• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

WHENEVER Western media, like a pack of wild dogs, go tearing into some African nation or leader, it is difficult to make out whether it is an objective and professional account or a hate campaign rooted in nostalgic memories of colonial era.

Ever since the President of Zimbabwe, Mr Robert Mugabe, gave the green signal to his Zanu-PF party activists and war veterans to seize the farms owned by white settlers (some of whom became victims of lethal violence), all the columnists of the media of the industrial world, especially those of the UK and the US, have been baying for his blood. They have not lost a day in trashing him in the vilest of words and on a number of counts. Lately, these reporters and columnists have been uncontrollably choking over their wrath directed against a Bill that has just been passed by Zimbabwe's Parliament seeking to subject the media to a variety of curbs which, if their words are to be believed, would virtually strangle them from doing their sacred duty of truthful dissemination of news about Zimbabwe. They link the legislation to Mr Mugabe's purported attempts to "steal" the Presidential election scheduled for March 9-10, by foiling the chances of the Opposition candidate Mr Morgan Tsavangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change, enjoying the support of the judiciary, trade unions and, yes, the media. It would seem that Mr Mugabe, in league with Army generals, war veterans and anti-white rabble rousers, are bent on loading the electoral rolls, rigging the poll and capturing booths and counting centres. There is even a fear that the opposition candidate and some of his associates may be bumped off well before the election. Mr Mugabe has added fuel to the fire raging around him, by tartly turning down the clamour by some self-styled watchdog groups in Western countries for stationing independent and neutral "election monitors".

Mr Mugabe and his Information Minister, Mr Jonathan Moyo, have vehemently denied all the accusations made by Western media and attribute them to "colonial arrogance". They claim that the new Press Bill is only meant to ensure fair and unvarnished reporting in the context of some foreign correspondents running berserk with their bias against anything to do with Black Africa. According to them, Mr Tsavangirai, the Opposition candidate for the presidency, is a "puppet of Britain" who will gift away Zimbabwe's assets and interests to ex-colonial rulers.

The Commonwealth Ministers Action Group has rejected the proposal of Western members to expel Mr Mugabe. As in all such cases, the media of the developing world are content to be mute bystanders with no guts to take sides. It is a pity the Indian scribes too have been shy of throwing light on the real state of affairs.

B. S. Raghavan

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section
Sorry state

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line