Stung by the huge international backlash over party leader Nupur Sharma’s comments on Prophet Muhammad, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday issued new guidelines for its spokespersons and leaders joining TV debates.
According to the new set of instructions, only authorized spokespersons and panellists will participate in TV debates. They will be assigned by the media cell. The spokespersons have been warned against criticising any religion, its symbols or religious figures.
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BJP panellists have been forbidden from crossing the line during heated discussions. They have been urged to keep their language restrained and not get agitated or excited, sources say. For no provocation can they violate the party’s ideology or ideals, they add.
The party high command has ordered its spokespersons to first check for the topic of the TV discussion, prepare for it and find out the party’s line on it before appearing on any channel. The BJP also wants its spokespersons to focus on the government’s social welfare work.
One does not know for sure whether these instructions are actually passed with an aim to do course correction or it is just an ad-hoc measure to buy time till the dust settles down and revert to the their well known anti-minority tirade .
One does hope and wish that the BJP has learnt its lesson and is serious about changing its approach but then when did a leopard change its spots? The very existence of BJP is on the foundation of anti-minority hatred. From Babri Masjid to Gyanvapi mosque, the party has always maintained a hardline majoritarian approach. Its spokespersons go to every news channel and just spew venom on the minority community, be it in pretext of religious structures, conversions, marriage, food, literature, cinema – you name it and there is a hardline approach in every aspect of life. This is further fuelled by the social media handles of the party and its sympathisers.
Every cloud has a silver lining, it is said. So, if we believe in what BJP has proposed to do regarding the approach of its spokespersons and panellists, then is it the silver lining in the cloud of backlash that has shocked BJP? It is still early days and one has to wait and watch what transpires in the coming weeks. But hoping that the party is serious this time, it will be certainly a welcome change, although it has come very late and has caused enough damage already.
Lakhs of people watch these TV debates and undoubtedly many might have been influenced by the hardline approach the party spokespersons and panellists have applied during television discussions, in the social media posts. This new approach may restrain them from making provocative remarks on national television and thus smoothen the ruffled feathers.
But the work does not stop here. The party also now rein in the abusive troll brigade that continues to defame people on social media platforms. The television debates are just one aspect of the hate story that is being propagated by the Hindutva brigade, while the party leadership has maintained stoic silence on it. It must come up with another set of guidelines for its social media handlers. This is equally important as abusive tweets from official party or party leaders creates lot of unrest in the society.
When the BJP says it respects all religion and we are an inclusive nation then it has to show it on ground through actions. The divisive politics is badly hurting the country’s image and the ruling establishment can longer pass it off as an aberration. The country’s pluralistic image built painstakingly over last 75 years despite the scars of partition, is now under threat. The party top leadership has to stop this and unite the country.
