THE OTHER SIDE
Paritosh Kimothi
One recently saw a clip of a former US President stating what one had read in various books since teenage. While speaking at Stanford University during a symposium in 2022 on “Challenges to Democracy in the Digital Information Realm”, Barack Hussein Obama II said, “You just have to flood a country’s public square with enough raw sewage. You just have to raise enough questions, spread enough dirt, plant enough conspiracy theorizing that citizens no longer know what to believe. Once they lose trust in their leaders, in mainstream media, in political institutions, in each other, in the possibility of truth, the game’s won”.
Those in the business must have seen it live and may know much more. Anyway, the content of the clip, which is being used by some platforms to support theories on the internal and external enemies of Bharat is not new. Distraction and diversion have been used as important tools in statecraft for centuries and are still being used with aplomb to entertain and distract the masses into forgetting what really matters.
This chapter from the old book appears to be played so frequently at the international, national and regional levels that simply analysing it on podcasts on social media is a profitable profession these days. There are varied examples of this at the national level but one would rather focus on Uttarakhand.
Since the late advent of the winter this year, the State has been plagued by an unprecedented rise in human-wildlife conflict. Bears and leopards have been causing deaths of humans, domesticated animals and have basically altered the routine life of the people in some parts of the State. Following the rise in bear attacks, the State government announced various steps including escort for school kids and research into the causes for this, apart from the known factors- climate change affecting the hibernation cycle of the bears and improper waste disposal. The problem of deteriorating Air Quality Index merged with the human-wildlife conflict with the State and even national media reporting about the provisional State capital Dehradun’s AQI nearing levels as bad as the national capital. Then there is the existing issue of the Rispana-Bindal elevated corridor, which has elicited mixed response from the citizens. The AQI could be called a seasonal issue as the media reports on it every winter as it worsens. The human-wildlife conflict is also a consistent problem which has escalated this year. The concerns being raised about the future of Uttarakhand considering schemes like the elevated roads on rivers in Doon and the proposed axing of thousands of deodars in the eco-sensitive zone in Uttarkashi are also issues which are being raised intermittently. As the media focused on these issues which appear to have a direct and serious impact on the people in Uttarakhand and beyond, a somewhat delayed ‘revelation’ on social media grabbed the attention. Allegations levelled by the purported second wife of a former BJP MLA seem to have become the major topic in the State these days. The woman is sharing old audio clips, the MLA in the audio clips is holding Press conferences, the Congress is levelling allegations and burning effigies while the BJP is also addressing the media and defending itself and its leaders.
The Ankita Bhandari murder case is very important but somehow, the burning issues which have been causing distress to the people and may lead to a dodgy future have taken a backseat as a drama grabs centrestage. Does the person living in fear of wild animals, the villagers suffering from lack of medical and other facilities, or a person falling sick from pollution really care about the political controversy started on social media at least a year after the purported revelations were made? Due to professional reasons, one had to watch some of the social media clips on the latest controversy. However, it was difficult to watch beyond a minute. But, if one is interested in the usual material that is popular on television and social media these days, it doesn’t take a second guess to know that this will occupy the time and thoughts of many in the State for some time. So, the masses have been distracted once again in the name of justice for a young lady who was murdered. One wonders how many really care for justice. Not that the case is unimportant, but for now, the focus has been diverted from the present and future dangers that the State and its people should have been focusing and acting upon.
