“If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” – Malcolm X
In February, rumours of violence against North Indian migrants in Tamil Nadu were spread by BJP leaders and mainstream media. Fake videos claimed that Biharis were brutally killed by Tamil locals. Several tweets about the purported attacks and “public murders” became viral. Then newspapers such as Dainik Jagran ran headlines like “Murderous attack on Hindi-speaking workers in Tamil Nadu.” BJP IT-cell amplified this news for political benefit and intensified the problem. BJP leaders used the occasion to shred apart the opposition’s bonhomie: the RJD-JDU government in Bihar and the DMK government in Tamil Nadu. Disinformation was spread via WhatsApp forwards. Later it was found that these were fake news. In the last few years, we saw how social media has become a tool for spreading hate, and the mainstream media is constantly trying to give them tough competition and consistently spreading hate. In many recent incidents, social media and mainstream media have misinformed people and spread hatred between communities.
Historically, there have been many cases where the media was directly involved in orchestrating genocide. For example, Radio Rwanda and RTLM(Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines) played a pivotal role in the 1994 genocide of the Tutsis, an ethnic group in Africa. Radio Rwanda and RTLM were widely listened to by the masses and propagated racist propaganda against the Tutsis, moderate Hutus, and Belgians. The genocide was sparked by the death of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu. His plane was shot down with missiles on April 6, 1994. Hutu extremist groups ( ‘Akazu’, ‘Hutu Power’ and its militia ‘Interahamwe’) blamed the Tutsi ethnic minority for the president’s death and used it as a pretext to carry out their plan to exterminate the Tutsis. Over the next three months, Hutu militias and ordinary citizens went on a killing spree, with government support, using machetes, clubs, and other weapons to murder an estimated 800,000 people, mostly Tutsi, but also some moderate Hutu who opposed the genocide. Secret arms caches were kept ready for use by government soldiers and the party militia, the core cadre of which had been trained in the tactics of slaughter. Lists of Tutsis and their Hutu sympathizers had been compiled for targeting. The killing of the Rwandan President acted as the trigger. RTLM started operating just months before the genocide. It was bankrolled by the Rwandan Businessman Felician Kabuga, who was also a close aide of the President and the Hutu extremist group Akazu. From its beginning, RTLM started spreading anti-Tutsi propaganda and inciting violence against the Tutsi. By March 1994, Hutu Power’s proliferation of hate media (print media such as Kangura and the radio station RTLM and Radio Rwanda) had created a climate of fear. The radio broadcasts were particularly effective at reaching a wide audience and were used to mobilise the Hutu militias and ordinary citizens to carry out the killings. The media also disseminated lists of Tutsi targets, making it easier for the killers to identify and track down their victims. The international media also played a role in the genocide. Many Western journalists and media outlets failed to report on the killings or downplayed their significance. This lack of attention and action allowed the genocide to continue for several months before any significant intervention was made.
The same trends which were seen in Rwanda are dangerously found in Indian corporate controlled media houses. Like RTLM, Indian media is reporting less news and more propaganda debate which incites hate by pitting one community over the other. The reporting on the Delhi riots of 2020, COVID-19, and farmer’s protests are examples of spreading hate and fake news through mainstream media to support the government.The trend of RTLM to invite bigoted members of the ruling government who are well known to be disrespectful towards a community in the public eye can be seen in the Indian context. Public figures such as Sambit Patra who openly disrespect Muslims on live tv and make half-wit humour at the cost of a community can be seen outright. News channels like Sudarshan news, Aaj Tak etc. conducting shows such as ‘UPSC jihad’ and ‘muslim mukt bharat’ (muslim free india) are instrumental in spreading islamophobia.. It shows great similarities in how the RTLM in Rwanda indulged in disrespecting and dehumanizing the minority Tutsi population.
The Indian laws which regulate media can be seen as widely ineffective as no prosecution takes place on the anchors, spokespersons, or the stakeholders of media who partake in such acts. This has created a sense of impunity. Indian media was given a self-regulatory mechanism through the Press council act of 1978, where a council made up of nominated individuals from news agencies and sitting members of parliament would keep the media in check. However, these news agencies and members of parliament who have vested interests in such ‘hate mongering’ refuse to take any actions against the individuals who spread misinformation and participate actively in promoting disharmony amongst the masses. Also, these news channels are supported by ads from the government and corporate, therefore serving them and making more profit. The nexus between neoliberalism and Hindutva plays out around the fourth pillar of democracy as well.
