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Bengaluru: Noted broadcast journalist Sreenivasan Jain on Tuesday expressed concern over misinformation campaigns now becoming part of the political discourse at the highest echelons of the Indian administration.
Admitting that politicians had always been creative with the way they used facts, Jain, however, pointed said that misinformation campaigns were now crossing the sacred ‘Lakshman Rekha’.
“There is widespread misinformation in India leading to the perception that the majority is threatened by the minority. Unfortunately, this is not just limited to the fringe, and WhatsApp groups but is being reiterated by those occupying the topmost positions in the government,” said Jain.
Participating in a workshop on Misinformation-How Fake News Affects Social Justice organised by the Karnataka Media Academy at Gandhi Bhavan, Jain pointed, not without irony, to recently made claims of Sholay depicting ‘electricity Jihad’ – a reference to the use of the lantern by the character of Thakur, essayed by Sanjeev Kumar, while a Muslim man uses electricity for the Namaz. This disparity has been attributed to the fact that the writers of the film were both Muslims – Salim Khan and Javed Akthar.
“It is concerning that even Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath makes a similar claim, claiming the Samajwadi Party supplied more electricity during Eid than Diwali. Data shows this was a bogus claim,” said Jain, who also targeted PM Narendra Modi for spearheading what he deemed ‘one of the most communal and divisive’ campaigns for the Lok Sabha polls this year.
Flagging off the workshop, Karnataka Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dinesh Gundu Rao warned against both misinformation and disinformation, pointing out that the latter involved wilful dissemination of data that was neither factual nor accurate. The minister said that a strong and courageous media was indispensable to all countries.
Koppal University vice-chancellor B K Ravi said that news could never be wrong. “Fake News is an oxymoron. Misinformation is a more appropriate term. Socially marginalised groups bear the brunt of misinformation particularly when there is a breakdown in law and order during riots, for instance,” Ravi said.
In a discussion moderated by senior scribe Bansi Kalappa, many veteran journalists such as Asha Krishnaswamy, Ravindra Bhat, M Siddaraju, and Subhash Hoogar deliberated on effective ways to combat misinformation campaigns.