[Reader-list] Pakistan kids on reality show face MNS ire

[Rakesh Iyer]

Dear Kshamendra

I don't know about Indian textbooks, but I do know about Doordarshan, which
is used by the Indian govt. covertly as its own propaganda channel,
irrespective of the govt. in power.

Under the Congress rule during 1991-1995, I myself remember my father and
other family members talking about and also seeing the show 'Pakistan
diary', which was nothing short of a propaganda on Pakistan. Infact, as I
later read, I later found that it was supposedly a counter to a similar show
in Pakistan. The DD also ran something called 'PTV ka Jhooth (Lies of PTV)'
which was a kind of advertisement running off and on on DD, particularly
after both 9/11 and the Parliament attack.

Ideological indoctrination need not require textbooks. The US is a classic
example of this. Media and even newspapers can be used to bring about
indoctrination of people to make them pro-Israel and also pro-capitalist.
Communism has been totally abhorred in US to the point where anybody can't
be a communist because a Communist is also an anti-national as far as US is
concerned. The indoctrination continues in India where the media(the
dominant discourse) brings about trivializing of issues in the name of
solving them.

The few examples are lack of focus on farmer's suicides, focus on IPL and
spending of wealth rather than other plaguing issues, focus on terrorism of
the upper castes in villages amidst other things. What about this
ideological indoctrination, forget that of India and Pakistan on Kashmir?

Rakesh