Rahul Kanwal’s Nagaland blunder and mainstream media’s horrible apathy in the direction of India’s Northeast

“Hi, I’m from Nagaland.”“Where?”“It’s near Arunachal Pradesh?”“Alright…And where is that?”“Manipur? Mizoram? It’s near these states.”“Assam?”“Oh! You’re from Assam?”“No, I’m from Nagaland. They’re different.”“Oh, okay.”“It’s in India, right?”“Apparently, Rahul Kanwal from India Today thinks it is not.”This is a mean dialog which just about each particular person from the Northeast has had once they transfer to mainland India. I’m from Shillong, and the propensity of many to liken Shillong to Sri Lanka’s Ceylon is unparalleled. Northeast India has solely previously few years been extra normalised as a sovereign and inseparable a part of India. Many Indians assume it’s some overseas land with bizarre individuals. That predisposition is altering, however we nonetheless have an extended option to go.While discussing the extradition of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi with the creator of the e book ‘Extradition’ and Nagaland DGP Rupin Sharma, Rahul Kanwal made fairly a grand and inexcusable mistake. The Nagaland DGP’s stay feed was disconnected for a time, and when he got here again on air, he apologised and mentioned there was an influence reduce at his place. To this very regular phenomena, Rahul Kanwal remarked saying, “Don’t worry, you are in Nagaland, electricity goes off even in India, please go on.”Yes, you learn that proper. Electricity goes off even in India, and the Nagaland DGP wanted to be advised that by none apart from Rahul Kanwal as a consequence of the truth that Nagaland is a separate nation altogether. The matter quickly escalated, as many outraged Indians who have been nicely versed with Indian geography took pictures on the journalist.In response to the rising outrage, Rahul Kanwal apologised and mentioned, “This was a slip of tongue. My apologies. Was meaning to say Delhi. My bad.”This was a slip of tongue. My apologies. Was that means to say Delhi. My dangerous— Rahul Kanwal (@rahulkanwal) June 3, 2021People from the Northeast have gotten used to the informal ignorance of a lot of their Indian brothers and sisters. We additionally know that the state of affairs is quick altering. However, absolutely the ignorance prevalent amongst Indian mainstream media concerning Northeast India is reasonably shameful. The media will not be an establishment which ought to have individuals unaware of Indian geography. The Northeast will not be a area the place there is no such thing as a energy, no roads, no bridges and a normal lack of growth. People right here don’t reside in huts solely and survive on rice alone. In reality, many may be shocked by the modernity of the area.Read extra: As we combat Coronavirus, India should additionally combat racism in opposition to individuals of the northeast ranging from DelhiFor media professionals whose lives revolve round a two-square kilometre radius in Noida Film City to assume so, and overtly recommend the identical on stay tv is a glowing testimony of the shambled situation Indian media is in. Northeasterners have near no high-level illustration in mainstream Indian media organisations. One man who has made it very large within the business – Arnab Goswami is hounded by his friends, opponents and even individuals claiming to be combating for the reason for variety.That reveals the disdain Indian media has for Northeast India. Already, the media has a shameful monitor file of not reporting and masking the Northeast sufficient. Rahul Kanwal’s colleague – Rajdeep Sardesai as soon as tried to justify the identical with the traditional “tyranny of distance” bogey. The solely event when Northeast India was blessed with some protection previously was when a bomb blast occurred within the area and folks have been killed.Since bomb blasts have virtually stopped fully now, the media’s once-in-a-lifetime protection of the area has too. Mumbai is flooded yearly as a consequence of BMC’s ineptitude to cope with a number of hours of rain. Assam’s Brahmaputra swells and causes mass flooding in Assam yearly, inflicting lakhs of individuals and animals to be displaced as a norm. Guess which turns into a primetime story for Indian information media organisations?Of course, throughout the CAA agitation in 2019, the Northeast was closely coated. The purpose? The Modi-Shah duo was to be focused utilizing the protests raging in Northeast India – primarily in Assam. Imagine the media’s infuriation when the protests in Assam ended up having no bearing on the current meeting elections within the state – during which the BJP received handsomely.Rahul Kanwal’s fake pas is a mere indicator of the degrees of ignorance which Indian media is plagued with in terms of the Northeast. All Indian journalists should be subjected to necessary tutorials on the Northeast. This brazen method to a sovereign area of India should not be tolerated any longer. If the media has no concept in regards to the Northeast, anticipating strange residents to be at the very least conscious of the nationality of the individuals from the Northeast is a reasonably far-fetched dream.