Love in the Time of 6G  

Saakhi is a Sunday column from Mrinal Pande, in which she writes of what she sees and also participates in. That has been her burden to bear ever since she embarked on a life as a journalist, writer, editor, author and as chairperson of Prasar Bharti. Her journey of being a witness-participant continues.

Take a close look at your day’s paper. One thing that leaps out at you from the headlines is just how little love there is in our society and polity, and how much viciousness and hatred exists. A nephew revolts against an ageing patriarch and the founder of his party, and asks him to step down as he is too old to remain in the saddle. An upper caste man publicly urinates on the face of an Adivasi man. After a public furor and much political embarrassment to a chief minister close to assembly elections, the government swings into action. Rather inexplicably, a case under the National Security Act is slapped on the perpetrator followed by the infamous “bulldozer justice”. Then a cabal of his caste brothers announce monetary compensation for the upper caste man’s family, asking others to follow suit. In Manipur, ethnic violence continues and the matter resonates across the borders as the Hindus majority attacking the tribal minority of Christians. The well-respected Centre for Policy Research receives a debilitating blow, as it first loses foreign aid and then its tax exempt status, thus guaranteeing that vital research funding becomes non available.

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty

This hatred acquires a deeper and more sinister ring as it goes viral on social media. One nation, one set of uniform civil laws for all, the supporters of the Uniform Civil Code say. Few dare or even wish to question the wisdom of raising the incendiary subject and seeking a new law within months, and advise replacing divisive political agendas with one based on the unifying power of love. When recently Rahul Gandhi began to talk of opening hearts to love and erasing racism, sexism and caste discrimination, he was ridiculed by the ruling party stalwarts as a 'Pappu' (namby-pamby). The phrase he used, 'Nafrat ke bazaar mein mohabbat ki dukan (A shop for love in the marketplace of hate)', immediately became a joke.

The truth is, too many of our millennials today, especially the men, do not know what love is except as a hyphenated word with jihad. They have been fed on a steady diet of suspicion for ‘The Other’ through political speeches broadcast all around, through doctored history books which show Hindus as a beleaguered minority and the minorities as remnants of their evil colonisers. For this, a gentle inclusive atmosphere has to be replaced with an assertive masculinity, and a weaponisation of religion. A host of religious icons are being portrayed as snarling, revenge-seeking, wrathful Supermen, sold as stickers for cars and three-wheelers. This has cultural sanction within many majority families and the WhatsApp groups they share.

Until cases like Nirbhaya, Hathras or the public urination on an Adivasi man hit the news, a deep sense of loyalty prevents us from realising that a majority of our families are schizophrenic vis-à-vis women, Dalits and minorities.  Their treatment of women – from homes to courts of law – comes across often as an odd mixture of care and unkindness. We can no longer deny how even most families many of us were raised in exist on a mixed diet of strong caste loyalties and unspoken fears and resentments against the other castes, especially the erstwhile ‘lower castes’. Within homes our women and girls are treated with affection and care on the one hand, and a constant protectionism that humiliates. As young girls we may have felt cared for, but not necessarily loved by, the elders. We grew up confused at being constantly told that we were the repositories of the family ‘honour’, and so unchaperoned mobility or working outside for a salaried job, for girls “from respected families like ours”, was improper. The restrictions we faced were ”for our own good”.

Also read: Urinate First, Sprinkle Holy Water Later to Safeguard Your Votes

Confronting this feeling, girls and married women of all ages have been easy to convert to majoritarianism. Babasaheb, V.P. and JP, god bless them, helped Dalits and the OBCs realise this duplicity so they could take on the rule makers effectively by threatening not to vote for them. But widespread cultural acceptance of denying gender justice within homes, treating women and children as male property to be mistreated or abandoned at will, has unfortunately remained deeply ingrained in all castes. These are a primary reason for the blinkers our voters wear against all the lying, cheating and corruption in Indian politics. This is the greater parivarvaad, compared to the one the BJP roars against but quietly accepts when need be.

What about the media, aren’t they the ones who should be reporting on this doublespeak? The media in today’s world is taught to fear the truth more than the lie, that questioning authority hurts national interests, that all this building of false narratives is ultimately for “your own good”. Politics of domination, as women know better than all others, relies on the cultivation of fear as a way of ensuring obedience. “This is being done to keep you safe and secure,” when all the while we are living in an atmosphere of greater anxiety and dread. Sounds familiar, sisters?

Inclusivity is out, exclusivity and ‘need to know’ is everything. Open public debates, demonstrations and frank press conferences are all rarities now. Even the sacrosanct editorial and op-ed pages seem to have been cannibalised by politicians in power who routinely have articles placed there under their byline. Bombarded with orchestrated propaganda, we see the latest versions of 4G, 5G and 6G becoming available to each citizen for the lowest price imaginable, just before the general elections. This yielded spectacular results in 2019 and may yet again in 2024. The lies peddled by political parties with deep pockets will once again feed the world of predatory advertising and they in turn sell the images.

This is not to promote censorship, oh no! Most of the evils in the world were not created by the mass media. And the media is not the source of violence at home. Domestic violence, rapes, dowry murders and female infanticide all existed before television. But yes, now they are being glamorised and made to look seductive and interesting by the mass media. Their producers, if forced, could just as easily use these images to spread the message of unity, equality and fraternity.

Also read: A Uniform Civil Code Alone Won't Ensure Marginalised Women Suddenly Have More Rights

Sadly, better educated and informed Indians, especially the NRIs heading many major digital platforms, are so busy being proud of being world citizens that they are afraid to stand up against social media’s degeneration into a propaganda machine for politicians. And craving for answers ultimately leads the democracies into the ready arms of a synthetic religion that promises divine love. Event managers abroad, temple priests, Maulanas, Babas and Sadhwis, and singers and dancers choreographing a synthetic past, have never had it so good. And sadly, even while proclaiming their love through chants and DJ music, even the kanwariyas collectively remain impervious to actual love and spiritual depths that should guide our thoughts and actions as democratic societies.

Society’s collective horror of liberally given love must be faced if we are to usher in change. As Eric Fromm said, a society must be organised in such a way that man’s social nature is not separated from his social existence, and both become one and the same.

Mrinal Pande is a writer and veteran journalist.

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