Ramayana..

Specific reading was done related to media and its impact on community. I felt like sharing this particular finding.

The Ramayana and the state

As we already know that serials and TV programmes are screened and monitored both before and during the telecast, it is very clear that airing of ‘Sagar Ramayana’ on Doordarshan had some role of state in it.
Specially, if we observe that appearance of ‘Ramayana’ on Tele Vision was in the times when RSS and VHP were on their serious agenda of propagating ‘Ram Rajya’
It clearly suggests that the state was not just conscious but actively endorsed in the propagation of this hegemonic narrative of the ‘national past’. Moreover, the serial’s invocation of Ram Rajya, or the rule of king Ram, reinforced Hindu Nationalist ideas to restore a Ram Rajya through the construction of a ‘pure’ Hindu national culture.
The recovery of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya severed as the first step and an emotive symbol of Hindu Nationalist plan to reclaim the ‘glorious Hindu past’.
Earlier, I too doubted myself thinking that my radicalism might exaggerate the facts but further reading related to the incidents and state policies in that decade supplemented this fact mentioned.

Update: The recent reading has led to the situation of questioning my own statements. Fortunately, I came across writing which produces proofs of completely contradictory situation of what I’ve explained in above article. I am too perplexed to reach to conclusion. I’m sorry for writing without ensuring about my views.