[Reader-list] Bal Thackeray and Media: The Death of the Memory?

[A. Mani]

Article on the evil role of the right-wing media in lionising the evil
fascist mafia don Bal Thackeray on the latter's death.

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Bal Thackeray and Media: The Death of the Memory?
Mon, 2012-11-19 23:39 — Dhananjay Rai
manufacturing consent

 Media is celebrating the death of memory i.e., sheer ignorance of the
past and consequences through immortalisation of Bal Thackeray and
contempt of the past i.e., mortification of ‘memory’.

The death may not be an occasion for ‘immediate’ evaluation of the
concretion of individuals who have passed away. Nevertheless,
deification by several media pontiffs must be resisted. Death may
certainly be not an occasion to see the ‘progression’ or ‘regression’
of individuals. This is because by the time of death, if it is not
sudden and unexpected, real of unreal becomes omniknown in agitated or
mobile society. The tragedy occurs when memory of entire society or
span of many decades is butchered through ‘sudden’ invented
achievement in the public sphere. Death of Shiv Sena’s de-jure and
de-facto head Bal Thackeray and his ‘immortalisation’ by Indian media
is nothing but the ‘mortification’ of memories and various
consequences of his previous actions on the Indian landscape.
Mortification of memories entails herein contemptuous attitude towards
memory.  Memory is a complex phenomenon.
Memory is not mere remembrance. Memory cannot be only a ‘déjà vu’
phenomenon. Memory is rekindling the past in present. Memory is
history in the present. Therefore, ignorance of memory is repudiation
of the past and continuation of it in the present. The tragedy is
annihilation of memory as history and present through, what Noam
Chomsky and Edward Herman call, manufacturing consent. In the present
and immediate context, it is nothing but manufacturing consent of
immortalisation.
The process of immortalisation of him will have mortification of
memories on five accounts.
Firstly, negation of attack on cosmopolitanism. Bombay/Mumbai has been
a city of cross-cultural-heterogeneity. Heterogeneity of the city has
never been a singular or one dimensional phenomenon. The partition of
India, advantage of being a sea and port city, an important base of
defence establishment, location of financial conglomerates,
entertainment industry and inter and intra migration of people for
variety of reasons have shaped the contour of the city.  The attack on
heterogeneity is done through pronouncing homogeneity in form of
discarding ‘the other’ and accepting nativity as authentic and
original. The decades from 1960s , which started with assaulting
‘south Indians’ , till 2000s, north-Indians now a celebrated target,
have been decades of searching ‘authenticity of dwellers’ by
discarding cosmopolitanism.
Secondly, negation of attack on working class. The working class
history in Mumbai has been as important as the trajectory of city’s
growth. Mega mills, revolutionary struggle of Mumbai’s working class
for equal and adequate wages and struggle for ‘equal social ambience’
are important constituents while evaluating the trajectory of city.
Shiv Sena played an important role for marginalisation of and brutal
attacks on working class leadership, especially organised unions. The
state support and bourgeoisie’s constant financial support helped Shiv
Sena for fragmentation of trade union movement in Mumbai.
Thirdly, negation of negation of intra contradiction by way of
championing ‘sons of soil’ endeavour.   The arousal of mass
discontent, what celebrated political scientist Myron Weiner calls
‘sons of soil’ theory, against migrants has not been unilinear.
People were aroused against those people who were/are involved
unorganised sector or informal sector. The same ‘mass discontent’
remained/remains absent against outsider bourgeoisies. Interestingly,
native bourgeoisies are very few in Maharashtra. This needs further
explanation. Inter-contradiction of class-caste and region wise
unequal distribution of resources like water, land, agricultural
growth along with highly unequal controlled cooperatives were/are
being marginalised or relegated in form of ‘plights of natives’.
Fourthly, negation of communal-communitarian. Shiv Sena under his
tutelage has attempted for communalisation of regional identity. The
regional grievances have two enemies. The first is directed towards
migrants. The second is against minorities, particularly Muslims. Open
castigation, overt summons, celebration of Babri Mosque demolition and
assertion of participation therein and thereafter linking with native
pride has started the era of communalisation of regions for pan-Indian
acceptance.
Fifthly, negation of undemocratic vocabularies.  There are many terms
which can be attributed to Bal Thackeray. These terms are not only
circulated but imposed wilfully. Undemocratic/feudal terms like
‘fear’, ‘tiger’, ‘supremo’, ‘remote control’, ‘manush with prefix’ and
so on were/are used in democracy for ‘better world’.   The
introduction of ‘feudal ethos’ and its overt celebration forces the
second rung leadership to inculcate these ‘values’ thereby
mobilisation of people on the basis these terms and according method.
This produces highly structured and static leadership and norms.
Ironically, their ‘each’ participation in democracy makes democracy
undemocratic.
In a nutshell, the immortalisation leads not only to mortification of
‘memory’ but also produces an apathetic worldview towards
consequences.  Media is celebrating the death of memory i.e., sheer
ignorance of the past and consequences.


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