In recent times we have seen a lot of reporting on various crimes from Uttar Pradesh. Complicated as it is, Hathras case hogged the limelight in the last 2-3 weeks in national media. However, crimes in Congress or UPA ruled states were under reported and practically buried in the national media.
Please note that these three cases are only representative of dozens of such cases in the country. The local non-English newspapers cover these extensively and yet these cases never become big enough to be covered in national Hindi or English news channels. This is specially true of non-BJP ruled states. We have done articles after articles on the situation in Kerala and on the desecration of Hindu places of worship in Andhra, and yet one hardly sees that in national media. The treatment to cases from Congress ruled states in north of Bharat shows that it is not a north-south issue. In this article, we take a list of 3 such cases from Jharkhand, ruled by the JMM-RJD,-Congress combine.
Case 1 : a massacre of Christians that nobody knows about
This year in January, seven Christians were murdered in cold blood in a single incident in Jharkhand. They were killed allegedly by armed supporters of the Pathalgadi self-rule movement, in a village in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. All seven had been decapitated by their abductors.
The Pathalgadhi is a dangerous movement that deliberately misinterprets Bharatiya constitution and claims that laws of Center and State do not apply on tribal villages and denies entry to outsiders in such places. A similar discrimination against tribals in cities would be rightly condemned and is as much illegal.
The dead were anti-Pathalgadi, although they also were tribals. The Christian activists, who declare Bharat as intolerant and the government as fascist if a cricket ball breaks a church window, were completely silent. The Dalit activists did not utter a word. The media completely blacked out the news. No prime time discussion happened on atrocities against Christians, misrule of Hemant Soren or danger of Pathalgadhi movement!
Imagine the same happening in an NDA ruled state. From two bit intellectuals, to media and even some govt bodies of US and Europe would have passed resolutions. We would be told that some insignificant village in US has passed a resolution against government of Bharat.
Case 2 : Gangrape of a minor in a police guest house
On August 12, at the police guest house at Old Police Line under Lower Bazaar Police station of Ranchi, the capital city of Jharkhand, a 14 year old girl was gangraped by three person. Read the previous sentence again. A minor was gangraped, including by policemen, in a police guest house in the capital city!
The issue is much discussed in Jharkhand, and police has been severely criticized for its shoddy investigation and the Governor had summoned the DGP over the issue. However, as Jharkhand is a UPA ruled state, this rape has been completely absent from national media. The girl has not been visited by the women activists and prominent leaders. There are no candle marches for her. The police is accused of shoddy investigation, and yet there is no voice in English newspapers about how this is a travesty of justice. No one is demanding CBI investigation on prime time.
Case 3 : Gangrape of a Sadhvi
On September 8th, 2020 a Sadhvi living in an ashram in Godda of Jharkhand was gangraped by three boys. Two were aged 18 and another one aged 12. Most of us have not even heard the news.
Consider the same thing happening to a nun. The media, and rightly so, would have highlighted it endlessly. There would be demands of CBI investigation and of rising intolerance. International bodies would have condemned this and there would be candle marches.
However, not a word came from even the religious bodies of the Hindus in this case. The national media blacked out this case.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, crimes in Bharatiya media are reported with a strong bias. Sensationalism has trumped public good and TRP chasing by any means has become the goal. Over and above that, the obvious bias in favour of Congress and its allies makes truth the first casualty in the media reporting.
Unfortunately, media is not regulated in any meaningful way. The attempts by the government for such regulation have been opposed on the basis of “freedom of speech” and assurances of self-regulation have been given. However, the conduct of media does not inspire confidence. The social media has been derided by the established media houses as peddling “alternative facts”, however the success of digital and social media as a source of news points to the utter failure and lack of confidence by people in old media. The conduct of media in cases like the three discussed above have contributed a lot to the present situation.
Did you find this article useful? We’re a non-profit. Make a donation and help pay for our journalism.
HinduPost is now on Telegram. For the best reports & opinion on issues concerning Hindu society, subscribe to HinduPost on Telegram.