Oscar Wilde had once said that journalism is unreadable…I wouldn’t go into the merits of the sweeping statement, but it just so happens, that at times, one comes across instances of journalism, so grotesque, so misshapen, so utterly despicable, that one can’t but not agree…

‘Sorry, Kashmir is happy’ (Cover story, Open Magazine, 21 April 2012 by Manu Joseph) is one such apology for journalism, which makes me wonder, how on earth, did one become so delusional, so as to pass a judgement on an entire people’s state of mind, so as to make a pulp out of their past, present and future and sieve it through their utterly myopic vision and print it in bold yellow letters on their pompous publication, thinking they are the only ones, who can tell a story, as it should be told…well, I hate to say this, but one wouldn’t even throw a penny at such puny journalism, or at the lowly comedian who seems to be masquerading as a journalist.

We have been served lies by most media for a very long time now, but such shallow, easy and vulgar striking off, of decades of struggle, memory, pain, tears, songs and slogans of protest and replacing them with Café coffee day and KFC chatter, labeling people who have bled and cried and sang for a cause as “melancholy poets, facebook revolutionaries and a rapper who owns a hood”, ignoring decades of human rights violence which continues, Indian military exploits which continue, terror victims which continue to pile up and to paint a seemingly happy picture, is not just blatant falsification, but utter stupidity.

And even though its true, that Kashmir’s status as a conflict zone, has spun an industry of writers, seminar tourists, cause peddlers around it, it doesn’t negate the problems of the state, which continue to persist and haunt its people every single day. The fact that, for over six decades now, the Kashmiris have refused to take any sides and continue to assert their need for autonomy, and have prepared themselves for any eventuality, should be testament enough to the fact that we require new imaginations to deal with the continued crisis, rather than brushing an entire people and their sacrifices under the carpet.

And if all these arguments sound like the echoes bouncing off the walls of some old heritage building, let me also make some arguments, sitting at this mental health camp in Srinagar, set up by the state hospital’s department of psychiatry. Men, women and children of all ages have come pouring in, for an entire day…blank eyes, tearful eyes, angry eyes have narrated many stories, and almost half of them are suffering because of the onslaught of cell phones, (this particular article partly seemed to be advertising for Aircel), breaking up of families, breaking down of tradition, cultural alienation, loneliness and other such effects of globalization. The department’s report on the average Kashmiri’s mental health would soon be ready and one would know, a little more of the truth.

And if one could actually measure happiness, well there is an index out there, which makes Bhutan, the happiest place in the world, with least number of tourists and posh coffee shops.

If only, someone could tell Mr. Joseph, who has fallen into a habit of writing mostly easy, simplified pieces for his NRI readers in New York Times, that Kashmir is a cause for which Kashmiris living in Kashmir have given their lives to, and has little to do with Kashmiris living in America, Dubai or Delhi.

Also, if someone could ask him, if electricity and roads are not about politics, then what is?

From Capitalism : a ghost story, to  Kashmir: a happy story, we seem to have lost an essential narrative somewhere in between.

As Manu’s neon lights blaze on, to scare away the ghosts perhaps, Kashmiris complain, that these lights are too bright and mis-leading.

Sadly, we still have to take back Kashmir’s night first, before we wait for the true light of the morning…

As Faiz had said, “ye woh sehar to nahin…”

(This article was first published in Pratirodh)

Well, I don’t know whether you took oath as the chief justice of Madras High court in Rahukalam or you went ahead with the ‘inauspicious period’ suggestions. You have not mentioned about this in your article. But one thing is amply clear from your writing is that you are very peeved over being an Indian, thus living your life among the crores of fools.  Despite of this, you are trying to justify your statement in just ten counts is really regrettable.

Your encounter with ten incidents can’t justify your statement. Those counts are mere number of incidents. You may also relate it to story items or say prevalent traditions within our society. Of course, not the reasons, which can conclude 85 to 95 percent of population within fool criteria.

Being an ex judge of the Indian apex court and now as a president of the press council of India, I personally thought there would be deep thought process in those 10 counts. But I am finding myself very perturbed over your reasonings. These are so superfluous that will certainly not satisfy the Delhi Correspondent of The Wall Street Journal, who asked you on what basis you believe 90 percent Indians are fools.

I have strong objection on all your ten counts. Here is my autopsy of your 10 justification.

One, you say Tamilians are the most superstitious people in India. I don’t know whether your are blaming them or hurting their belief. As far as I believe, this statement is highly objectionable and may hurt their feelings. Superstition is not limited to a particular corner of this Globe but you may find traces of it in every part of the world. I have found you also reciting from Geeta and verses of Ramayna on so many occasions, though, I don’t know whether you also offer prayers or visit any place of worship. But I am quite sure you have a small temple in a corner of your house, where your family members offer prayers.

I mean, you may be not but other members of your family do.  So, does it mean you are a fool since from historical perspective validity and sanctity of these texts are not proven. I want to know whether believing in Rahukalam affect the wisdom of a judge or a lawyer.

Two, There is a clearly defined line between our beliefs and profession. Myself a journalist or a scientist or a doctor from Tamilnadu never let their profession affected even if he or she believes in Rahukalam.  And it applies to all Indians. I hardly believe 90 percent people of this country let their wisdom taken over by superstition and our history is a testimony of that. So it does not affect the functioning of those ministers or judges who take oath at ‘auspicious’ time. Well, if they are inefficient they will be so but please don’t relate it with superstition.

Three, If a particular house became haunted one just because some mishaps with some judges family and Chief Justice of India had to write the authorities to remove the house from Judges pool. This can be an individual thinking. However, I am sure this haunted house could not have affected the capability of carrying out judicial responsibilities of judges.

Four, You have mentioned a news story of Lord Ganesha drinking milk.  Are you sure 90 percent of us tried to compel Lord Ganesha drink milk? You also accuse media of spreading superstitions. Do everyone wrote and showed this ‘miracle’ as you have depicted. Everybody who have studied till +2 knew this was due to surface tension. If it was the fact and people were fools then Lord Ganesha would have continued to consume millions of gallons of milk till today. It would have been much better if you had concentrated on how to report these kinds of stories though media has also matured since then.

Anyway Hollywood supernatural series is a big hit now a days among scientifically thinking masses of the west and I am about to download season-2 series.

Five, You say ours is a baba-bound society.  I agree there are thousands of godmen in this country. Some spread yoga and religious theories but most of them are doing business by claiming to be the doctor of all evils.  But not everyone goes to them with same wisdom. There are differences.  Illiterate ones go them and abide by what they say to them. Here, we need to educate them. But even well educated people are also used to visit Baba of their choice for their personal gains. It is just a matter of personal belief and lack of awareness in this regard. So, calling them fool for just following self-claimed godmen, can’t be justified.

Six, you talk about a false claim of converting water into petrol. Now you yourself have described how it was not possible. You have brilliantly tried to explain it through a chemical formulations. But you must be agree with the facts that fantasy has always some inbuilt reality. Our all past inventions were propelled by the fantasies e.g. ‘Pushpak Biman’ in Ramayana, now we have aeroplanes. There are so many other examples available before us. Many research are underway and initial success suggest that H2O has the power of running a car and lone Hydrogen is going to do wonders as far as energy sector is concerned. It will be superstition to believe in impossibility while talking about science and it shows lack of scientific temperament which you desire for.

Seven, again very simplistic way of justifying your definition of a fool.  Matching ‘Kundali’ for finalizing marriages has been in practice since India was a considered trove of treasure and preacher to the world. Though, I am not trying to endorse this tradition but it’s vanishing day by day. Live-in and increasing numbers of love marriages are simple examples.

Eight, Sir, it would be very funny to suggest that merely 18 years old private news channels have contributed making India a land of fools. As far as programming code is concerned, You are well placed to discuss this with Broadcast Editors Association for betterment. But I fail to understand why you have mentioned pay packages of editors in such a fashion. Media is a fast growing industry and you should feel proud as PCI chairman that now journalist are also well paid. Even then there is no similarity when you look at the slips of other company’s CMDs pay package. It’s ridiculous to relate TRP’s and editor’s salary with your claim of 90 percent Indians are fools.

Nine, how can you summarize most Hindus and Muslims are communal? This way you are doing disservice to this nation and questioning the secular credentials of our democracy. What young generation of this country has to do now with 1857 revolt other than it’s historical value. It would have been better if you had suggested measures to enhance communal harmony than showing us the ugly face of communalism.

Ten,  you are disappointed over social evils so as all of us. But there is no denying of the fact that with growing literacy rate and awakening we have moved forward. Though a lot still has to be done but be sure fools will not do it. This is our responsibility to carry this nation forward and we are not fools.

(Alok Kumar is a senior journalist and this article was first published in Pratirodh)

The growing clamor in the mainstream media, that few districts especially Darbhanga and Madhubani of Bihar have been emerging as hot bed of terror activities, has raised indignation among the people of this region.

These districts have been rechristened as Azamgarh of Bihar. Azamgarh a well known town of eastern Uttar Pradesh, an adjacent state of Bihar is very ‘unpopular’ among mainstream media. The media has nicknamed it as ‘terror nursery’ of India. The intelligence agencies have been regularly swooping down into this town in connection with any terror blasts, consequently leading to large scale victimization of youths belonging to minority community.

Gradually, this ‘nursery’ has been shifted and gained its ground in Bihar. Regular ‘abductions’ (not arrest) of the youths from minority community in last few months by different agencies have brought these remote areas in national scene. But the ‘truth’ which prevails at grassroots level seems very ‘strange’ in what it has been presented by media. There were lots of contradictions in the views of even intelligence agencies. The one glaring chinks appeared came to day light that an informer of Delhi police was being dubbed as ‘culprit’ ‘mastermind’ of 13 July, 2011 of Mumbai terror blasts by Mumbai Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) chief Rakesh Mariah!

It might be co-incidence. 12 out of 13 arrested suspects in last six months are from Darbhanga and its adjoining region.

Ground zero scene

In a hamlet named, Devra-Bandholi, 30 km of west from Darbhanga town, Naqui, 22, and Nadeem Akhtar, 23, ‘two suspects’ of this village were lifted out by Mumbai police. Naqui’s brother Taqui was at his village residence. Initially, though he snubbed the media, later with the help of locals he agreed to speak. ‘It was the media who made us terrorist. They come and talk to us but never published victims’ views’ says enraged Taqui, a youth in his early twenties. He took this correspondent to his one storied well furnished house. His most of the family members were involved in leather business at Delhi and Mumbai.

Taqui says ‘neither we were police informer nor we involve in any anti-social activities. Actually we helped the police’. Delhi Police called the Naqui for simple interrogation and asked for help in locating the broker who helped the ‘few’ men in getting accommodation. In this connection, Naqui was taken to Mumbai by Delhi police through airways. After locating the broker, police left him at Mumbai where Mumbai police had lifted him up and made ‘prime accused’ in 13 July, 2011 Mumbai blast which led to death of 26 people.

Neither family members nor the local leaders or police want to discuss this issue. The women have been peeping from behind their veil at strangers. They all were not media shy. They firmly pretend that their version would not appear in the media!

A retired engineer, Mr. Lukaman Ahmed, whose engineer son, Gauhar Aziz Khomeni, 28, was also lifted, said he came to know this by paper and TV news. A local Hindi daily published it as a prominent news that chaar atankawadi giraftar(Four terrorists nabbed).

‘Media men made our child a terrorist’ says aggrieved Lukman Ahmed showing the newspaper.

A senior Imam, not want to be named, says a senior journalist from Patna spent whole day with him. He had helped him in getting touch with the ‘suspects’ family. But he didn’t mince a single word about the agonies inflicted after ‘nabbing or lifting of their ward’ to the families. His indication was of ‘mushrooming’ madarsas and mosque would be the main reason behind this terror hub.

A rumor was spread among the community that Police was looking for a suspect named ‘Danish’. It made every ‘Danish’ of this region terrorized as they think they would be the next!

It was strange to see that aggrieved families have been blaming and cursing other aggrieved family for ‘fabricating’ their wards to this case to only to settle their earlier score. And they all were looking for each other to settle this score. The most of the families were groping in the dark, confusion prevails. Even after their arrest of six months, the families were not formally informed by the police where their wards are!

Unaware from the ground zero realities, the mainstream media continue to keep itself in ‘a shell’ of realities. They come out, time to time, with a speculative ‘serious’ type analysis such as ‘Indian Mujahidin targeting Darbhanga for recruits?’

(This article was first published in newzfirst.com)

While the answers are difficult to come by, these questions – however uncomfortable – need to be asked. By and large, journalists were known clearly by their identities as journalists and journalists’ organisations have stoutly resisted any attempt by police or other investigating agencies to foist other caps on them – from corruption, personal enmities, even terrorism as we have saw in the Iftikar Geelani case as well as what we are now witnessing in the arrest of Urdu journalist Syed Kazmi    in New Delhi on March 7.

When Sushil Pathak, senior journalist with Dainik Bhaskar was shot dead in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh on December 20, 2010, police initially put out the story that he may be been killed because of some real estate interests. It was only after sustained protests by journalists unions as well as opposition parties that Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh acceded to an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) three months after his death. It is still anybody’s guess as to what evidence can be collected in this lapse of time. Pathak’s wife, Sangeeta, is still clueless about the progress in investigations though she has been questioned twice.

Sadly, little protests followed the killing of Umesh Rajput, a reporter with Nai Duniya outside his residence in Chura village, Chhattisgarh in January 23, 2011. There was no progress in investigations, though there was enough evidence that Rajput’s reportage of medical negligence in eye operations carried out by a local doctor had resulted in threats and he had even filed a First Information Report (FIR) days before being shot dead. His brother Parmeshwar, filed a petition with the Chhattisgarh High Court seeking a report on the investigations.

In the widely reported case of the death of J Dey, Editor (special investigations) with Mid-Day, on June 23, 2011 and the protests that followed, police arrested 11 persons, including journalist Jigna Vora of Asian Age. In this instance, police have honed in on a professional rivalry angle. Other aspects of the slain journalists’s life – including his professional work (his extensive reportage on the oil mafia, on the underworld and even his reports on a corrupt police officer too that resulted in a defamation case being filed against him), did not seem to figure in the investigations leading to his death.  Did they have no bearings at all in Dey’s death?

In the gruesome killing of Chandrika Rai, his wife  and two children in Umaria in Madhya Pradesh on February 18, 2012,  police investigations into his death “proceeded in the wrong direction from day one”, says Bhopal-based journalist Santosh Dwivedi.  At first, there was the theory of the abduction of the son of an administrative officer, now police say that Rai’s driver had killed the journalist and his family and robbed them of cash and valuables. Initially, it was surmised that Rai’s reportage of the coal mining mafia in various newspapers he freelanced for, including Hitavada and Navbharat, had earned him a lot of enemies. But police have not pursued this angle at all, the local journalists said. Dwivedi and other journalists are unwilling to buy the police theory that the driver worked alone and had no accomplices. 

In the latest killing, that of Rajesh Mishra, editor of a small newspaper Media Raj, in Rewa in Madhya Pradesh on March 2, 2012, police promptly arrested four persons including Rajneesh Banerjee, owner of Rewa-based Hindi newspaper Vindhya Bharat, Anil Tripathi, editor of Vindhya Bharat, Arif (photographer) and Ram Ashray, an employee of the newspaper. Ashray had hit Mishra with an iron rod near the office of the Collectorate on March 1 while he was talking to Tripathi, informed the Rewa Superintendent of Police Umesh Joga. Mishra was moved to Jabalpur where he succumbed a day later.

Joga told the Free Speech Hub that Mishra and Banerjee had been involved in a ‘war’ of sorts as they printed articles about one another in their respective newspapers. Mishra had written extensively about irregularities in the schools Banerjee and his family ran and the latter retaliated by killing him. Both newspapers were small weeklies, with a circulation of barely 500 copies each but were both registered publications, he said.

Killings of journalists in the sub-continent

The common thread that runs through these deaths is the poor quality of investigations that follows. This seems to be well entrenched not just in India but across the border too. In Bangladesh, a journalist couple – Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi- were killed on February 11 and here too, there is no progress in investigations. The journalists’ community in Bangladesh have been protesting the deaths and demanding action but to no avail.

In Nepal, journalist Uma Singh was killed in 2009 in Janakpur and initial investigations indicated the involvement of a Maoist leader, Shrawan Yadav. The latter was actively involved in a series of land grabs in the region and had even killed the journalist’s father and brother a couple of years ago. Uma Singh, her friends say, was determined to become a journalist and expose the wrongdoings by the Maoists. She worked hard and wrote a number of articles and also radio broadcasts for Radio Janakpur on land issues, on the condition of women, on sexual harassment etc.

Now, police say that the Maoist ‘angle’ was not the main reason for her death. Instead, they said that a property dispute with a sister-in-law was the reason for her brutal murder. The sister-in-law was arrested, along with another local anti-social element. However, the Maoist leader is out on bail and, when a team from the International Fact-Finding and Advocacy Media Mission to Nepal visited Janakpur last month, they found that the case is yet to proceed and witnesses, including Uma Singh’s mother, have been threatened into silence.

When journalists die, the message they bear dies with them

Why is it so important to establish the causes for the killings of journalists?

Inevitably, when doubts are cast on the reasons for the deaths of these messengers, the anger and sympathy their deaths evoke get dissipated and the protests that may follow these killings are watered down.  With poor or non-existent investigations, impunity rules and the killers of these journalists get away scot free in case after case. Often, suspicions are cast on their very identities as journalists. Their work is then downgraded and forgotten. For their detractors and opponents, their physical elimination is not enough. The erasure of their work is also necessary.

The nature of the beast they feed has changed too.  Media houses are increasingly demanding that journalists play other roles – not merely as procurers of advertising and paid news but also as deal-brokers for all the varied business interests of their media house.  Should journalists pay the price for this with their work and their lives? That’s another question journalists must ask ourselves.

(Courtesy: The Hoot)  

It is indeed sad that the media, particularly the News TV, has again reinforced the notion that its only professional tenet is the relentless pursuit of the sensational and the insidious negativity. The coverage of the controversy regarding dilution of powers of the Election Commission and the unfortunate killing of two fishermen by the Italian Marines is the same old saga of subversive spin, hyper nationalism and blatant disregard of the facts.  The anchors/editors have become too narcissistic to attend to their professional obligation of being a watch-dog for the people against all kinds of excesses, more so when the polity has become practically vision-less and succumbs easily to expediency. Their conceit and elasticity of movement from being mere messengers to arbiters of India`s fate every evening is astounding. The Election Commission has already been entrusted with a daunting task. The government of the day may or may not be entertaining “diabolical designs” to weaken it but the kind of “circus” on the TV screens for the last few nights will certainly render it so.

Our democratic process has, so far, served the country well notwithstanding its many flaws. One of our successes has been the Election Commission. The EC has earned rightly the gratitude of the people for conducting free and fair elections despite tremendous workload, demands, pulls and pressures. Its powers have been acknowledged, however grudgingly, by the political class, wholeheartedly by   judiciary and other democracies. It has also often earned the ire of the governments of the day and of the politicians of all hues but that has never affected the EC.

Our democracy and the EC have devised a unique and effective instrument called Model Code of Conduct. The code prevents governments and ministers from making policy, financial announcements and undertaking fresh developmental work during the period in which MCC is in operation.  It is not statutory as the name itself denotes but it has a power which is quite compelling. In the best of democratic process and practice, it is observed because of the respect for the near unanimous agreement and convention and has been honoured by all concerned. It is a pact between political parties and voters with the EC as the non-partisan umpire in order to provide a level playing field to all contestants in an election. It is hugely satisfying that the pact has and is serving our democracy well. Still, it remains a gentlemen`s pact where a breach has no legal sanction.  However, because of the spread and frequencies of elections, the development work does get affected. Even presently, the annual budget has been delayed. This was also one of the reason i.e., disruption in developmental and official work Advani of BJP gave while proposing fixed tenures for Assemblies and Parliament.

Some of the Ministers of the government at the Centre have made statements which do undermine the honour and the authority of the EC. It is unacceptable. However, in order to provide a level playing field, EC withdraws the facilities which Ministers are entitled to during electioneering, but then EC does not treat them at par with other political leaders when they go out for canvassing. It is a double whammy for those Ministers who must take active part in electioneering. The two Ministers have been asked to desist from promising quota for backward classes belonging to the minorities which has led to a confrontation of sorts and this is not unusual if one goes by the electoral history. The quota has been objected to by the rival parties firstly as it appears to carry the weight of an official announcement even if it is in line with the manifesto and secondly as being based on religion because references have been made to Pasmanda Muslims. However, the quota on similar lines has been found constitutionally valid even by the Supreme Court. Also, an appeal for votes in the name of Ram Mandir (by BJP) and denigration of EC being servile to the ruling party (by Azam Khan of SP) have been overlooked.  Will it be okay to appeal for votes in the name of re-building the destroyed Babri Masjid?

So there have been some friction between EC and Ministers of the ruling party and in walks Indian Express (of BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL fame) with a pilfered copy of a “secret” agenda of an  impending meeting of Group of Ministers on corruption which also includes the topic of state funding of elections. The news report adds “Khurshid is reportedly a votary of giving statutory backing to the code advocating inclusion of the issue in the agenda for the GOM. Incidentally, at the last meeting of the group held on September 30, Pranab Mukherjee had opined that the model code was “one of the biggest excuses to stall development projects” and had accepted Khurshid`s request to “flag the issue” and include it in the agenda papers.”  This is verbatim from the report that appeared in IE of 21.2.12. The Indian Express has repeated its story again today (22.2.12 – Mumbai edition meant for Goa) with the sly attempt to confuse the readers by printing a facsimile of “secret” agenda leaving out the date September 30 though it has retained reference to the date in the copy.

The report says that the question of statutory status for MCC among other subjects was under consideration on September 30 if not earlier. However Khrushid`s run-in with the EC which took place only in February has been reported as (to quote IE) “After its senior leaders defying EC strictures over the model code of conduct, the Congress-led UPA government has started working quietly on giving the code a statutory backing. If it is successful, complaints pertaining to code violations will go out of the purview of the EC”. The mischief is apparent. The agenda was prepared in September when there was neither an occasion nor a cause for any feud with the EC. A shining example of how a fact is first distorted and then turned into “the truth” suffused with speculative insinuations and conclusions. The report further insinuates that “a statutory backing MEANS the code violations would be covered by law and hence be tried in a court rather than being left to the discretion of the EC.”

The discretion of the EC prevails in model code of conduct then how is it that it would not prevail if the code is further strengthened and given statutory status has not been explained. It is pertinent to point out that once the electoral process begins, it is the discretion and powers of the EC which prevail all the time till the process is over. Our courts have scrupulously refrained from interfering in any electoral matter till the process is complete. We are a vibrant democracy and not a totalitarian country where four or five Ministers will confer in a secret conclave and dilute the powers of a Constitutional body like Election Commission. The Right to Information act has sufficiently empowered the people to frustrate such evil designs. But the innuendoes and the mischief was enough for almost all News Channels to pick up the IE story only to give it a starkly sinister tinge.

The reporter Sunil Prabhu of NDTV 24/7 was clearly uneasy with the spin that the anchor Sonia Singh, copying the redoubtable Arnab Goswami of TIMES NOW, was trying to give the “accessed” or stolen document. However, it was, along with the NEWSX and the Headlines Today, Arnab Goswami  of TIMES NOW who, as is not uncommon with him, decided to give a free reign to his unseemly rhetoric, distortion, hectoring in painting a picture as vile as possible. Arnab, as made clear very often by him, is in communion with each and every citizen on all issues and thus was enviably placed to bash the perceived evil designs of the present government. He gathered an essentially amenable panel along with the presence of a token dissenter and went ballistic with his pre-determined views, conclusions and agenda.  He dismissed with due contempt the suggestion that the idea of giving statutory status has not arisen out of the recent feuds even if the whole discussion was based on the agenda of September. He insisted with many flourishes and waving of the copy of said agenda that it is the Law Minister Khurshid who is responsible for the “pernicious” idea and it has been taken up only to settle scores with the EC.

He further dismissed the views of the eminent lawyers like KTS Tulsi and Soli Sorabjee that statutory status will only add to and not subtract from EC`s powers if the enforcement of code remains with the EC. Tulsi had further clarified that under the Constitution, no authority, not even the Judiciary, can interfere with any decision of EC, while the electoral process is on. Goswami did not stop at this only but tried to enlist the support of the opposition party BJP through Arun Jaitly to fight what he claimed was a sinister design of UPA and Congress. He forgot that the BJP too has had its run-ins with the EC. Remember the vicious full recall of the name of CEC, James Michael Lyngdoh, only to focus on his religion during elections in Gujarat after the Godhra riots. BJP even challenged the decision of postponing the Gujarat elections in Supreme Court and lost. It did not stop from casting aspersions on the integrity of another CEC, Navin Chawla, which led to the intra-EC slug-fest between Gopalaswamy and Chawla. And now the same Goswami was tilting at the windmills to save the nation from the proposed  change of MCC to statutory status which he ordained will be catastrophic.

The whole episode has a sinister touch and all the brouhaha and exacerbation of distrust is the result of a reference about statutory status for MCC in a stolen official paper. Nobody knows whether any further progress has been made in this regard and what are the draft proposals if any agreement has been reached. But if you go by what the News TV is reporting, an earth shattering event has either already taken place or is about to take place and it will destroy the democratic process as we know it. The frenetic, sick imagination is at work only to garner a few additional trps and this has brought the nation to a halt.

 It is apparent that the editors/anchors  either willfully suppress the truth to sensationalize, manufacture perverse, cynical and miasmic perceptions or are incapable of doing any hard-work and finding out the facts about any contemplated action and its ramifications before taking up the same for tailored discussion in the studios. It is painful to listen to and go through their vicious and extremely unseemly insinuations and innuendos since it is verily a betrayal of the profession and treacherous disregard of the rights and freedom they enjoy as the “fourth pillar” of the Constitution.  The most unfortunate aspect is that a determined, staid, fearless CEC like Qureshi too has begun to display the signs of paranoia. He allowed himself to fall in the trap of answering a hypothetical question about dilution of EC`s powers. Again, a former CEC, Krishnamoorthy, has taken upon himself to defend the EC, during his visits to different studios, without realizing that there is no draft proposal about the statutory status on table.  He should be aware of the fact that the discussion he is taking part in and his advocacy of free and fair exchange of views, as befits a democratic country, is important. Yet no executive should be preempted from deciding its own course of action. The discussions are premature and the attention hungry anchors are indulging only in promoting disharmony. They are more interested in trps and their personal agendas than anything else.

It was more or less the same story in the case of killing of two fishermen of Kerala on high sea. Indeed, Goswami labeled it as “murder”. As if the Italy is a country from beyond the civilization and is thirsty for blood of Indians. The News TV ratcheted up spurious nationalism and has tried to bind the hands of the government and has made the job of finding a solution which will meet the ends of justice that much more difficult. The whole narrative was replete with either “diplomatic victory” when the Marines were brought to Kochi or wringing of hands at the deemed inability of our government to stand up to the diplomatic pressure.  The unfortunate incident did not happen in Indian waters but in waters supposedly under India`s control and has many international implications. The piracy on seas is on the rise and tomorrow if Indians are involved in such unforeseen incidents in international waters, who will bear the responsibility?  Let the courts and international authorities take a view in this matter, keeping in mind the prevalent conventions and past histories. The News TV has already stoked the disruptive emotions and the political parties have lost no time in agitating and calling for blood and summary trial of the Italians without realizing that any precipitous action may result in many international and diplomatic problems later on. It is absurd to label the Italian Marines as murderers and it does not bode well for our diplomatic efforts. TIMES NOW particularly has the tendency to go to the extremes which it did in the case of incidents involving Indians in Australia and again recently in case of an attack on Praveen Reddy in UK which again and as a reflex  was termed as racial attack but turned out to be an attack perpetrated by his Indian friends. The Nidhis, Rahuls, Barkhas and Ashutoshs all want to ape Arnabs of News TV to commune with the people of India and aggravate their anxieties and misgivings whether a situation warrants it or not. Their phenomenal capacity for simulated outrage is indeed scary.

The News TV, invariably, puts out a picture of India which is at war with itself but this is not the whole truth. It must balance its reportage, discussions and above all it is time that anchors shed their arrogance and did some soul searching before parceling out blames indiscriminately. No proposal about the MCC is in public domain and yet so much time, so much bile, so much venom has been spent by all on as yet non-existent proposal. Is it what profession of journalism stands for? It is also apparent that media persons are averse to hard work and application of their formidably “destructive” intellect. In another controversy concerning NCTC, all anchors/editors are merely parroting the claims and accusations of its opponents. No effort has been made at all to find out whether accusations are justified? The issue has been in the public domain for the last two years at least and yet all are pretending as if an unpleasant surprise has been suddenly sprung.

(Pramod Kumar retired from Glaxo and now lives in Goa from where he keeps an eagle eye on Media and can be reached at kumar.pramod1939@rediffmail.com)

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect BH’s editorial policy. 

Now the National Investigation Agency has taken over investigation of the first Delhi High Court Blast case which took place on May 25, 2011 and a case was registered by the agency under sections of Explosives Substances Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act on December 20.  The NIA has been entrusted with the investigation of this case after Delhi Police failed to make any concrete progress.

It is important to note here that the Ministry of Home Affairs has already acknowledged in the Lok Sabha during the last session (on September 6, 2011) that no pointer/fact suggesting terrorist involvement was found in this very case. So, when NIA has taken over the additional responsibility of probing the first Delhi High Court Blast case of 2011,  it is pertinent to look back at the fate of the deadlier second high court blast  (September 7, 2011) case which claimed 15 lives and which was handed over to NIA the very next day.  The media has already done a good share of its typical terror investigation in this case and continues to do so with an amazing level of impunity in close coordination with the NIA.

Investigators are yet to identify the real perpetrators of this terror design, though 100 days of blast have passed, but the media has revealed almost everything including the entire game plan and identities. Media calculations, based on terror briefs by investigators, have taken its toll too. Shariq Bhatt, a minor student of Kistwar (Jammu Kashmir), became the first victim of this invisible, enigmatic investigation and somewhat ultra-religious nature of media reporting.

Shariq, a minor of 15 years and a class XI student of Islamia Faridia Higher Secondary School in Kishtwar, was painted as a hardcore terrorist by the media before they realised the hollowness of unofficial terror briefings. His story is a grim example of the terror unleashed by the media’s self appointed terror investigators, particularly in this case, but it is not the sole instance of the future which awaits any terror suspects per se. As per the latest update of the case, three youths, all from Kishtwar, are in custody and efforts being made to establish their link with Bangladesh and Pakistan-based hardcore terrorist organisation HUJI or Harkat-ul-Jehadi-Islami and a conglomerate of various terror organisations.

In a nutshell, the arithmetic as of now is like this. Three arrests–all youths–one minor (medical reports establish the alleged accused Abid Hussain as a  minor and he was sent to the juvenile justice board), no information about who made the bomb, no information  about who planted it,  and a huge gap in information on who facilitated it,  but the show goes on.

On December 13, Minister of State for Home Affairs, Jitendra Singh, in reply to an unstarred question of the Congress MP Manish Tewari in Parliament, had to acknowledge in writing that Delhi High Court Blast case of September 7, 2011, had not been solved and continues to be investigated by NIA which had reported arrest of three persons (all residents of Kistwar, Jammu and Kashmir). But, surprisingly, the media had already solved it with regular specifics provided by NIA. On November 1, the Indian Express reported with the headline—“Delhi blast: NIA finishes blast jigsaw, except for the bombers.” It had point-wise exact details about the whole scheme of the blast and the faces behind it.

This had very interesting claims about Wasim Akram Malik, the third arrested accused who was pursuing his MBBS from Jalalabad Ragib-Rubeya Medical College and Hospital in Sylhet, Bangladesh. The same Express story claimed  –“According to sources, Malik has told interrogators that he regrets having committed two mistakes: organising to send out the email claiming responsibility from his hometown Kishtwar, and meeting Aamir Abbas, another accused (who was contacted in connection with the email) in person.” 

The Indian Express in its story of November 1, gave the entire blueprint of this terror operation, all according to sources, and at the same time raised doubts over the story though it did not explain as to why it carried a story entirely based on sources which it did not believe in in the first place. When you file a story as per sources, it means you believe in your sources, then why raise a doubt and, if it is doubtful, why publish it?

Here again the same style of terror investigation, reporting news based on a mere confession (which was later denied), discreetly provided by the agency with no actual or circumstantial evidences in place. This is also a fact that Wasim Akram Malik has denied his confession in court. He claimed before the judge that he had been  tortured  in custody and had “no knowledge” about Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru until the National Investigation Agency told him during questioning. Waseem even corrected in court that he was an MBBS student and not a student of Unani medicine as claimed in media reports. 

This is the crux of the so-called media terror investigation which necessitates visiting the beginning of this episode. Again the tale of this investigation unfolds from Kistwar. Revelations started tumbling out about this blast, as the NIA, the official investigator in this case, happened to crack some leads and swooped down on the sleepy, nondescript Kashmiri town of Kishtwar. They arrested three persons with the help of JK police, two of whom, were minors, studying in their secondary classes with no criminal backgrounds. The NIA was following the traces of terror email, sent after the blast, from a cyber cafe in Kishtwar with the address harkat-uljihadi2011@gmail.com.

As Investigators zeroed in, the media reported their every move simultaneously. Seven days after the blast, two boys from Kishtwar were arrested on September 4 and slapped with rigorous charges of criminal conspiracy. They were accused of sending the terror email, and owning responsibility for the Delhi High Court blast. The media immediately jumped into action. Headlines appeared in print as well as in electronic media with due credit to official sources. As per reports that appeared in the media, two Kistwar residents, Abid Hussain and Shariq Bhatt had been booked under Section 120(B) IPC (criminal conspiracy) as first arrests in the email episode. It was a big scoop and was carried with all possible details about their identity as a sort of proven crime without even a modicum of sensitivity.

Very soon, both of these minor accused were known figures across the country, thanks to the peculiar style of “terror” journalism, thoroughly based on NIA or JK police’s brief. Nobody bothered to delve deep in order to dig out the truth behind the scene. It seemed that the information cake had already been prepared and discreetly served to the media with some sprinkles of gossip as topping. A huge damage had been done, where the fourth pillar of the democracy was in the role of an active partner in this jamboree of much-hyped terror investigation.

On  September 17, 2011, the media explained that three accused had been arrested by the  NIA, named Amir Abbas Dev, Abid Hussain and Shariq Bhatt of whom  Abid and Shariq sent terror mail, claiming responsibility for the terror blast on behalf of Harkat ul Jihad ul Islami or HUJI. NIA first caught these two (Abid and Shariq) and their interrogation led to the arrest of the third one, Amir Abbas Dev. As soon as Amir Abbas was arrested, another theory flashed in media quoting same reliable NIA sources that it was  Abbas who had handed over the draft of the e-mail to Abid Hussain and he was the real mastermind.

But the most intriguing as well as dramatic turn of this investigation was yet to come up. This came in the form of a U turn, taken by NIA when it released Shariq Bhatt, one of the three accused, arrested on the pretext of conspiring to spread terror. He was detained on September 10 and later remanded to investigative agency custody, which legally meant that he was arrested by NIA. When Shariq was released, the media surprisingly reported praises from NIA officials, quoting an anonymous investigator: “We wish him good luck for the forthcoming exams.” One newspaper gave a headline —“Kishtwar boy released, SSP tells father ‘your child is brilliant.”’ Shariq was a class 11 student and his exams were approaching at the time of his arrest. Nobody at this stage tried to pause for a moment and think what they had done with an innocent student in the name of terror investigation and in the hurry of claiming informative scoops. They didn’t even bother to undo the mistake.

As per court guidelines, the media cannot disclose the identity of a minor accused however grave or light the nature of the crime allegedly committed by him. But in case of Shariq, all norms were demolished only in the pursuit of blindly following NIA leads. No newspaper or channel issued an apology.

Even Abid Hussain who is in the custody of juvenile justice board, has been prominently mentioned in news reports with relevant particulars about him. As if Shariq’s case had no bearing on media consciousness, it started copying again the unconfirmed upcoming revelations being put forth by the investigator, without any substantial proofs in their support. Now a new theory cropped up in some respectable national dailies linking the network of these jehadis form Kashmir to Kerala.

Now, a Malayalam-speaking jihadist, Abdul Jabbar, was the focal point of headlines. Referring to the arrest of Amir Abbas Dev and Abid Hussain, media announced: “Interrogation by NIA has thrown up evidences that recent Delhi High Court, as well as a string of other recent strikes, could have been facilitated by a jihadist unit in Jammu and Kashmir.” NIA sources then contributed to another theory which encircled another fundamentalist organisation called Tablighi Jammat, supposed to have massive regional presence, allegedly dedicating its resources in spreading an ultra-conservative version of Islam. Some anonymous agency sources claimed that the cell behind attack on the Delhi High Court was recruited by this very Jammat which has been a launch-pad for several jihadist groups and several of its adherents have been implicated in terrorist operations.

There was one more speculation that the rank and file of this Jamat have allegedly played a major role in setting up the Indian Mujahideen, the jihadist group held responsible for several terror attack across India. It was proved again how investigation agency supplies rations to the media and how the latter lap them up.

As per the Parliamentary  reply on August 16, 2011, by Minister of State for Home Jitendra Singh on an unstarred question by MP Prahlad Venkatesh Joshi, NIA had registered and investigated seven cases from Kerala in which SIMI, LET were involved and in six cases charge sheet has been filed. NIA appeared to be easily connecting one case with another, thereby building a chain, and the media readily believed this theory. Thus seven cases related with a different terrorist organisation, seemed to be good enough for the NIA to point the needle towards Kerala after linking it with international terror organisations, though NIA has not pointed anything officially.

The media was yet to do full autopsy of this very Tableegi Jamat in connection with Delhi High Court blast, when Wasim Akram Malik was arrested by the NIA. As the agency held him the main conspirator/mastermind of the blast, the media again took a 360-degree turn and an intense investigative journalism was launched to hunt for the details around Wasim’s past, present, and future, again with the lead from some anonymous NIA investigators.

Thus, as per the new theory propagated by these “reliable sources”, Wasim  Akram and his absconding brother Junaid Akram were the new terror characters intelligently fitted into investigative leads published and shown in the media. There were contradicting reports regarding the arrest of Wasim Akram Malik who was a medical student in Bangladesh. Two theories emerged leading to his arrest. As per the first, he was held in Bangladesh and later handed over to Indian authorities, while his family claimed that he came to India at their own call. They fully cooperated with the NIA and asked Wasim to come back to answer NIA’s questions.

Adding a twist to Wasim’s arrest, his father Reyaz-ul-Hasan Malik, an employee of National Hydro Power Corporation, claimed that he thad ransferred the required money into the bank account of Wasim to enable him to book his flight for Delhi. He termed it an act of vengeance by Hizb conduit Azhar Ali, whose family was his tenant in Kishtwar.  He told the media that his elder son Wasim, who has been studying in Bangladesh since 2006, had come home after 17 months on August 31, 2011. After spending some days with the family, he had left for Dhaka but spent three days in Jammu with his friends and relatives.

He gave some exact details: On September 6, Wasim withdrew money from ATM, on September 7, he was challaned by Jammu Traffic Police for driving without helmet and on September 8, he again withdrew money for making some purchase as he had to leave for Dhaka on September 9, and challenged NIA to verify these facts. Unfortunately no one in the media bothered to verify these claims or question NIA on this count.

Media published these bits of information under the heading: “Delhi blast: NIA team in Bangladesh quiz students”, where the first five paragraph of the story were devoted to investigative moves of NIA and arguments given by Wasim’s father in his defence were carried in the latter part of the story. As of now, Wasim Akram Malik is seeking permission from Delhi trial court to visit Bangladesh to take his MBBS exams. The letter submitted by Waseem’s family before the court is part of the application in which his counsel has sought the court’s direction to preserve the record of his mobile number and the CCTV of the airport.

The Indian legal system still believes in the phrase innocent until proven guilty, which was coined by the English lawyer Sir William Garrow. There was a well thought out reasoning in Garrow’s observation. He insisted that the accusers should be robustly tested in court and an objective observer in the position of the juror must reasonably conclude that the defendant almost certainly committed the crime.

But the media seem to be unmoved by such legal or ethical connotations and continue   pursuing their so-called investigation where information is simply passed on from unknown authorities to the public, without demur. There is no way to prove at this juncture, whether these accused are innocent or guilty. However, the way the media have been reporting the investigation of this blast is really a tragedy of journalism.

(The author is Editor, Special Projects, Dainik Bhaskar Group)

Courtesy: The Hoot

It appears that the UPA Government has not yet recovered from the jolts it has received from the Team Anna.  It is a case of self-inflicted wounds and the same is happening again. It has, through its two prominent ministers, raised questions about what has truly been a pro-people legislation namely RTI. Again, while it is struggling against the near universal condemnation, whether deserved or not, from the main opposition party and the Team Anna whose real agenda is still shrouded in mystery, it has invited criticism by trying to formulate fresh guidelines for the TV Channels. As expected, the Broadcast Editors` Association and the NBA have lost no time in condemning the changes contemplated. These august bodies have never bothered to assess the damage media is doing through its aggressive middle-class evangelism in respect of uncritical and maximalist support to the “civil society”. The media itself has become a player instead of a messenger. It has all but converted truth-telling into profitable market forces and the competition amongst the inter media units is so compelling that it is difficult to tell one from another.  If the Government has lost much of its sheen, the media and particularly the News TV which was once put on a pedestal as a strong bulwark for democracy, too has been reduced to a “hollow” fourth pillar driven more by its own venality and hidden or not so hidden agendas.

The predicament and almost total paralysis of the government may be a delectable situation for the anchors to indulge in their insidious bedlam but it is a betrayal of their profession and disservice to the viewers. The anchors are quick to cross examine the politicians and bureaucrats about their but when it comes to questioning the basis and the veracity of their allegations, the response is not only perfunctory but crass and dismissive. The recourse is to perception or dubious or non-existent sources forgetting the cardinal principle of journalism of investigating and questioning their own or claims or those of the interested parties so that the treatment of both sides is not only equal but fair also. But does it happen?

The New York Times has claimed that Anna Hazare admitted during the interview with their correspondents Lydia Polgreen and Hari Kumar that there has been disunity amongst the senior persons of Anna Team and that he (Anna) has not been getting the proper feedback and that he will soon set the things right. However, Hazare has since denied that he ever made any such comments. The media not only downplayed the NYT interview but has also failed to check with NYT or ask the interviewers about the authenticity of their claims.  Would the media accept such a denial from a politician or a bureaucrat without verification?  No Sir, there would have been crass and puerile discussions in studios with retired worthies and their views suitably tailored to the predetermined stand of the anchors.

Again, the media instead of highlighting chose to downplay the information gleaned through RTI about the enormous difference between the estimates of loss in 2G scam of the Director General of Audit R.P.Singh and the CAG, Vinod Rai. Again there has been no discussion in the studios about the development which may have a direct bearing on the cases under trial and no attempt has been made at all to verify further and build on the information discovered. Is it because the whole campaign against the Government has been built on the alleged mind-boggling loss to the exchequer of Rs.176000 crores? What a contrast from the treatment given by the same media to the CAG report and even the Press Conference of the CAG which caused prime time sensational. Even the disturbing notings on the files of CAG have been given the similar perfunctory, dismissive treatment.

There has been persistent speculation about the nature of support which Team Anna garnered during the 12 day fast of Anna Hazare. The suspicion that the RSS and its many wings had been supporting and even sustaining the movement by organizing free kitchens and providing many other services at Ram Lila ground has been confirmed to some extent by no less than Mohan Bhagwat, the Sar Sangh Chalak of RSS.  The denials by the Team Anna may be taken at face value but must be verified.  It is in the knowledge of the media that the crowd management, their food etc had been taken care of by the RSS volunteers and that the Team Anna was well aware of the situation. They have no choice but to insist on being apolitical and above electoral politics to maintain their synthetic saintly aura. Yet, the likes of Rajdeep Sardesais and Arnab Goswamis ask for proof for the claims made by Digvijay Singh but are selective in using the same bench-mark for Team Anna. It is apparent now that in thanks giving, the Team Anna is making sure that BJP does benefit electorally by their campaign against Congress in Hisar bye-election, notwithstanding their dubious and too clever statements about being focused only on the Jan Lokpal Bill. It will not be wrong to speculate that the Team Anna, in tandem with the BJP, keeps shifting the goal posts since their aim is to influence the outcome of the next General Election and not really the JLP. Their affinity with the Rightist forces is the natural by-product of their belief in meritocracy, the inadequacy of the Constitutional Institutions and the oligarchic governance.

Aravind Kejriwal has made almost “oracular” claim in an interview with Karan Thapar that Anna Hazare is above the Parliament and so is Kejriwal or Thapar or you and me. Even Kiran Bedi has claimed that Anna is India and India is Anna. This is a dangerous proposition.  WE THE PEOPLE, as a collective and not as a person or an individual however eminent or “saintly” are sovereign.  Individuals must bow to the primacy of the Constitution. Our representative democracy can deliver goods only through the collective will of “we the people” ascertained through elections of 543 members of Parliament and that ascertained will is the sovereign will. Advocacy of any deviation from this will not only play havoc with the governance of the country but is an open invitation to the anarchy. However, the anchors do not find such topics worthy of discussions for it may and does not fit in with the portrayal of their “icons” of Civil Society.

It will be undesirable if the Government persists in its knee-jerk reactions and in its present almost dysfunctional state to muzzle the freedom of speech. Admittedly our media has lost its professional ethics.  It has become increasingly irresponsible (admittedly it is a generalization for there are even now some exceptions which are true to the profession) and its quest for trps and eye-balls has created a stink and miasma which the country does not deserve. Yet, it must be asked to do the course correction only through persuasion, coaxing, discussions and consensual approach. The media with muzzled freedom is much more dangerous than a free and irresponsible media.

PS : It may not be out of place to add that over the last two days, the fervour of some of the media houses in support of Team Anna has moderated a little. It is noticeable.  Also, the word “presumptive” in respect of the alleged loss in 2G scam is back in discourse.

(Pramod Kumar retired from Glaxo and now lives in Goa from where he keeps an eagle eye on Media and can be reached at kumar.pramod1939@rediffmail.com)

The pervasive cynicism, despondency and disenchantment  amongst the people already existed  in some measure on account of general corruption but these have now been amplified manifold by the way the CAG report on 2G spectrum allotment has put the loss at an unimaginably high figure. CAG Vinod Rai has qualified the loss with the word “presumptive” but it did not affect the opposition or the media. They simply dismissed the qualification. It is perhaps one of the reasons for the traction Team Anna got in its agitation against corruption.

The CAG report on 2G spectrum allotment has come under scrutiny after Siddharth Zorabi of CNBC/TV18 channel revealed, through RTI, intriguing and surprisingly huge variations in the estimated losses. The Director General of Audit R.P. Singh, who actually conducted the audit, put the loss as Rs. 2645 crores whereas CAG Vinod Rai in his final report put the “presumptive” loss as 176000 crores, a figure shockingly enormous. It was further implied but never claimed at high profile press conferences held by the CAG that someone has derived huge pecuniary benefits from this loss to the exchequer. This perverted the whole discussion about the 2G spectrum allotment and for the media it was manna from the heaven. But this shook the nation and all but paralyzed the government.

The subject of discussion held on 4.10.11 in the programme INDIA TONIGHT at CNBC/TV18 was these, yet to be fully explained, revelations. The participants were Sidharth Zorabi, a spokesperson each from BJP and Congress and the ubiquitous in studios, the retired Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Subramaniam. The spokespersons stuck to their brief and did not deviate from their set pieces. However, Subramanian was more than his usual strident self and did surprise by his vigorous defense of CAG by claiming that being a Constitutional Authority, he is beyond scrutiny just like a Supreme Court Judge.  He even called for, with raised decibels, that the report is akin to a Supreme Court verdict, and should be respected thus.  He even demanded that CAG should be given the powers of holding people to contempt, if necessary. If so, then what is the role of PAC or even a JPC? The former Cabinet Secretary making such a demand is indeed disturbing.

Zorabi further revealed during the discussion some as yet unexplained notings on the file. These related to the apparent dissatisfaction and regret about Singh having approached Department of Telecommunications about some matters. Rai`s noting “I wish we had not written to the Dot” and Rekha Gupta`s (the Deputy CAG) noting “please convey CAG`s observations to DG (Singh). Also please reiterate that he is not to write to Secretary, Dot, on this or any other matter”.   The real ramifications of these notings are yet to emerge but Subramaniam had nothing to say about these. Yet he berated the present bureaucracy as bootlickers which kowtow to the political bosses for personal advancement. He claimed that the bureaucrats now reach the top not by being upright or moved by public service but by being on the right side of the powers that be. It is however moot as to how the lot now rubbishing the present bureaucracy reached the top in their era?

Subramanian also referred to the good that former Chief Election Commissioner, T.N.Seshan had done to the electoral process by his upright/authoritarian methods. Such results always earn plaudits but these are short-lived because of the means adopted to achieve the objective. Remember, during the Emergency in mid- seventies, people were very happy with trains being on time and the govt. offices working to the satisfaction of the people. But how long did that admiration last. Similarly in case of Seshan too, his powers had to be curbed by raising the number of Election Commissioners to three.

The other astounding observation Subramaniam made was that the revelation through RTI are only to besmirch the reputation of CAG just like the government has attempted to do in case of Baba Ram Dev and Anna Hazare. He forgot that the government has had no role to play in this matter and the person who exposed these things was sitting beside him in the studio. Astonishingly, Karan Thapar did not challenge Subramanian`s observation.  The channel cannot be in cahoots with the executive.  Perhaps, the channels allow the retired bureaucrats to have their say since the agenda is common? Have these worthies become complicit in the channels` pursuit of their venal or other interests?

It is pertinent to mention here that there are bureaucrats and bureaucrats. Earlier also there have been CAGs like T.C. Chaturvedi,  (remember BOFORs controversy) who was first made a member of the Rajya Sabha and then elevated to the post of Governor of Karnataka by NDA Government. Strange things keep happening in the polity and frustrated bureaucrats have found a haven in the studios where they fume, fret and ridicule the government of the day and perhaps get paid for their performance. The channels, epitomes of negativity, welcome them with open arms. Yet there are persons like Harsh Mander, Aruna Roy, Jai Prakash Narain (and many more who believe in making their contribution to the well-being of the people quietly) who resigned from the IAS for they found it difficult to compromise their ideas of social commitment and public service. They too criticize the government of the day and even suggest ways to solve the myriad problems India faces. Yet their tone is never denunciatory nor do they seek prime time sensationalism.

(Pramod Kumar retired from Glaxo and now lives in Goa from where he keeps an eagle eye on Media and can be reached at kumar.pramod1939@rediffmail.com)

The belief is that the information not only empowers citizens but also leads to greater transparency and efficiency in the working of various institutions in a functioning democracy. The media and the recently enacted Right to Information (RTI) are two very good sources for empowerment of common people. The RTI is still in a nascent stage and has been successful, to some extent, in meeting common grievances of ordinary people, but it may be premature to evaluate its full impact on the democratic institutions.

However, it is  evident that the changes taking place in the media are not all that wholesome. Apart from the slow “tabloidization” of news channels and hawking of the first page for lucre  even by print media, the professional standards have degenerated somewhat during and after the Anna Hazare-led anti-corruption agitation. The other reason is perhaps the intense competition among the media organisations, both print and electronic.  Then there are the competing interests/affiliations of different media groups.

File photo of coverage of Mumbai terror attack

However, the media`s uncritical support to the crusade against corruption and the abject attempts of the establishment to curb it instead of admitting the legitimacy of Anna`s cause, if not the manner of combating it and the success of the media in magnifying manifold its impact of, has generated some dangerous and unseemly ideas and tendencies among the controllers of the media. In keeping with the prevalent social and political milieu, one should not be oblivious to the fact that the media too  is being afflicted with corruption and becoming a seeker and dispenser of favours.

In a democracy, the fourth pillar enjoys the right to free press and freedom of expression. As with any right, there are corresponding obligations and responsibilities too.  The attempts to limit or curtail the free press have, no doubt, been made in the past but have failed because of the unstinting support of the ordinary people.  The media has discarded the cardinal principle of the journalism that it should  only be a critical, investigative, questioning, impartial observer and not a partisan in the political, social and economic activities.  It is only a messenger and not a player. The anchors’ incessant badgering, hectoring of the politicians and the confused and ill-prepared presentation of facts and news muddy the situation further. Yet, the anchors and editors have become not only arrogant but, perhaps being keenly aware of the power they now wield,  have also sought to play a bigger role in fashioning the future of the country without being accountable to the people.  The tools they employ to achieve their objectives also are questionable. Apart from the usual tricks of trade like pulling and pushing a particular person/news, edited bytes and even the suppression of news, the two most abused words in this respect are “perception” and the “sources”.  The freedom of expression, if not used judiciously, has the  built  in danger of leading to chaos and confusion.

The beleaguered Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has itself contributed a great deal to the problems it is now facing through self-inflicted wounds. It has been less than cohesive in explaining and then defending the telecom policy it has followed till 2008. It should have explained forcefully in the public debate that the policy issue and the irregularities in its implementation are two separate things. It should have demanded that the case is in the courts and the law should be allowed to settle it.  Its decision with regard to the appointment of the chief vigilance commissioner (CVC) and the  methods it employed to deal with agitations have revealed astounding ineptness and have earned it  just opprobrium.  The indications of two ministers squabbling too did not help the UPA.

Our anchors are not given to working or researching a subject well and are prone to push it on the basis of superficial knowledge or understanding by using the “perception” or “source” to hide their inadequacy.  They had already polluted the public debate about the 2G scam by dropping the word “presumptive” from the alleged loss of revenue as calculated by the CAG. It did not seem that they were aware of or willing to understand the difference between a telecom policy formulated for achieving increased telephonic density and not for revenue.

The News TV allowed itself to be mesmerized by the figure of loss of Rs 1.76 lac crores to the exchequer. It clubbed together the policy and the implementation of the policy and created an atmosphere where such nuances were lost and kept on stoking the cynicism about the politics, politicians and even democratic functioning.

The News TV has done the same thing about the note, which was placed in the Supreme Court indicating that the then finance minister could have stalled the execution of the telecom policy if he had put his foot down. Since the note was prepared by the Finance Ministry and seen by the incumbent finance minister, the media jumped to the conclusion that the UPA is a riven entity and lacks cohesion.

In a democracy, the dissensions and difference of opinion are a given. It will be a misfortune if our functional democracy becomes regimented. The media too joined the bandwagon of opposition parties, which not only questioned the policy but also the integrity of the then finance minister. There is no way of confirming such impressions, but these impressions get amplified if the channels keep at it 24X7. The anchors kept on rubbishing any claims of there being no rift. They excelled not in appreciating nuances but also in asking loaded questions. Any answer was the grist to their mill for denouncing the polity, governance and painting a sorry picture of the country. In situations like these, the lynch-mob mentality is hard to miss.

The daily trials of the government in studios where a phalanx of retired bureaucrats and experts who have failed to get or have lost the sinecures they cornered after retirement (do they get appropriate honorarium for their efforts?) is always willing to supplement the efforts of the anchors to tear the three pillars of the democracy apart. No one is spared, be it politicians or the bureaucrat.  The ambience has become so miasmic that those who are supposed to take decisions are afraid of taking them leading to a sort of paralysis of governance. Unfortunately, we are living in an era of leaks and negative constructs where not only the efficiency but the integrity is questionable scrutiny.

In such situations the very stability of a nation is at stake. Notwithstanding the many faux pas of the UPA, has the media even tried to explore the likelihood of forces like the corporate (unhappy with NAC) and the Rightists having become hyper-active under the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) coming together to derail it.

The media’s such actions are a great disservice to the country at a time when the economic situation worldwide is in doldrums and the nations must be ready to take swift action to meet the unforeseen challenges. Our anchors/editors should be less partisan, less sensational, not so full of their own importance and be more appreciative of the nuances, subtleties and responsibilities of decision making in a democracy. Ruling a country with its myriad problems is not easy, and it should be realized by all, including the media, political parties, crusaders and general people.

(Pramod Kumar retired from Glaxo and now lives in Goa from where he keeps an eagle eye on Media and can be reached at kumar.pramod1939@rediffmail.com)