blamed the catastrophe partly on Modi. 바카라�Narendra Modi바카라�s lack of prediction, arrogance, and demagogy are clearly among the causes 바카라�,바카라� read a section.  Referring to the cremation photos, Mukherjee says, 바카라�The Christian West is appalled by Hindu cremations; their patronising and arrogant attitude is apparent in their biased coverage. Much of their coverage has been ext­remely negative. This narrative needs to be fixed,바카라� she adds. Mukherjee believes that the Western media have been und­uly harsh on the Modi government. She points to the fact that the health inf­rastructure of France, Italy and Germany had also collapsed last year under a full assault of the pandemic. India바카라�s second wave is much more virulent, she points out, and with a population of over a billion the infrastructure cannot take the strain.

바카라�The BJP government바카라�s criticism of the western media바카라�s intense coverage of the pandemic is laughable. It is the same government that is looking for endorsement from Western powers,바카라� says author Akshaya Mukul. 바카라�What the Modi government forgets is that unlike large sections of the Indian press, the Western media is free and reports what it sees. It is also sheer duplicity to welcome Western aid, but be dismissive of criticism by their media.바카라�