Why This Jingoism

Arnab Goswami

Arnab Goswami of Times Now/ Republic Tv needs no introduction. He is notoriously famous for his jingoistic temperament and equally known for building opinions of elite figures or so-called bigwigs on his show—that paddles noise than message.

His problem roots in rigidity: That only his is gospel of truth. He loves to hear it from his con artists who keep him in a good humour for making repeated primetime appearances. Like him, his coterie tags you anti-national if you don’t fall in their line.

Last time I heard, the anchor’s hostility made a person of different take to doubt his own gender! I thought, maybe, the debate was on LGBTQ—until I learned, it was about rightwing party’s politics and rising intolerance. Such scandalous pattern, you see!

But anyway, the way he detests from developing constructive opinions only strips his selective armchair anchoring naked. It baffles a commoner gifted with a common sense when he resorts to name-calling for not speaking his definition. It is nothing but a damn Murdochism—“the idea that the media is not just a fourth estate but also a means of securing power in the pursuit of profit and securing profit in the pursuit of power, with no regard to professionalism and professional values”.

In the din of his self-righteous style of debating, he not only sweeps commoner’s view under the rug, but also cracks his whimsical whip on liberals. No surprises then—why they always feel vexatious over the “orgy of his communal-style debating”. It further goes on to highlight his intellectual rupture.

But then, it’s no attempt on my side to deconstruct the man whose rise—fuelled by unfathomable wordplay—has already made saner people to talk, write about him. It is essentially about his loud-mouthing and celebrity hunt—the euphemistic form of witch hunt. Gunning after Muslim actors or scholars only highlights his hidden agenda.

Further, paddling morphed debates with gag, wishy-washy and chauvinist traits only exposes his media hype and ultra-nationalism—now fanning out tensions on LoC, IB. History reveals how these things led the wars of great disaster.

The great testament, Rig-Veda, educates us about the cause of the Dasrajana War (battle of ten kings). It mentions that the war broke out due to an ideological dispute between Vashishtha (the priest of Bharatas) and Vishvamitra (the priest of alliance). These two great minds created an ideological divide, which proved fatal for them later.

The anchor’s hype is creating the same wedge. Although he is known “warmonger”, but his apparent interest to muster a militia for war and hatred is behind temper fury.

Being a journalist, peace and love should have been his credo. And to pervade message of humanity among his countrymen and across borders should have been his prime goal. But instead, his stand reminds one of Michael Foucault famous comment: The ideologies which sustain long are always backed by power.

No wonder then, why he was the first scribe to secure the rights of that much-talked about PM Modi interview—he conducted like a pussycat than the usual belligerent custodian of the “Nation” in his studio. I rest my case.

Hailing from Achabal Islamabad( South Kashmir), the author is a research scholar in history. Views expressed in this article are author’s own.

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