Maharashtra, with a mixed history of intra-community conflict, has in 2024 under a BJP-SS (Eknath Shinde-NCP (Ajit Pawar) regime emerged as a communal hotbed in the year 2024 with the highest number of communal riots and mob lynching incidents. These communal riots claimed 13 lives- three of whom were Hindus and ten of whom were Muslims. The majority of communal riots were triggered during religious festivals or processions, including Pran Pratishthan at Ayodhya Ram Mandir (four riots in January), Saraswati Puja immersions (seven), Ganesh festivals (four), and Bakri Eid (two). This data underscores how religious celebrations are increasingly being exploited as triggers for communal tensions and political mobilisation.

Citizens for Justice and Peace’s Hate Watch programme meticulously monitors day on day such incidents and also gives a visual representation of the same on Nafrat ka Naqsha that can be viewed here.

In addition to the communal riots, 12 incidents of mob lynching were reported in the year 2024, resulting in 10 deaths: one Hindu, one Christian, and eight Muslims. While this represents a decline from 21 mob lynching incidents recorded in the year 2023, the persistence of these attacks remains a concern. Six of these lynchings were linked to cow vigilantism or accusations of cow slaughter. Other cases of lynching were on the pretext of interfaith relationships and assaults targeting Muslims for their religious identity. Geographically, Maharashtra accounted for three lynchings, while Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh each reported two incidents, and Karnataka recorded one.

The data analysed reveals a troubling trend: while mob lynching incidents decreased, communal riots reported as reported in these five newspapers surged by nearly 84%. Together, these developments signify an escalation of communal tensions and the marginalisation of Indian Muslims, further threatening the secular fabric of Indian society. The rise in the number of communal riots can be attributed to the General Elections that were held in April/May in 2024 and state assembly elections in the states of Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana. Similarly, the intervention of judicial interventions — calling upon the state to take action against mob lynching especially after Hindus were victims of mob lynching– have resulted in lesser incidents of mob lynching.

On the basis of its annual monitoring exercise, the CSSS based has released these trends of communal violence in India during 2024. The year saw a disturbing shift towards more institutionalized forms of violence, characterised primarily by attacks on places of religious worship and attempts by fringe Hindu right-wing groups to push for archaeological surveys of historic mosques and dargahs, including the Ajmer Sharif Dargah. These actions reflect a concerted effort to reshape India’s socio-political and cultural landscape.

This trend was accompanied by significant legislative changes, such as the introduction of the Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand and amendments to the Waqf Board Act. Additionally, the use of bulldozers to demolish properties owned by Muslims without due legal process continued unabated from 2023, symbolising the (mis) use of state power –where governments belong to the Bharaitya Janata Party (BJP) played a large part [1]–being wielded disproportionately against the Muslim community. Bulldozers in the years 2023 and 2024 have become synonymous with a kind of “collective punishment” meted out to the Muslims. Ironically, bulldozers are used to punish Muslims when they are victims of the same communal riots. Furthermore, an increase in communal riots, particularly during religious festivals, has heightened concerns about the erosion of India’s secular and composite cultural fabric.

A more detailed analysis is expected to follow this brief interim report.

[1] The hill states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh (governed by the Indian National Congress-INC have also witnessed acute communal polarization with the miniscule Muslim minority population being targeted through slurs, hate speech and attacks on places of worship (Sanjauli and Nandi masjids) https://sabrangindia.in/tensions-escalate-in-himachal-and-uttarakhand-multiple-protest-and-rallies-against-mosques/

Related:

Temple-mosque politics: Right Wing’s communal hit list getting longer?

The post How hate spread in 2024, a report of communal violence in India appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The following is a list of stories I missed reading in the nine newspapers I buy and read online, and where I saw them. Others may have carried these stories but the point is I am reacting as a reader or audience as the suits classify us, not as a journalist.

In the latter half, I air my views as a desk hand.

1. The abandonment of Muslims (Saw it in multiple interviews by Karan Thapar and others for The Wire and read about in The New York Times. The photographs in The Times were outstanding, you cannot look at them without (tears) welling up.)
2. The electoral bonds. (The ready-to-report story that the mainstream media dropped like a hot potato. Most of the original stories I read in The News Minute-Newslaundy-Scroll. The Hindu and The Indian Express did carry some original stories but wasted them with the lukewarm display.)
3. The radical transformation of Rahul Gandhi (By Meena Kandasamy in The Wire; by Rahul Bhattacharya in The Economist)
4. The political and economic transformation of the Congress (articulated through its manifesto) (Yet to see a comprehensive copy. Perhaps, the pink press has carried but I don’t read business papers now as I cannot understand most of the jargon they write. I wonder if the reporters and subs also understand.)
5. The tempo-van meltdown. (I badly wanted to read a full-page collection of stories on this. About the van, about robber-barons, about how much cash fits in — with legal as well as demonetised notes. I am not joking. When Harshad Mehta claimed that he gave a crore to Narasimha Rao, a magazine tried to fit Rs 1 crore into a suitcase and found the brand which can. Oh, how green was our newsroom valley then, and now a cracked-earth desert!)
6. The breathtaking role played by civil society in the elections. (The New York Times)
7. The lies of Modi and the inability of most of the paper tigers to call him a liar. Some newspapers exhausted the thesaurus to steer clear of the word “lie”. (Ravish Kumar and Ajit Anjum all the way)
8. The rise of Uddhav Thackeray from an entitled member of a dreaded clan to a leader who has earned respect. (Multiple YouTube channels)
9. The valiant battles fought by Tejashwi Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav. (Social media)
10. The uncompromising ideological armour built by MK Stalin and Udhayanidhi. (Media One TV)

11. Dhruv Rathee, Ravish Kumar, Ajit Anjum, Karan Thapar and countless others who exposed how irrelevant the so-called mainstream media has become.
12. Umar Khalid, Siddique Kappan, Mohammed Zubair and several others who have paid a price for standing up to the regime. (Scroll, The Telegraph)
13. Kani Kusruti and her gesture at Cannes, the “Sudappi from India” post by Shane Nigam. (Malayalam media)
14. Above all, Shikha. Some of you may wonder who Shikha is, which probably means you are a newspaper-reading, English-speaking citizen. A homemaker in Rae Bareli, Shikha has voted for the BJP twice. Now, she is asking questions. Her questions need not reflect any sea change on the ground and Modi can still be re-elected. But the point is she has neither forgotten nor forgone her right to ask questions. (Mahol Kya Hai)

There must be several other stories that were untold. I leave it *to *you to decide what you missed.

Headlines

I will end with a small note on headlines. This may sound *like *nitpicking to laypersons. I request you to indulge me.

1. Which one is the best headline of the 2024 elections so far? My vote is for “The Audacity of Hate”. (The Guardian editorial on Indian elections)
2. Modi was not being “bitter”. We must choose our words with care and precision. Just as the golden hour in a heart attack and in a crime scene investigation, all you get in a headline is a few words. Choose wisely. Venom must be bitter but I don’t know. I have tasted it in only those I have helped. Call venom venom, poison poison, toxic toxic and hate hate. Divisive is not a synonym for raw, unvarnished hate.
3. I see a tendency among subs to abridge words like Opposition to Opp, governor to guv, president to prez. Nothing wrong with them. My son says econ for economics (econ is more apt also, I think, considering the con jobs that are pulled in the name of economics). Some newspapers have already graduated to Maha for Maharashtra and Raj for Rajasthan. I am waiting for Him for Himachal and Ben for Bengal and Shyam for Shyambazar.

As I said, nothing wrong with them if that is your house style. I am guilty of allowing Kejri for Kejriwal. So, I have forfeited my right to lecture.

Still, I will try to briefly explain why acerbic and arrowroot-biscuit-chewing (for ulcers) chief-subs used to dustbin subbed copies that wrote Opp or Oppn. Journalism is the most repetitive creative job in the world. Which makes it vulnerable to cliches, triteness and boredom. So, you need to play around with words to make it original each time you give a headline. The moment you say Opp, it means you are lazy to work on the headline and you go with a cliche. But challenged, you will think of new ways. Then you will think about the kernel of the story, its politics and its hidden nuances. Shortcuts kill the unique features of each story.

A drill you can follow after work so that your deadline is not affected:

1. Be convinced like a fanatic: every copy has a perfect headline. You just need to find it. Nothing can beat the high of a reasonably evocative headline falling into place.
2. Take a headline with Opposition or Guv or Prez.
3. Work on it till you can say the same thing with Opposition or without the word opposition.
4. Draft five headlines for the same copy: single column, double, three columns, 4 columns and eight columns. 5, 6 and 7 columns will fit if any of the five fit.
5. Always work on a sixth headline. Something wacky and wild. It will be your private collection that will make you proud one day.

(The author is a senior journalist; this is from his social media post)

Related:

The handover at Rae Bareli

The post Elections Stories I missed in the newspapers that I buy appeared first on SabrangIndia.

(sourced from social media)

It is unfair to stand in judgement of a newspaper’s front page, which is more dynamic (as in evolving) than most other sections, until we make an attempt to understand what must have gone through that hard-to-pin-down impulse called the collective mind of the newsroom.

I have hence steered clear of commenting on pages with which I am not directly involved. But I am breaking that resolve today, possibly putting EP Unny, the cartoonist, ill at ease.

Most English newspapers I saw today has religiously stuck to the straight and the narrow, reporting what happened in Ayodhya yesterday. As I said, there must be a collective mind behind that decision. Amid the tide of cynicism, I would like to believe that the newspapers did so to ensure that they do nothing to inflame the fraught situation. Unlike some TV and social media outlets, most newspapers have managed to retain their responsibility on days that run the risk of spinning out of control. In that sense, straight reporting without any hint that may tip the scales over the precipice with terrible consequences is the right decision, I feel.

So, after such a long preamble that shows how uncomfortable I am writing this, I must now mention the headline of The Indian Express New Delhi edition.

After a strapline or kicker in red ink that quotes Prime Minister Modi as saying “Not a date on calendar, origin of a new kaal chakra”, the main headline is just the date: January 22, 2024. (Visual below)

As I said, the headline states a fact, not provoking but respecting the intelligence of the reader to figure out whether what happened was just. This is a widely accepted form of journalism, especially so soon after such a polarising event marked by naked triumphalism endorsed by the State.

At the other end of the spectrum, a question does exists whether it is not the duty of a newspaper to send a reassuring message to those who must have felt wounded by this triumphalism. I suppose to err on the side of caution is better than taking a chance that can inflame passions. Besides, it is the editor’s prerogative, which should not questioned by an editor-at-large.

Then, I stumbled on Unny’s pocket cartoon, which, by definition, lurks way below, almost unnoticed, locked, loaded and ready to strike like a viper.

I do not know whether it is by design or happenstance. Unny also plays on dates — and the outcome is a stiletto thrust that kills but spills no blood.

The disjointed but sequential calendar in the pocket cartoon shows three dates: January 22, 26 and 30. Then Unny’s Calvin, the bespectacled lad that gives the strip its leitmotif, if not mascot, takes over and goes on to demolish Modi, Bhagwat and yesterday’s spectacle with one fell blow.

“A great way to begin the year — thinking of Ram, the Republic and a Ram bhakt.”

The banner headline  (a single date) took up eight columns in light font at the top with some white space to spare —  a design device to enhance the impact.

The strip in netherland takes up only one-eigth of the column space of the headline and uses far fewer words than the kicker and the headline. Yet, the kicker has not left anything unsaid. It is more evocative and more powerful than any editorial on the subject I have seen. In fact, it has become the shortest yet loudest signed editorial — a rarest of rare statement that newspapers seem to have forgotten these days, probably because  editors realise how hollow they sound.

Unny has produced several world-class cartoons. But Calvin’s Calendar takes the podium as far as I am concerned. I wonder, I marvel: what if the headline writer also had thought up the same idea? Who would have yielded ground then? How would the three dates have looked in eight columns with Calvin’s thought bubble? We can only wonder. What a wonderful place the newsroom will become then!

As I said, I don’t know if the Express did so by design. If so, it is worthy of a Pulitzer. If not, it is still worthy of a Pulitzer because it shows how a newsroom that allows diverse opinions to thrive can deliver masterstrokes untrammelled by one another.

I hope some university will add this page to their syllabi for journalism.

Why is it that it usually takes children to shout out that the emperor has no clothes? All of you must have seen Adarsh Raj, the boy who is telling it as it is to a Godi Media propagandist.

I was hoping some newspaper would be audacious enough to make Adarsh the lead story of the day. It does not cost anything to hope.

The clarity of Adarsh is out of the world. So is that of Unny’s Calvin. The kids are all right, unlike us.

Then my friend Jayan sent me a video (below Video 2 ). It is in Malayalam but language is not a barrier here. It shows a thief being chased at the Kannur bus terminal yesterday. He has stolen a lamp — so that he can light it as singer Chitra had exhorted Malayalis. Chitra’s call shocked several Malayalis — she is free to light any number of lamps but how can she exhort others to do so?

 Turns out the thief was part of a street play ridiculing Chitra’s call without mentioning her at all. The play ends with the question, unknowingly taking Calvin’s observation to the next level: on January 30, there were two Ram bhakts. One was assassinated, the other called Nathuram pulled the trigger. “ON WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU?” the protagonist in the play asks.

The guy speaking out is not a boy, for a change.

Adarsh, Calvin and the Stage Workers — they have proved that they can communicate better than the loudest and ugliest propaganda machine in India.

There is a lesson for those of us who give up hope — and our fight — so easily.

The post The day Calvin stripped the Emperor: Jan 23, 2024 appeared first on SabrangIndia.