INDIA should play up its martyr appeal

Boycott, ban or blacklisting? What's your barrier of choice? On Saturday, Congress's Pawan Khera showcased his semantic side when he pointed out the difference between these three Bs and 'non-cooperation'. He contended that the Opposition flotilla INDIA's 'boycott' of a posse of TV news anchors considered to be 'more loyal than the king' was no boycott - or ban or blacklisting - but Gandhian 'non-cooperation'. Is he splitting hairs? Or making a pointed pushback against what the Opposition perceives as GoI/BJP's banana republic split tactics? Not engaging with mediapersons whose job may be to portray Opposition voices in a bad light can be a tactic. But along with Nitish Kumar, we agree that not engaging is not only strategically unsound, but also ends up portraying the 'non-cooperators' as plain boycotters, 'banners' and blacklisters.

The very fact that one is 'there' even in a hostile and biased environment is an important Gandhian gesture. There is less purpose, never mind glory, for the person who gives the other side a 'walkover'. By being seen as trying to engage and failing because of the media platform's portrayal of INDIA in a bad light may, actually, be used to put on a martyr quality to those being reportedly browbeaten. Instead, a smarter strategy would be to highlight the bias on other, less antagonistic platforms. No?