Dear Media… Choose Your Obsession Wisely

Distraction is the most powerful political weapon

This is not about faith versus feminism.
This is not about left versus right.
This is about how narratives are engineered, how timing is weaponised, and how media decides what the public must look at—and what it must forget.

Story One: Sabarimala Ayyappa’s gold – arrests, politics, and sudden silence

Sabarimala is not a symbol.
It is not an emotion alone.
It is a public religious institution handling enormous wealth donated by devotees.

Over the years, questions were raised about:

• Gold offerings
• Valuables
• Inventory mismatches
• Audit gaps
• Administrative control under the Devaswom Board system

Then things became serious.

Arrests actually happened

This is not speculation.

• Presidents and officials associated with Devaswom Boards were arrested
• Middlemen were taken into custody
• Gold handling, record manipulation, and administrative lapses came under investigation
• Political interference allegations surfaced—because Devaswom Boards are not independent bodies, they are deeply politically influenced

In simple terms:

• Faith put money on the table
• Power sat on the chair
• Accountability became negotiable

This was no small issue.
This was not social media gossip.
This was institutional failure touching the faith of crores.

For a brief moment:

• Media looked interested
• Debates began
• Names were whispered

Then suddenly…

Silence.

No daily tracking.
No deep audit discussion.
No pressure for systemic reform.

Why?

Because this story threatens systems, not individuals.
And systems fight back.

What happened next is the real question

Just as the Sabarimala gold issue and Devaswom-linked arrests were gaining seriousness…

Another story exploded.

And it exploded perfectly.

Story Two: The pregnancy case that swallowed everything else

A sexual assault and forced abortion allegation surfaced involving a political leader, Rahul Mamkootathil.

This was not an anonymous complaint.

The woman:

• Alleged she was in a romantic relationship with the leader
• Claimed sexual exploitation
• Claimed she was forced to terminate a pregnancy
• Claimed continuous pressure and mental abuse

Then came the dramatic escalation.

The Chief Minister’s house episode

Instead of following a quiet legal route, the complainant:

• Personally went to the Chief Minister’s residence
• Allegedly narrated her story directly
• Sought immediate political intervention

That single act ensured:

• Wall-to-wall media coverage
• Political reactions within hours
• Complete overshadowing of the Sabarimala gold issue

Media attention instantaneously shifted gears.

Temple gold? Forgotten.
Devaswom arrests? Buried.
Systemic corruption? Vanished.

All cameras turned towards:

• Audio clips
• Pregnancy details
• Bedroom conversations
• Emotional sound bites

The part nobody wanted to say loudly

Here is where facts became uncomfortable.

As per what emerged publicly during investigations and political counter-claims:

• The woman was already legally married
• Her husband is reported to be a BJP worker
• She was allegedly in a consensual romantic relationship with the accused leader
• The relationship later collapsed
• The dispute escalated into criminal accusations

Important clarification:
This does not automatically disprove her allegations.
Consent can change. Exploitation can occur.
Law will decide.

But what cannot be ignored is this:

The political and media presentation of the case was surgically selective.

Anything that complicated the narrative was quietly underplayed.
Anything that generated outrage was amplified.

Timing is not coincidence. It is strategy.

Ask one honest question:

Why did this case receive ten times more coverage than:

• Devaswom Board arrests?
• Temple gold accountability?
• Structural corruption in religious institutions?

Answer is simple:
Because this story:

• Targets one individual
• Does not disturb large power structures
• Can be milked daily
• Creates emotional division
• Distracts perfectly during election season

Election playbook: Tested, repeated, perfected in Kerala

Kerala has seen this pattern many times:

1. Election nears
2. A scandal involving:
   • Sex
   • Woman
   • Audio
   • Pregnancy
3. Media explodes
4. Parties take positions suited to their vote banks
5. Real governance issues disappear from focus
6. After elections:
   • Case weakens, drags, or complicates
   • Public interest dies
   • Media moves on

The woman is left with:

• Trauma
• Lifetime stigma
• Political abandonment

The system walks free.

Media’s selective feminism and selective faith

Observe carefully:

• When women’s cases can be used to attack rivals, feminism is loud
• When women’s dignity clashes with political convenience, silence follows
• Faith is praised in speeches
• But faith institutions are not questioned deeply
• Because questioning gold, boards, and audits exposes too many connections

So the safer route is chosen:
Personal scandal over public accountability

Let’s be brutally clear

Two things can be true at the same time:

• A woman may have been wronged and deserves justice
• A massive public faith-related corruption issue deserves even deeper attention

The problem is not reporting the pregnancy case.

The problem is using it to bury everything else.

This is how distraction works

You get emotional.
You pick sides.
You fight online.
You argue about morals.

Meanwhile:

• Institutional theft fades
• Structural corruption survives
• Faith becomes a shield
• Power stays untouched

That is not journalism.
That is narrative management.

Final question – now answer honestly

What deserves sustained, fearless, in-depth journalism?

A temple’s gold, donated by crores, managed by politically controlled boards?
Or private relationships turned into public theatre?

If the answer keeps changing based on elections,
then the standard is not ethics.

It is convenience.

Final word

Scandals are easy.
Systemic corruption is dangerous.

Media today chooses easy.

But remember this:
History does not respect those who entertained crowds.
It remembers those who questioned power.

Choose carefully what you amplify.
Because what you suppress today
will return tomorrow
as a much bigger betrayal.

And people are watching.

Comments

comments