Orissa violence, a threat to secularism

Christens have been targeted by communal forces in the State of Orissa like never before. One fails to understand how fundamentalists can stoop to such animalistic levels of barbarism perpetrating so much violence on innocent civilians – mostly tribals and poor villagers. Has humanity lost all its sense of judgement and discretion, one wonders. Fundamentalists in Orissa are just proving to be what famous political philosopher Thomas Hobbes termed the human being as: savage, barbaric and cruel.
For the media, of course, these are hay days. There is so much to cover and so little time and space. Jammu and Kashmir is burning, Bihar is flooded and now Orissa is communally divided. But ‘plenty’ can upset the balance at times. That is exactly what has happened if one closely follows the media coverage.
One might claim that the communal violence in Orissa is an attack on a minority community. Such a feeling is true to a certain extent. But I think it is much more than that. It is an assault on the secular and plural constitutional values of India. The violence is a symbolic of the intolerant and sinister designs of communal forces to perpetuate communal hatred among gullible people, thus seriously tarnishing the identity of a democratic country. In no way can such attacks be justified and perpetrators’ actions condoned. There is an agonising sense of insecurity and fear among minorities across States and one really wonders if the State is bearing any responsibility.
The Orissa developments have received quite a bit of coverage across media – both print and electronic. While some newspapers highlighted the violence on front pages, others treated it in the inner pages. Several dailies carried editorials condemning the attack on minorities. Such a stand of the print media was heartening.
Across electronic media, though, there was palpable lack of priority amply displayed. One news channel gave it a third priority in its prime-time news bulletin. JK hostage crisis received as much as 10-minute coverage, while Orissa violence less than three minutes. (Perhaps there was greater ‘news value’ in JK). In terms of importance and urgency, Orissa communal clashes should have received better coverage, as secularism was at stake.
Moreover, electronic media reporters looked cynical in their approach. There was this anchor who asked Fr Babu Joseph, CBCI spokesperson, whether closing down of educational institutions would not incite further violence. He called the closing of institutions as ‘unfortunate’. What is so unfortunate about a silent protest is indeed a mystery. Further, can mindless violence for any reason justified is for anyone to decide.
Priority, sadly, does not appear as a news value in Journalism books on news values. It is high time that we included it, so that the future media professionals learn to prioritise issues and send right messages among readers and viewers.