–Surendra Reddy–
“The Truth About Us: The Politics of the Information Revolution from Manu to Modi.” By Sanjoy Chakravorty, (2019).
About the Book
‘India…has an information space packed with numerous sources and agents – from politicians and activists to profiteers and extortionists – all competing for attention and legitimacy in a growing information market…Whom does one believe?’The political manipulation and simplification of information about a dizzyingly complex society have fashioned certain ‘truths’ about India. These truths have resulted in the creation of major religious and caste identities, which have been the defining features of the country’s politics and history for over 200 years. An unsparing study of how this situation has come about, The Truth about Us explores answers to crucial questions: Is India a homogenous Hindu nation sprinkled with minorities, or a pluralistic, heterogeneous one? Is our knowledge of the inequalities in our society founded on facts or perceptions? What are the real origin stories of India’s social categories, and how are they being constructed and challenged today? At a time when India is in the throes of an existential debate, convulsed by contesting claims over identity and history, Hindutva and Dalit consciousness, nationalism and freedom of speech, and the rights and realities of minorities, this deeply provocative book is urgent reading for every thinking Indian.
Excerpt from the Book
[Power of Simplification]
The abundance of information and its sources has led to a more urgent need for simplification. We can call it the ‘brand’, ‘message’, slogan’, or ‘jingle’.
[Existing Worldviews]
This condition empowers political actors who have the ability to reduce complexity into simple stories and solutions. This simple storyteller can tell any story he wants to, untethered from facts when convenient, because there are always people willing to believe ‘alternative facts’ that fit their worldviews.
[Charismatic Politician]
This ‘charismatic’ politician with a known and admired ‘brand’ can become synonymous with the political party. The information revolution may, therefore, catalyze the demise of Ideology-driven politics. It may be ushering in an unprecedented new post-ideological condition in which the leader is the party and the messenger is the message: Narendra Modi, Mamata Banerjee, Nitish Kumar, Arvind Kejriwal and Jayalalitha; Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron, Recep Erdogan, Rodrigo Duterte, and Vladimir Putin.
[Chaitanya and Gandhi]
People always have trouble following abstract or complicated ideas, so they follow those who can simplify these ideas. Some of them completely trust or even worship these simplifying messengers.
Perhaps what is true of Modi today was true of Chaitanya in the sixteenth century and Gandhi in the twentieth.
[Different Messages and Technologies]
They were all successful messengers with vastly different messages. Perhaps the most meaningful difference between them was the information technology available to them. Chaitanya had scrolls and songs; Gandhi had print and processions: Modi has all these plus TV and smartphones. He can and seems to be everywhere.”
COMMENT:
Each Prout Samaj Movement’s leaders have the challenge of popularizing, through all the local samaja language in all types of media formats of folk songs, kiirtan, slogans and seminars, the Neohumanistic Ideology-Driven Service (Sewa) for the welfare of all living beings.
–Surendra Reddy–
The newly awakened humanity of today is anxious to herald the advent of one universal society under the vast blue sky. The noble and righteous persons of all countries, bound by fraternal ties, are eager to assert in one voice, with one mind, and in the same tune that human society is one and indivisible. In this voice of total unity and magnanimity lies the value and message of eternal humanism.
–P. R. Sarkar From PROUT in a Nutshell Vol. 2, Part 7
