‘Satyamev Jayate’, being the motto of the country has not stopped Indian politicians from mastering the art of doublespeak. Indian political discourse is full of stonewalls, falsehoods, propaganda and disinformation.
Political speech in India is caught in a time warp. Reminiscent of the government controlled media days of ’70s, it continues to be dotted with a unique set of phrases, patronized by the power elite, that are meant to hide more than they reveal. Worse they allow our politicians to lie though their teeth. Indiscriminate, repeated and moronic use of these phrases have beaten them hollow, so much so, that they have now come to mean the exact opposite of their literal meaning.
The coinage of the word ‘doublespeak’ is attributed to George Orwell and his famous novel Nineteen Eighty Four which used the word ‘doublethink’. ‘doublespeak’ means ‘ deliberate disguise, distortion, or reversal of the meaning of words‘. One of the most famous proponents of ‘doublespeak’ ( also called ‘doubletalk’) predating the coinage of the word itself was Dr. Goebbels, Hitler’s Propaganda Minister. In its present avatar, Indian politicos of all shades have embraced doublespeak with open arms. Such is its command over both the ruling and opposition think tanks, that straight talk has become a shortcut to oblivion for politicians in India. [recall the ordeals of Shahi Tharoor (Congress) and Jaswant Singh (BJP) ] Even mainline media and journalists, who are entrusted with the responsibility of exposing the doublespeak of politicians, choose to play ball with them. Their confrontationist attitude is a thing of the past. Despite mushroom growth in news channels, most find protective niches, aligning themselves with one benefactor or the other, leaving the public to fend for themselves.
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