More revelations have come to the fore regarding the manner in which Arnab Goswami was assaulted by the Mumbai Police and yet, the silence of the mainstream media is deafening. He was force-fed a liquid that made him choke, he was hit by a police officer’s boot, he suffered injuries to his spinal cord and veins and he was not even allowed access to drinking water.
We can imagine the kind of headlines that would have been splashed across the front pages of newspapers and on news channels if it was Ravish Kumar or Prannoy Roy at the receiving end of it. We have seen it over and over again. An investigation into NDTV for alleged fraud was transformed into a crackdown on press freedom. And here we have a journalist physically assaulted over frivolous charges, and the outrage is not visible at all.
If it were one of the leftist journalists who had to suffer even a minimal proportion of the brutality Arnab Goswami has had to endure, the coverage would have been starkly different. Nobody doubts it one bit. Let us see some of the headlines that would have been published in a scenario where Ravish Kumar or Prannoy Roy were under the radar for even a legitimate inquiry.
“Democracy dies in Darkness in India as Delhi Police under Home Minister Amit Shah cracks down on dissent”: Washington Post
“Democracy dies in darkness” is Washington Post’s tagline that was adopted in 2017 and over the past few years, they have had abundant cause to use it profusely. However, it is to be remembered that the Jeff Bezos owned newspaper believes Democracy to be under threat only when any effort is made to crackdown on leftist corruption. Everyone is legitimate game.
Like most other newspapers, Washington Post is convinced that any lawful inquiry against a leftist outlet or a journalist could only ever be a crackdown dissent as all leftists are paragons of virtue.
“And then they came for Ravish Kumar”: The Indian Express
It is a bit cliched at this point but it is the sort of headline that Indian Express had carried when Yakub Memon was executed for his involvement in the Mumbai Terror Attack of 1993. A newspaper that had the audacity to humanize a terrorist will of course go to any lengths to defend one of their own. A legal inquiry into a left-wing journalist is low-hanging fruit in comparison.
“Cry, beloved India! Saffron Rampage comes knocking for fierce journalist Ravish Kumar”: The Telegraph
The Telegraph is known for its ‘witty’ headlines that misrepresent facts and misguide its readers on a variety of issues in order to peddle propaganda against the BJP and the central government. Its ‘wit’ goes out of the window when it comes to speaking out against the brutality meted out against political opponents of Mamata Banerjee.
It can be safely said that regardless of the accusations against a left-wing journalist, The Telegraph will pretend that hell has descended upon India. If there isn’t any evidence of wrongdoing against law enforcement authorities, evidence will be invented in order to cast the government in poor light.
“Fascist BJP cracks down on dissent as Ravish Kumar is punished for his fearless journalism”: The Wire
Considering the fact that we are speaking of The Wire, we can’t put it past them to come up with an even more flamboyant and extravagant headline. During their extended coverage, we might also hear them rant about ‘Savarna Fascism’ or ‘Brahminical tyranny’. The coverage will hardly even mention the actual charges against Ravish Kumar and even if it is mentioned, it will be in passing. The overwhelming focus will be on fascism and tyranny and how the BJP seeks to punish those who criticize its policies.
“Amit Shah reveals his true colours, intolerance in India reaches its zenith after police pays relentless critic Ravish Kumar a visit”: NYT
The New York Times’ coverage of the developments in India has been extremely biased, if we are to put it mildly. Needless to say, the manner in which it would cover the news of arrest or an inquiry into Ravish Kumar or Prannoy Roy would follow a similar pattern. The NYT does not care about actual facts of the matter. It has a dedicated agenda and that agenda will be peddled regardless of the facts of the matter at hand.
Deafening silence over Arnab Goswami
Consider the silence over the brutality meted out to Arnab Goswami on the other hand. There is no outrage over the atrocities he has had to endure. The NYT went to the extent of labeling Shiv Sena a ‘progressive party’, a hilarious mistake it had to soon correct. It only reveals the utter lack of principles on the part of liberals.
It was never about principles, it was always about power. When liberals have succeeded in winning over power, they will not hesitate to unleash the most grievous of attacks on those they perceive to be their enemies. Consequently, every such attack will be justified because they genuinely appear to believe they are morally superior to everyone else and all their transgressions are justified by the supposed righteousness of their intentions.
