Statement on Media and Mobs

By Arundhati Roy

Monday, November 01, 2010

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New Delhi, October 31: A mob of about a hundred people arrived at my house at 11 this morning (Sunday October 31st 2010.) They broke through the gate and vandalized property. They shouted slogans against me for my views on Kashmir, and threatened to teach me a lesson.

The OB Vans of NDTV, Times Now and News 24 were already in place ostensibly to cover the event live. TV reports say that the mob consisted largely of members of the BJP’s Mahila Morcha (Women’s wing).

After they left, the police advised us to let them know if in future we saw any OB vans hanging around the neighborhood because they said that was an indication that a mob was on its way. In June this year, after a false report in the papers by Press Trust of India (PTI) two men on motorcycles tried to stone the windows of my home. They too were accompanied by TV cameramen.

What is the nature of the agreement between these sections of the media and mobs and criminals in search of spectacle? Does the media which positions itself at the ‘scene’ in advance have a guarantee that the attacks and demonstrations will be non-violent? What happens if there is criminal trespass (as there was today) or even something worse? Does the media then become accessory to the crime?

This question is important, given that some TV channels and newspapers are in the process of brazenly inciting mob anger against me.

In the race for sensationalism the line between reporting news and manufacturing news is becoming blurred. So what if a few people have to be sacrificed at the altar of TRP ratings?

The Government has indicated that it does not intend to go ahead with the charges of sedition against me and the other speakers at a recent seminar on Azadi for Kashmir. So the task of punishing me for my views seems to have been taken on by right wing storm troopers.

The Bajrang Dal and the RSS have openly announced that they are going to “fix” me with all the means at their disposal including filing cases against me all over the country. The whole country has seen what they are capable of doing, the extent to which they are capable of going.

So, while the Government is showing a degree of maturity, are sections of the media and the infrastructure of democracy being rented out to those who believe in mob justice?

I can understand that the BJP's Mahila Morcha is using me to distract attention from the senior RSS activist Indresh Kumar who has recently been named in the CBI charge-sheet for the bomb blast in Ajmer Sharif in which several people were killed and many injured.

But why are sections of the mainstream media doing the same?

Is a writer with unpopular views more dangerous than a suspect in a bomb blast? Or is it a question of ideological alignment?

Arundhati Roy

October 31st 2010

Comment On This Commentary See All Comments (2)

emails to AI and Times Now

By Emersberger, Joe at Nov 01, 2010 21:57 PM

Below are a few emails I sent off to Amnesty and to Times Now. It doesn't take long to do and could possibly be helpful.

TO AMNESTY: amnestyis @ amnesty.org

Dear Amnesty

The Indian government should be called upon to take decisive action to protect the safety of Arundhati Roy. Please read her statement below. I hope Amnesty gets on this right away if it hasn't already. It would be very helpful - in my opinion - if Amnesty also appealed - and asked its members to appeal - to the Indian media outlets that have incited violence against Roy.

Sincerely,

Joe Emersberger

TO TIMES NOW (forwarded through an advertising manager because the main address they gave bounced back - Sandeep.sharma @ timesgroup.com)

Dear Times Now editors

I wonder how you answer some questions that Arundhati Roy posed to you in a recent statement:

"What is the nature of the agreement between these sections of the media and mobs and criminals in search of spectacle? Does the media which positions itself at the ‘scene’ in advance have a guarantee that the attacks and demonstrations will be non-violent? What happens if there is criminal trespass (as there was today) or even something worse? Does the media then become accessory to the crime? "

Joe Emersberger

Windsor Ontario Canada

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Re: emails to AI and Times Now

By Guard, Robert at Nov 02, 2010 07:41 AM

Thanks Joe, great idea! I'll follow your lead and do likewise.

I think the most important thing for us to do re: this is get the word out on Kashmir. Let Arundhati's plight be a way to talk about what's going on in Kashmir, and let this serve as a reminder that we need to continue talking about it long after this episode passes. This has to become an important issue outside of India and Pakistan.

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By Morgan, Nick at Oct 31, 2010 21:48 PM

This political persecution reminds me of the demonization of Piedad Córdoba in Colombia. We need to show solidarity with Arundhati Roy at this difficult and dangerous time. Her role as a critical voice has been crucial in publicising the dark side of the Indian economic "miracle". So how can we best show our support and concern?

Don´t let the bastards grind you down, Arundhati!

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Re: Statement on Media and Mobs

By Tripathi, Deepak at Oct 31, 2010 23:22 PM

I am very sad at what has transpired and hope that wisdom will prevail. I am reminded of something said by Carl Schurz, nineteenth-century German revolutionary, US reformer, ally of Abraham Lincoln, and one-time American secretary of the interior.

Schurz's words were: "My country right or wrong. If right keep it right, if wrong put it right."

In my 35 years as a journalist and commentator, I have criticised every country in which I have lived, worked, country from which I gained and to which I gave by best. They include the United States, Britain (now my adopted country) and others. I believe I have the right to raise difficult issues when these, and the land of my birth India, may need correction. Love for one's country has many forms and has a deeper meaning.

When one criticizes nations and governments the world over, one must be honest about their own. Americans do this to their own, Britons do it too. We must not let the tyranny of the few take over hard-earned freedom and democracy.

Deepak Tripathi
United Kingdom

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Re: Re: Statement on Media and Mobs

By Morgan, Nick at Nov 01, 2010 10:27 AM

Whenever the nation is invoked it's a con, a scam, a rip-off. Nations are built on a history of violence and exclusion, of cultural genocide and political dominance.

We know the story all too well: the forgetting of atrocities, the creation of myths, the construction of evil others, the "narcissism of small differences". Nations were built by elites, in their own interests. Whether it's "my fellow Americans", "compatriotas" or flag-waving Rule Britannia bullshit makes no difference.

We may feel deep affective ties to communities and places, but that's no reason to transfer them to states and governments.