At times, Eurocentric media’s aversion to India and its policies is brazen and smacks of hypocrisy, abrasive-audacity.
In one of the scenes of The Merchant of Venice, Antonio says, “In sooth, I know not why I am so sad. It wearies me.” This emotional dictum continues to grip and pull several Western media towards India, portraying a negative stereotype of India. It is symptomatic of an old disease, a “plague of the mind” for which no vaccine is available. It is, therefore, not surprising to see this contagious disease surviving and thriving even in the age of globalization.
It is not just about any one Western media. India has mostly been portrayed in dark shades by the chunk of them. The verbal bashing has only intensified ever since Narendra Modi has come to power. The rise of India and the subsequent strengthening of Modi’s position on the global platform has only added more fuel to the fire as far as many Western media outlets are concerned. The colonial hatred continues to permeate several of the reportage on and about India.
But let’s zoom out for a moment to reflect on the recent renditions of the colonial tendency that underpins the Western media. For example, commenting on the current impasse that one witnesses in the Indo-Canadian relationship, a UK-based newspaper was quick to run an article, “The West’s Modi Problem.” In its attempt to present PM Modi in a dark shade, the newspaper inadvertently positioned the entire West against Modi. How shall we see this burgeoning convergence of the Western media in our daily lives—an account of perverse pleasure or creative paralysis?
The same orientalist framing was visible when India became the first nation to land Chandrayaan-3 on the southern pole of the moon. Here is the New York Times coverage, “In a country with a deep tradition of science, the excitement and anticipation around the landing provided a rare moment of unity in what has otherwise been fraught times of sectarian tension stoked by divisive policies of Mr. Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist party.”
It appears as if these biased Western reportages are singularly focused on the underbelly of India as well as its resentment class, thus assigning themselves the job of a solitary truthteller. So, while the entire world was observing the developments of the G20 Summit, there were media reports that smacked of voyeuristic pleasure as they deliberately tried to highlight the slum area and poverty.
On the same note, the former “The Daily Show Correspondent”, Hasan Minhaj, who also happens to be a standup comedian, admitted to his fabricating several stories that are a result of his “emotional roller coaster ride.” Minhaj’s Netflix Series, “Patriot Act”, has generated immense traction. In 2019, Minhaj was even selected as one of Time magazine’s most influential people. On 15 September, Minhaj admitted that his stories related to his daughter being exposed to anthrax and admitted into hospital after the Khashoggi episode, “and the FBI informant infiltrating his mosque,” were all fake, and yet he justified them in the name of “emotional truth.” Minhaj added, “Every story in my style is built around a seed of truth.”
The repacking of India as dark doesn’t seem to have any end. Of course, it has the implicit suggestion that India still needs Western patronage to rebuild itself. This stereotype supply will speed up with the upcoming elections in 2024. On 1 August 2023, the BBC published a piece titled, “Why India’s Rice ban could trigger a Global Food Crisis,” trying to blame India for a lurking global food crisis.
If a country decides to feed its citizens, how does that qualify as a global crime? Apparently, honesty and commitment to the colonial hegemony continue to be the hallmarks of the Eurocentric media outlets, rooted as they are in the coercion and controlling mechanism of non-white societies and cultures. The formula of this good relationship is simple and reeks of racist and prejudiced behaviour, that is, criticising non-European countries for all the problems in the world.
The recent accusatory piece by the BBC about India exporting food inflation to the world should not be taken seriously. Apparently, the tone of the article is condescending, resembling the colonial masters, accusing India of its failure to control the “spiralling prices of food”. With India about to announce the next general election date, Eurocentric media outlets are likely to up the ante by casting aspersions on India’s rising global creditability that is linked to PM Modi’s popularity and impact on his people as well as on the global platform.
Time and again, several white media outlets have turned out to be a breeding ground for spreading and expropriating anti-India sentiments, trying to hold the Indian government hostage while offering a fixed barometer of civilisation and progress that can only be measured by the Eurocentric yardsticks. Therefore, what is noteworthy about India being blamed for the lurking global food crisis is the usual leitmotif of colonialism. When media outlets are inclined to politicking and grandstanding, commitment to truth and maintaining a level playing field is jeopardised, even erased.
A large section of such media keeps manufacturing and spreading India’s fault lines of nationhood. We all know the motif. These former colonial masters who keep boasting of their science are unable to produce their own food, control the spiralling market prices and the ongoing environmental crisis, clearly, these are not problems caused by India. If these media outlets think that the global food crisis can be so simplistic, then they should try to embolden their scientific tools and suggest better policies to their governments.
This reminds me of Rudyard Kipling, who said:
To work the mills and tramways in your town,
And irrigate your orchards as it flows?
It is easy! Give us dynamite and drills!
Watch the iron-shouldered rocks lie down and quake
As the thirsty desert-level floods and fills,
And the valley we have dammed becomes a lake.
The methodology to increase production is already prescribed. Perhaps, it won’t work out because this would increase the pollution level in the West. Having outsourced energy production, manufacturing production, and food production to other countries, many white nations have also outsourced risks, environmental crises, and poverty. And yet it is odd to see the former colonial powers condescendingly lecturing us.
At times, Eurocentric media’s aversion to India and its policies is brazen and smacks of hypocrisy, abrasive-audacity, not to forget about their domineering ego and the desperation to divert global problems’ roots to India. Has the world forgotten about the 31 famines that were caused by the rapacious British colonial enterprise, not to forget the infamous Bengal famine, resulting in the death of almost three million Indians. Do these famines not account for the global crisis of humanity?
- Om Prakash Dwivedi teaches at Bennett University, Greater Noida. He tweets @opdwivedi82