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India Allows Foreign Investment in Print Media
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| India’s
Information Minister Sushma Swaraj
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By
IOL South Asia correspondent
NEW
DELHI, June 26 (Islam Online) - Amid fierce controversy, the
Government of India allowed 26 percent foreign direct investment (FDI)
in print media on Tuesday, June 25. This reverses the country’s
long-held policy of disallowing any FDI in this crucial sector.
The
debate over the desirability of allowing FDI in India’s print media
had picked up momentum ahead of Tuesday’s central cabinet meeting
scheduled to consider this issue.
There
is a direct split in the civil society over this move, though what the
major newspapers and political leaders have been saying is no sure
indicator of the public mood.
There
is an element of genuine concern among some people resisting FDI in
print media as they fear a dilution of sovereignty and the hijacking
of the national, political, economic and cultural discourse by mighty
Western media empires.
This
is the reason the First Press Commission, set up in 1954 (seven years
after independence from British colonial domination), warned against
foreign entry in print media. A year later, India moved ahead with a
cabinet decision barring foreigners from owning or investing in
newspapers as well as prohibiting foreign newspapers from publishing
Indian editions.
Though
most big newspapers and major political parties have been vociferously
protesting the move, their intent is largely taken as suspect. The
monopoly press is scared (although it is citing “patriotism” as a
basis for opposition) because it believes it would no longer enjoy
monopoly status with big players from the West arriving on the scene.
Its
argument, however, sounds hollow with already a 100% FDI for internet
and substantial foreign investment in TV. Rupert Murdoch is already
here, his Star TV beamed into most television-owning homes across the
length and breadth of the Subcontinent.
Indian
political parties across the spectrum have opposed the move. From
former Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Kushabhau Thakre, to Samata
Party spokesman Shambhu Srivastava, Congress spokesperson Anand
Sharma, Trinamul Congress MP NK Sengupta, to Telugu Desam Party’s K
Rama Mohan Rao, have vociferously attacked the government move.
However, their credibility has been called in question.
To
begin with the BJP, the party heading the National Democratic Alliance
(NDA), which rules at the Center. On one hand, it has been campaigning
for Swadeshi (literally, made in India), and on the other, supporting
the World Bank-IMF agenda of globalization and Western expansion into
national economy. As the party opposes FDI outside Parliament, its
leaders in government have allowed FDI.
The
Congress Party, whose government at Center opened the floodgates of
foreign investment, liberalization and globalization in the mid-1990s,
is now busy playing to the gallery, opposing the move. The other
parties in NDA are only regional in nature and small players in
national politics. They were never known for consistency.
This
brings us to the only genuine opposition - India’s Left parties,
which have been consistently opposed to foreign control of the economy
or any other vital sector.
The
Hindu Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS - National Volunteer Corps),
the parent organization of BJP and myriad other Hindu outfits, has
been consistently opposing FDI in print, one of the reasons forwarded
being preservation of “culture” from Western invasion. The RSS-BJP
ideology is based on “cultural nationalism,” which excludes and
demonizes Muslims, Christians and other minority religions born
outside India.
There
is silent support for FDI in print media as well. The newer and
vibrant publications like India Today and Outlook are not scared. In
fact, India Today’s publishers, Living Media, already publish Indian
editions of foreign magazines like Cosmopolitan. There is also an
Indian edition of Elle. Publishers of older publications like The
Pioneer (nearly 125-year old) too support FDI in print just because
the paper is no longer run by a monopoly.
The
“cultural invasion” RSS and BJP talk about is no longer taken
seriously as the “invasion” is already complete in the form of
internet, TV and Western films widely accessible, at least in the
larger cities.
One
important argument in favor of FDI in print is that it is more
professional and fair in reporting and is not half as vicious about
Muslims, mullas, mosques and madrasahs as many in Indian print media
are.
Foreign
competition has, however, improved standards of technology in India,
ranging from cars to agricultural products like tractors and
thrashers, from consumer goods to computer software.
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