Manipulating media: Rahul’s spin doctors do good job

Hero worship in India has always been a big problem. Now, it is becoming much bigger, thanks to the people’s reluctance to ask questions. Idolatry is so rampant that they even start worshipping those who have little to do heroism. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s recent deification is a case in point.
Consider the facts. His party is in power in New Delhi and Bombay. Yet, for over two years, in Bombay and other parts of Maharashtra, a rabidly parochial outfit, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), has been physically assaulting north Indians and inciting violence against them. Its older cousin, the Shiv Sena, has been doing that for a longer period. But these goons go scot-free. MNS legislators even had the temerity to manhandle a fellow MLA on the floor of the House. But neither the leaders who instigate violence nor the activists of the two parties are brought to book.
In fact, the Congress sought to, and did, benefit from the terror tactics of MNS chief Raj Thackeray. All these years, Rahul Gandhi did nothing to stop the hooliganism of Sena and MNS. A few days ago, suddenly, he—or perhaps his media managers and spin doctors—woke up to the chauvinism of the Thackerays. Of, it is so bad! How these thugs can say that Bombay is only for the people of the state? Mumbai is for all, thundered Rahul in the presence of the press. An obsequies media gave him a loud applause for uttering a truism. And the applause keeps growing by the hour.
Rahul goes to Bombay—and the media portrays this as heroic as Lord Ram’s invasion of Ravan’s Lanka. He is glorified for going to Bombay, for riding the local train, for uttering inanities, for everything he does. But few, if any, slam him for what he does not do—that is, not goading his own party and government to take action against the felony of the Thackerays.
The newspaper headlines scream: ‘In Mumbai, Rahul takes local line, derails Sena gameplan,’ ‘Rahul takes the Dadar Fast to make his Mumbai point,’ ‘Congress resolves to take on Shiv Sena.’ We are made to believe that a redeemer is at work, a deliverer would come to the rescue of the hapless victims of the evil Bal Thackeray and Raj Thackeray. But we are not told that the evil is a creation of Rahul’s party. It is like Bhinderanwale redux: the Congress created the monster, and then reaped political windfall by vanquishing him.
All this is very clever. It is indeed the sterling success of Congress media managers that the almost all newspapers and channels have become Rahul’s hagiographers. But there is no statesmanship involved in manipulating media and molding public mood. Nor is there any heroism in fooling people.