Bangalore, 24-9-2006: The best of the brains from both the sides were indeed there at a dialogue organized by Vishwa Samvada Kendra to facilitate a smooth dialogue between Hindutva and Media. 

While Hindutva ideologue S Gurumurthy explained that there was a communication gap that needed to bridged, Media baron Shantha Kumar claimed that the media was by and large neutral.  However, he said that convergence was in the best interest of the society and humanity at large. 

About the event: The Key note address was delivered by S Gurumurthy while S Shantha Kumar delivered the inaugural address.  The next session saw Udaya TV anchor Deepak Thimmaiah and Prof. Varadesh Hirigange explaining the media version against Hindutva.  The third session of the day had senior journalists A Suryaprakash and Tarun Vijay explaining the Hindutva version against the media. Chandan Mitra (Editor of the Pioneer and Rajyasabha Member) delivered the valedictory address summing up the Media-Hindutva dialogue. 

What the Speakers said:  

S Gurumurthy gave a strong case on why both media and Hindutva have to do a serious introspection for the disconnect that has set in.  He criticized the media for the trivialization of serious issues.  He also accused the Hindutva camp for not being strategic enough and focused in presenting their point of view.  However, he went on to say that the mental disconnect was because of mental blocks on the part of both sides.  The Media is still stuck in outdated ideas like Secularism and dialectic materialism.  He said both the concepts are irrelevant from the Indian angle.  He also accused the media of selective amnesia, in that certain genocides like the Bangla were ignored, while small cases of violences were magnified. He asked the Hindutva camp to emulate Kautilya  and Bhishma.  Be strategic and learn to control your emotions was his key words to the Hindutva camp. 

Shantha Kumar – the proprietor/editor of Deccan Herald and Prajavani – said he was pleasantly surprised for being invited to a talk by the Hindutva camp.  However, he maintained that the media was by and large neutral and there was very little truth in the charges that the media was unfair to hindutva forces.  His contention was that media was critical of not just hindutva, but it was equally critical about corruption, Congress misrule and any other issues.  However, he said that the power of the media has also increased multifold in the recent year and added that the dialogue was welcome if it was really intended to remove any cases of disconnect.  He said that any attempts to resolve problems through dialogues was always welcome.   

In the second session, Varadesh Hirigange and Deepak Thimmaiah gave out the media version of Hindutva, while Tarun Vijay and A Suryaprakash gave out the Hindutva version against the media. 

Summing up the Hindutva Media dynamics 

 Shri Chandan Mitra summed up the Hindutva Media dynamics in his own inimitable style.  He said that the left liberal journalists had created an atmosphere where nationalism and Hindutva were dirty words.  He also said that all the journalists had the fear of being branded as pro-hindutva.  The fear of losing jobs or being branded is at the center of this relationship.  Mutual suspicion is the name of this relationship, he said.  He hoped that further dialogues would bridge the disconnect between the powerful forces which cannot be ignored anymore. 

There were question and answer sessions after each talk.

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