New Delhi: The murder of Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf kept the Right-wing press abuzz this past week, with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) Hindi mouthpiece Panchjanya claiming that it didn’t matter how the gangster-politician was killed.
The two were shot dead at point blank range on the night of 15 April while speaking to reporters outside a hospital in Prayagraj, where the police had taken them for a medical examination.
Other topics covered by Hindu Right authors and columnists included the BJP’s corruption allegations against the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satyapal Malik’s claims about the Pulwama attack, Manni ki Baat approaching its 100th episode, and the criminal defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
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‘Atiq Ahmed died doesn’t matter’
Panchjanya’s cover story was focused on gangster and former MP Atiq Ahmed’s killing, saying that the Uttar Pradesh administration had helped create fear in the minds of the state’s mafia. “The murder of Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf may be termed as a failure of the Uttar Pradesh Police, but the fact remains that the strictness of the government has created terror in the minds of the same mafia elements in Uttar Pradesh, who in the past used to terrorise the general public,” the article said.
It added that in a television survey, “the highest number (51 per cent) of people said that he was a mafia (don), so it doesn’t matter how he died”.
“In fact, one of the reasons for this breath of relief is that till now governments were not only turning a blind eye to every act of Atiq Ahmed and other (gangsters) like him, but also patronised and encouraged them. This joyous sound of the public should be considered even on the closure of that ongoing practice”.
The Panchjanya editorial also voiced concern over India’s growing population. India, it said, must control its population while maintaining its demographic balance.
“Being a young nation, the advantage that India has at this time, is said to last only for three decades according to statistical estimates. It is assumed that after that the proportion of the older population starts increasing and the proportion of the youth starts decreasing. China has been facing this situation for a long time,” the cover story said.
The editorial cited China as an example, saying that the country had abandoned its one-child policy in 2016 and from 2021 onwards, it became a policy there to encourage parents to have as many as three children.
“Despite this, it is believed that China may hardly be able to avert a massive demographic collapse. A special characteristic of population policy is that it cannot suddenly be turned in any direction and it takes at least one generation for the results of any policy to come,” the article said.
‘DMK corruption model’
An article in the RSS’s English mouthpiece Organiser attacked the DMK in the light of Tamil Nadu BJP chief K. Annamalai’s corruption allegations against the M.K. Stalin-led state government.
On 14 April, Annamalai released a video with a purported “exposé” aimed at the DMK. He claimed that assets purportedly worth Rs 1.34 lakh crore were owned by 12 DMK members, including Stalin, his son and state minister Udhayanidhi, his son-in-law V. Sabareesan, and his sister, Lok Sabha MP Kanimozhi.
Calling the DMK the ‘Dravida Model of Korruption’, Organiser accused the party of “institutionalising” corruption.
“If (the) Indian National Congress could be seen as the first political party in India to undermine the anti-corruption mechanism in a systematic manner by burying the hard labour of justice Sarkaria (retired Supreme Court judge who was appointed as a one-man commission to probe allegations against the DMK), the DMK would go down in history as the first political party in independent India to institutionalise corruption in the state politics,” the editorial said.
It also likened Annamalai to anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare. It said: “It is significant to note that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s zero-tolerance against corruption continues to embolden law enforcement agencies to not buckle under pressure from the powerful in taking action against corruption. Narendra Modi’s approach bolsters leaders like K. Annamalai, who is looked upon by the people as Tamil Nadu’s Anna Hazare, who made headlines around the world through his movements that emphasised the need for government transparency and zero tolerance to corruption”.
‘Mann Ki Baat’s 100th episode’
In its editorial, Organiser highlighted the “success” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat monthly broadcast. First aired in 2014 — soon after the Modi government swept to power — the broadcast will mark its 100th episode on 30 April.
The editorial said that despite initial scepticism and criticism from political opponents, the non-political nature of the programme and a focus on connecting with the masses in their local languages helped make it popular.
“Nowhere in the world has the head of the government sustained this kind of communication with the masses for years together. The key lies in the non-political character of the communication. There have been political turmoil, individual attacks on the Prime Minister and even international conspiracies to defame Bharat but Modi, as the leader, avoided passing any comment on any of those developments,” the editorial said.
Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur also wrote a piece about the broadcast in the publication. In his piece, Thakur called it a “non-elitist idea of continuous dialogue with the people”.
“Mann ki Baat shows there are two Modis — the strong. powerful, purposeful Prime Minister Modi: and the soft, kindly, gentle paterfamilias Modi,” he wrote. “If you were to shut yours eyes and listen to Mann ki Baat, you would think that Modi ji was sitting at a village chaupal, conversing with people — listening to them, speaking to them, and offering sage advice where needed, or complimenting someone for an exemplary deed,” Thakur wrote in his article.
World Happiness Index
In an editorial in its monthly magazine Swadeshi Patrika, the RSS’s economic wing Swadeshi Jagaran Manch slammed the World Happiness Index, in which India ranked 126 out of 137.
“Although in this report, India has been placed at 126th rank — better than 136th rank last year — it is surprising that due to various circumstances, countries that cannot be better than India in terms of happiness are also shown to be in a better position than India. For example, Saudi Arabia, which has a dictatorial system, is ranked 30th. Ukraine, which is ruined by war, is ranked 92nd. Turkey, which is broke due to inflation, is ranked 106th. Pakistan, standing in front of the world with a begging bowl, is ranked 108th. In such a situation, questions are also being raised about this report,” the editorial said.
Rahul Gandhi and defamation
Right-leaning professor Makarand Paranjape wrote an opinion piece in Dainik Bhaskar on how Congress leader Rahul Gandhi could have apologised for his 2019 remarks at an election rally instead of escalating the situation.
At the rally, Gandhi is quoted as having said: “Why do all the thieves have Modi in their names whether be it Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, or Narendra Modi?”
In March, a Surat court had convicted Gandhi and sentenced him to two years of prison in a criminal defamation case for his remarks.
“The way Rahul, instead of apologising for what he said, insisted that he was right, shows his lack of understanding of law and public sentiments. He could have easily said that he did not mean any disrespect and was only expecting better public behaviour from politicians and businessmen,” Paranjape said in his article.
He could have apologised for the hurt he has inadvertently caused to those with the Modi surname, he said.
“But what did he do instead? On the contrary, he targeted Savarkar and said that his surname is Gandhi and he will never apologise,” he wrote.
Had Gandhi become a national leader, he asked.
“Probably not, he has only been able to establish himself as the successor-leader of a divided Congress. The things he said while going abroad were easily interpreted as an appeal to foreign powers to interfere in India’s internal affairs. His advisors and well wishers should advise him that he should not speak without a script,” he wrote in his piece.
Pulwama and Satyapal Malik
Right-leaning journalist and editor of Naya India, Hari Shankar Vyas, questioned former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satyapal Malik’s claims about alleged security lapses that led to the Pulwama attack in 2019.
He was referring to Malik’s interview with The Wire, in which he claimed that the attack occurred because the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) refused to heed the CRPF’s demands for an aircraft. He had also claimed that the prime minister had asked him to remain silent on the issue.
In an editorial piece in Naya India, Vyas wondered why Malik chose to maintain silence when he was the governor.
“Was it okay for him to be silent? When he was aware that the Modi government at the Centre, the Ajit Doval-Narendra Modi’s command in Delhi is responsible for negligence, intelligence failure, gross lapses and both have asked him to keep quiet, what does it mean?”
He adds: “Imagine if he had told the truth to the media about what he saw, knew, understood then, in continuation of the reaction immediately after the incident, then what would have happened in the Lok Sabha elections due to the fooling of the public? Today they are saying that they don’t care about their lives. So why was there no such fearlessness while sitting on the governor’s chair?”
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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