Screening images

Raj Thackeray has been arrested and released, but the question remains. It is not the one that we have heard already from many sides: why was he not arrested earlier? Or, what took the Vilasrao Deshmukh government so long? Admittedly, these are interesting questions and the answers must certainly bristle with political 8212; and specifically Congress 8212; stories long suspected and not yet fully told. But the question that is still not being asked, and one that could be more troubling in the context of recent events in Maharashtra, is this one: in a mature democracy, can 8212; and should 8212; arrest be the answer to hate speech? Do we have no other cure for this problem, or a better one? Also, what stops us from searching for a solution more in tune with the democratic spirit?

In Maharashtra over the last few days, we haven8217;t just been witness to the undoubted crimes of Raj Thackeray. There is a vital sense in which we, as politicians and as media, would be failing the people if we did not reflect on our own role. In the immediate aftermath, these columns have pointed out that there was no real political resistance to Thackeray8217;s comments on north Indians 8212; there were only reactions that seemed to be mirror images of his remarks, from the other side. Clearly, there is populism in Maharashtra, across the political-ideological and mainstream-fringe divides. The Congress, whose government has now moved to arrest him, is not exactly known to take on the Sena8217;s brand of chauvinism politically in Maharashtra. But it wasn8217;t only the political populism, sections of the media also could be said to have reacted in populist ways.

The race for breaking news on television brings with it some obvious constraints 8212; and dangers. The image, played and replayed incessantly, magnifies the event, often investing it with exaggerated importance. Television images also have a proven capacity to produce the 8220;reality effect8221;. It is inadequately realised that the power to show is also the power to mobilise. Did the visual media act with a sense of its own power, in covering the events in Maharashtra? Was a sense of proportion in play? Were there enough editorial checks? And what about the rest of us, did we just simply receive from them and react? In the pause that seems to have set in after the arrest and release of Raj Thackeray, we need to ask larger questions. Because unfortunately, the challenge of dealing with hate politics will not go away.