Calling upon feudal custodians of Indian morality

BY MEGHA SHARMA

A bunch of self-styled guardians force themselves in a posh city pub and thrash women in the name of upholding our much-maligned and much-abused traditional Indian moral values. The incident portends the ominous truth that these are grave times indeed.

A frenzied media went haywire in the aftermath of the ugly attack as social activists and ministers alike ranted against what they described as the ‘Talibanisation of India’. But amid all this vociferous rallying and senseless rhetoric the real issue got lost somewhere.

The idea of women’s independence and ‘western influence’ has irked orthodox religious groups for a long time now. And as if scouring the town for Valentine’s Day posters weren’t enough, they have now got down to preaching their version of moral righteousness in the worst imaginable way possible.

What does Karnataka CM Yedyurrappa mean when he says that he will make sure to not encourage pub culture? Who decides what is in keeping with the Indian traditions? Is what is prescribed in religious texts the last word on societal-cultural norms?

A distorted, medieval interpretation of religion is what propels these groups to partake in dastardly acts like the Mangalore incident. This is the same ideology that helped extremists propound and  successfully execute a Taliban.

Are we really on the same path? Or was this a one-off incident, which the media blew out of proportion, thereby catapulting the previously obscure Sri Ram Sena to fame?

A little of both I think. I have said this before and reiterate it again, Indian media needs to get over the operatic scheme of functioning it so loves to follow. We need to strike a balance when it comes to coverage of events and incidents. We are the tool of dissemination and thus directing the public opinion rests upon us.

As far as the issue at heart here goes, Indian society boasts of an immensely rich cultural lineage but is nevertheless left struggling in a continuous stream of internal flux.

This owes to its incapability of easily coming to terms with rapidly changing ways of modern lifestyle. And until that happens it will do all of us good to remember that hostility to change is a bane to development – cultural and financial.

(Megha Sharma is a guest blogger with Canary Trap. She works as an Assistant News Producer – Internet with NewsX.com.)