In an important political first, Doordarshan telecast live the annual Vijaya Dashami speech of the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday. Expectedly, he praised Narendra Modi’s government for “moving in the right direction”. Since the RSS's inception, its chief has delivered a speech on Dussehra, the day the organisation was founded in Nagpur in 1925. The event is of great importance to the Sangh Parivar, but certainly not to the country at large; after all, it is just a foundation day function of a religio-cultural organisation. Besides, the RSS has long been considered by a significant section as a sectarian religious outfit.

Which is why it’s curious that Doordarsan, the official broadcaster of the Government, run on public money, should telecast this event live. Not even during the time of the previous NDA government, led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, did DD do a live telecast. The possible explanation is that RSS’ political arm, the BJP, is in power at the Centre, and the Prime Minister is keen on keeping his ties with the RSS intact.

Clearly, DD’s act shows how powerful RSS and its chief are in the Government. But the question is by what logic is DD telecasting the organisational speech of a religious outfit? There are plenty of religious organisations and leaders in the country, which all hold similar events. Is DD going to treat these events equally? Or, as historian Ramachandra Guha tweeted, is this “naked state majoritarianism”?

Ever since the BJP came to power with a clear majority in May, Modi has been reluctant to engage with private media and been using the state media machinery to cover and promote his government. The latest incident shows that the Government is using the state media machinery not only to promote itself, but also its ideological parent, and possibly other Sangh outfits in the days to come.

(Stanly Johny is Assistant Editor)

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW