THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 26 October 2018 (Peddlers of hate)

Peddlers of hate

Mains Paper: 2 | Polity
Prelims level: Fake news
Mains level: Role of media in democracy

Context

In 2014, at a seminar in Bengaluru on the proposed anti-superstition Bill, M.M. Kalburgi quoted an anecdote from writer U.R. Ananthamurthy’s autobiography.
A 10-year-old Ananthamurthy had urinated on an idol and was overcome by fear of divine retribution, which never came.
Kalburgi’s recounting of Ananthamurthy’s anecdote was distorted by the local media, especially by a Kannada channel owned by a current BJP MP.
The clips were edited in such a way as to show the scholar calling for “people to urinate on idols”.
On August 30, 2015, Kalburgi was assassinated. One of the suspects told the police that it was this remark that cost Kalburgi his life.
The same suspects allegedly played a role in the assassination of editor-activist Gauri Lankesh. Unlike Kalburgi, Lankesh was an outspoken critic of Hindutva.
But she too was a victim of media distortion.
In 2012, a video of her talk on caste, colonialism and Hinduism was posted on platforms like YouTube as the “real face of secularism”.
She was trolled relentlessly, say investigators, and became a target for members of an organisation, whose mission it was to target Hindus they deemed to be “anti-Hindutva”.
The same organisation is also reportedly linked to the assassinations of Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar.

So, on what basis was this hit list drawn up?

The accused have not read any of the works of those targeted, believe investigators.
The victims were simply chosen based on how the media covered their public statements.
Right-wing handles on social media also influenced the accused.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1) ‘Constitutional Emergency’, as popularly known, is a situation when
a) External aggression or armed rebellion has been declared against the State of India
b) Constitutional machinery in the state(s) of India has failed
c) Council of Ministers is dissolved without the possibility of formation of another government
d) Any of the above occurs
Answer: B