Hindu Media: Why it is not growing – Hilda Raja

Why the existing Hindu media is not growing is a disturbing query posed by Sri Deivamuthu, editor of the National Spirit and the Hindu Voice. He has also elaborated on it and can do so with his vast expertise and his experience. I have identified the following five areas for some introspection to be done by all patriotic Indians and also by the Hindu religious leaders

1 – Lack of leadership

This is easy to understand if one ponders why the Hindus are unable to form a vote bank? If the Christians can and the Muslims can then why are the Hindus reluctant to come together? If the Muslim clerics can issue fatwas which are so piously adhered to by the Muslims, will the Shankaracharis of India be bold to come together and issue directives to their followers? First will they come together at least? More than 90 percent of the Muslims and the Christians will follow the directives that emanate from their pastors and clerics. Can the same be assumed of the Hindus? The Hindu leaders do not speak in one voice and unlike the World Council of Churches, World Islamic Call Society, and the World Jewish Congress do not come together to give an anchorage and a forum for concerted action and leadership. This goes to show that there is no unity-forging material in the Hindus. Where are the religious leaders to inspire? Where is the Sanatana Dharma upheld? Hinduism has come to mean rituals and festivals to be celebrated but the depth of its meaning, its values, its rigorous discipline are all overlooked. Where does the youth get this? The young mind is a vacuum as far as their religion and its principles and values are concerned.

2 – English education and the educated

Most of the educated Hindus feel that being a Hindu — buying that which contributes to Hinduism is too narrow. These educated in convent schools and minority-run institutions are brainwashed into a kind of pseudo-secularism and want to belong to that category which claims to be ‘broad-minded’. They refuse to realize that Hindutva is nothing but cultural patriotism. One cannot be patriotic without upholding one’s culture and all that goes along with it. Take for example the youth who viewed Obama interacting with the students at St Xavier’s who commented: Here is a leader, the greatest in the world but when he interacted he was just a simple man. Will India get such a leader? This was the general question and impression. Why should India get a leader like Obama? Obama is a Christian to be more precise a Baptist — that fundamentalist  sect which does not tolerate even the Catholics in Nagaland. His upbringing and his religion will give him a particularized perception and world view. Why should the young expect India to have such a leader? This is a pointer. The ‘English’-educated are estranged and to a certain extent alienated from the Indian ethos and the Indian masses. It is one thing for politicians like Rahul Gandhi-Sachin Pilot and Scindia to try to vibe with the masses during election campaigning. But there it starts and there it stops. The uneducated hardly matter — they watch movies and are busy eking out a livelihood. The Constitution guarantees the fundamental right of Art 29 and 30 – these two Articles have wrought havoc. These create ghettos — instilling an enculturation that makes the divide real. This takes place during the formative years of our young which has brought out a young brigade which is more western oriented — ‘broadminded’ and elitist — as they want to believe. The youth are alienated from the ‘crowd’ — the rabble which according to the elite is too unsophisticated and illiterate, and thus all that this ‘crowd’ holds is to be discarded, at least they must put a distance between the ‘crowd’ and the educated.

3 – ‘Be Indian, buy Indian’

Does China have to prod its people to ‘Be Chinese, buy Chinese, for that matter does the USA propagate to its people ‘Be Americans and buy American’? Is this a hangover of the colonial rule we went through? (Take even sports and games: the hockey is a poor cousin to cricket.) No country has to coin such a slogan but we had to because of the hysteria and craze over foreign goods, foreign fashion and style of life and everything foreign — including the ‘white skin’. The adherence to even Hinduism and its icons which belongs to the humble and the downtrodden, to the millions of youth is distasteful and are looked upon with distaste. There is no ‘class’ in such. May be I am generalizing a bit but I cannot help it because from my own experience, I had noticed that the young people are reluctant even to boldly proclaim their religion.

In the schools if private and government-aided the teaching of religion is forbidden. But the government-aided minority education institutions can happily do what want — they teach their own religion — in fact force it down the throats of Hindu children.

4 – Hindutva

Hindutva is a much misunderstood concept. The very term immediately makes people think that it is all about Hinduism. This puts off not only the non-Hindus but even the Hindus. The meaning of Hindutva has not seeped down neither has it been associated with patriotism. It would be interesting to undertake a survey and find out who understands the concept. So the political parties which uphold Hindutva are by and large looked upon with disdain and people reject it for its ‘narrow’ sectarian outlook. This applies also to the media which propagates Hindutva.

5 – Money and media

Money is another dimension which has prevented the Hindu media from growing. Hindu media cannot compete with the large sums of money pouring in from the Islamic countries and the West.

Media and evangelization is an aspect which cannot be overlooked. While the Hindu media does not and fortunately so indulge in using the media for conversion, the Islamic and Western media do. There is thus an indefatigable crusading spirit which keep them going and which helps these to over look ‘who is the boss’. The evangelical zeal is missing in the Hindus.

It must be sadly admitted that the Hindus seem to have missed the boat and are rather late in trying to look at media as one of the most important props for upholding the Hindu ethos and Sanatana Dharma. Well, the one consolation is the fact that it is better late than never and I see the signs of rejuvenation and a revival of Hinduism. It is when one is pushed to a corner that one brings out the best to fight back. Hindus had taken life as it came — satisfied with their lives and with the feeling that nothing can happen to this oldest religion of the world. Suddenly they are threatened and this has created an awakening. Long ago Swami Vivekananda had given the bugle call in 1893 — to Awake and Arise! It is very valid today.

Let us hope that patriotic Indians will come together and make amends. Let us hope that the religious leaders will take note of their own lack of leadership and courage. Let us hope that the Hindu media will resurrect — that Hindus will sink their personal differences and egos and stand as one man to utilize the media to the maximum in spreading the Sanatana Dharma and all that it holds to make the Indian truly Indian — proud of his or her heritage and paramapara — the rich Vedas. Towards this let every Hindu subscribe to one Hindu paper/magazine. Let this be an obligation. Let every Hindu tune into the Hindu channel and let the rich sponsor and patronize the Hindu media. Hindus should be active and not passive. Let us be brave and confident, fully aware that “India’s Gift to the World is the Light Spiritual”and utilize the media to propagate this.

Country first!  Jai Bharat Mata!

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USURPATION OF CONTROL OF INDIAN MEDIA HAS BEEN DONE BY AMERICANS

By Gautam Sen

India happens to be one of the very few major countries in the world whose dominant media is controlled directly or indirectly by foreigners. The usurpation of control has actually been by Americans, much of it through surrogates of evangelical organisations that are in fact quasi-government agencies. Paradoxically, Leftist Indian political parties supposedly hostile to a US presence in India have been subdued with alacrity by these quasi-state religious agencies, which have been operating effectively in other parts of the world as well. In Latin America, where liberation theology offered succour to the poor, the very same neo-fascist, American evangelical organisations, working in conjunction with the US State Department and intelligence services, ousted them. In India, most English-language media outlets, are, in effect, vying with each other to accelerate the fragmentation of India in consonance with Anglo-American goals.

Viceroys to India in the decade before independence, Linlithgow, Wavell and Mountbatten are destined to prove prescient about its innate fractiousness. The alleged oppression of minorities is the political bridgehead that modern evangelical organisations have entrenched in the public consciousness, relentlessly distorting its reality and using it ruthlessly to fuel discontent within India. By deliberately misrepresenting the Godhra communal riots as genocide, though both communities suffered, the media has gleefully incited Islamic terrorist attacks against Hindus and harsh international condemnation of India. As a corollary, the rise of the BJP inspired them to equate mundane nationalist aspirations with the oxymoron of Hindu extremism. Yet, there is resounding silence on the role of the minority community in providing succour to Islamic terrorism through vote bank politics and concealment from attention.

Courtesy: India-Forum: News and Analysis at: http://www.india-forum.com/strategic_security/impending-dangers-to-india-political-survival-678.html

WHO CONTROLLED THE INDIAN MEDIA IN 2006

(Does anybody have an update?)

NDTV:
Allegedly funded by Gospels of Charity in Spain. Supports Communism.  Recently it has developed a soft corner towards Pakistan because the Pakistan president has allowed only this channel to be aired in Pakistan.  Indian CEO Prannoy Roy is co-brother of Prakash Karat, General-Secretary of the Communist Party of India.

CNN-IBN:
Allegedly funded solely by the Southern Baptist Church in the USA. It has branches in all cpuntries of the world with headquarters in the US. The Church annually allocates 800 million dollars for promotion of this channel. Its Indian head is Rajdeep Sardesai and his wife Sagarika Ghosh.

TIMES GROUP LIST:
TIMES OF INDIA, MID-DAY,  NAV-BHARTH TIMES, STARDUST,  FEMINA,  VIJAYA TIMES, VIJAYA KARNATAKA, TIMES NOW (24 hour news channel) and many more.

Allegedly Times Group is owned by Bennet & Coleman. Eighty per cent of funding is done by the World Christian Council. The balance  of twenty per cent is equally shared by an Englishman and an Italian. The Italian Roberto Mindo is a close relative of Sonia Gandhi.

STAR TV:
Allegedly it is run by the Australian Rupert Murdoch who is supported by St. Peters Pontifical Church in Melbourne, Australia.

HINDUSTAN TIMES:
Allegedly owned by the Birla Group, but hands have changed since Shobana Bhartiya took over. Presently it is working in collaboration with Times Group.

THE HINDU:
Allegedly an  English daily started over 125 years by a Sri Vaishnava Hindu family.  It has been recently taken over by the Joshua Society in Berne, Switzerland. Edited by the Communist Sinophile N. Ram. He also edits the newspaper’s fortnightly Marxist magazine FRONTLINE. THE HINDU is known in Chennai (Madras) variously as “The Sapper” (because it supported the British during the struggle for Indian independence) and “The Old Widow of Mount Road” (because of its lugubrious, cliche-ridden style of writing and incomprehensible editorials). More recently it has aquired the sobriquet “The Chindu” (because it is “China’s National Newspaper in India”).

INDIAN EXPRESS:
Allegedly it is divided into two groups. THE INDIAN EXPRESS in North India and THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS in South India. Founded by the Hindu freedom fighter Ramnath Goenka. Controlled by Acts Ministries who has a major stake in the INDIAN EXPRESS. THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS is still with its North Indian counterpart.

EENADU & ETV:
Allegedly to date this Hyderabad newspaper is still controlled by an Indian named Ramoji Rao. It is under concerted attack by the Christian Church, the Andhra Pradesh Christian chief minister Y.S. Rajashekhara Reddy and the Congress Party.

ANDHRA JYOTHI:
Allegedly the Muslim Party of Hyderabad known as MIM along with a Congress minister has purchased this Telugu daily very recently.

THE STATESMAN:
Allegedly it is controlled by Communist Party of India.

KAIRAL TV:
Allegedly it is controlled by Communist Party of India (Marxist).

MATHRABHOOMI:
Allegedly leaders of the Muslim League and  some Communist Party members have major investments in the newspaper.

ASIAN AGE & DECCAN CHRONICLE:
Allegedly these popular newspapers  are owned by a Saudi Arabian company. Its chief editor was M.J. Akbar until early 2008. New chief editor unknown. These newspapers are aggressively pro-Christian (Roman Catholic), anti-Hindu newspapers. The Deccan Chronicle was the first South Indian newspaper to carry H1 banner headlines declaring ‘Hindu Terror’.

DOORDARSHAN
Allegedly India’s national TV network broadcasting in all corners of the country. Since Sonia Gandhi’s Congress Party has come to power, all DOORDARSHAN stations carry Christian missionary programmes dubbed into the regional languages.

Courtesy: Intellibriefs at http://intellibriefs.blogspot.com/2006/12/why-eenadu-etv-is-under-siege-in-ap.html

See B.R. Haran’s speech to Hindu Janajagruti Samiti