Modi's statement received a lot of coverage in the Indian media, but surprisingly, no one challenged the Prime Minister's claims. It is a different matter that cases of infection in India crossed one million on the same day. Every day new cases of infection are now setting records.
The Indian media did not ask for evidence of the fight against Corona becoming a mass movement. In contrast, thousands of common people on social media are writing their cry. Patients are traveling around hospitals and dying in vehicles.
On 24 March, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the lockdown, he showed extreme confidence and claimed that the corona would be brought under control in 21 days. But even after several months, the corona epidemic is causing havoc.
The media has not asked him sharp questions on Prime Minister Modi's unfulfilled promise to control the corona. Apparently health services are in better condition than before, the number of beds has increased, ICU units have also increased.
Ther are also more test kits and field hospitals than before. But during this time the problems of common people have also increased and there is no evidence that the fight against Corona has become a mass movement. This bus has become a battle of frontline doctors, medical staff and administration.
Senior journalist Pankaj Vohra expressed anguish over the state of the Indian media saying, "Awareness is the price of democracy but the media did not play its critical appreciation."
A top Indian journalist living in London who did not reveal his identity for this article says that the trend of the last few years is clear, the media is following the signals of the government.
He tell The media has always been responsible for those in power. The ideal conditions have been compared to the reality The ideal role and reality of the media should also be compared. This gap was never so big in India. "
Disdain of Institutions?
Professor Tom Ginsberg, who teaches law and political science at the University of Chicago, has witnessed the rise of Prime Minister Modi in India. Professor Tom, who keeps visiting India, explains why the media in India is deviating from its objective.
Commenting on Narendra Modi's role as Prime Minister, he says, "Media in India is controlled because the owner is their (Prime Minister's) friend, as well as journalists have been intimidated."
Officially the ruling BJP does not own any channel. However, many big news channels are clearly on the side of Prime Minister Modi or support the Hinduist ideology or in some way their owners are associated with the ruling party. Members or supporters of many regional parties are also associated with the ownership of media in some way. These channels create an atmosphere in favor of these parties.
The government has many allegations of intimidating journalists and influencing their journalism. India's performance in the global media freedom lists is continuously deteriorating and the cases of filing cases against journalists from the administration are increasing.
Professor Tom says that populist leaders despise institutions.
.He does not like anything that can affect his relationships with people. The interesting thing is that all three The response of politicians to the corona virus has been extremely poor. We can see that cases of corona infection are increasing in these three countries. "
Professo Steve Henke of Johns Hopkins University in the United States says that democratic leaders around the world use the global crisis to grab power. The crisis ends but power remains in their hands. In the same way, he sees Modi's fight against the Corona virus as a 'people's movement'.
Professor Henke says, "Even before the Corona virus, there were signs of power-grabbing in Modi. Now during the Corona epidemic, he has taken the media under his control. Whatever he wants is shown in the media. Government Only positive and inspirational stories related to the efforts to tackle the Corona crisis are being published. "
Professor Tom offers another view of perceived power-grabbing, "This is what he calls Democratic backsliding or power grabbing in slow motion. These are the hallmarks of Democratic backsliding - the gradual erosion of democratic institutions by leaders, and the gaining of power." To use elections, to stop appearing in Parliament and the media, to suppress the voices of protest in the name of national security or through false prosecutions, to present fictitious facts, to set ideology through the pitched media. "
Democratic backsliding occurs gradually through events that appear legitimate. This means that media institutions do not see or understand this erosion of democracy.
In the context of India, Professor Tom Ginsberg says, "In India, select workers are being arrested and select people are being released. I also worry about universities, which are important institutions for democracy. You India I see signs of politicization of universities. And yes, the general thing is that Modi is very popular, which means that the risk of weakening of institutions is high. "
Professor Tom does the work of analyzing democracies and he is concerned about Indian democracy. In his view, changing history in school books, changes in historical sites are also evidence of the weakening of democracy.
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