The Gujarati press: Rumour or news?

Frontline,
The regional press had no small role in fanning the flames. Goebbels in Gujarat?

DIONNE BUNSHA

“If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth.”
- Joseph Goebbels, Minister for Propaganda in Nazi Germany.

On February 27th, the Sabarmati Express was set on fire, killing 58 people. Gujarat was in a state of hysteria. People feared the worst. Powerful Hindutva forces in the state were all set to target Muslims. With rumours flying thick and fast, people were desperate to get accurate news. But, truth was a scarce commodity at the time. Gujarat’s two leading newspapers, Gujarat Samachar and Sandesh, were instrumental in spreading panic rather than peace. “Avenge Blood with Blood” was one of the headlines on the front page of Sandesh, the day after the Sabarmati Express massacre. The article that followed as a statement issued by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

Both newspapers carried false reports about 10-15 girls being pulled out of the train and kidnapped by ‘religious fanatics’ and of two womens’ breasts being cut off. This was later denied by chief minister Narendra Modi. But neither newspaper carried a clarification. Gujarat Samachar published a report saying the article that appeared in Sandesh regarding the kidnapping of women was false, but no mention of their own blunder.

Throughout the communal carnage in Gujarat, the state’s leading newspapers have been locked in a peculiar kind of competition. It isn’t about who gets the news and facts first. Its about who can be more communal and provocative. Both Gujarat Samachar and Sandesh have raised the anti-Muslim pitch. They published several false articles during the past few months. In many ways, they have aided the VHP’s propaganda machinery, stoking the fires and fuelling hatred.

“Hindus Beware: Haj Pilgrims Return with a Deadly Conspiracy” screamed another headline in Sandesh on March 6th. “In reality, hundreds of terrified and anxious Haj pilgrims returned accompanied with heavy police escorts to homes that could have been razed to the ground,” says a report by Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and Shanti Abhiyan in Vadodara. Another news snippet in Sandesh on March 1st, the day that the VHP called a Bharat Bandh, reprimands Bhavnagar’s leaders for maintaining peace. “Hindus were burnt alive in Godhra and leaders of Bhavnagar did even throw a stone in the name of bandh. Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot had partly avenged the killing of Hindus in Godhra. In the case of Bhavnagar, the gutless leaders are hiding their faces under the guise of non-violence,” the report states. Another headline in Sandesh on March 2nd shrieked, “Bapunagar reels under blind private firing all day. If you do not kill the enemy they will kill you”. These reports seemed intent on stirring trouble.

In several instances, Sandesh mis-reported events or selectively reported them to portray Muslims as the perpetrators of violence, when in fact, they were the victims in most cases. Feeding prevalent stereotypes, all Muslims were denounced as ‘terrorists’ and ‘religious fanatics’ while all Hindus were glorified as ‘devotees’. Areas with a large Muslim population are described as dangerous ‘mini-Pakistans’. In fact, the residents of Tandalja in Vadodara were so upset by the malicious campaign against their neighbourhood, which is predominantly Muslim but also houses 7,000 Hindus, that they filed several complaints, one of which is with the Editors Guild. A false report about firing in the area was reported although no such incident occurred. Sandesh later printed a clarification after residents complained. But the damage was already done. The sub-heading in Sandesh of March 4th wrongly reported that the Collector had proposed to declare the neighbourhood as a ‘disturbed area’. As a result, people were scared to go into the area. Milk vans and auto-rickshaws refused to enter, although there was no curfew or violent incident in the area.

Not even the relief camps were spared. A banner headline in Sandesh on March 15th warned, “In the name of shelter, migrants from other states enter city”. It alleged that Muslim leaders were using relief camps as an excuse to set up illegal colonies. In reality, thousands of Muslim refugees who were hounded out of their homes had no choice but to live in miserable conditions in the camps.

Sandesh’s layout is filled with one of blood and gore. Red stars were used when reporting the death count. Horrific photographs were used, many accented with red. “Alternatively, photographs of militant, trishul wielding karsevaks are splashed across the front page. Both kinds of photographs serve to instil fear or terror,” says the PUCL and Shanti Abhiyan report. It adds, “All RSS and VHP statements are given pride of place in Sandesh. Appeals for peace, instances of Hindus and Muslims protecting each other are given short shrift.” Gujarat Samachar, on the other hand, did carry positive stories of communal harmony and communities helping each other.

Television coverage also followed the same pattern. While national channels like Aaj Tak and Star TV updated viewers with accurate reports, a few local television channels often aired VHP propaganda. J TV, one of Vadodara’s local channels was apparently the most vitriolic. “It regularly broadcasted provocative speeches by VHP leaders. It kept repeating gory footage of the Godhra massacre,” says Rohit Prajapati, a human rights activist. He points out that during the Ram Dhan rally on March 15, the channel only showed scenes of jubilation by the participants, but no scenes of the havoc they wreaked on Muslim localities along the way. The coverage also did not portray the tense situation in Vadodara at the time. Nor did it mention that the rally was banned because many places in Vadodara were under curfew. Yet, Narendra Modi wanted to ban Star TV, which was providing the real picture, something he was turning a blind eye to.

While this was the first time that people saw communal speeches and footage of violence on their TV screens, the provocative tabloid style has been a standard feature of the Gujarati press. Sandesh and Gujarat Samachar have a long history of communal coverage and have been indicted by several commissions of inquiry probing into the riots of 1969, 1981 and 1985-86. But no action has ever been taken against them. This time, a few social activists have been trying to file a criminal case against Sandesh under section 153(a) of the Indian Penal Code for inciting communal hatred. But the police refuses to lodge a first information report (FIR). “We have been trying to file the case for the past one week, but they have not yet registered the FIR. We even approached the police commissioner, but nothing has happened,” says Valjibhai Patel, one of the activists trying to bring one of Gujarat’s most powerful newspapers to justice.

While JTV remained unpunished, the Vadodara police commissioner registered FIRs against local channels News Plus and VNM. He also suspended the licences of two cable operators. The commissioner felt that the cable networks had “played havoc” by showing footage of rioting in Macchipith on March 15th and for repeating the footage the next day. Local channels are small fry compared to the powerful owners of Sandesh and Gujarat Samachar.

In an interview with the Editors Guild Fact Finding Mission Report, the chief managing director and editor of Sandesh, Falgun Patel described Gujarati newspapers as “pro-Hindu” and criticised the English media for siding with the minority community. He admitted that his reporters did lose balance and were communalised all down the line. Sandesh, he said, “editorialises the news” by “balancing the news with their own version”. Patel also said that it was their editorial policy not to carry corrections and clarifications. He described the Godhra incident as “unforgettable” and the reaction to it as “justified”. For all the havoc his newspaper created, chief minister Narendra Modi sent him a letter expressing appreciation for the newspapers ‘restrained’ coverage of recent events in the best traditions of journalism.

Gujarat Samachar has a circulation of 8.10 lakh and Sandesh sells 7.05 lakh copies, Mr Patel told the Editors Guild team. He claimed that Sandesh’s circulation had increased by 1.5 lakh since the violence began because of its “pro-Hindu” stand. Gujarat Samachar’s owner-editor Shreyans Shah told the Editors Guild team that circulation of his daily increased by around 50,000 during the carnage. Are these newspapers popular because of their communal stand? Are they telling people what they want to hear? “Yes, people do like to read sensational stories. But during the riots when there is so much uncertainty and rumours, people want to know the truth. They want to know if it is safe to go out, to send their children to school. But these newspapers are failing to deliver the facts to their readers,” says Rohit Prajapati. “Their circulation may have gone up because during such times people want to know what is happening around them. And since these two newspapers are the market leaders, they are bound to gain the most by this sudden interest in the news. It has nothing to do with their communal leanings,” he adds.

In true Goebbelesian style, Hindutva propaganda pervaded the average Gujarati in different forms. VHP street propaganda complemented the Gujarati dailies with even more vicious campaigns against Muslims. Pamphlets calling for an economic boycott of Muslims were widely distributed throughout the state. Others asking Hindus to awaken and stop bearing Muslim atrocities were circulated just before March 15th when trouble was expected due to the Ram temple foundation stone ceremony in Ayodhya. Another VHP fund collection appeal warns Hindus against attacks by Muslims, and asks for funds to legally defend those VHP activists who were arrested during the violence.

The VHP also used new media technology to further their cause. It distributed CD-ROMs with gory footage of the carnage. In Ahmedabad’s posh shopping centres, when shops were looted by affluent Ahmedabadis, news of the free-for-all plunder was spread through SMS messages. Narendra Modi’s website has fan mail praising the ‘asli mard’ (real man) for ‘protecting Hindus’. However, false news that kar sevaks kidnapped a young Muslim woman from Godhra station platform was also widely circulated through email.

But, undoubtedly, the powerful Gujarati print media, with its wide reach, had the most lasting impact. Its anti-minority (not only anti-Muslim) and casteist venom, even during peaceful times, has ensured a slow and sustained indoctrination of the Hindutva ideology. The key role it plays in the fascist propaganda machinery ensures it immunity from the law. It can continue to twist reality and keep the wheels of hate turning.

Frontline, July 20 - August 2, 2002 Also available here