Media Crooks

Problem: Elections! Solution: Emergency 2012!

2012-08-23T08:55:00.002+05:30

This is from the New YorkTimes: “The quotations come back redacted, stripped of colorful metaphors, colloquial language and anything even mildly provocative. They are sent by e-mail from the Obama headquarters in Chicago to reporters who have interviewed campaign officials under one major condition: the press office has veto power over what statements can be quoted and attributed by name”. In other words any quote from the Obama campaign that appears in media is pre-censored by his press office. Out in the US they are now calling it “quote approval” or “message approval”. In India the govt and the media are creating “phenomenon and semantics” to create fear and through it muzzle free speech. The phenomenon here is to use the Assam violence and subsequent events to create fear and panic and distract from many other real issues. The semantics: Spreading hate, images inciting violence, hate-speech and communal threats! And all of this mainly coming from only one source: Social media on the internet.

The entire sequence of events after the Assam riots is turning into one bizarre conspiracy. It almost seems very well thought out, planned and implemented. The violence at Azad Maidan followed by that at Lucknow by those in “garbs and dressed up” as Muslims (as TOI states) do not seem to be accidents. If there were fake but provocative images of killings in Assam or Burma on the internet they were used by the riot-mongers in ‘print’ at both places. It is not the Internet or websites that directly provoked any violence or communal hatred. Evidence based on people arrested so far in Bangalore and Kerala clearly indicate use of mobile services for bulk SMSes and MMSes to instigate fear and the exodus. From August 12 the media had started receiving the memo. Blame it on Pakistan! Blame it on Social Media! They broke it gently and then raised the pitch by accusing FB, Twitter and websites of hate-speech, inciting communal violence.

On TV channels and Twitter the agenda-driven media folks, led by CNN-IBN and NDTV, were on a rampage issuing warnings, threats and messages to social media about spreading hate and inciting violence. The stage was set – Enter Kapil Sibal and Sachin Pilot. I had alerted the Internet/Social Media censorship plan in my post “Assam & Azad Maidan - How MSM Sibalises Riots” on August 12. A private message even reports that some Twitter handles were reported to the govt for blocking by members of MSM. Not surprising! Once the stage was set by the MSM, the junior guy, Sachin Pilot, embarked on a mindless rampage blocking websites, FB accounts and individual web pages. Not much success with Twitter yet. Let’s ignore the nonsense about fake or parody accounts of @PMOIndia. That’s another smoke-screen. So what did they block so far?

CIS Blocked sites (Click to enlarge)

Here’s a graphic from the CentreFor Internet Society that indicates 309 sites and pages that have been blocked. (Caution: They claim this is based on a leak and also some sites may still be accessible on certain ISPs). The 309 figure seems close as Indian Express corroborates. IE also adds an important and shocking opening para: “Out of the 245 web pages that the government had blocked till Monday, not more than one-fifth contained any reference to the people of the Northeast or the recent violence in Assam, indicating that the role of Pakistan’s internet users in creating the hate atmosphere that caused people of the Northeast to flee home from cities like Bangalore, Chennai and Pune could be exaggerated”.

Outlook (Click to enlarge)

Is any of all this surprising? Oh by the way, in case some are still wondering how fake images provoked violence here is a telling article in Outlook Magazine titled “Will Justice Katju please take note?” . Actually the title is quite misleading. The article concerns an Urdu news bulletin circulated in Delhi that used the fake images to provoke Muslims. Again, that’s a PRINT version. I have, naturally, blocked the gory image from the article here but on the Outlook page the image is reproduced as in the original Urdu article and as was seen all over during the last few weeks. So why this alarmingly knee-jerk reaction from the Congress govt and most in the mainstream media? One word: Elections! Some of the “approved messages” are indeed stunning:

Ø Sagarika Ghose implied the RSS, who were helping the NE victims, was behind the Bangalore exodus and that they had an “agenda”. She wasn’t alone, there were many others. Message: Right wing Hindus were spreading hate and rumours and threats.

Ø TOI describes the rioters in Lucknow as people in “garbs” and “dressed up” as Muslims.

Ø Frequent appeals and warnings by media persons on Twitter warning Twitterati to avoid rumour mongering, spreading hate and inciting communal sentiments. And though the messages are general, the target is the huge Hindu population on Twitter and the internet.

Ø Denounce the “Illegal Bangladeshis” reality on TV shows and print articles and portray Muslims as the victims. Completely avoid mentioning the role of Asaduddin Owaisi and his “third-wave” threat from the parliament.

Ø Constantly accuse Indians on social media from across the world, again mostly Hindus, of abusing freedom of speech and inciting communal hatred.

Ø Blame Pakistan without real evidence but act against websites from India. Even innocuous web pages that discussed Assam or the Exodus were blocked. Some Twitter accounts are also blocked to spread further fear and panic.

A govt that can fall and face elections at any time will go any lengths to create fear and panic. A govt that is corrupt will go any lengths to block dissent. 2014 is still some time away. The first target would have to be Gujarat. It needs no Einstein to discover that a huge majority in the social media are Narendra Modi fans and BJP sympathisers. Semantics? Tag them as Fascists, Extremist-Right-Wing and people who “spread hate”. Another massive victory for Modi in Gujarat presents the greatest and clear danger to the Congress govt at the centre. It is also hurtful to them that Modi has proved to be far more net-savvy and has been successfully able to harness social media to further his cause and politics. SM will naturally play a major role in campaigning and propaganda in all future elections. The dissenting voices on the net need to be tamed, if not silenced, since the Congress is losing the social media war. The Gujarat cottage industry of hate, Teesta, Mallika, Barkha, Rajdeep and others, has been defunct therefore newer options needed.

Although the Congress claims to be the party that fought for our freedom from the British, it has stood for anything but freedom and independence. At every threat to its power at the centre or any state it has resorted to the most absurdly repressive measures. Curbing free speech has always been the permanent pet project of the Congress and its govt. In December 2011 in the parliament Ram Jethmalani altered a commonly used saying about power thus: “Power corrupts but the prospect of losing power corrupts absolutely!” If the Congress loses power then the media, which is soaked in corruption and luxury by its collusion, will also lose the battle. Indira Gandhi did it in 1975, Sonia Gandhi and her cronies have just about implemented a veiled Emergency in 2012. The worst is still to come but this time around it is unlikely they will manage to suppress speech. The internet is not like Congress sycophants, it’s now the mother of free speech.

Communal CNN-IBN Rants Against Social Media

2012-08-21T17:53:00.000+05:30

Since the Assam riots followed by violence at Azad Maidan, exodus of NE people from many cities and more violence at Lucknow and Allahabad a shrill campaign is being carried out by both the govt and the Mainstream Media (MSM) to crackdown on Social Media (SM). The ones heaping the most scorn on SM are none other than the ones from the communal channel of CNN-IBN group. Sagarika Ghose, Ashutosh, Nikhil Wagle and, of course, Rajdeep Sardesai have been abusing the Twitterati for quite a long time now. Some of their messages on Twitter can even be classified as ‘hate speech’ and ‘threats’. There are too many such tweets for me to reproduce here so anyone who wants to go through those can scroll their Twitter timeline (yes, it’s legal).

Ever since the govt came to the magic conclusion that it was certain websites from Pakistan and from India that provoked Muslims to riot and agitate violently and provoked the NE exodus our MSM has adrenalin rushing through their spines. GOI has already blocked over 100 such websites from India and nobody knows which sites those are. The hate-mongers from the MSM also seem to deeply desire a crackdown on Twitter, Facebook and blogs. Under the guise of inflammatory content the GOI has probably blacked out many websites which may have absolutely nothing to do with the riots, rumours or the NE exodus.

CNN-IBN, the hate social media channel, had Thapar the Tool asking the question on August 20 on his programme: “Should social media be subject to restrictions”? The question is as evil as the mind that concocted it. We, in the public, should be asking why CNN-IBN, a highly hateful channel, a channel whose editor compares riots and states, implies number of deaths determine coverage of riots and whose Social Genius frequently abuses Hindu icons and even Indian males in general shouldn’t be shut down altogether. Towards the end of his show The Tool even prods a panellist from govt repeatedly to answer the question: “Will you take legal action against Twitter?” Such is the utter contempt for social media which is a huge mass or ordinary men and women.

To my knowledge and all information available the violence at Azad Maidan wasn’t directly provoked by websites. There is enough evidence that activists on the ground used images from the web in printed leaflets to mobilise the protests which led to violence. As for rumour mongering leading to the exodus, the MSM celebs are probably as guilty of it as much as anyone else. In fact, reports of arrests in Bangalore indicate mobile operators SMSed the threats and rumours. The latest report today in HindustanTrolls has this to say: “Cyber security agencies have apparently detected the hand of radical groups, such as the Popular Front of India (PFI) in Kerala and Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jehad al Islami (HuJI), while tracking SMSs that led to the exodus of Northeast people. They have been tracking SMSes — not all troublesome — from all sources. Of them, more than 60 million were sent on August 13 alone”.

Another report: “The Government has reportedly ordered 80 or more Internet pages and user-accounts on social networking sites including Facebook, Google and Twitter to be banned to avoid panic among people of the North-Eastern region living across India”. Reports NDTV. This must bring endless joy to the MSM and those who campaigned vigorously for such an action. Here is a twitter transaction between the Social Genius and Sadanand Dhume (They had earlier battled in a debate on Internet Hindus on AlJazeera). The response from Dhume is very telling. It is quite evident that these celebs from the MSM are tired of their spin, their lies and their propaganda being exposed by many in the SM. They are desperate to regain their monopoly of the airwaves and continue their free-run without being exposed. In short, they want to be the Tin-pot dictators of media that Dhume describes. And all these spurious arguments from a woman who abuses any and all persons and icons in her stupidity.

From July 18 this site itself was blocked by BSNL. Reasons? Unknown! For three weeks BSNL users were not able to access this site. There was no response to two mails that I sent them but before it could go any further they had restored access, after three weeks. There is an interesting ruling by a consumer court that should guide the blocking of all sites and maybe that woke up BSNL to its crime.

MediaNama reports: The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum at Shimoga (Karnataka) has penalised Airtel for deficiency in providing Internet access when it blocked torrent sites earlier this year, following a Madras High Court Order received by Copyright Labs. Ruling in favour of the complainant, Vinay B, a resident of Shimoga, the consumer forum has directed Airtel to pay Rs 20,000 to the complainant (and pay interest at 9% per annum till date of payment), for deficiency in service and for causing mental agony, and Rs 2,000 towards litigation charges. A copy of the Court’s order is available here.

Vinay B, a resident of Shimoga, filed a complaint against Airtel, alleging that while trying to access a torrent site from his mobile phone over a GPRS connection, he encountered the “Access to this site has been blocked as per court orders” message, in place of the web page. Following calls and e-mails to the customer service, Airtel failed to come up with a satisfactory response, and apparently misinterpreted the Madras High Court order blocking an entire website instead of a particular film clip, according to the complainant. Airtel’s nodal officer came up with a response that the court order did not specify if Airtel should not ban the entire site, instead…. It noted that for about more than one and half months, the illegal block was imposed by Airtel as the website was blocked in the last week of May 2012 and the block had been withdrawn from July 15th of 2012.

So even in the extraordinary case of a violation only the relevant pages need to be blocked and not the entire website. Websites can also be issued notices to take down pages and I am positive if a real threat is perceived any website author will oblige by putting nation over self. Regardless of this it is criminal that the media which should stand up for freedom of speech delights and thrills in strangling social media. Time will soon establish the ignorance of both the govt and the MSM that they simply cannot blame social media for provoking riots or violence or rumours. There is no solid evidence to prove that and the govt or media hasn’t provided any so far. The motive for the attacks on NE people, the rumours and threats that forced their exodus maybe much larger than what is known and reported so far.

Social Media will not replace MSM but sooner than later will become the more reliable source for news and information. This is what scares the living daylights out of hysterical celebs like Sagarika, Ashustosh, Wagle, Barkha and many more. The collective hatred they spew against certain groups and people in general can compare with the Ku Klux Klan or an elite Neo-Nazi group. A line from the article: “The art of rumour in the age of digital reproduction” in The Hindu pretty much sums up their desperation: “Older media like television remain powerful but increasingly fragile — hence the nervous hysterics of television anchors”. Social Media has truly arrived.

BanglaDesh & Pakistan Must Be Laughing

2012-08-19T09:23:00.000+05:30

The GOI made a spectacular discovery on August 18. They discovered that all the images and reports about Muslims being killed in Burma and which provoked riots at various places in India came from around 76 websites. Importantly, a large number of them were from Pakistan. So blame it on Pakistan. Okay! This was our media tom-toming a statement from Home Secretary, R.K.Singh. After the violence in Azad Maidan, Mumbai, on August 11 there was a sudden exodus of NE people from Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore. This exodus was stated to be based on fear-mongering by SMS threats and blew up to a large scale on the evening of August 15. Depending on where the moon rises, the number of NE citizens who have fled mostly southern cities ranges from 20000 to 30000, according to our honest and reliable news media. Go ahead, choose your own number!

Since the Assam violence started our media has offered us many excuses to not cover the events thoroughly. Logistics, not enough deaths, no OB vans and the hilarious list can go. What is amazing is none of them are even willing to report the truth that is right in front of them. Maybe the National Broadcasters Association (NBA) decided once again not to report Muslim violence as they once did when riots occurred over a mosque in the Jangpura area of Delhi. On August 17 after Friday prayers a group came out in Lucknow to continue protests over Burma and Assam. They also vandalised public property as also statues of Buddha and Lord Mahavir at public parks. They also attacked media personnel who were covering the event but images of the violence did get around.

It seems TOI didn’t know which group was indulging in the violence in Lucknow even as the police looked on helplessly. Well, TOI gave us a thorough description of these people in their report. I quote: “LUCKNOW: A mob tried to disturb communal harmony in Lucknow by indulging in violence and arson under the garb of agitation to protest violence against Muslims in Assam and Myanmar. Around 50 people dressed as Muslims, wearing skull caps and scarves, created ruckus in the crowded Hazratganj area violence soon after Friday prayer”. Garb? Dressed up? Oh well, that’s how media reports when it comes to a certain group. I was naturally curious after the TOI report and after extensive research found that it was a disgruntled group of angels from Puerto Rico that had dressed up as Muslims and were agitating in Lucknow. Something even tells me they are disgruntled because they were agitating for gay rights in their homeland. I wish TOI had gone a bit further and blamed Puerto Rico just as our govt now blames Pakistan.

That Lucknow bit was fanciful from TOI. But what about those wild SMSes that sent out threats to the NE folks to quit. Nothing to worry! You see, faster than police or any intelligence agency can investigate, our media ‘exodus-specialists’ have all the answers. There is the Social Genius, of course, and we now have Johny-come-lately Mihir Sharma. This bimbo sounds like a conspiracy specialist. No, I’m not talking about Sagarika here!

Both the Social Genius and Sharma imply through their tweets that the Hindu RSS had spread the threats and were then playing angels helping the fleeing North Easterners at Bangalore station. While Sagarika asks “What is the agenda here?” Sharma even modifies a tweet to make his implications pretty clear. It’s RSS who should be nailed for this.

After all the sermons over keeping rumours out, not spreading fear and doling out sympathy for the victims what do our media charlatans do? They do exactly the opposite of what they preach. Spread rumours, spread hate and even spread hate against those who were helping the NE at Bangalore station. Truth is, they don’t have any more information than you and I do. But it’s alright! Karnataka police on August 18 arrested a few people (Again, Puerto Ricans?) from Bangalore and I quote the TOI report (Damn! This time they disclosed the names, shame on TOI!)

Bangalore: Director general of police Lalrokhuma Pachau claimed police caught three persons sending hate SMSs and MMSs, after a raid at an electronic shop in Koramangala on Saturday. He said the investigating team received information that Anees Pasha, 26… started spreading rumours through SMSs and uploading videos electronically to incite hatred against people from the northeast region…. Anees told police that he and his associates were sending SMSs to a large number of people which wrongly depicted violence in the northeast. Pachau said the mischief played by Anees and his brother, Thaseem Nawaz, 32, of Platinum Court in BTM I Stage, and an associate Shahid Salman Khan, 22, of Teachers' Colony in Venkatapura, had resulted in the panic and fear.

Let’s come back to the Pakistani websites. There are quite a few websites that faked the images of Muslim victims of violence, whether all of them were Pakistani or not. But did the crowds at Azad Maidan gather and indulge in violence because of these websites. It wouldn’t appear to be so. I am once again producing a tweet from someone who received fliers which had those gory images and these leaflets were inviting Muslims to Azad Maidan to join the protest. This was on August 10. Some of the elements at Azad Maidan came prepared with stones, rocks, iron rods for the peaceful protest. These images may have been reproduced from the websites but were the leaflets being distributed by Pakistanis? The invitation to Azad Maidan came through such leaflets, SMSes, Tweets and FB pages. None of the tweets or FB pages appears to have put up any images. So even if there were provocative but fake images on websites what did the damage was probably the printed leaflets circulated by leaders of the agitation which ended up in violence. Were these printed in Pakistan too? The Internet has many provocative images of all kinds. But it is those who used it on the ground in print that resulted in the chaos.

Even so, why did it take so long for the media and govt to get to this information of images on websites? When I saw the tweet and image shown above, a simple search told me these were faked. Like many others, I had also tweeted a link to the site by a Pakistani blogger, Farhaz Ahmed, who had systematically explained the misuse of these images. Some in the online news media even carried articles about these fake pics and the explanation. So how come the govt is now claiming these websites were the one to provoke violence. This reflects poorly on the Intelligence mechanism of the state and the mainstream media. In one stroke the govt has happily blamed Pakistan and our dubious and deceptive media is happy to run that line instead of confronting the govt with actual facts and chain of events. I had tweeted about the web images being fake on August 12. It took the govt 6 more days to realise this? Amazing! What about the media? Were they sleeping too? This information was available all over the net but most in the media were busy blaming Hindus, RSS and even “Third parties”. I would call this criminal neglect by news media of their duties.

Sagarika and Sharma weren’t the only ones spreading rumours. There were many other journalists who indulged in excessive misinformation, hate and sermons to the public. That’s what you get with a compromised media. Far from challenging the govt on the lies about these violent incidents, threats and exodus our media is happy setting the platform for them to spin facts. Expect more lies to follow. According to the media and govt. illegal Bangladeshis weren’t involved in Assam violence. All the other violence was caused by Pakistani websites. Both Bangladesh and Pakistan must be laughing.

Boards Don't Hit Back. Twitter Does!

2012-08-17T18:54:00.001+05:30

Every evening our top media celebs go on air with a fixed agenda. They probably have their story-boards ready. Their panellists, whose views are already well-known, are fixed and the anchors' leading questions and their own conclusions are predictable. For instance read this tweet by Barkha Dutt for a discussion on Baba Ramdev: “Is Baba Ramdev's Yoga turning Politics Upside Down? Here's our debate”. (Her timeline says 12.14 am Aug 15, but it’s actually a good 12 hours behind IST as we shall see later). Even if you haven’t seen the program you can easily tell where the debate would have gone. Well, these celebs debate on TV when viewers cannot respond or hit back at their outrageous spin and lies. Then some of them get on Twitter and let loose a stream of mindless and sometimes abusive tweets and expect the same silence. Lately, with the exodus of North East Indians from various cities some of them have been spewing excessively mindless hate through their tweets. Some of them are even comic. But they expect the Twitterati to treat them the same way as when they are on TV. That’s what reminded me of this little clip from Bruce Lee’s “Enter the dragon”. Watch the 4o second clip.

Boards don’t hit back just as Lee tells O’Hara. But after hitting the board O’Hara doesn’t manage to lay a finger on Lee in the entire fight as anyone who has seen the movie would know. Scripted story-boards in a studio won’t hit back. Twitter is not a studio board. It will hit back. People won’t take nonsense lying down and will call the spin and lies for what they are. Now, little Ms. Barkha Dutt believes if she has blocked someone (which maybe many) then reading her tweets is “stalking”. It would be difficult to hammer into her brain that tweets are in a public forum whether she blocks or not. In which case, she should also ask her followers not to RT her. Especially being in the news media every word she utters is liable for scrutiny. Narendra Modi has blocked her media-wise long back. Why is she still following his statements or politics and commenting on them or debating them? Is she stalking Modi? This is the foolish argument of the ignorant. Then these media celebs will say on Twitter what they wouldn’t say on TV because it allows them to talk any nonsense as much as it allows the entire population on Twitter. Then why so much anger and hatred towards a certain group on Twitter? But hey, let’s lighten up. And no better way to do that than with the comic duo of Rajdeep-Sagarika:

So according to the Social Genius Hindus were venting against minorities and she had to prove she was a devout Hindu. Cool! So why is she a devout Hindu? Because her uncle joined Ramakrishna Mission! Now this led to series of hit-backs on Twitter under the hashtag #TweetLikeSagarika. Would she have said this on TV? No, but Twitter is the right place for her wisdom. Few months back Rajdeep wanted to prove he was a proud Hindu. Why? Because he eats steak! Sure, beef eating is a definite sign that one is a Hindu, isn’t it? Now what gives these people the right to believe they can say such things and not be ridiculed? Imagine, they are saying the same things on TV with a lot more polish and diplomacy and political correctness. Fun isn’t it? Alright, I have rarely used the term PaidMedia, I prefer the more honourable MediaCrooks. This being-paid thing annoys Sagarika immensely. She rages at those who insinuate that some media celebs are on the Congress payroll. Very unfair! But don’t trust my word, look at the following tweets:

In October 2011 Sagarika’s protégé, the political reporter covering Congress, Pallavi Ghosh tweeted about some being on the Congress payroll. Umm.. that is not some abusive Twitter monster making the accusation but an insider saying it, isn’t it? Now, why should anyone believe that doesn’t apply to Sagarika’s media outlet too? Imagine, both Sagarika and Pallavi are debating this on TV and one is making this accusation and the other is raging. Would they? No, but Twitter allows this and yet Sagarika is outraged and calls it Fascism. You see, journos say things and forget and expect that others will forget too. Unfortunately, Twitter and Internet caches are very unforgiving. They hit back!

Okay, fun part is over. Let’s get to some serious business. The NE exodus from various cities in India has been disturbing to the nation over last 2 days and nights. But media played down Pune, Hyderabad and the focus was strongly on one city – Bangalore. Again, not very hard to guess why, is it? So Barkha Dutt, who was silent through most of Assam and Azad Maidan violence came alive on the night of August 15 and was tweeting about the exodus from Bangalore which was raging like fire on Twitter. Here are some of her tweets (Once again, for some reason, her timeline stamp is about 12 hours behind IST):

So first there was ambiguity. Then she tweets the trains were booked in advance. Where was the report from? No mention at all? I guess the Twitterati she loathes so much also feed her information. And she is the one who preaches not to spread rumours. Who’s spreading unreliable information here? Here’s more from Barkha:

So, from trains booked in advance it turns out there were rumours forcing NE citizens to flee Bangalore. And then she says about the Karnataka minister: “Good for him”! Naturally, many picked up on this stupid statement. I doubt if Barkha has still realised that. On the night of August 15 she was tweeting as much based on rumours and tweets as anyone else, yet only the Twitterati are rumour-mongers and inciters. Never mind!

No matter what the situation you have to be “prim and propah” with your English and terminology. That’s Barkha’s rule (which, of course, doesn’t apply to her but all others). When the Sikh killings happened in Wisconsin, USA she tweeted: “Btw can we please just call a gurudwara a gurudwara. Sat Sri Akal”. It didn’t matter that the Gurudwara itself had a board calling itself a “temple”. Someone (@KittuKrithika) also pointed out the holiest shrine of Sikhs is called “Golden Temple”. So the preacher also tells you what titles and terms to use. That’s exactly what she objected to when people used the words “flee” and “exodus” for NE people leaving Bangalore. Nice, isn’t it? Here was my response:

Really? She has conveniently forgotten all the times when she referred to or allowed her panellists to refer to the ‘Communal riots’ in Gujarat as Holocaust, Pogrom or Genocide. Then she calls usage of the words flee and exodus as rumour mongering. By the usage of those words or allowing it on her channel about Gujarat has she not deliberately allowed rumour mongering and even untruths on her own shows? Such is the hypocrisy of media celebs that they forget their own crimes and sermonise others. Their only hope? That people would have forgotten their past crimes.

Note: Her original tweet actually said "WORD are crucial (Singular) as RT'd by me. She deleted that and corrected to "WORDS are crucial" (Plural). Admire her Grammar-sense! (The original tweet containing "word" in singular, although deleted, still remains on Internet records).

So their loathing, hatred and venom for a certain group on Twitter converge in one way or another. Nothing explains that better than these two almost identical tweets:

I have no regrets in stating that celebs like Rajdeep, Barkha, Ashutosh, Sagarika and a few more are divisive enough in the debates they conduct on TV. It is a luxury they have that ordinary men and women don’t. But they also want the best of both worlds. They also want to use Twitter to rage and trash people, which they also do on TV with no one to hit back. And when the Twitterati hit back, they complain about the noise and even accuse them of bigotry, malice and hate.

Unfortunately, bigotry, hate and malice existed much before the advent of Twitter or social media. Many of the inventors and campaigners were in the mainstream media. It’s just that our celebs would do anything to have it silenced through constant accusation of social media crimes. Sure, there may a very tiny group of extremists in social media as in the mainstream media and anywhere else in society. But these media celebs hardly qualify to be the moral police for any media. Each one has broken many ethics codes of journalism. Unlike their protected studios Twitter is not a story board. Twitter will hit back and sometimes it will hurt.

Assam & Azad Maidan - How MSM Sibalises Riots

2012-08-16T06:37:00.001+05:30

Here’s what Kapil Sibal said last year: “People have been asking why we can't just prosecute individuals who post hate-speech instead of blocking sites but there are three reasons why that's not workable … each time material of this kind becomes the subject of legal proceedings in open court, you will have protests, mobs, perhaps violence — even if the media is responsible, and doesn't report the details.” Someone else lent strong support to Sibal in his attempt to censor the internet with this: “I've had to deal with stone-throwing mobs on the streets because of some moron in the United States.. Each time, people could have got killed. For me, this isn't an airy-fairy ideological issue, it's a real problem.” This is none other than Omar Abdullah, CM of J&K. Relax Mr.CM, there might be morons in the US but it’s the morons at Azad Maidan (AM) that indulged in unprovoked stone throwing and violence on August 11, 2012. So how do we use the AM story? Let’s check with the MSM.

Till August 11 there was hardly any incident where material from the internet could have been blamed for violence on the streets. I guess both Sibal and Abdullah have been quiet since the violence at AM wasn’t communal but unleashed by one group on its own. The violence wasn’t by Sagarika’s “Internet Hindus” or Barkha’s “Bigots”. If that had indeed been the case then Sibal, Abdullah, Sagarika, Barkha, Rajdeep, Ashutosh and more would have come out with all guns blazing. Instead, our news channels didn’t know where to look or who to blame for what happened. And then some even had the gall to blame the social media for provoking people.

This is a tweet by the mother-in-law of MSM sermonisers, Ashutosh of IBN7, he blames some “gangs” on Twitter. If he has seen some gangs making the provocation he doesn’t know who but wants others to identify and prosecute them. One can safely believe that he hasn’t seen any and is indulging in lie-mongering of his own kind else he could have openly named some people or gangs. The man considers himself a ‘journalist’ and makes terribly loose statements frequently on Twitter without any specifics. If Bollywood ever wanted an actor to portray fake outrage at the drop of every 12-rupee coin, Ashutosh would be their man.

Let’s take a look at a tweet by Sonia Singh of NDTV. Again, she too claims people are putting up images that can create ‘tension’ without verification. Once again, she tweets without any specific reference to any image. It would be safe to assume she is referring to the same gang as Ashutosh and we all know who that gang is. Don’t we? My response to her tweet is also in the image. Truth of the matter is that the online folks on websites and twitter posted accurate images of some criminals from AM. Some of these were also reported by news websites like Firstpost. Some images were captured by Atul Kamble of Mid-day who was assaulted by policemen. Hmm! Not to be left out, Akash Banerjee of Headlines Today jumps into support SoniaSingh. He says ‘self-check’ not possible in social media which is why MSM is needed.

First, nobody has said MSM is not needed and there’s no context. Second, there’s a history of lies and bloopers from MSM which Banerjee’s third rate channel makes him forget. His own super-boss, Aroon Purie, once plagiarised and blamed jet-lag for it. And then as recent as a few days back a major news paper’s website announced Dara Singh dead three days before his actual death. DNA announced Vilasrao Deshmukh dead on August 7, a week before his actual death. As for sensitivity, Banerjee’s channel was the only one to flash tits of the Guwahati molestation victim. And has the MSM already forgotten how they brought hell on Sarabjit Singh's family with the wrong news of his release from Pakistan? So Banerjee and his tribe would do well to look inward before sermonising.

Media crooks frequently utter nonsense on twitter and their channels and when confronted and questioned they play victim and wrongly complain of being abused. Scientists are about to call this phenomenon ‘Barkhadrome’! Truth: None of these unworthies and their channels had the honesty or guts to question the threats issued by Asaduddin Owaisi on Muslim radicalisation. Events of AM followed immediately after his threats in parliament. It’s actually quite a few from Twitter who gave the warning signals which even the Mumbai police seem to have missed.

Here’s a tweet that mentions gruesome pictures being circulated in Mumbai to provoke muslims to attend the protest meet at AM. These were supposedly pics of muslims who were butchered in Burma. I am quite certain the Mumbai police too would have got these fliers if these were circulated to citizens so openly everywhere. Neither Ashustosh nor Sonia Singh had the courage the point this out but then come out like angels sermonising. MrsGandhi’s tweet’s timeline is 1.57 am on August 10 which is more than 24 hours before the AzadMaidan gathering. This is apart from SMSes that were being relayed according to the police themselves.

That’s not all, the tweet from @Pushpraj4U from the ground mentions groups getting into local trains in Mumbai and shouting slogans. This was confirmed on August 13 in an NDTV program itself by Sonia Singh. How come news channels missed this too? Or were they sleeping on their jobs?

Incidentally, a fake handle, @officialskynews tweeted Margaret Thatcher’s death on August 14 but was quickly dismissed as a rumour by other tweeters. That’s how social media works unlike MSM which perpetuates lies unless challenged by social media.

Now, let’s get to the juicy part where both Ashutosh and Sonia advise to check and recheck before tweeting images or provoking people. Far from tweeting rumours or lies many on twitter have been very careful and were verifying each news item and each report and each image in tweets. Along with others I too tried to verify the images that were received in a leaflet by @MrsGandhi. And what comes up is shocking to say the least. The images in the leaflet were faked to provoke muslims. The images were from earthquakes and other incidents in Thailand or China and had nothing to do with Burma.

I tweeted information about the site which showed the mischief that many muslim leaders were indulging in to provoke their followers online and on the ground. Farhaz Ahmed, a Pakistani, in his blog PakAlert Press explains systematically how images of deaths were misused to provoke muslims. His post was in the context of Pakistani social media and not India. In India it was Muslim leaders who planned the agitation who used fake pics and that wasn’t through social media. It is just that both Ashutosh and Sonia Singh would have found the same info as I and others did and could have been specific about whom or which group is misusing and abusing social media. They did not! And it’s not very hard to tell why!

There are three interesting images of individuals that are disturbing. Two are of those vandalising the Amar Jawan memorial which was tweeted by many and also carried by online news sites like Firstpost. There’s a third image of a man carrying an automatic gun through the streets at the scene of violence. (See Youtube 0.23) All these three images were buried by all the news channels. Not one of them was outraged at these disturbing images. Now I would like Ashutosh or Sonia to answer if these pics were mischievous and faked by Twitter.

Were these images not available to them? They should have flashed these images or at least the faces of these criminals so that police or citizens could identify them. Nothing! As for Akash Banerjee, it would have been better for Headlines Today to have shown the faces of these thugs instead of cleavage of molestation victims. All the violence, including two people killed, was in support of victims from fake pics that were used by the leaders of the protest at AM. No channel reported the truth. Not Sonia’s NDTV, not Ashutosh’s IBN7 and not Banerjee’s Headlines Today. So my modest suggestion to these media celebs is to look inward and not sermonise social media.

So what’s with the rant against the Twitterati and social media by these media celebs? Now that’s where Kapil Sibal comes in. First he has made no secret his wish to censor the internet and had faced flak from every corner. What’s his reasoning? It’s that there was potential of the internet, social media sites to incite violence. Even communal violence! AM could have been handy but unfortunately from the wrong party. So media hacks like Ashustosh and Sonia are doing a great job for Sibal. Keep accusing Tweeters of posting fake pics, unverified pics and messages, of provoking Hindus and Muslims without any specifics and there you go; the perfect recipe for Sibal to act upon. None of these news channels have shown any courage or nerve to report Assam or AM accurately and honestly.

At the time of writing there are rumours of Assamese and NE citizens being threatened and that there’s an exodus of thousands from Hyderabad (A.Owaisi’s constituency) and Bangalore. There were special trains organised for them to leave at Bangalore (From late on August 15th to early hours on August 16). Not one of the many 24X7 news channels had any report on the facts on the ground. Instead, celebs like Barkha were tweeting silly nonsense, unreliable information with no real source and even colouring events with clever communal tweets. Truth is, Barkha, Sonia, Ashutosh and others in MSM do have an agenda unlike most on twitter. Real threat is that all of this may not end with Assam alone. Not one word from MSM on these threats. If not for social media they may have even totally blacked-out and buried all of these incidents including Assam and AM. Fact: unable to face the onslaught of fast dissemination of information on the social media these media celebs cook up allegations against it. Sorry, won’t sell anymore, no matter how much they Sibalise riots and violence.

PM's "Crisis Of Confidence" Speech At Iftar Party

2012-08-14T14:24:00.001+05:30

On the evening of August 13 at an Iftar party hosted by Ram Vilas Paswan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed the diners on the eve of our Independence Day. This is the full text of the speech to members of Congress and other secular parties who attended the dinner.

MMS: "Crisis of confidence"

Namaskar on the eve of the 66th Independence day of this great country! This is a special night for me. Exactly eight years ago, in May 2005, I accepted my appointment as Prime Minister by Smt. Sonia Gandhi. I promised you a PM who is not isolated from the people, who feels your pain, and who shares your dreams and who draws his strength and his wisdom from you.

During the past eight years I've spoken to you on many occasions about national concerns, the energy crisis, reorganizing the government, our nation's economy, and issues of terrorism and especially black money. But over those years the subjects of the speeches, the talks, and the press conferences have become increasingly narrow, focused more and more on what the isolated world of Delhi thinks is important. Gradually, you've heard more and more about what the government thinks or what the government should be doing and less and less about our nation's hopes, our dreams, and our vision of the future.

Few days ago I had planned to speak to you about very important subjects – energy, terrorism, illegal immigration, black money, corruption, scams, quotas, unemployment, farmer suicides, rail accidents, airline crisis, Assam violence and Azad Maidan violence. For the fiftieth time, I had described the urgency of these problems and laid out a series of legislative recommendations to my High Command. But as I was preparing to speak, I began to ask myself the same question that I now know has been troubling many of you. Why have we not been able to get together as a nation to resolve any of these problems?

It's clear that the true problems of our Nation are much deeper -- deeper than kerosene lines or power shortages, deeper even than secularism or recession. And I realize more than ever that as PM I need your help. So I decided to reach out and listen to the voices of India. I invited to the PMO people from almost every segment of our society -- business and labour, teachers and preachers, governors, mayors, and private citizens, all represented by five eminent media personalities. And then I left 7RCR to listen to other Indians, men and women like you.

It has been an extraordinary five days, and I want to share with you what I've heard. First of all, I got a lot of personal advice. Let me quote a few of the typical comments that I wrote down.

This from the Kerala Governor: "Mr. PM, you are not leading this nation -- you're just managing the government. Some of your Cabinet members don't seem loyal. There is not enough discipline among your disciples. Don't talk to us about politics or the mechanics of government, but about an understanding of our common good. Mr.PM, we're in trouble. Talk to us about blood and sweat and tears. If you lead, Mr.PM we will follow."

Many people talked about themselves and about the condition of our nation.

This from a young woman in Panchkula: "I feel so far from government. I feel like ordinary people are excluded from political power”. And this from a young man from Chinchpokli: "Some of us have suffered from recession all our lives. Some people have wasted energy, but others haven't had anything to waste." And this from religious leader of the Church: "No material shortage can touch the important things like God's love for us or our love for one another."

And I like this one particularly from a woman who happens to be the mayor of a small oil rich Assam town: "The big-shots are not the only ones who are important. Remember, you can't sell anything on Dalal Street unless someone digs it up somewhere else first."

This kind of summarized a lot of other statements: "Mr. PM, we are confronted with a moral and a spiritual crisis."

Several of our discussions were on energy, and I have a notebook full of comments and advice. I'll read just a few. "We can't go on consuming 40% more energy than we produce. When we import oil we are also importing inflation plus unemployment. We've got to use what we have. The Middle East has only 5% of the world's energy, but Reliance has 24% of India’s oil." And this is one of the most vivid statements: "Our neck is stretched over the fence and Bangla Desh has a knife."

And the last that I'll read: "When we enter the moral equivalent of war, Mr. PM, don't issue us mobile phones."

These few days confirmed my belief in the decency and the strength and the wisdom of the Indian people, but it also bore out some of my long-standing concerns about our nation's underlying problems. After listening to the Indian people I have been reminded again that all the legislation in the world can't fix what's wrong with India. So, I want to speak to you first about a subject even more serious than energy or inflation. I want to talk to you right now about a fundamental threat to Indian democracy. I do not mean our political and civil liberties. They will endure. And I do not refer to the outward strength of India, a nation that is at peace this morning everywhere in the world, with unmatched economic power and military might.

The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation. The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of India. The confidence that we have always had as a people is not simply some romantic dream or a proverb in a dusty book that we read just on the 15th of August.

It is the idea which founded our nation and has guided our development as a people. Confidence in the future has supported everything else -- public institutions and private enterprise, our own families, and the very Constitution of India. Confidence has defined our course and has served as a link between generations. We've always believed in something called progress. We've always had a faith that the days of our children would be better than our own.

In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in Gandhi, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But we've discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning. We've learned that piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose.

The symptoms of this crisis of the Indian spirit are all around us. For the first time in the history of our country a majority of our people believe that the next two years of UPA will be worse than the past eight years. Two-thirds of our people do not even vote. The productivity of Indian workers is actually dropping, and the willingness of Indians to save for the future has fallen below that of all other people in the African world. As you know, there is a growing disrespect for government and for ministers and for schools, the news media, and other institutions. This is not a message of happiness or reassurance, but it is the truth and it is a warning.

We were sure that ours was a nation of the ballot, not the bullet, until the murders of Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Phoolan Devi. We were taught that our armies were always invincible and our causes were always just, only to suffer the agony of China. We respected the PMO as a place of honour until the shock of Coalgate.

We remember when the phrase "16 anna sach" was an expression of absolute dependability, until five years of inflation began to shrink our rupee and our savings. We believed that our nation's onions were limitless until 2008, when we had to face a growing dependence on Pakistani aid. The people are looking for honest answers, not easy answers; clear leadership, not false claims and evasiveness and politics as usual.

What you see too often in New Delhi and elsewhere around the country is a system of government that seems incapable of action. You see a Congress party twisted and pulled in every direction by hundreds of well-financed and powerful special interests. You see every extreme position defended to the last vote, almost to the last breath by one unyielding group or another. You often see a balanced and a fair approach that demands sacrifice, a little sacrifice from everyone, abandoned like an orphan without support and without friends.

Often you see paralysis and stagnation and drift. You don't like it, and neither do I. What can we do? First of all, we must face the truth, and then we can change our course. We simply must have faith in each other, faith in our ability to govern ourselves, and faith in the future of this nation. Restoring that faith and that confidence to India is now the most important task we face. It is a true challenge of this generation of Indians.

We've got to stop crying and start sweating, stop talking and start walking, stop cursing and start praying. The strength we need will not come from 10 Janpath, but from every house in India. We ourselves are the same Indians who just this year won our best Olympic medal haul. In little more than seven years we've gone from a position of billion dollar reserves to one in which almost half the dollars we use comes from Dubai, at prices that are going through the roof.

What I have to say to you now about terrorism, illegal immigrants and energy is simple and vitally important.

Point one: I am today setting a clear goal for the terrorism policy of the India. Beginning this moment, this nation will never use more commandos for VIPs than we did in 1977 -- never. From now on, every new addition to our VIP security will be met by the VIPs themselves.

Point two: To ensure that we meet legal immigration targets, I will use my authority to set quotas. I'm announcing now that for 2012-13 and 2013-14, I will forbid the entry into this country of one single illegal immigrant more than my party’s goals allow.

Point three: To give us energy security, I am asking for the most massive peacetime commitment of funds and resources in our nation's history to develop India's own alternative sources of fuel -- from rocks, from water, from dead trees, from unconventional gas, from the moon.

Point four: To make absolutely certain that nothing stands in the way of achieving these goals, I will urge Congress to create a high-powered board which, like the Waqf Board, will have the responsibility and authority to cut through the red tape, the delays, and the endless roadblocks to completing key projects.

Our nation must be fair to the poorest among us, so we will increase aid to needy Indians to cope with rising energy prices. We often think of conservation only in terms of sacrifice. In fact, it is the most painless and immediate way of rebuilding our nation's strength. Every watt of power each one of us saves is a new form of production. It gives us more freedom, more confidence, that much more control over our own lives.

You know we can do it. We have the natural resources. We have more money in Swiss Banks alone than several Pakistans. We have more coal than any nation on Earth. We have the world's highest level of technology. We have the most skilled work force, with innovative genius, and I firmly believe that we have the national will to win this war.

I do not promise you that this struggle for freedom will be easy. I do not promise a quick way out of our nation's problems, when the truth is that the only way out is an all-out effort. What I do promise you is that I will lead our fight, and I will enforce fairness in our struggle, and I will ensure honesty. And above all, I will act and I will speak more often.

I will continue to travel this country, to hear the people of India. You can help me to develop a national agenda for the 2020s. I will listen and I will act. We will act together. These were the promises I made three years ago, and I intend to keep them. Little by little we can and we must rebuild our confidence. We can spend until we empty our treasuries, and we may summon all the wonders of science. But we can succeed only if we tap our greatest resources -- India's mines and spectrum, India's secular values, and India's confidence. I have seen the strength of India in the inexhaustible resources of our people. In the days to come, let us renew that strength in the struggle for a secure nation.

In closing, let me say this: I will do my best, but I will not do it alone. Let your voice be heard. Whenever you have a chance, say something good about our neighbours. With Soniaji’s help and for the sake of our nation, it is time for us to join hands in India. Let us commit ourselves together to a rebirth of the Indian spirit. Working together with our common faith we cannot fail.

Thank you and wish you a Happy Independence Day in advance.

Note: This is a work of fiction and imagination. The speech is rephrased/parodied from the 'Crisis of Confidence' speech by former US president Jimmy Carter which can be read here.

I-Day Special: Terror Threat Through Parliament

2012-08-12T09:25:00.000+05:30

On August 10 about 250 Hindus visiting India from Pakistan, with valid visas, were stranded at Wagah Border. They weren’t allowed through because the Pakistani govt barred them entering India for ‘security’ clearance. Some of these people wished to settle in India for good. Violence, rape, forced conversions; murders have forced Hindus to flee from many Pakistani provinces. They were finally let in as pilgrims after many hours of detention. The same night Arnab Goswami, in a discussion on this incident on TimesNow, asked Zafar Hilaly, former Pak diplomat about treatment of Hindus in Pakistan and why they were being held up and why Hindus were fleeing. The instant answer from Hilaly was India doesn’t have a great record of how it treats its muslims either. Arnab’s question was different. With all due respects Mr.Hilaly we don’t see muslims fleeing from to India to Pakistan or Bangladesh as refugees, do you? We will come to the second part of Arnab’s debate on the Assam violence in a few.

There is one place in India which enjoys absolute freedom of speech. One can say anything about any issue, any person, entity, country or religion. Absurd insults and abuses can be hurled at anyone, including the nation. Even threats of violence and terrorism can be held out.That’s in our parliament. MPs enjoy immunity from prosecution for anything they say or express in the house. At the most something unacceptable may be expunged from records. The same freedom of speech should be available to all citizens everywhere but it’s not. On August 8 the discussion in the house was on the Assam violence and relief camps. One member made the most threatening speech in recent parliamentary history. He spoke about the condition of muslims in relief camps, on his disagreement with the nature of illegal immigration from Bangladesh and held out the following threat:

Frame this statement in your minds.

This is what Prakash Singh wrote in an article in the New Indian Express on August 1 about the illegal immigration and threat to social harmony as also security.

The SC of India, in a judgment delivered on July 12, 2005, while declaring the provisions of the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, 1983 as ultra vires of the Constitution, observed that ‘there can be no manner of doubt that the State of Assam is facing ‘external aggression and internal disturbance’ on account of the large scale illegal migration of Bangladeshi nationals’. The apex court went on to say that ‘the Bangladeshi nationals who have illegally crossed the border and have trespassed into Assam or are living in other parts of the country have no legal right of any kind to remain in India and they are liable to be deported’. The warnings of the task force and the group of ministers were ignored by the government. The directions of the Supreme Court were not complied with. That was not all. Earlier, Lt. Gen.(retd) S K Sinha, then governor of Assam, in a communication to the President of India sent on November 8, 1998, warned that ‘as a result of population movement from Bangladesh, the spectre looms large of the indigenous people of Assam being reduced to a minority in their home state’ and that ‘this silent invidious demographic invasion of Assam may result in the loss of the geostrategically vital districts of Lower Assam’.

Many in the social media have already written extensively about the illegal immigration and the altered demography of Assam (MSM will however hide such truths). However, Assam may just be an eye-opener while this silent and currently invisible alteration may be happening in other states too. For a few years now, this pattern of altered demography through muslim immigrants has been felt in other countries too. For a few years an extract, reportedly from Peter Hammond’s book “Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat”, has been on the net and also doing the rounds on email. Controversial it is, but whether this is accurate and whether agreeable or not, it is certainly worth a read, and to understand Assam and other Indian states where non-muslims face the heat (the stories are many where entire towns and villages have become completely muslim-majority and Islamic) Extracts, from the Examiner, are provided below and percentages against countries indicate their muslim population:

As long as the Muslim population remains around or under 2% in any given country, they will be for the most part be regarded as a peace-loving minority, and not as a threat to other citizens. (This is the case in: United States --0.6% Australia --1.5% Canada --1.9% China --1.8% Italy --1.5% Norway --1.8%)

At 2% to 5%, they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups, often with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs. (This is happening in: Denmark -- 2% Germany -- 3.7% United Kingdom --2.7% Spain --4% Thailand --4.6%)

When Muslims approach 10% of the population, they tend to increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions. Any non-Muslim action offends Islam, and results in uprisings and threats….. (Such tensions are seen daily, particularly in Muslim sections, in: Guyana --10% India -- 13.4% Israel --16% Kenya -- 10% Russia --15%)

After 80%, expect daily intimidation and violent jihad, some State-run ethnic cleansing, and even some genocide, as these nations drive out the infidels, and move toward 100% Muslim, such as has been experienced and in some ways is on-going in: Bangladesh --83% Egypt --90% Iran --98% Pakistan --97% (Remember Kashmir?)

This goes on till 100% population is muslim and there is peace, except for violence within the muslim community. You can read the full article at Examiner or anywhere on the internet (It is easy to search). On August 11, thousands of muslims gathered at Azad Maidan in Mumbai to protest killings and conditions of muslims in Assam and Burma (in Burma?) and before you knew the gathering had turned violent. Two people were killed, 45 policemen injured, buses and media vans burnt and even some private vehicles smashed and burned. It is in the light of this form of agitation and mindless violence that the statement of Asaduddin Owaisi (AO) needs to be measured. Other than Times Now all other news channels just brushed his threatening statement under the carpet. The demography alteration followed by govt appeasement and then frequent agitations coupled with violence is something the communist media blacks out when it comes to muslims. In contrast, the tiniest incident concerning a Hindu or other religious group is magnified beyond reasonable proportions by the same media.

And what instigated the violence at Azad Maidan? Oh it was spontaneous by some motivated and hot-headed youths. Sure! You see, there are frequent gatherings and protests at Azad Maidan. So that ground has permanent kiosks that sell petrol, kerosene, rocks, stones and lathis, just in case someone wanted to indulge in “spontaneous” violence! Laughable! Trains, buses and traffic were disrupted for hours from 3pm when this mob went violent. To protest deaths in Assam (and, of course, Burma) two people had to die in Mumbai.

AO calls it the Third Wave of radicalisation of muslim youth. First being after Babri in 1992 and the second being after the Gujarat riots of 2002. This is an outright lie as both Arnab and panellist Mahesh Jethmalani pointed out to AO. The ethnic cleansing of Kashmir of 1989-90 happened before Babri. SIMI existed before Babri. Al Ummah, which has been responsible for terror attacks in South India, has been around before Babri. The Nellie massacre in Assam in 1983 happened before Babri. So AO’s argument that radicalisation of muslims started with Babri is utter nonsense. This same nonsense, along with that of Gujarat, is also peddled by many intellectuals and journalists in the entire communist mainstream media as the cause of many terror attacks. There may have been revenge attacks but radicalisation in muslims doesn’t seem to really need a cause. During the discussion Arnab and also Ajit Doval, former IB officer, also pointed out to AO that Hafiz Saeed, the LeT head, had in 1996 openly targeted the radicalisation of 1% of muslims in India. And that was before Gujarat.

Kashmiri Hindus are refugees in India itself, driven out violently by muslims in the valley. The ethnic cleansing of Kashmir is also matched by ethnic cleansing in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Hindus, Sikhs, Christians have been systematically slaughtered in both countries. This is the same danger of ethnic cleansing that many districts of Assam face from illegal immigrants. Original inhabitants, Tribals, Bodos and other communities are naturally alarmed and in the mood to revolt over illegal muslim immigrants running over their lands, their culture and their economy. AO argues that many muslim illegal immigrants from Bangladesh may also be Hindus. Quite possible! And it is no big secret that it is impossible for Hindus to live in these Islamic republics where their population has consistently diminished, they have been targets of violence, rape, murders and forced conversions. Their temples have been regularly destroyed. Why shouldn’t Hindus, even illegals, be allowed to settle in India? They are victims of persecution unlike muslims from Bangladesh or Pakistan. AO has to acknowledge this distinction and so too other politicians.

And to argue for these illegal immigrants some in the media resort to the most illogical and stupid arguments and comparisons. Champion among them has to be Barkha Dutt (See tweet) who talks about Indians who are illegal immigrants in other countries. Sure, there are. But they aren’t destroying properties, not threatening original inhabitants with violence and religious conversions, they do not pick up swords for every disappointment. They aren’t destroying Christian churches or mosques. They aren’t demanding special rights and laws for themselves. It’s amazing that media celebs can’t seem to see the simple difference. Even in Europe (and in the US) most of the social strife and violence comes from the muslim immigrants who refuse to respect the original inhabitants, their culture and their way of life as they grow in population. When I say media is the biggest danger to our democracy this is exactly what I mean. They suppress the truth and then insult it by “Miss India” type statements, comparisons and solutions.

I previously quoted the theory: “When Muslims approach 10% of the population, they tend to increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions. Any non-Muslim action offends Islam, and results in uprisings and threats”. Owaisi’s statement in parliament is exactly the lawlessness and threat that this theory describes given India’s muslim population is well over 13%. Sandeepweb justifiably calls it the on-going Jihad in Assam. In other places in India this demography Jihad may not be all too visible right now. The protest at Azad Maidan in Mumbai by muslims was called by some Raza Academy but once the violent incidents happened they washed their hands of any responsibility. If you read NDTV’s report about the protest you won’t know who was protesting. Even the image used is of dead vehicle. This is how media completely blacks identity of muslims when they indulge in wanton violence.

Danish cartoons on Mohammad? Violence in India! War in Iraq? Violence in India! Rohingya muslims in Burma? Violence in India! War in Afghanistan? Violence in India! Osama Bin Laden killed? Violence in India! Offend Islam? Chop off arms in Kerala! And then Mr.Asaduddin Owaisi, after his intemperate language and open threat, repeatedly calls himself a proud Indian. Mahesh Jethmalani rightly called his speech “A call to arms, instigation and sowing seeds of civil war”. About AO’s defence, Jethmalani called it a Mark Anthony type speech which turns the mob against honourable Brutus.

Had Owaisi made the same speech outside parliament he could have been prosecuted for sowing communal disharmony, instigation and motivating public violence and threatening terror against the nation. That is not mere imagination, one can easily attribute the violence at Azad Maidan to his extremely provocative threat. And mind you, there is no reason to believe the Mumbai crowd did not have a good sprinkling of Illegal Bangladeshis and Pakistanis. On the eve of another Independence Day India is probably the only country where a MP brazenly threatens radicalisation of muslims and by implication terror attacks and violence against Indians. The threat may not be an empty one.

BabaRamdev: Media's Mudslinging-Season-2, Episode-1

2012-08-10T12:41:00.002+05:30

In a tweet on August 8 I had predicted some serious mudslinging against Baba Ramdev (BRD) when he starts another campaign at Ramlila on Thursday, August 9. No it didn’t take the IB or RAW to tell me that. I just recalled how last year CNN-IBN had inaugurated mudslinging season against BRD as he started his agitation in June 2011. This time Rajdeep Sardesai and Sagarika Ghose (the eminent Social Genius) are not alone. They are joined by master ‘News-Breaker’ Bhupendra Chaubey from their own stable. And then there were others like Madhu Trehan, Suhel Seth (The Item-Girl specialist) and a few more. We will come to Chaubeji and the rest a bit later.

First things first! Let’s start with the common question by all anchors, all anti-BRD panellists and of course, Congress. Why is BRD’s assistant Balkrishna appearing in posters with terrorists like Bhagat Singh and Rajguru at Ramlila? That’s blasphemy! Oh wait, it’s not me calling them terrorists, it’s our own school text books calling them that. And who allowed such textbooks? ICSE and the Congress govt of AP did. Even Mahatma Gandhi reportedly did not protest the hanging of Bhagat Singh. I did not see a similar protest from the media when heroes like Bhagat Singh were called terrorists. Did you? It’s alright, as they say one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist. In this case one has to wonder who the other man is. Not to forget, when Anna’s ‘secular’ movement pulled down the large back-drop of ‘Bharat-Mata’ the media thought that was fair and there were no questions.

You see, idolisation is fine with the media only as long as it is for the Gandhi family. They can be anything or anyone. Take Rahul Gandhi. He can be Kashmiri, he can be Dalit, a Muslim, a Sikh, an Allahabadi and he can be a Brahmin as well. If there were a Chameleon’s Association they would have been seething in anger and protest. Not our media. But RG didn’t start that trend. It was started by Nehru then followed by Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and now Rahul Gandhi.

Hell, I forgot someone in between! The great saviour of India: Sonia Gandhi. Five years back Congressmen in MP dressed her up as the brave Rani of Jhansi in posters (don’t miss the cute little Rahul in the back-pack). In true spirit and bravery of the Rani of Jhansi SoniaG battles all evils that threaten India and her people. Oh, I’m sure even in that case you will recall how strongly the media protested and Rajdeep, Arnab, Barkha, Chaubeji were all lambasting the Congress for insulting the memory of the brave Rani. No? They didn’t? Okay, so little Balkrishna appears with many other ordinary men in a poster with heroes and that’s the biggest problem for media. Exemplary unbiased morons!

Now, we can come back to Chaubeji. On August 9, he got up early and got out early and headed straight for Ramlila grounds to confront some women in the crowd. He asked them if they came on their own or were truck-rolled into Ramlila. To his surprise they told him they came from far off places in Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and such states. Not enough! So he goads another woman: “There are people who allege BRD has evaded tax, accumulated wealth and illegal properties?”. Hmmm! The woman replies with nonchalance: “Woh bewakoof hai!” (They are fools!) So Chaubeji got bitch-slapped over and over again with his silly questions. His questions tried their best to slander BRD but in vain. And he had stated in a tweet that he had the most “explosive” details about BRD’s tax evasion. Well, one sincerely hopes those explosive details don’t bomb the way Chaubeji did at Ramlila. So from last year our Mr.Chaubeji has now become Mudslinger Jr., next only to his boss.

And if Chaubeji does his thing in the morning can his boss, Mudslinger-in-Chief, be too far away? Rajdeep Sardesai started off early morning too with a stupid tweet asking if Ramdev can get some rains. Mind you, no Baba, no Swami, no Guru … nothing but plain ‘Ramdev’. Such is the contempt that our media gurus hold for him. Had it been a mullah Rajdeep would have addressed him as “Imam Saheb”. Well, you see BRD is clothed in saffron and Rajdeep’s loathing for that colour and Hindu traditions and customs is not such a big secret.

So at night Rajdeep repeats Chaubeji’s question: “Can Ramdev become the face of Anti-corruption?”. Someone on Twitter responded by asking if a bargirl and waitress can be the head of the UPA govt why BRD can’t be an anti-corruption crusader. Never mind! So RS asks Congressman Mani Shankar Aiyar the question and about crowds at Ramlila and MSA responds by stating “It’s a flop show”! Rajdeep turns to another panellist, Devender Sharma, and asks for a response. Sharma states a stunning fact: “The biggest flop in India is Congress’ youth icon Rahul Gandhi although the party will not accept it”. I would have to say going by history and facts Rahul Gandhi’s failures would actually be considered more than a flop. those would technically count as a total disaster. The difference is: Rahul Gandhi rides in the back-pack of Jhansi Ki Rani unlike BRD.

Hmm… so this Devendra Sharma wasn’t very obliging. So Rajdeep turns to a trusted RSS-hater, Kumar Ketkar. And because Rajdeep knows him to be a RSS-hater asks him a leading question: “Is BRD backed by RSS?” . Happily, Kumar Ketkar lets off a well-strung rant about BJP, RSS and BRD being the mask of these forces. KK implies, without saying it, that RSS is anti-national and to that Tarun Vijay shoots a few bullets calling KK “Friend of Pakistani supporters and ISI supporters in the media”. So you can see how Rajdeep wanted the debate to go. The idea was neither black money or corruption or BRD’s movement. Once again, it was how to trash BRD. Mudslinging at its best! I think both Mani Shankar Aiyar and Kumar Ketkar are scumbags from the filthiest of waters. But hey, don’t take my word for it! Listen to someone who is usually more profound with his loathing of the Twitterati: Nikhil Wagle. His tweet says a lot about about MSA and KK and their filthy language.

It’s not over until Justice Arnab sings it’s over. So apart from CNN-IBN, TimesNow too had a hilarious debate. Nothing particularly outstanding in that show except for Madhu Trehan outrageously charging BRD with “duping common people” and when asked about BRD’s ability to draw crowds, Item-Boy Suhel Seth responded with: “I can get item-girls from Bollywood and get you crowds of 30000”. I believe that is perfectly in sync with Suhel Seth’s job description. These are the stupid utterances of Trehan and Seth that pass for debate.

The singular chant of all anchors and media celebs is that BRD has been issued notices by IT department and allegations of illegal properties, whose private jets he flies and so on. Firstly, the IT and ED notices started only after BRD’s agitation last year. We all also know how the IT and ED work lately. LK Advani rightly stated: “The UPA survives because of its ally the CBI”. That’s how IT and ED are also used by Sonia Gandhi and the govt against adversaries and then their media stooges tom-tom that message as if BRD has been already proved a criminal. Nobody expects BRD to work miracles or expect black money to come back in 3 days or corruption to end immediately. He may not even know how the system or govt works. But there has to be a reason why the Chaubejis, Rajdeeps, Madhus, Aiyars, Ketkars and some more indulge in this extra-ordinary mudslinging against the man. Maybe it has to do with a colour or maybe it has something to do with phonecalls from upstairs. But either way, welcome to Mudslinging: Season-2 Episode-1.

They Wish People 'Happy Death', In Advance

2012-08-08T13:11:00.003+05:30

Since the morning of July 18, 2012 activities at the residence of actor Rajesh Khanna indicated there may be bad news. Parts of his house in Mumbai were being covered with white sheets and truck loads of chairs were being delivered. Given his illness it was fair to assume he must have died. Some news channels were already running programmes on the life and times of RK and he was indeed confirmed dead in the afternoon of July 18. It’s no big secret that when a public figure falls seriously ill or is hospitalised with a serious condition, the news media quickly put together an obituary just in case.. They leave a few blanks to be filled in when the final bad news is confirmed. However, in the age of 24X7 news some seem to be in a hurry to wish death to people who haven’t died yet.

In the past some deaths have been announced by confusion or accident. If not for the wrong news of Alfred Nobel’s death calling him “Merchant of death” or “Dynamite man” (For having invented the dynamite) there wouldn’t have been a Nobel Prize at all. Alfred Nobel didn’t want to be remembered as the ‘Dynamite man’ so he instituted the Nobel Prize and that became his legacy. But his case can be forgiven as an honest mistake by newspapers. Not so CNN who had a page open to public that had obituaries of many living people. CNN was just ‘well-prepared’ in case these people were to die without notice. (Read the last segment on this Wikipedia page).

That’s not all, Dick Cheney, who had just become Vice President in 2001, had an obituary for a life from 1941-2001. I quote from the Wiki page: The CNN page had advanced obituaries written for Fidel Castro, Dick Cheney, Nelson Mandela, Bob Hope, Gerald Ford, Pope John Paul II, and Ronald Reagan. Some of these obituaries contained fragments taken from others, particularly from Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's obituary, which had apparently been used as a template. Dick Cheney for example was described as the 'UK's favourite grandmother', the site noted the Pope's 'love of racing', and described Castro as 'lifeguard, athlete, movie star' (a reference to Ronald Reagan). The number of people declared dead prematurely run into hundreds. Even Paul McCartney, at the height of Beatlemania in 1966, was reported dead.

We could dismiss all this as being ‘well prepared’ for an uncertain certainty. But lately, the Indian media has overtaken their western counterparts. They are not just keeping obituaries ready but once a serious illness or hospitalisation is reported, they are declaring people dead well before they actually die.

Here’s the image of a news item on the internet from Manorama-Online. They declared wrestler and actor Dara Singh dead three days ahead of his actual death. Dara Singh was declared dead by ManoramaOnline on Monday July 9, 2012 when he was still alive. He actually died on July 12, three days later. Well, you can’t complain about our enthusiastic news media being ahead of time. Even though many observers pointed out this serious mistake to Manorama they neither retracted their news page nor apologise for the premature pronouncement. The page was finally quietly pulled many days later without a word. But I keep saying in this day and age it’s difficult to hide bloopers. (Image from @surnell).

In case you didn’t know, Jayprakash Narayan, the socialist leader who led the revolution against the Indira Gandhi govt in the 70s was declared dead prematurely. "Jayaprakash Narayan: while hospitalized in March 1979, the politician's death was erroneously announced by India's prime minister, causing a brief wave of national mourning, including the suspension of parliament and regular radio broadcasting, and closure of schools and shops. The mistake arose when the director of the Intelligence Bureau saw a body looking like Narayan being carried from hospital. Narayan died in October, 1979”. (This is from the same Wiki page link I have provided earlier in this post. Look under ‘N’). That’s a govt declaring a well-known leader dead and declaring mourning 7 months in advance.

The latest victim to be killed by the media is none other than Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. Deshmukh has been hospitalised with kidney and liver problems and is in a critical condition at the time of writing this. Yes, it does look like survival may be difficult unless he gets transplants that work or some miracle. But he’s still alive. Er.. Not according to DNA newspaper though! On the evening of August 7 at 18.55 DNA declared Deshmukh dead. (Image from @Equateall). Naturally, many people on the internet circulated this news. Even online news magazine FirstPost tweeted the death of Deshmukh based on the DNA report without verifying.

I was surprised, because none of the news channels, who are usually in a race to break news, were even reporting this in their scrolls. And then I checked other sources on the net and on all TV channels and had to conclude this was another ‘Wish-you-happy-death’ report. Many on twitter pointed this out to DNA but typically they did not apologise for this mistake but pulled their page within minutes.

What can one say! Next time you hear a report about some public figure, some celebrity or even a private individual passing away, make sure you check twice with alternate sources. In this age of competition among news outlets to even break news about deaths it almost sounds like they are wishing people a happy death, in advance.

CNN-IBN: How To Misunderstand Advani & Deceive

2012-08-06T12:12:00.000+05:30

“Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see…” is a line from a famous song by an artist who is often credited with being the creator of modern pop music as we know it. On Sunday, August 5 if there was one statement that should have been lampooned and ridiculed in the news media it should have been the one by the new Home Minister Sushil Shinde. “I am a foot soldier of Sonia Gandhi.. if Sonia asks to shoot… will shoot to kill”. This was in an interview to Prabhu Chawla in the New Indian Express.

Such stupidity and sycophancy seem to come naturally to many Congress leaders. It is just that it’s not from a low-level ‘darbari’ but from the Home Minister of a vast nation. However, one did not find a single mention of Shinde’s chivalry in any news channel or even online media, except the NIE itself. CNN-IBN is usually a good judge of character as Rajdeep Sardesai’s tweet about Shinde’s arrival clearly indicates. After all, didn’t an eminent Social Genius tweet that when it comes to political analysis “Rajdeep Sardesai is Numero Uno”? And they’re also good at ‘misunderstanding’ all they see. But let’s come to CNN-IBN later. Let’s first misunderstand BJP leader L.K. Advani (LKA). I promise you, it will be fun.

Since the BJP’s election loss in 2004 LKA has made a series of comments which have caused embarrassment to his party or even some damage. The first one was about M.A.Jinnah being a secular man. Naturally, this was enough fodder for not only the Congress but even the BJP and the Sangh Pariwar. LKA had to pay some price for this folly even if he considered it his honest assessment of Jinnah. This statement was made in Pakistan around May-June 2005; the first year after the election loss. Things went quiet for a while after this. Then in 2008, in an interview with Arnab Goswami, LKA was asked what he thought about Rahul Gandhi and about LKA Vs. RG as an election battle in the 2009 General Election. LKA then narrated how he ran into RG at an airport and I quote from the interview:

“He (RG) met me in the VIP lounge of the airport and he asked, "What do you think will happen in the country?" … I said to the PM that after the UP verdict, there is a growing feeling in the political circles that the two mainstream parties are shrinking. Caste based parties and regional parties are occupying that space. Rahul asked, "What can be done about this?" I said that the only thing that strikes me is that the two mainstream parties should not regard each other as enemies. Political adversaries, yes. Political opponents, Yes. But not as enemies”. There is absolutely nothing wrong in LKA’s advice to RG. But I have to wonder why LKA only blames regional parties for the caste calculations. The Congress is the pioneer in dividing the nation by caste, community, linguistics and religion which indeed has been the inspiration and motivation for regional parties. That was, of course, casual conversation but would LKA have put similar sentiments in writing independently? About the same Sushil Shinde CNN-IBN tweeted, quoting him: “Caste is important to be Home Minister”. So there! So you can judge how CNN-IBN analyses LKA and Sushil Shinde.

Alright, the BJP then puts together a Task-force on Black-Money and on February 1, 2011 released a report: 'Indian Black Money Abroad in Secret Banks and Tax Havens'. The report said that Sonia Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were among Indians who held Swiss bank accounts. Oops! So SoniaG writes to LKA expressing her heartburn over this allegation and that neither she nor her family had any Swiss accounts. LKA instantly writes back to “express regret”. That was enough to set off another round of misunderstanding over what LKA actually meant. The media naturally called it an “apology” by LKA while BJP and others defended that LKA just expressed regret Sonia and her family were mentioned in the report and it wasn’t an apology. At this incident LKA should have already appointed a Secretary of Clarification. It’s been long overdue.

In the background of the Anna Hazare agitation against corruption LKA decides to go on another Yatra in October 2011. Though the yatra was meant to be over issues of corruption the media constantly and cleverly keeps asking him questions on whether he is still a PM candidate of the BJP at the next election. LKA smartly ducked and dodged the question but never made a single strong statement to shut the media up once and for all over the question, one way or another. The PM issue clearly dwarfed his anti-corruption yatra. Then, again in May 2012 he skips BJP’s national executive meet and the media suggested he was “sulking” at being side-lined. After this meet LKA goes home and writes a blog slamming party president Nitin Gadkari and others for failures in UP elections and many other crucial decisions. Again, absolutely nothing wrong in writing that but a top leader of a political party would be expected to calculate the consequences of his public outbursts.

So, knowing how media crooks in India are known to twist any statement in favour of the Congress party, LKA writes another blog titled: “Speculations about Congress fate in 2014”. Let me quote critical excerpts from this particular post which the media, particularly CNN-IBN, is toying with (Emphasis mine):

In an informal chat with two senior Cabinet Ministers before the formal dinner, I could clearly perceive an intense sense of concern weighing on the minds of both these Ministers. Their apprehensions were as follows :

a) In the Sixteenth Elections to the Lok Sabha, neither the Congress nor the BJP may be able to forge an alliance which has a clear majority in the Lok Sabha.

b) In 2013 or 2014, therefore, whenever the Lok Sabha elections take place, the Government likely to take shape can be that of the Third Front. This, according to the Congress Ministers would be extremely harmful not only for the stability of Indian politics but also for national interests.

My response to the anxiety voiced by these Congressmen was: I can understand your concern, but I do not share it. My own view is:

i) The shape which national polity has acquired in the past two and a half decades makes it practically impossible for any government to be formed in New Delhi which does not have the support either of the Congress or of the BJP. A third Front Government, therefore, can be ruled out.

ii) A non-Congress, non-BJP Prime Minister heading a government supported by one of these two principal parties is however feasible. This has happened in the past also.

But…. Such governments have never lasted long…..

Soothsayers are not wanting who predict that it may be the first time when the Congress Party’s score sinks to just two digits, that is, less than one hundred !

Well, in what is a severe castigation of the Congress in which LKA estimates less than 100 seats for them in 2014 the interpretation of his blog by some is quite interesting. Have to start with that BCCI guy, also a Congress MP and spokesman, Rajiv Shukla, who thinks with a ‘ball’ instead of brains. Shukla concludes: “LK Advani has conceded defeat in 2014 General Elections”! And like a faithful dog, without questioning their master, CNN-IBN reproduces that quote as a headline as if that represented the exact content of LKA’s blog. Not only does CNN-IBN ‘misunderstand’ but also hopes to mislead viewers and readers through such deceptive headlines.

That LKA has predicted Congress will be decimated in 2014 is not the headline but BJP has conceded the 2014 election is the headline. Shukla can be forgiven being a Congress-man. But how do you explain the “Numero Uno” political analyst’s channel that misunderstands? Take the earlier headline from CNN-IBN: “Non-Congress, non-BJP Prime Minister feasible in 2014: LK Advani”. Once again CNN-IBN while quoting the text correctly twists the meaning to suggest a third alternative seems more feasible according to LKA. Mildly, this would be deception and harshly I would call it lying to readers and viewers.

Fact is, LKA was responding to apprehensions by Congress Ministers that a third front govt in 2014 may be harmful. CNN-IBN and others have reproduced LKA’s response to these apprehensions without stating the context. Even Times Of India produced the same headline of a non-Congress, non-BJP PM being feasible as if LKA was ‘Predicting’ such a scenario. Again, a misleading and deceptive headline! No harm in calling it another lie by TOI. To their credit only NDTV reported LKA’s post and content quite accurately with their article: “Congress' score may come down to double digits in 2014 polls: LKAdvani”.

In summary, LKA has predicted a decimation of Congress in 2014 with less than 100 seats for them. In response to apprehensions by Congress ministers of a third front PM he has only stated that is feasible but going by history such govts do not last. His views are neither misplaced and do not in any way concede a BJP defeat as Rajiv Shukla or CNN-IBN would have the world believe. LKA probably needs to craft his posts in much simpler language for the morons in our media to understand, especially CNN-IBN. CNN-IBN media celebs were probably taught in journalism schools to misunderstand what is obvious to the world. They seem to relish misunderstanding simple posts and compose misleading headlines. But then sometime back #CNNIBNLies had trended strongly on Twitter. I guess there must be a strong reason for that tag!

Team Anna - The Genie's Back In The Bottle

2012-08-03T11:50:00.000+05:30

On the evening of August 2 Team Anna (TA) decided to end their fast and confirmed their option of going political. So on prime time TV all the channels were discussing, debating, kicking and screaming over the decision, the nature and the contours of such a new political party. I have a very simple answer and willing to bet on this: There is going to be no TA political party of any kind. Period! Anna Hazare, the anti-corruption activist, never was and never will be a politician. Not because of some arithmetical outcome but because of his own choice. Throughout his life as an activist Anna has been confronting corruption, corrupt politicians or some social evil and that is the mission he has chosen for himself. This has been mostly as a lone ranger. I doubt he ever wanted a large national stage but yet he found himself in one. Perhaps this wasn’t of his own choice or making. The mystery remains over how he got into this JanLokpal (JLP) mess with a Rag, Tag and Bobtail outfit. Having gotten into it, pulling out was never easy even if one assumes it had crossed his mind sometimes. So whose movement was this really? Who were the real actors? And why were they doing this?

Like everyone else I was supportive of the fight against corruption and applauded TA’s efforts. In April 2011 after the govt blinked I wrote the post “Lokpal Bill: Why The Congress Blinked..”. The April 2011 round of fasts and agitation were followed by another huge one in August 2011 which appeared to be even more successful. But since August 2011 it has been downhill for TA. I had reasoned why in another post “TeamAnna-Goodwill Blunting”. Turns out the bloopers of TA go far beyond their media obsession. This is my final post on the saga of TA.

In a season of scams by the Congress-UPA govt any anti-corruption movement would naturally receive huge public support. Even Subramanian Swamy, who was almost in a political exile, came back to the mainstream with a flurry of court cases and was back in the limelight with a massive following. He is now part of the NDA. But we did have a very unlikely character launching an anti-corruption movement. In March 2010 Baba Ramdev, the yoga guru, launched Bharat Swabhiman. He called it a non-political movement against corruption and black-money. Er.. Totally unacceptable! Guy clad in saffron, strong Hindutva connections and a mass following threatens to take on the govt over corruption. He went on a yatra to many towns with his campaign. Before he got very far he was put down very savagely in June 2011 at Ram Lila by the govt. The media, of course, played their part in the mud-slinging against him as explained in this post. But even before the attack at Ramlila in June 2011 the Genie was popped out of the bottle. In comes Arvind Kejriwal (AK) to organise another anti-corruption movement demanding the JLP and the movement he decided would be headed by brand ‘Anna Hazare’.

Reports suggest Anna Hazare was not AK’s first brand choice. The pic shows a buzz in the Sunday Guardian (December 28, 2011) by Nora Chopra and explains how AK first approached former president APJ Abdul Kalam and then Infosys chief Narayana Murthy. Both seem to have declined. So the choice finally fell on Anna Hazare. The rest (and the unrest), as they tiredly say, is now history. AK wanted a JLP bill different from the one proposed by his former RTI campaign partner, Aruna Roy, through the NAC (Sonia Gandhi’s private club). Well, nobody cared if AK’s proposal was very different from Aruna Roy. But hey, he did offer more drama. Then the motley crew of Kiran Bedi, Manoj Sisodia, Kumar Vishwas, Shazia Ilmi and some more is assembled.

So in April 2011 Anna Hazare goes on a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in Delhi to demand a Lokpal Bill. Govt holds talks with his team and agrees to a JLP. That’s when the term ‘TeamAnna’ (TA) was coined. The dais for the agitation was decked with symbols of national pride, patriotic songs were being sung, chants of Vande Mataram and Bharat Mata. All very moving! All, except that picture of Bharat Mata as we know. That was communal. Then that Imam Bukhari called for muslims to boycott the movement as it doesn’t give voice for Muslims. Not done! So Kiran Bedi and co. rush to placate the mullah, in vain. Team Anna promised their movement was non-political, no politicians will be entertained, no communal forces would be allowed. Anna Hazare hardly bothered much as long as there was forward movement. Nothing to worry, corrections will be made in the next bout.

The straight-talking, honest Anna Hazare made a deadly mistake though. He praised Narendra Modi and Gujarat. That was that! The secular credentials of the movement were questioned and the world came down on him. Modi immediately even warned him of the consequences of praising him in a personal letter. TA must have advised Anna to make amends. So Anna visits Gujarat and screams “Ghotala hi Ghotala” and there was corruption everywhere in Gujarat; that there were rivers of alcohol and hooch flowing in Gujarat. Okay, credibility restored!

In between TA, particularly AK and Kiran Bedi, go on a media-spree mouthing shrill dialogues. They called every politician corrupt, called everyone against TA corrupt. The applause was deafening. This post will deliberately ignore allegations of tax evasion by AK, his Trust being funded by Ford Foundation, fudging and swindling through travel bills by Kiran Bedi and other financial allegations against TA. These are not really relevant in politics, are they? So the govt doesn’t make much progress and there’s another round of fasts in August 2011. This time it’s even bigger with campaigns in various parts of the country. Add to the drama the arrest and immediate release of Anna. Then there was Om Puri’s speech, KB’s Ghoongat dance. Heady cocktail! Of course, gone was the pic of Bharat Mata, now replaced by that of Mahatma Gandhi, all saffron guys were evicted. It was now truly secular. The govt eventually gives in and Anna’s fast ends. This time the juice comes from Dalit and Muslim kids. Secular TA was complete.

Then around October KB and TA come out strongly against the arrest of anti-Modi cop Sanjiv Bhatt. What exactly did TA have to do with the cop? Nothing! But well, more secular points scored. There are more foolish points to score. Carried away with the public adoration both, AK and AH, accept sham awards from NDTV and CNN-IBN. What do they call it… Umm.. Indian of the year awards! You should know you are finished when the media starts giving out awards that are deceptively political in nature. But why complain about more recognition? And in the end even the figment of victory ends in the parliament with the “Fleedom at Midnight” moment on December 29, 2011. The Congress had achieved what it wanted to and TA were left holding the baby… er.. I mean Anna Hazare.

So AK comes up with charge-sheets against 15 ministers, including the PM but excluding Sonia Gandhi. Of course, he had called MPs corrupt, murderers and rapists. A sweeping generalisation by a losing man! And so it came to July 2012 with AK himself leading the charge and going on a fast. He took the opportunity again to condemn Narendra Modi, calling him corrupt and a communalist. Let’s see, Modi has been called a lot of names but surely corrupt has hardly been one of them. Even Wikileaks revealed that a US Diplomat mentioned that Modi is “not only NOT corrupt, but incorruptible”. If AK wanted to score Congress points like a Teesta, Shabnam, Mallika, Sanjiv Bhatt, Harsh Mander or the entire media by abusing Modi, he was a bit too late for that. AK’s political ambitions, though not explicit, were slowly being revealed in bits and pieces by Anna himself.

So after 9 days of fasting in July-August and no end in sight, the stalemate was evident and visible to everyone. The Congress sat happily over the reality that TA had alienated not only their opponents and Congress but also BJP, their own supporters, the media and were left with indecisive crowds at JantarMantar. No way out! Suddenly, on August 2 a letter with 22 signatures pops up requesting TA to end the fast. How these 22 people got together, communicated with each other and how the letter was organised, written and signatures obtained (not in hand) is best left to imagination. But it was a handy exit. The other handy exit, as Congress pointed out, was to announce a full-fledged political party. This move, so that that TA could fight corruption from within the system and not without. Nothing wrong with that! When I hinted at such a happy-ending there were many who pounced on me.

Even the best laid plans can terribly go wrong. AK didn’t provide for that. In his political quest he alienated not just supporters but many of his own team members. This list of bloopers and blunders are too long but here are some lessons:

… In a movement like this the media was already paying enough attention. There was no need for AK or for TA or Anna to constantly be in the media and suck up to them with interviews, sound bites and turning panellists. TA was too naïve to see the media is a puppet there to destroy them. Never accept sham awards from the media.

… Never criticise anyone to merely score silly points. Narendra Modi was all praise for Anna and has never criticised TA or any of their members. Yet turning an anti-corruption movement to also one against Modi is a fatal mistake. TA simply had no idea how many Modi supporters had initially supported them.

… Never lose focus. If it was JLP why turn it into a demand for SIT against some ministers? Never abuse by generalisation like AK and TA did with all MPs and govt workers.

… Never antagonise and side-line your own team members in an individual quest for glory.

… Most of all, the JLP movement never had to be secular or communal. It wasn’t a pre-requisite. It should have been just open to all citizens. By constantly catering to muslims and minorities TA became another Congress party. They forgot that a huge majority of their supporters were actually anti-Congress and anti-Fake-Secularism. Stay away from unrelated cases and issues (like those of Sanjiv Bhatt). You end up being terribly stupid.

Didn’t the Bhagwad Gita say: “Now I am become death..”? TeamAnna, after calling politicians corrupt, murderers, rapists and everything else now want to become a political party. They want to become THEM. Frankly, nobody gives a damn about their political party. It was good fun for the media crooks on TV to discuss a Fourth Front right through the night on August 2. Team Anna must find solace in the fact that they haven’t been defeated or disgraced. They have definitely delivered a greater consciousness to fight corruption among the masses. But it is really too naïve to cloak a political agenda with mighty moral stands.

In the end nobody stunted TA, not the Congress, not the govt but their own team did. Though TA has stated they will seek a referendum from their supporters on forming a political alternative I don’t think that is going to happen. There is going to be no political party by TA, regardless of any silly referendum. I don’t think people were desperate for another political alternative. I cannot say who but I can definitely say there has to be one person or a group or an entity that popped the genie out of the bottle in early 2011. On August 2, 2012 the Genie went back into the bottle and will stay there for a long time.

The Rating Game - NDTV Sues Nielsen-TAM

2012-08-01T20:40:00.000+05:30

When Anna Hazare ended his fast on August 28 last year most people were convinced TimesNow ran away with the coverage ratings. Immediately after the event the debates within the news media started over TRPs. This article “News channels blame weekly ratings for quality decay” quotes Rajdeep Sardesai wanting the TAM ratings monthly instead of weekly. Advertisers seemed to want it every day even. Says Rajdeep: “While TRPs are important, in English news channels, which have a small sample size anyway, TRPs should be seen as television respect points and focus on credibility of the news channels.” Sure, credibility is built by mindless Bollywood, Cricket and garish masala programmes. Credibility is built by senseless daily polls, manipulated debates, foodie programmes, comedy programmes on supposed news channels, political bias and leaning, and mindless contests like GreatestIndian or Indian of the Year. That’s not just Rajdeep’s channel though, it’s the whole lot. It is amazing that the rush for TRPs is being blamed for decay in news channels. Well, in simple terms the TAM ratings mean advertising money and more money. Another executive from a news channel stated: “News companies are indulging in a mindless race for ratings…”. Someone seems to have lost that race. Lost very badly it seems.

The Rating Game just took a turn for the worse. NDTV filed a lawsuit (Read it HERE or HERE) against Nielsen, the premier TV rating company and the parent of TAM-India and has sought damages worth a whopping $1.4 Billion. You have to be very patient to read through the whole 194 pages of the lawsuit scribd in the link I have provided. It lists all the wrongdoings of Nielsen-TAM since 2004 right up to 2012 according to NDTV. At every turn NDTV claims to have been the victim and suffered damages. Given this is a legal issue it would be prudent not to pass any comment on the contents of the lawsuit. But here are some edited excerpts from the lawsuit (in random order):

… While Nielsen, Kantar and TAM are liable for abusing their dominant position in the Indian market, they are also liable for indulging in corrupt practices by manipulating viewership data in favor of channels that are willing to covertly provide monetary inducements / payments / bribes to TAM officials. These payments are accepted and viewership data manipulated as per the requirement of such paying channels.

… Since NDTV is among the very few broadcasters that has refused to indulge in any corrupt practices, naturally its ratings have suffered. This has negatively impacted, amongst other damages, NDTV’s advertising revenues.

… Low ratings for NDTV news channels have also led to public claims by other news channels of being the number 1 (one) channel. This loss of hard earned reputation and goodwill along with the damage to the profitability of NDTV as a result of low advertising revenues has in turn severely, damaged the brand value of NDTV. Loss of respect and faith amongst shareholders and seen the value of its share price decline from a high of INR 501 on January 4, 2008, to a low of INR 25.7, as of December 20, 2011. This has also demoralized the employees of NDTV and forced the company to have to pay higher compensation to retain nationally recognized talent.

… It is common knowledge that there are a number of television channels owned by politicians and political parties. Furthermore, politicians also own cable networks in certain Indian states. At the household level, in certain instances PeopleMeters have been installed at the residences of government officials, where tampering of the data also takes place. Consequently, there is little doubt that corruption, bribery and manipulation of TAM, has extended to public officials, government agencies and politicians. Many politicians who own news networks (one-third of all news networks in India) and cable operations (60% of cable operations) continue to benefit from the corruption of data and Nielsen/Kantar’s refusal to stop publication of such data.

May 2009: GfK-MODE showed NDTV 24x7 had a viewership share of 60% among the top three English channels.

May 2009: This time interestingly enough by Nielsen itself, showed NDTV 24x7 having a viewership share of 61% among the top three English channels.

An August 2011: GfK MODE showed NDTV 24x7 having a viewership share of 56% among the top three English channels.

March 2012: GfK-MODE showed the viewership share of NDTV 24x7 at 51% among the top three English channels

However, the viewership data released weekly by TAM in India during those periods shows the news channels of NDTV having a very low viewership. Such large discrepancies between survey data and PeopleMeter data is statistically impossible, unequivocally indicating manipulation and corruption in the data.

… It is highly relevant considering that within the television industry, 34% (INR 116 billion, USD 2.1 billion in 2011) of revenues come from advertising. For news broadcasters such as NDTV, advertising constitutes 70% to 80% of revenues.

… The loss of revenue caused to NDTV on account of the false, fabricated and manipulated data released to the public by Nielsen, Kantar and TAM over the past eight (8) years is not less than $810 million.

…. A meeting was held between the representatives of Nielsen…. and the Consultant along with representatives of NDTV... On February 28, 2012 at J.W.Marriott Hotel, Mumbai. At the said meeting, the representatives of Nielsen interrogated the Consultant as to how the bribes were paid and who was/were the person(s) responsible for taking bribes on behalf of TAM to fix ratings. The Consultant named several employees of TAM who took bribes through other consultants to fix ratings for channels. The Consultant also pointed out that one of the employees of TAM had currently moved to a competing broadcaster.

More than anything else NDTV’s case justifies the title of this blog! The media world has indeed become murky and there could well be many mini-mafias operating in it. Not surprisingly, the only place where one finds mention of this lawsuit is in some print and online media. Whatever the outcome, this has to be landmark case for TV channels, advertisers and the TRP system. NDTV mentions bribes being paid by ‘other’ channels. If you leave out the govt channels there are not more than 15-18 news channels at the national level and the English ones are hardly around 4 or 5. The bad news for the TV and advertising industry is also that they have collectively almost put all their eggs for ratings in the single basket of TAM.

Now, since NDTV has taken on the alleged corrupt practices of Nielsen-TAM, news channels need to go another mile. There are Air-Passengers associations, Rail-Passengers associations. Will it take a News-Watchers Association to sue many of the media channels for bias, manipulating debates and sometimes spreading outright lies? What will it take for news channels to cut down the Bollywood masala, Cricket masala and get more reporters on the ground?

If TRP ratings can be corrupt and manipulated, how many polls by news channels are perceived to be corrupt and manipulated? What explains their playground being Delhi and Metros alone? What will it take them to get the nation covered? How many times will it take Assam and NE to remind them of poor news coverage? As long as there isn’t a judicious coverage of the nation by so called “national” news channels they aren’t going to have enough content and viewers are not going to be bothered by losses due to the rating game. Maybe NDTV and even other news channels should put up an online poll to ask if people are sad for their losses. The results will likely stun them.

Sagarika's 'Miss India' Solutions To Illegal Migrants

2012-07-28T19:10:00.000+05:30

On April 20, 1968 British Conservative party member Enoch Powell made the fieriest of speeches against mass immigration. The media titled it the “Rivers of blood” speech. He had then warned of immigrants swamping Britain and marginalising its original population. Mind you, it wasn’t even a great deal of “illegal” migrants he talked about. He started with the line: “The supreme function of statesmanship is to provide against preventable evils. In seeking to do so, it encounters obstacles which are deeply rooted in human nature”. For two decades now Britain is coming to grip with reality and paying the price of failing to heed Powell’s warning. Rivers of blood haven’t flown in Britain but they certainly have in India, especially in Assam this month.

Lately, some in India have been talking about illegal migrants and how to deal with them. The problems India is facing on account of illegal migrants are outcomes of seeds sown and nurtured by the left-liberal-votebank mafia and their sympathisers in the “communist” media. Many also make the terrible mistake of tagging a predominantly communist Indian media as “liberal”. Typically, it’s the bimbos in this very media who tend to make absurdly loose statements about illegal migrants in the wake of the Assam communal violence; the Bodo-Muslim riots. Cleverly, the media and the Congress won’t even call them Illegal Bangladeshis but Bengali-Muslims.

Many may be aware, many not but Margaret Thatcher, the Iron Lady, campaigned in 1979 to bring in immigration reforms. Till the early 80s Indians visiting UK didn’t need Visas. We could go to any port of entry in UK and get an entry permit. Same applied for Britons visiting India. All that changed in 1984 when Thatcher introduced Visas for even short visits to UK. Till then, many Indians went on a visit to UK, got married or contracted a marriage and got settlement rights. All that changed when Thatcher introduced the British Citizenship Act in 1981. New rules meant that your ‘Visitor visa’ for UK couldn’t be converted to a residential permit. Also, UK now has a Border Control Agency, US has a Homeland Security along with Border & Customs Protection agency. All these were measures to check illegal immigration and other illegal activities at their borders. However, the eminent Social Genius (SG) in our media will tout some liberal nonsense without the slightest thought or reflection on what changes have been brought about by many democracies to curb illegal immigration. She is like that famous MissTeen SouthCarolina who explained why Americans weren’t good at reading maps. Doesn’t ring a bell? Never mind! We will get to that soon. Our eminent SG likes to cook ‘2 Minute Noodles’ with the most serious of problems with absurd comments.
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Don’t look at me! I didn’t think of that 2-minute noodles thing. I’m not that original. This is none other than Barkha Dutt admitting with unusual candour that media folks tend to cook 2-minute judgements. I like the honesty in that tweet. The only problem is that these cooks don’t seem to show any intention of learning. If you read articles by Barkha Dutt, Sagarika Ghose or Rajdeep Sardesai you will hardly find much research, no depth, no painstaking digging for facts. Lately, you will only find such serious work in the Social Media. Take this article on Right To Education by @ssudhirkumar or this one on Kingfisher by @TheKaipullai. Both have depth, filled with details and meticulously compiled. And these are just two of them. There are hundreds of such writers who aren’t regular journalists or media celebs. These aren’t 2-minute noodles! But the media celebs have found something even better to cook their 2-minute journalism with – Twitter!

Again, I’m not the one saying it but just rephrasing the eminent SG: “When it comes to understanding and judging Twitter, Rajdeep Sardesai is “Numero Uno”! And true to his enormous reputation Rajdeep concludes, after being nagged by tweets over Assam, that he will now see Twitter as just ‘amusement’. Yeah! He wants to get back to some ‘real work’ like concocting some amusement like ‘TheGreatestIndian’! I guess Mr. Yogendra Yadav must be on vacation or else Rajdeep could have conducted another national poll to reach the same conclusion: ‘Twitter is amusement’ and then conducted a panel discussion on the amusing topic. Alas, we missed some amusement ourselves! But only for a while! For before too long his deputy, Sagarika Ghose (SG), the eminent Social Genius backs up Rajdeep’s conclusion with some mind-numbing and amusing tweets.

Damn! I was almost starting to forget what I started with: Illegal Immigration. But I trust SG to bring my focus back with her tweets. So in the midst of all the violence and discussions on illegal immigration SG quotes someone and concludes migration from the rest of the country that has led to ‘ethnic multiplicity’. So now all the ethnic migrants in Mumbai should shut up and live to together. Raj Thackeray should learn from SG. Oh wait! She wasn’t talking about Mumbai but Assam is it? It’s always such a thrill to misunderstand SG! After Jerusalem, Assam, particularly Bodoland, has to be the best ‘promised land’ around the country. Not surprisingly migrants from places like Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Gujarat and other states have been rushing to Assam for many years. Then these people learn Assamese or Bengali, convert to Muslims or Christians or to Bodo Tribals and create havoc in the area. We would have heard such reasoning and answers from many past Miss India winners. And yet this nation of 1.2 billion (minus 1) can’t see it as clearly as SG does. And here’s a warning for those who rant about illegal immigration (I’m already heeding..):
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Stupid USA! They should have shut their borders in the 18^th century itself. For a country that was built by immigrants they should have listened to SG long back. The tough measures that USA frequently takes against illegal immigrants, especially in their southern border with Mexico and with their legal framework have to be researched by some social media writer. Such silly tasks are not for our 2-minute cooks you see. And even Rajdeep will find it amusing that SG says ‘whites attacking browns’ without mentioning what kind of attack that is. Well, let’s just assume its racist more out of colour and ancestry rather than stupid illegal immigration. What SG forgot to tell you though is that India, Bangladesh, Pakistan are all ‘whole wheat bread’. They are all brown! There may be some differences in physical features but comparing an illegal immigrant or migrant issue to a racist issue is what an absolute moron can manage, without any assistance. I am no expert to firmly conclude the Assam tragedy is only of illegal immigration. But SG, given her 10 years of journalistic work in the Bodoland area, can most certainly conclude it’s not.

So you see, it’s quite hard to understand or interpret the amusing tweets of SG. Maybe we need expert comedians like Raju Shrivastava, Johny Lever or that guy (Pehchan Kaun) to really understand the genius of SG. I say that because late night comedian, Jimmy Kimmel, a few years ago, did a splendid job of interpreting a Miss Teen USA contestant’s answer to the question: “A 5^th of Americans can’t locate USA on the map, why is that?” (Do watch the video of 3.53 mins):

So you get it now, don’t you? The similarity between MissTeenUSA and Sagarika Ghose when it comes to offering solutions to issues is striking. Isn’t it? Fortunately MissTeenUSA is not grappling with some nuclear-bomb issue. I can't say the same for our Social Genius! But hey, they are both still very young and will learn as they go.

On a serious note, illegal migrants from Bangladesh have been a problem for decades. And yes, as I said in the beginning they find support in our Vote-bank mafia who will sacrifice national interests to remain in power. The communist media too will do all they can to support this mafia. Assam may have a strong contingent of these illegals but they aren’t all permanent residents of Assam alone. They are in Bengal too. Many have melted into smaller towns in India. Many have melted into the vast ghettos of Mumbai and other suburbs.

I quote from the post: ‘MakeMumbai a separate state’ (And also recommend you read it if you haven’t already) - (Rediff): “In terms of illegal immigrants in Mumbai, Bangladeshis alone account for between 3.5 lakhs according to a minister and 16.0 lakhs according to Kirit Somaya, a former MP. What would you say about a government that can’t even get its numbers right on such matters? This is in no way to suggest that any of this population is involved in crimes but the possibilities that some may be cannot be discounted. But it sure is a matter of serious concern”.

Illegal immigration from Bangladesh and also Pakistan is a truly serious problem. When have you even heard the current govt talk about any population control measures? It is not just a social problem but a serious national threat as well. The threat of ‘Rivers of blood’ is far more pertinent for India than Britain. The tragedy, apart from the terrible votebank mafia, is that bimbos from the media seem to think this is a simple “Miss India” contest question and answer it that way.

Excuses For Assam

2012-07-27T10:53:00.000+05:30

For a change conflict-heroes like Barkha Dutt and Rajdeep Sardesai weren’t reporting from the ground on the Assam situation. Hardly any great incentive there for anyone, not even one of bringing down a govt or tarring a Chief Minister. As the violence in Assam flared, even on July 25, all our channels were running programmes on Pranab Mukherjee as president right through the day. Sure, they had to repeatedly show Pranab taking the oath, given it’s the first time ever an oath was administered to a president-elect. When they managed to remember Assam they had to hunt for titles for the violence. Communal violence, ethnic violence, Bodo-Bengal Muslim clashes and so on! They didn’t seem to be sure what to call it but soon every one settled for “Ethnic violence”. Ethnic sounds a lot more moderate and fashionable than ‘communal’. Doesn’t it? Much has since been written and aired about Assam but very few seemed to deal with proper facts and sequence of events. It’s also not what they didn’t or couldn’t report but the reasons or excuses they brought up that should make interesting reading.

And what could be a better reflection of journalistic ethics than that practiced by Rajdeep as his tweet shows. More died in Gujarat than Assam he says as reason for media coverage. Well, you can’t fault RS for vision and foresight. When he landed in Ahmedabad to report the 2002 riots he was pretty sure the toll would cross 1000. Just a minute! When did he come to this lousy figure of 1000 though? For years NDTV and CNN-IBN, both homes for Rajdeep, had thrown up any number for Gujarat; from over 2000 killed to over 3000 killed. They also made you believe it was ‘genocide’ or it was a ‘pogrom’ in which Muslims alone were butchered. At the time here’s a bit of what Rajdeep wrote on Gujarat:

“…And now in Gujarat, the accusation is of (media) ‘inflaming communal passions’ when the fact is that the flames of communal hatred have been stoked by a mob, a section of which at least has been patronised by the ruling establishment in Gandhinagar”. The numbers Rajdeep reported and even concocting without any solid evidence that the mob was patronised by the govt could have very well come from Digvijay Singh or any Congress member. Umm.. it must be hard to find such intelligence on clashes in Assam. Later, on the same day of July 24 Rajdeep tweeted an apology for his insensitive tweet. (He says tweet of previous night although it was on the same morning of July 24.) Typically, after his apology RS asked if other tweeters would apologise for questioning his integrity. Integrity? That’s laughable. The lies through Rajdeep’s tweets and reports and of his channel are all too many to qualify him a liar, integrity is too far a bridge.

If Rajdeep’s apology was a lightning bolt of conscience the deputy editor of CNN-IBN couldn’t be left behind. In her true bumbling style Sagarika Ghose tweeted about the violence and a majority of those in relief camps being Muslims. Here we go! So I read both the pieces by Samudra Gupta from the relevant dates, here and here. Nowhere do his articles corroborate her statement.

The first article of his (July 25) even contradicts her statement as does The Hindu, a clip of which someone has pasted with her tweet. That Sagarika feels motivated enough to take on Internet Hindus is one thing but the content of her tweet, like many before, is the kind of integrity that viewers are questioning. Rajdeep doesn’t seem to get it. Does she or Rajdeep ever wonder if they only report to Internet Hindus or to a larger audience who deserve the facts? After all that and after tagging Assam incidents as “Ethnic violence”, accusing IHs as wanting a religions narrative and describing the state as a complex cauldron what does SG’s channel run as headline? “Clashes between Bodos & Muslims have killed 44 people dead so far”. That is since 8am on July 27. Religious narrative? That’s integrity of these characters who parade as journalists.

It is one thing for the Indian TV channels not to have been quick enough to be on the scene to report but to make excuses, compare degree or deaths in riots all indicate the degradation of journalistic thought and ethics. Capturing images of violence or damage is not merely for airing those for vicarious pleasure of anyone. Videos and images have also often helped in rendering justice to the victims and during times of trouble get help faster. Most channels do not even have regular reporters in the NE states. Not even in the state capitals. Each time there is an incident someone rushes from Kolkatta or from Delhi, after much heartburn I suppose. Instead of admitting that the NE is off their radar, not politically or financially very attractive some media celebs indulge in a slanging match on twitter.

Ironically, the best report I have read so far in MSM on the Assam situation, clearly sequencing the various incidents that led to the larger flame, is on a foreign journal. Samrat, the Asian Age editor and from NE himself, wrote the report on NewYork Times’ India Ink page. (Violence in Assam has deep roots). His report, sans drama or literary flair, narrates the story of events since May 29 which is hard to find in an Indian news report.

Oh well! If you wanted drama and thrills in a report about Assam, the best place has to be NDTV. As the Congress organised a 10-member panel for Assam NDTV came up with their usual “TOP10” on Assam. The hits just keep on coming. I am surprised they don’t do a countdown of the top 10. The only recent occasion NDTV itself found a good deal of time for Assam and sent some reporter to the state was for their entertainment programme “Will Travel for Food”. As for Rajdeep Sardesai and Sagarika Ghose, what can one say anymore? They couldn’t even find their usual best reporters in Assam – the Citizen journalists. Whether for riots or for other issues will the TV channels at least now alter their approach to NE states and care? One has to remain sceptical or wait for more creative excuses next time instead of scale and degree of riots and deaths.
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BSNL - Illegal Blockade of MediaCrooks

2012-07-21T18:22:00.000+05:30

‘Connecting India’! That’s the tag-line of the government telecommunication company called Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). Lately, it seems to do a lot more than connecting India. It also seems to secretly and illegally disconnect India. From the evening of July 17 I have been receiving messages, even complaints, from regular readers of this blog that they haven’t been able to access MediaCrooks. It was initially surprising since I was able to access it and I had posted a fresh article early the next day on July 19. I thought it must be some temporary problems with the connection or the service providers of those readers.

Then the messages kept growing and on checking I found that all of these readers were using internet services provided by BSNL. On the evening of July 18 I put out the following message through a tweet stating options readers could use to access the MediaCrooks articles: (Please click and open tweet images on a separate tab and enlarge to read)

I chose not to assume BSNL had blocked MediaCrooks or that there was a Central govt order of any kind to ban this site since it was accessible to users through other Internet service providers in India. I have been able to access the site, review comments and post articles (including this one) without any problems. But it does appear that BSNL has blocked access to the site. I wish to state in no uncertain terms to BSNL or any govt authority that this site does not contain any content that breaks any law of the land, does not contain any pornographic material, it’s not a commentary on religion that can disturb peace and harmony or result in riots, it is not even political in nature.

The objective of the site is to critique and expose the Indian mainstream media. In that, it surely does include politics, politicians and other people and entities in the context of media and their reporting and coverage of issues. Does this site offend certain sections of people and entities? Yes, it probably does and delights in the consequence of its articles! It delights in criticising the media when they act in an indiscriminate manner, when they lie, when they distort facts. It offends media personalities for their glaring blunders and deliberate manipulation of facts. MediaCrooks delights in criticising politicians when they utter nonsense or appear to support injustice. This will continue and it will not stop.

I have not received any notification or information of any kind on whether BSNL has blocked the site and, if so, for what reason. Now that BSNL users have not been able to access the site for over 3 days it would be fair to assume that some govt official must have passed on a clandestine, unwritten and illegal order to BSNL to block the site. If the govt has done so and if BSNL has obliged them then both are in serious violation of the law and my rights to publish my views. I also presume there has been no advice to Google, which hosts this site, on any objections to the content on this site else I am sure I would have heard from them. Thus it seems quite obvious and fair to assume the illegal blockage by BSNL has been instigated by some govt quarters. They were probably unhappy over criticism of some official, minister or politician precious to the govt.

On July 20 I wrote the following email (cvo@bsnl.co.in) to BSNL requesting an explanation of this blockage. I await a response:

I publish a site titled www.mediacrooks.com. Since the evening of July 18, 2012 I have been receiving complaints from readers through Twitter and by Email that those who were accessing the site through the Internet services of BSNL have not been able to access my site. I would request you to note the following points:

1. The complaints from readers through various sources have raised suspicion that BSNL has BLOCKED access to my site as a Censorship act and measure.

2. Please confirm if the blocking of my site is true and correct. In case access to my site has been blocked I have to state that I have no intimation from any government sources or your own organisation for the same. I wish to add that blocking access to my site is illegal and breaches the fundamental right of free speech and access to such content.

3. My site is essentially a critique of issues in the Mainstream Media and does not in any way break any law whatsoever.

I would request you to restore access to my website for users of BSNL's Internet service. In case you still continue to block access to the site as suspected by many readers please let me know on what grounds and for what reasons such access is blocked. A screenshot of complaints that were noticed on Twitter is also attached for your reference. This is being written without any prejudice to my legal rights.

While I wait for a response from BSNL I wish to assure readers that they can access content of MediaCrooks through other options in my tweet mentioned earlier. I also wish to state that if BSNL has indeed carried out the blockage then we must estimate what a dangerous tool it is in the hands of the govt and politicians. This is a good reason why govt must not be in control of any business, especially not a communication organisation. It is clearly a grave danger in a democracy. This is not an issue relating to a single blog site. This does bear a serious threat to every blogger and writer. Am I going to stop writing? Fat chance! I must mention though, that if I do not receive a satisfactory response from BSNL to my mail the issue won’t rest. As govt officials, politicians, media and ministers are so fond of quoting, I will use the same line that they do: “The issue will reach its logical conclusion and the law will take its own course”. In the meantime, I have a modest suggestion for BSNL. “Change your tag line, Change it to Dis-Connecting India”!

Raging Women & Guwahati

2012-07-19T04:30:00.000+05:30

Images of the Guwahati molestation have shocked every television viewer. Fury erupted on the safety of women, the role of the police and the role of journalists. Then the National Commission of Women (NCW) woke up. An NCW representative, the glamorous Congress member Alka Lamba, arrived in Guwahati with superbly blow-dried hair. She swept into a press conference. She posed for the cameras. She then announced the name of the victim. Ahem! “Glamorous, blow-dried hair”! That’s not me. That is eminent Telly-scientist Sagarika Ghose in Firstpost in her opening shot on the incident and aftermath. Nothing wrong with the rest of her article though.

Imagine, if I had said ‘fashionable, westernised, journalistic-bimbo, heavy lipstick and jet-black haired’ Telly-Scientist Sagarika writes on Guwahati. That would be considered uncharitable. But oops, I just said it. So while writing on women, trash her first for her glamour and her hair (as if Sagarika is any different) and then try to fit in some logic and outrage. Alka Lamba may be stupid and may have bungled terribly but what’s it got to do with her glamour or hair? Well, that’s how we approach journalism these days. That partly explains the mindless statements from some women on the Guwahati incident. I am not going into the incident itself or any legal aspects of it. Let’s just read what the very women who were foaming with rage had to say themselves.

Let’s start with Sagarika herself. A nice place to start! By now most people on the net and elsewhere have already read her tweet on the left. From “sickening, disgusting video” in just over 24 hours she went to “Courageous of cameramen to shoot the horror”. The guy who popularised the statement “measure twice, cut once” (Stephen Covey) died a few days ago but he must have had exactly SG in mind when he wrote about it in ‘7 Habits’. So what’s the count? We have dealt with two women, Alka Lamba and Sagarika. I never critique writes by bloggers or tweeters but here’s a list of interesting statements from some more women storified by @BarbarIndian: “Girl stripped, then the cover-up began”.

Then there’s this NCW chief, Mamta Sharma, who summed it up neatly by suggesting women should dress carefully. Oh! That is surely a veiled warning to the Poonam Pandeys and Sherlyn Chopras. Well, maybe even a warning to all the item girls and the bikini actors in movies. All of them, including Sunny Leone, better heed Sharma, else they are tempting fate. Then Sharma goes on to recommend special police at pubs and spots haunted by women. What? Only yesterday I heard a group of policemen raped a woman they had actually rescued from somewhere. Alright, maybe she meant police-women. From all the videos of the Guwahati incident I can’t really conclude the victim was dressed badly or temptingly in anyway as Sharma means. But once the molesters did their job, some channels (I did see Headlines Today) managed to expose her cleavage and tits, her shirt having been ripped off. So next time Ms.Sharma I suggest you recommend women wear armoured vests under their clothes. That should fool those criminals at least, if not teach them any lessons! Am I finished? No, not yet! Patience, the beast is yet to come… I mean the best!

You can’t possibly understand atrocities on women or girls without Barkha Dutt trying to get in her last word. So on July 17, on her program on Bucks, she ran the headline “A thousand cuts” which then turned to “sensitivities” and became a “million cuts”. If time had permitted it could have been a ‘billion cuts’. But before that, on July 13, she tweeted about the incident and how not to lock up daughters but teach sons better. There’s nothing wrong in principle with that tweet considering that she’s the mother of a 16-year old daughter. No? She’s not? Okay, I thought that could only come from a very courageous mother. She’s not alone though. Other celebs to publish the same quote are Rahul Bose, Bipasha Basu. Ah well, I guess parenthood is easy when you’re not a parent. (Google that quote and you’ll find more celebs who tweeted that without ever parenting a girl). Motherly advice! The first cut is the deepest and the victim must have felt that. Trust a raging Barkha to accuse others of adding a million more while she herself does no different.

So during the exciting discussion Barkha was a bit amused to find a couple of panellists not generalising but specifically pointing fingers at Youth Congress goons. What is wrong with these people? Don’t they know they can’t accuse Congress members on NDTV? Don’t they read the script before they come on the panel? In the end Barkha, as always, pontificates on whether journalists should get involved in such incidents or step back and shoot and report. In case you forgot, the discussion was on “media ethics”. And what does she pull out? She pulls out pics from war-zones and conflict zones.

Take the pic of the Vietnam Napalm girl she pulls out. Should the journalist have helped her? Incidentally, she’s not the only one fleeing. There are many others. The journalist in this case has to step back simply because it’s a major war-zone. He doesn’t have options. Who does he call? The police or Halle Berry? True for other pics she put up from conflict zones. Supposedly a journalist with a great sense of understanding of situations it is one more example of outright stupidity that Barkha pulls out these war-zone pics in a story of violent molestation of a woman by a criminal mob. Guwahati is not a warzone or a conflict zone. Guwahati wasn’t under siege by a dictator. Yet, reports clearly indicate that the journo who filmed the incident was actually encouraging the mob and instead of helping or calling for help, he actually called for more cameras from his news channel. And then, to complete her agenda, Barkha pulls out the pic of Ansari from Gujarat riots. Regardless of the merits or truth behind that pic a riot still remains a conflict zone. That photo has been disputed for authenticity but that is hardly the point in this whole discussion.

The worst part is hearing Barkha Dutt sermonising on ‘media ethics’. That is surely a laugh. So what really riles these so called journalists? I have no problems with their raging and venting over Guwahati. Most of it is genuine too. I believe what also riles these media celebs is that it’s one of their own who’s done immense damage. One from their own ‘Hammam’! Those who shout vociferously about ethics in journalism are usually the ones breaking the code all too often. Let’s see, there is this Society of Professional Journalists. Membership is voluntary and they have some codes on ethics. Take a look and decide how many of our news channels and newspapers would pass the test on ethics.

Here’s the real tragedy: A bunch of goons engineered and executed the shameful incident at Guwahati. But the ones who made it worse with their writings or utterances are women. Mamata Sharma, Alka Lamba, Sagarika Ghose, Barkha Dutt… the list can go on. Raging Women!

Satyameva Jayate: Shock, Aww & Applause

2012-07-16T04:00:00.000+05:30

Considered one of the greatest actors of all-time, Robert DeNiro has this to say about acting: “One of the things about acting is, it allows you to live other people's lives without having to pay the price (for it)”.

Five years ago I was invited to be on a panel of judges for the annual function of a school. You know the ones where they celebrate their foundation day with songs, drama, dances and comedy skits. It’s a good opportunity for students to demonstrate their skills beyond the academic courses. Almost all parents attend too. Why not, especially parents of the participants would like to see their kids win some praise and prizes. I remember the girl who won the prize for best drama. She did a 15-minute solo act. She was from Class-4 so I presume around 9 years of age then. Her script was forceful and so was her acting and dialogue delivery. I must admit I was stunned to see a kid emoting in a manner that turned many faces in the audience grim and some men and women even had tears in their eyes. What was she playing? Well, she was playing the role of a female foetus in the womb. She was pleading from the womb with her father and mother not to kill her. This was in Junagadh in Gujarat. It was creative, impactful and dramatic to say the least.

There has been a campaign going on for long in Gujarat against female foeticide. At the end of her performance the audience spontaneously gave her a standing ovation that lasted nearly 3 minutes. The only question in my mind was whether a child of 9 can really understand female foeticide, its implications for society and all that. Hard to tell but maybe she was explained very well while being coached for her act. What is important is that the message of the social evil of female foeticide had reached even the primary levels of schools. But wait! The country doesn’t know! Umm.. Not unless Aamir Khan says so.

First, a confession: I have not watched a single episode of Satyameva Jayate (SMJ) and I don’t intend to. I have also not watched any of those Saas-Bahu soaps or any of that stuff either. I have watched Oprah Winfrey when there were fewer channels and hardly any private news channels. In principle, this blog does not ever comment on any entertainment shows. And it is not about to either. I’m not a movie or drama critic. And, therefore, I do not intend to pass any comment on SMJ, being that it’s an entertainment show, even if in the ‘Glycerine’ category. I would imagine it’s the modern day TV version of Meena Kumari. The only difference between Oprah and Aamir that I could think of is that Oprah claimed to have gone through many of the problems she discussed on her show during her childhood and part of her adulthood. Aamir, on the other hand, has been an actor since he was 7 years old and has lived a largely luxurious or at least comfortable life. The comparison ends there. What did get my attention was an article in Outlook magazine by S. Anand titled ‘Silence Eva Jayate’ (July 23 edition). So let’s quickly look at a few excerpts (in blue) from Anand’s story:

I had spotted Bezwada Wilson in the audience…. He too was asked to narrate his early life, and he too shed tears. As did Khan with practised ease. The next day I called Wilson and told him I was annoyed that even he did not bother to mention Ambedkar and Reservation. Wilson clarified that he indeed had. It had been edited out, as was his rant against the SC and Parliament—since both institutions had been dragging their feet on the issue of manual scavenging. Then he revealed something that shocked me. He said he had not been in the audience when Kaushal Panwar was being interviewed by Khan. I countered saying I had seen him ‘reacting’ to what Kaushal said on stage. “Even I saw myself in the audience and hence was shocked,” said Wilson. He said Kaushal had been interviewed in total isolation, in an empty studio. And yet on Sunday we saw, every once in a while, close-ups of fretful, anxious, pained and agonised faces of members of the studio audience as Kaushal was narrating her story. They even clapped on cue, like when Khan asked Kaushal her heroic father’s name. Clearly, all this had been manipulated and faked—with clever editing and splicing of shots.

I give all credit to Anand for so meticulously narrating what he researched. But this is television – and SMJ is not ‘Live’. It’s not even like Sagarika’s LookLive. Studio audiences are coached for responses, unlike the audience responding to that little girl acting in her school function. In the old days a man would shuffle signs written on cardboard to prompt audience response in the studio. (Doordarshan used such placards for program and credit-titles, you can see those in their archives). With audiences, the man with a placard will prompt the audience to ‘Clap’ or go ‘Awwwwww’ to respond to a transaction. (See pic).This is done even when the main performers and actors aren't present and recorded only with the audience present. This can also be done with 'doubles' as in regular movies.

Since then studios have evolved to use digital prompters as can be seen for ‘Applause’. So when it says applause, people clap. When it says “Shock” people turn their faces to a grim expression which the camera will honestly capture. When the prompter says “Aww” the audience will let out a loud “Awwwwwww” either in sympathy or empathy or in happiness at a couple kissing. The prompter in SMJ might even say “Cry” and some might force a few tears. Now, that is not so hard to fathom really, is it?

In fact, when Chandra Bhan Prasad, mentor to DICCI and an exponent of ‘dalit capitalism’, watched the show with Kamble in Pune, they could not believe their eyes. Kamble’s interview with Khan had been shot with Dharmadhikari and Kamble seated next to each other on the studio couch; but Kamble had been weeded out. Prasad wondered if some ‘dirty trick editing’ made this possible. More likely, Dharmadhikari took a leaf out of Khan’s book and did not mind giving a ‘fresh take’ minus the unsuitable presence of Kamble. I also discovered that every participant on the show is forced to sign a ‘confidentiality agreement’ saying they will not speak about their participation—recorded many months ahead—in any social media.

Okay, there is no trickery involved here. This is normal editing out of what is inconvenient to a show that is supposed to deal with ‘facts and truth’. The confidentiality agreement is also a normal practice in such shows. The question Anand didn’t ask is: Did the people who appeared for interviews get paid an appearance fee? In all probability they did. People are also chosen for views that “suit” a program’s agenda and not randomly or purely on their expertise. You see, confidentiality agreements aren’t signed unless there is a ‘consideration’ of some nature. Now, if the interviewees were paid in cash or kind then they have no option but to abide by the confidentiality clause because it probably includes a clause that says the footage may or may not be used. So while Anand genuinely talks about it from a moral point of view, given the show is treated as ‘social conscience’ program, the mistake he makes is that he doesn't see it’s just another ‘entertainment’ show. It is just another Bollywood movie. The viewers expecting something larger is their own fault. But this is how TV fools people which Anand explains clinically.

Khan and his team not only deviously censored any discussion of Ambedkar and Reservation, they seemed content to use the 1920s language of high-caste reformers. A friend chided me saying I shouldn’t expect Khan to be an activist. But surely my friend did not know how Khan manipulates and fools his audience—in the studio and outside—to nod and cry at moments he chooses. Wilson said, “In fact, during the shoot it was not I who actually began crying. Aamir Khan started to cry, so I was forced to cry along.” Khan obviously thinks we can flush away middle class shit with tears.

Lately, in the incident relating to the Guwahati molestation there has been discussion on whether it is ‘politicized or not’ or whether it should be ‘politicized’. Shows such as SMJ cannot afford to be politically incorrect. Thus, any references to Ambedkar, facts, truths or accuracies are false expectations that viewers should not nurture. Anand’s friend is right. Like Anand many viewers too expect or believe Aamir Khan is some kind of activist. He is not. He is an actor, first and last. Period! Still, one must applaud S. Anand for his effort to reveal certain truths about SMJ.

Like Robert DeNiro said, actors can live other people’s lives without having to pay the price for it. Aamir can wax eloquent about any problem and any social evil but he doesn’t have to pay a price for it or for the lives of those who suffer. His job in SMJ is to act out a part scripted for the show. Does he act well? Does he act badly? That should be the assessment viewers should be making. As with movies, so too in a program that isn’t live, Aamir can get 17 shots, 17 retakes, 17 camera angles, thousand expressions and a few tears. To help his acting there is also glycerine and prompters that will tell the audience to Shock, Aww and Applaud. Enjoy the show!

Ward Boys Can't Be Doctors

2012-07-14T04:00:00.000+05:30

It’s been sometime since I visited Rajdeep Sardesai’s Friday Blogbusters. The latest one is called “Don’t play it safe”. I am quite impressed how he describes Salman Khurshid. I call SK a smooth double talker, Rajdeep describes him thus: “Salman Khurshid is easily among the brightest politicians in the country: a former Oxford don, he became a union minister at 38. When he speaks, it is with a certain elegance and intellect that is all too rare in public life today”. NO! You don’t get any prizes for guessing – it’s about SK’s comment about Rahul Gandhi’s cameo. Remember Sarah Palin? On November 1, 2008 just three days before the presidential election she got a call from French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Here are excerpts from that phone conversation:

PALIN: Oh, it's so good to hear you. Thank you for calling us.

SARKOZY: Oh, it's a pleasure.

SARKOZY: You see, I got elected in France because I'm real and you seem to be someone who's real, as well.

PALIN: Yes, yeah. Nico, we so appreciate this opportunity.

SARKOZY: You know I see you as a president one day, too.

PALIN: Maybe in eight years.

SARKOZY: Exactly, we could try go hunting by helicopter like you did. I never did that. Like we say in French, on pourrait tuer des bebe phoque s, aussi .

PALIN: Well, I think we could have a lot of fun together while we're getting work done. We can kill two birds with one stone that way.

SARKOZY: I just love killing those animals. Mmm, mmm, take away life, that is so fun. I'd really love to go, so long as we don't bring along Vice-President Cheney.

PALIN: No, I'll be a careful shot, yes.

SARKOZY: Yes, you know we have a lot in common also, because except from my house I can see Belgium. That's kind of less interesting than you.

SARKOZY: Thank you very much. You know my wife Carla would love to meet you, even though you know she was a bit jealous that I was supposed to speak to you today.

PALIN: Well, give her a big hug for me.

SARKOZY: You know my wife is a popular singer and a former top model and she's so hot in bed. She even wrote a song for you.

PALIN: Oh my goodness, I didn't know that.

SARKOZY: I just want to be sure. That phenomenon Joe the Plumber. That's not your husband, right?

PALIN: That's not my husband but he's a normal American who just works hard and doesn't want government to take his money.

SARKOZY: Yes, yes, I understand we have the equivalent of Joe the Plumber in France. It's called Marcel, the guy with bread under his armpit.

SARKOZY: Gov. Palin, I love the documentary they made on your life. You know Hustler's Nailin' Paylin?

PALIN: Well, good.

SARKOZY: I really loved you and I must say something also, governor, you've been pranked by the Masked Avengers. We are two comedians from Montreal.

Even when the comedians refer to Hustler’s Nailin Palin she doesn’t remotely get an inkling she’s being pranked. That happens to be a porn video by Hustler with a Palin look-alike. Listen to the full prank-call on YouTube and read the transcripts HERE. Fortunately for RG comedians and ordinary people don’t have such access to him, else he would have been pranked many times over. Even otherwise the number of jokes based on his silly utterances so far would have exceeded those made about any other politician so far in Indian political history. The Twitter hashtags #RahulFacts #YoRahulSoDumb far outnumber the jokes about Palin. Look them up and enjoy.

This is the reason I find it extremely stupid that media celebs, many of whom have studied in Oxford or Cambridge, cannot see RG for what he is and still expect he will take up great challenges. Listen to Rajdeep again: “That leaves, frankly, Rahul Gandhi as the only mascot available to a party in crisis. Unfortunately, rather than see opportunity in adversity, Rahul has chosen to play it safe …. As a start, how about becoming the party leader in the Lok Sabha, a post lying vacant with Pranabda’s exit”? Now tell me, how is this very observant and Numero Uno political analyst (Certified as Numero Uno by India’s leading Scientist Sagarika Ghose) seeing anything different than the cronies and sycophants in the Congress? Leader of the Congress in Loksabha? Haha! RG’s record in the LS is perhaps the Koran for Rajdeep. What else can explain the foolish suggestion to make him the Congress party’s LS leader? One hand Rajdeep talks about young leaders in Congress and like the sycophants his best option is a bimbo. And for all his lament, he and his channel were the one who awarded RG the sham “Indian of the year” award in 2009. If you were the CEO would you hire Rajdeep as a talent-spotter in your organisation?

The only type of people Congress breeds is sycophants, not leaders. Unfortunately, this doesn’t stop at the party level. This extends to the media and includes Rajdeep, Vinod ‘Smirk’ Sharma, Shekhar Gupta and who can forget Barkha Darwin herself. Every time elections are around I expect one more instalment of her effort to “evolve” RG. Admire her perseverance. So if RG hasn’t still fully got the message that he’s India’s Sarah Palin it’s not his party or Digvijay Singh or Khurshid to blame. It is the media crooks who hope against hope that he will somehow evolve into the Great White hope. Rajdeep talks about Rajiv Gandhi as PM at 40 and other younger presidents in the US. For all the history that the media celebs study in Oxford and Cambridge they don’t seem to remember that the youngest PM ever was William Pitt at age 24, who went on to lead Britain as PM for 17 years. Leadership qualities aren’t acquired at 40. They are acquired at a much earlier age and demonstrated beyond doubt.

It is not these media celebs alone who want RG to take up a ‘Larger’ role (to quote another nosey starlet) there are even those ‘intellectuals’ who write open letters to him to take up “Tomorrows Battles”. How else do you explain a Think-Tanker like Pratap Bhanu Mehta writing that open letter almost exhorting Rahul to lead his generation? Rajdeep also complains RG doesn't talk to the media. Is that so? I guess he's already forgotten the wonderful breakfast he had with RG, even tweeting that he had to suddenly rush to that secret breakfast press-meet of his. Any editor worth his salt would have declined such a rendezvous but our editors rushed to that silly meet. Then, some of them dropped tidbits from that meet to the public like crumbs from the table. So much for media's integrity. That's not RG's fault, it's mere coincidence that he also happens to live on 'Tughlak' street.

The biggest problem with people like Rajdeep Sardesai and others is that they cannot even assess the Congress party without a reference to other parties. Invariably, the mess in the Congress has to be measured against the mess in BJP, NDA etc. Why should a party supposedly called the GOP be measured against others who have come in many years later? Isn’t there good enough cause to measure the sycophancy and dynastic nonsense on sound principles of organised political parties? All this talk when none of the media crooks wouldn’t even dare to write about Sonia Gandhi, her illness, her secrecy or question her leadership. Fact is backseat driving does not work in political leadership or any kind of leadership. To talk about RG accepting greater responsibilities or role is to talk about another puppet instead of Manmohan Singh. If the media really wants to assess the real issues with the Congress it has to start with the top and that top is only one person; Sonia Gandhi. The scared chickens instead of nailing Sonia Gandhi’s failures juggle with words instead of balls to find something to lament. Salman Khurshid is not an intelligent or courageous man. If he had guts he should have said about Sonia Gandhi what he said about RG.

Rajdeep and other cronies of Congress in the media can stop washing fake issues. Unlike these celebs, cartoonists say it a lot better with a simple picture. No matter how much they plead, exhort, holler and have wet dreams about Rahul Gandhi, he has repeatedly proved only one thing that Satish Acharya demonstrates in his cartoon – It’s hard to imagine a Ward Boy playing doctor. RG might have played the doctor-doctor games as a kid probably but something has to be mentally wrong to be playing games at 42. That mental part is equally true for Rajdeep & Co.

PS: Sarah Palin is not running for President in 2012. And Sarkozy isn’t President of France anymore either. Sad!
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Al Jazeera & Internet Hindus

2012-07-10T22:40:00.001+05:30

So the newest entrant in the English TV news media in India is Al Jazeera the famous Arabic channel. One imagines they would mostly be covering international news with an Indian flavour. To break into the minds of viewers some special event was in order. What better than a discussion on some contentious topic! And so it was about ‘Internet Hindus’ (IH). On the night of July 9 through the LiveStream (@AJStream) on the internet they had a discussion with a panel that included Dr.Subramanian Swamy(SS), Sagarika Ghose (SG) and Sadanand Dhume (SD). (Youtube)We all know about Dr.Swamy. Who in the world doesn’t know Sagarika? About Sadanand Dhume I have heard little. Other than reading a stray column of his I knew nothing about his stance. I didn’t know if he took an Off-stump or Leg-Stump guard, but from the debate it is fair to assume he prefers Middle-stump. More of all this minor discussion later! Let’s start at the beginning with the one who takes immense pride in coining the term ‘Internet Hindus’, Sagarika Ghose, of course.

IH is just one of many inventions and concepts that Sagarika has introduced into our lives. The list is too long to run here. Let me make it absolutely clear that she didn’t coin the IH term in frustration or anger. And it’s wrong to suggest that Sagarika bears any hatred towards or is against the IH. That is as far from the truth as Earth is from the planet Moronus. Sagarika is just against logic, reason, accountability and science. Umm.. maybe even against civilisation itself. Her latest piece of brilliance was seen in her tweet on the day the Higgs-Boson (God Particle) was announced. Have you educated yourself? Did you read The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins? (Read the whole lot at Sudhir Kumar’s Blog). Now, since she is so enamoured by Dawkins, and so passionately calls herself and her media gang ‘liberals’, I thought it best to quote a post from The Richard Dawkins Foundation itself. The birth of IH can be partially explained by this (Emphasis mine):

Most people are aware of Karl Popper as the father of the modern scientific method, and especially as the creator of the logic known as 'Popper falsifiability'. Somewhat less known is just how well Popper applied his prodigious logical powers to issues of society. In particular, to an issue much in the news these days...that of 'tolerance'. And in that respect, Popper made what to me is the defining statement on the matter:-

"Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them… We should therefore claim, in the name of tolerance, the right not to tolerate the intolerant. We should claim that any movement preaching intolerance places itself outside the law, and we should consider incitement to intolerance and persecution as criminal, in the same way as we should consider incitement to murder, or to kidnapping, or to the revival of the slave trade, as criminal.”

This should be framed and mounted on the wall of every liberal's house. Especially those liberals...and there are all too many of them....who are so enamoured with tolerant thinking that they demand tolerance even of the intolerant. To my mind, that level of unthinking and unlimited tolerance is akin to those Trojans who rather stupidly thought the nice wooden horse outside the city was a gift.

Fatwas, open call for murder of cartoonists, chopping off arms of professors! Tolerance! Well, now that we have set a few things in place we can get back to the AJStream discussion. A lot of questions, particularly by Sagarika, were sprinkled into the discussion on Hindu tolerance. Lisa Fletcher, the host, started off with this question:

Who are the Internet Hindus? Why do they oppose a secular India?

Did I hear you say WHAT? Okay, I have to assume this is her first foray into any Hindu related topic, so I’ll choose to forgive the stupidity in her innocent question. I don’t want to recall history of the Mughals or the British but if at all anybody in India is secular it has to be the Hindus. I am tempted to rephrase John Bradford and suggest: “But for the grace of Hindus, India would have been a Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran or even Bangladesh”. And though Lisa works for an Arabic channel she doesn’t seem to have looked deep into Arabian society to be asking such a question.

And in her first draw Sagarika states there are many online ‘organised’ communities on FB, Twitter etc. who follow the ideology of Hindu Nationalism. They attack you if you differ with them. And lo and behold the best of Sagarika: “Hindutva becomes a message for violence on the ground”. Then she gets upset when the so called fake liberals are called “paid media, servants of the Congress or the govt” and oozes emotions suggesting Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi, the well-known Bollywood couple, can’t find a house in Mumbai. Really? So Javed and Shabana are struggling to find a flat? Where did that one come from? If Al Jazeera or Lisa Fletcher ever wanted stories from the crypt about the Indian MSM’s misdeeds and crimes then I hope they visit this site. They can close their eyes and click on any post here and they would be alarmed at what they find. And this is not the only one, there are many other sites which have repeatedly exposed the MSM’s lies, manipulations and extreme bias against Hindus. This is all the more evident when the media handles the issue of terrorism.

Naturally, Atirath Aich, formerly associated with AJStream himself, tweets this question during the discussions. Even an average eye can clearly see that the Indian media has mostly been covering up Islamic fanaticism and terrorism and trigger-happy with the so-called saffron terrorism. It’s another story that some of the saffron terror-accused are not convicted, not tried and some have proven to be spurious cases. And Sagarika claimed they have done many exposes on Islamic fanaticism. Oh yeah? I would like to challenge her to prove this silly point she makes. Subramanian Swamy made some telling points, that India is secular because Hindus are still in majority. He points to the state of Kashmir where Hindus are a minority and speaks the truth when he says a Hindu in Kashmir suffers more discrimination than Muslims do in the rest of India where they are minorities.

SS also pointed out the incident in Kerala where a quack Sharia court ordered the arms of a professor chopped because he inadvertently wrote something negative about Islam. The order was carried out and his arms were chopped off. This is the danger that Islamic fanaticism has brought to every society where it has lived with other communities. No sane Hindu would suggest discrimination against Muslims. But Muslims are certainly responsible for their own backward condition. If Hindus had continued to practice many of the social evils of their own society they would have been just as backward too. Muslims refuse to reform and have a notorious intolerance for other communities. It is this intolerance that has grown to a point, supported by indiscriminate appeasement by the Congress and other Socialist and Leftist parties that has brought about the IH. And some of the IH are belligerent and abusive as well. By Sagarika’s measure most of her own tweets would fall under the belligerent, intolerant and abusive category. Some could even be called racist.

As far as Sadanand Dhume is concerned he mostly played the balancing act. That is a splendid achievement considering the two wings of panellists he had. But he did make an important point: “Name a country in Asia that is more tolerant of its minority” than India. The current churning against the media, the Congress+Socialists+Leftists and even intolerant Muslims did not happen overnight. This was waiting to happen. Distortion of their history, abuse of their rights, discrimination through constitution and appeasement of minorities have made many Hindus say “Enough is Enough”! The Internet blogs and social media have helped bring out the truth about the distorted history and the lies the media and historians have peddled for years. Sagarika must learn to accept that fact.

If Lisa Fletcher and AlJazeera look deeper into Hindu society they will realise the undeniable fact that Hindus are not bound together as a community by their religion. They are bound together by their traditions, social customs and practices. In her opening statements Lisa mentions “Hindutva is a core principle of the RSS”. Now, RSS doesn’t influence all Hindus nor is it a concept similar to the ‘universal brotherhood’ that applies to Muslims. And the great scientist that Sagarika is, she suggests “Hindus don’t need to fear anything”. No, they don’t need to fear anything but they are also not willing to welcome any more Trojan horses. If some IH are belligerent and abusive they would have been so even without the internet. Trust me the Muslims don’t even need the internet for that. As someone tweeted jokingly, their equivalent of IH, the IM, is already a terrorist organisation.

Here’s the last word dear Cacofonix! You may have coined the IH term to ridicule Hindus but given that you’re very scientific, you didn’t foresee the response. The panellists even debated it as an offensive term. That’s seriously a laugh. THEY ARE WRONG! Far from seeing it as ridicule or offensive, many Hindus on the net have worn it proudly as their identity. The aggressive Hindus who would have otherwise have gone by their own names or other funny names have exploded into a huge mass with different variants of the term IH. That’s called Hindu tolerance, even embracing an intended ridicule as a badge of honour. That’s the true Hindu Liberal. Go figure!

The Union Of Snakes

2012-07-09T04:30:00.000+05:30

Listen carefully: “..And when the twelfth largest company in the world controls the most awesome, god-damn propaganda force in the whole godless world, who knows what shit will be peddled for truth on this network… So, you listen to me. Listen to me! Television is not the truth. Television's a god-damned amusement park. Television is a circus, a carnival, a traveling troupe of acrobats, storytellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, sideshow freaks, lion tamers, and football players. We're in the boredom-killing business. So if you want the Truth, go to God! Go to your gurus. Go to yourselves! Because that's the only place you're ever gonna find any real truth. But, man, you're never gonna get any truth from us… We deal in illusions, man. None of it is true! But you people sit there day after day, night after night, all ages, colors, creeds. We're all you know. You're beginning to believe the illusions we're spinning here. You're beginning to think that the tube is reality and that your own lives are unreal. You do whatever the tube tells you. You dress like the tube, you eat like the tube, you raise your children like the tube. You even think like the tube. This is mass madness. You maniacs! In God's name, you people are the real thing. We are the illusion”. Those are confessions and rants of a has-been but reincarnated TV anchor to his live audience. *

The Union of Snakes

Somewhere in a corner of Delhi is a building that houses a union. It’s called the Editors Guild of India. As far as I know, it doesn’t have any website or any information for the public. Once in a while the members meet, have coffee and lunch, and confess their sins and then go back to their regular world of creating illusions. You see, habits have a very strong gravitational pull about them. So they met again on July 6, 2012 to confess their sins and seek redemption. Speakers were editors who were wondering how to address various challenges to the media including paid news. I must make a small correction here. What they are referring to is the ‘news media’ and not any other form of media. Hmm! That’s like snakes in a pit discussing how their oil can be better refined for their snake-oil distributors. So let’s sample a few:

Shekhar Gupta: Anchors in the electronic media on the manner in which they have gone from "becoming inquisitors, have now become judges and executioners". He then cited reporting on the Adarsh as an example of how little the editors cared to cross-check facts which led to "a mythology being built…. senior journalists were embracing the government" and "speaking for the government". Ah well, there is no better mythology in recent history than SG’s Raisina Hill army concoction, a stale one too. It’s revolting to listen to a man who embraces the govt more than any other and whose paper survives on ad doles by the govt. He urged members not be "seduced by the government" by accepting RS nominations or becoming part of any govt panel.That sounds like Moses himself talking doesn’t it? With what moral authority does the man speak? I believe journalists should not only decline RS nominations but not accept any govt awards like the Padma during their active careers. Shekhar is guilty of that too. Forget accepting awards and nominations from govt. the media snakes actually dole out awards to politicians and ministers, the ones whom they are supposed to keep a watch on. How can the watchdogs be rewarding potential crooks? And still claim objectivity and fairness in reporting is their motive or goal?

Here’s another gem from SG: "Indian journos are, afraid of their shadows, waiting for regulation". Simple fact is, no amount of regulation can ever be a substitute for the conscience of an editor or a reporter. Self-regulation is the mythical nonsense that these snakes offer as substitute while selling their soul to the devil at every opportunity. Rajdeep Sardesai, another of those editors, quotes SG: “journalists’ downfall is being caused by arrogance, greed and incompetence”. I wonder which part of that quote doesn’t apply to Shekhar or for that matter any other editor. If Rajdeep really understands that quote he should be looking at Sagarika Ghose on his own channel – arrogance and incompetence personified. In response to being scoffed at for his Raisina Hill blunder Shekhar and his team filed a 500 crore defamation suit against others. And talk about bad timing. SG makes this statement when veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar in his autobiography reveals about him: “He had become arrogant and abnormally affluent”. Abnormally affluent? Shekhar must feel like a schoolboy bunking classes after that remark.

Raghav Bahl, Network 18, said the media needs to regulate the content by itself and does not need "content filters", and criticized the way the media was "purveying virtually by rote half-understood government language. "Government is god, is the stance journalists are taking and end up magnifying what is a wrong hand-out by the government department" he said, putting the CAG report "in that category". Really? Talk about clever trickery by Bahl. Of all the govt departments, the one department that still retains a high level of integrity and trust by people is the CAG. The reason why Bahl cites the CAG report as a “hand-out” is because his channels somehow did not manage to prove the charges in the 2G scam were inaccurate and couldn’t be dumped by Rajdeep & Co. This is as third-rate a snake-oil sales pitch as you’ll ever get in a union meet. And as the rant in the opening paragraph indicates; a giant investment by a corporate giant is the best form of content filter that Raghav Bahl would endorse. Time will tell how Bahl’s media outlets will report on this corporate giant.

Raghav Bahl? That's a laugh. Like politicians, media barons too think people have short memories. Here's an extract from Girish Nikam, which till date remains a mystery that Bahl has never answered:

What does Raghav Behl, the MD of TV 18(CNBC TV 18 and CNN-IBN), have to say about Manoj Modi (right hand man of Mukesh Ambani) claiming (on June 10,2009) in his conversation with Niira Radia that he told(threatened) him(Raghav) “your organisation is corrupt…. Even factual stories you don’t print about ADAG and you will work for us. I want to know who is the source, Mukesh(Ambani) ko personally attack karega toh main manoj modi hoon, chodega nahin kisiko.——-Raghav said in order to put pressure on me(Raghav himself)— send me(raghav) a legal notice”...... Did Raghav Behl ask Modi to send him a legal notice? If not true, did Raghav Behl get a letter from Modi, making such threats, as Modi claims in this tape and repeatedly asks Niira Radia not to disclose about it to anyone?

In one of the conversations(on June 13,2009) .......Niira Radia remarks that “Sebi investigations is on against Siddharth(Zarabi, Economic Policy Editor, CNBC TV 18), Udayan(mukherjee, anchor and MD CNBC TV 18)....they are getting their wives involved in the (stock) market), and the SEBI investigation is on”. She also goes on to say that Udayan Mukherjee “files the highest tax returns among journalists…… he pays Rs.6 crore as income tax, and he doesn’t even earn that much”. Now what has Raghav Behl and his colleagues named here done about these obviously serious charges? Is what she is saying true? If not what action are they contemplating or have taken? So much for Raghav Bahl's self-regulation.

After a lot of motherly talk about propriety, not pandering to govt, govt is not God and not eating hand-outs from govt, who do they invite? Well, they invite a minister Salman Khurshid and Opposition leader Ravishankar Prasad. Khurshid, the man known best for his smooth double talk! Inclusive growth and sustainable development are the two most abused terms in the 21st century by govts all over the world. So the minister, fond of quotas in every other domain, called for an "inclusive, collective approach" while debating on the criminal aspect of defamation. There you go: “Inclusive”! He said civil suits in defamation could be effective in dealing with the criminal element of defamation. Hmm! Let me interpret that for you. Whenever our current govt mentions ‘defamation’ it mostly refers to offensive material about the Gandhis or cartoons about the Nehru-Gandhi clan. Bad taste and offensive content may not be healthy but they’re certainly not criminal and most content that Khurshid, Sibal & Co. want to filter won’t exactly amount to defamation in a court of law. But he hopes the Union would get the hint. That’s another verbal hand-out that has passed over Raghav Bahl’s head I suppose.

Do these snakes have the guts to face the real issues instead of spurious issues like regulation? Here are some important observations by Ajit Mohan: “The Rotten State of India’s Media”, in the WSJ December 2, 2011. Excerpts (Emphasis mine):

What is broken about the news media in India is self-evident on the front pages of the dailies in the mornings and on the nightly news on television in the evenings… Frighteningly, the situation is even worse on television channels. Most news channels just do not do reporting anymore. What counts for reporting is usually a small snippet of a roving ‘journalist’ talking to a few randomly chosen individuals on the streets of Delhi and Mumbai for their take on the big controversy of the day. This then segues to what has become the preferred format of all channels: a panel of six to eight ‘experts’, usually spokesmen of major political parties mixed with out-of-work politicians, newspaper and magazine editors, and the day’s representation from the roving celebrity class of lobbyist-PR agent-commentators (whose reason to be on the panel is never quite clear), ranting at each other while struggling to have their screeching voices heard above the incessant screaming of the anchor. All this while the viewer struggles to keep up with the multiple, disjointed layers of scrolling headlines perennially sliding on the screen below the screamers…

So, how did we get here? For a start, the crisis in Indian media does lend credence to the emerging wisdom around the world that objective and independent journalism can only thrive in a non-profit environment, perhaps with the benevolent support of wealthy trusts and individuals. Most major newspapers and television channels in the country are owned by for-profit corporations that understandably have an emphasis on the bottom-line. These organizations invariably have other business interests and relationships that may make objective journalism within their newspapers and channels difficult and inconvenient. Many media outlets are disproportionately reliant on their advertisers – a recent analyst report estimated that nearly 75% of print revenue in India comes from advertising – thus, the temptation always exists to pander to them, especially when these advertisers are the subjects of the reporting. The temptation must also exist to punish those advertisers who choose competing outlets. This drift towards seeking easy ways to pander to audiences and advertisers is exacerbated by the culture of incestuous self-serving relationships.

Go fix that!

I can go and on but I think the ‘real us’ get the message from the snakes every single day. The days of straight and honest reporting have long been buried in every news channel and newspaper. Honest reporters would be an oddity these days. Still, the last thing one wants is any govt intervention or regulation of the news media. It will take another huge Radiagate or a monumental scandal of the media to break to really see any true reforms. Till then the union of snakes will keep peddling snake-oil through their distributors and networks. As the anchor rants “We are the illusion”!

*Excerpts from the speech “We are the illusion” by Howard Beale from the movie “Network”

Quotes in this post are from NYDailyNews and FirstPost.

India's Best Journalists

2012-07-04T12:59:00.001+05:30

Since the article on India’s Worst Journalists-2012 (IWJ) last April I had received many suggestions to do one on India’s best. Some even recommended that the same ‘worst’ should be put to another poll to find out which are the best among them. When I looked up the ‘Charter of MediaCrooks’ there were hundreds of provisions to identify and talk about the crooks but not a single one to identify the good ones or the best in the business. Fair, since that wasn’t the task of MediaCrooks. So I derived inspiration from the 'Worst list' and ‘manipulated’ the Charter to enable this site to identify the best journalists. The candidates on the best journalists list were all picked by people on the social media. (Thanks to all who contributed). If I had left it to the Anti-SocialMedia (MSM) probably none of these names would have figured.

There is something else about the journalists on the list. You won’t find most of them flamboyant or glamorous. You won’t find most of them frequently in those back-scratching media awards functions. The greatest thing about the candidates on the ‘best’ poll is that when they write an article or appear on TV it is highly unlikely you will find them asking: “Oh God, what should I tell them”? They speak their own free minds. So here are those who have been voted India’s Best Journalists (Poll results appended at the end of this post):

10. Ashok Malik – Malik has been in the business for over two decades now. His association has mostly been with The Pioneer but you can also find him in other journals and lately also on many TV channels as a panellist. His writings are not the kind that will set you on fire but Malik manages to put across his views and arguments gently and without offending. That might be surprising since many bios of his mention his wanting to be a gossip-writer in film magazines. That’s hard to believe because he looks so serious. It would be nice, though, to see a gossip column from him – just to see some stuff from him on the Poonam Pandeys, Sonam Kapoors and Uday Chopras. In any case, don’t expect him to be politically incorrect. Like other successful journalists who have adapted to the Internet Malik understands and values the social media. He is happy to write in a form that the MSM wouldn’t consider really ‘Sexy’ in these times. He speaks his mind anyway and that’s the obvious reason he’s here.

9. Madhu Trehan – She’s one of the survivors from the journalism of the old world charm. The co-founder of IndiaToday, India’s first weekly news-magazine, has many firsts to her credit. The other significant claim to fame has to be her video news-magazine ‘Newstrack’, in the days of Doordarshan’s monopoly, which was made available as videos through her magazine and through regular video outlets. But Madhu Trehan is not on this list for her past laurels though. She has re-invented herself and has been active on the social media. Her news channel Newslaundry is growing in popularity. It’s a site where Madhu and her colleagues launder the regular crooks in the media with a lot of humour and candour. Viewers and readers of Newslaundry have often felt she has been soft on the crooks but that takes away nothing from her sincerity and her commitment. She has also learned to engage with the crowd on social media. Her popularity is on the up again.

8. R. Jagannathan – Business World, India Today, Express group, Business Standard, DNA he has worked with all of them. A significant involvement has to be the launch of Business Today. Other than that he has spent relatively smaller tenures with most of these publications. But TheJaggi, as he calls himself on Twitter, came to greater prominence with FirstPost. Though I call Firstpost the online sidekick of the Network18 group (CNN-IBN, CNBC-TV18 etc.), Jaggi has brought a lot of balance and freshness in the online news business. As editor of Firstpost not only his own articles but even those of others have largely been truly interesting and fair. That’s what is amazing. Since the group’s TV channels are heavily biased and are nearly political mouthpieces, Firstpost doesn’t appear to be so. Being a business journalist himself, his articles on economics and financial matters make exceptional reading. I don’t have numbers but I would dare to state Firstpost could easily be the most popular dedicated online news site at the moment and will grow in strength. A lot of credit for that must go to TheJaggi.

7. P. Sainath – He calls himself a ‘rural’ reporter. One of the few Indians to receive the Ramon Magsaysay awards Sainath is the art movie equivalent of Bollywood in journalism. And I say that nicely. On the mainstream media degenerating into entertainment he once remarked: “"I felt that if the Indian press was covering the top 5 per cent, I should cover the bottom 5 per cent” and that he does splendidly. On another occasion he observed there were 400 journalists reporting on a Fashion show in Delhi but not one reporting on poverty in India. One recent article by him “Reaping gold through cotton, and newsprint” about the misreporting and twisted journalism by TOI is indicative of the tenor of most of his articles and exposes. It is indeed surprising that he hasn’t been called upon to be a panellist on TV shows relating to farmer suicides and such related issues. Maybe he just detests the very format of these debates and avoids them. Outspoken against Paidmedia and other evils of the press he is one reporter who should be inspiration for a lot more.

6. J. Gopikrishnan – There must be a reason his name starts with G. His stunning investigative reports on the 2G scam has exposed many corrupt politicians and the entire UPA govt itself. Gopi, as he is called in trade circles, systematically pursued and exposed the manner in which scarce national resources were sold for a song by the corrupt. Naturally, apart from rising popularity among people a number of awards followed as well in the last year or so. The mostly compromised bigger media outlets started following the 2G story only after his reports. That Gopi works with a relatively small newspaper like The Pioneer also reflects on where good journalism is coming from lately. In the words of his own editor, Chandan Mitra, “He has put on no airs despite the accolades he has received and the many awards he has won. He remains committed to his profession and profession alone”. What followed Gopi’s reports are similar assessments by the CAG on 2G and worse, the explosive Radiatapes that exposed the media-politician-lobbyists nexus. More power to him.

5. Sucheta Dalal – She could have been somebody…. Somebody like… You know who, a media super celebrity. She could have easily compromised ethics and traded that for millions. But Sucheta Dalal is one of the most reliable financial journalists around. From the Harshad Mehta scam to Ketan Parekh to current misdeeds in the financial markets she has served ordinary investors and consumers all her career. Having worked with all the major newspapers in the country she now runs her own web magazine, Moneylife. Apart from various investment and securities boards, including those of the govt, she is also on the board of Consumer Education & Research Centre in Ahmedabad. In the crowd of many unscrupulous financial and stock market journalists, in print and on TV, she stands out like a beacon. One hopes future aspirants in this domain will look to her for inspiration.

4. M. J. Akbar – There isn’t much that I need to write about MJ Akbar that people don’t already know. From a Trainee in TOI to launch of major journals like TheSunday and Telegraph and to also being a member of parliament there isn’t much that MJA hasn’t achieved. One of the senior most journalists of India he has also authored many books. In particular, his analyses of Indo-Pak relations are easily among the best anyone can get to read. His recent launch, the online SundayGuardian, has acquired a fair bit of popularity with the internet news readers. SundayGuardian is as hard-hitting a news magazine as you can get. He is currently the Editorial Director of IndiaToday and their TV channel HeadlinesToday. That he retains a high level of popularity after four decades in journalism says everything about why he is still rated as one of the best.

3. Kanchan Gupta – He is most famous for his association with The Pioneer and even more so as an advisor in the PMO for Atal Behari Vajpayee. Apart from writing on politics and current affairs you could fairly call him a reasonable expert on middle-east affairs owing to his work in that region. He can be subtle, wry and sarcastic but don’t expect him to make you fall off your chair laughing. Straight-talking, blunt and sometimes provocative, his writings do not spin facts. That’s the reason he is very popular with the right wing and not so popular in the mainstream media. Often appears on TV shows but gets shouted down very easily. That is not so much because he doesn’t have a booming voice but because he stops when asked by the moderator and cares to listen to others. In a country where journalism and media is dominated by communists and being ‘right-wing’ is almost criminal, his success stands out for his brilliant, insightful and honest writing. Has been another one to quickly learn the future of media is online and has now started his own venture called Niti Digital.

2. Swapan Dasgupta – Quite easily the best and most popular of contemporary journalists around. That should be a surprise because he too is a ‘right-wing’ journalist. Not just that, he also happens to be the most sought after TV panellist. I refuse to call him an ‘intellectual’ as many do since I consider that term reserved for ‘Nobeler’ souls. Let’s see, I would call Amartya Sen or Dileep Padgaonkar an intellectual. Which is why it is dismaying to find him debating ‘intellectuals’ like Mani Shankar Aiyar. SD is simply blessed with an extraordinary abundance of simple common sense. That’s what makes his writings a delight to read. The number of journals he writes for is too long to be listed here. Sharp observations, deep insights and simple honesty are key features of his writings. Like Sachin Tendulkar he is not gifted with great vocal chords but he makes up for that with his solid batting. If he is on a TV debate you are assured of a decent one without the usual cacophony that passes for debates. Whatever one’s ideology he is clearly a role model for budding journalists.

1. Arun Shourie – This is quite a surprise. I say that in a nice way because Arun Shourie hasn’t been a very active journalist for quite some time. That he remains the best journalist with voters is a tribute to his standing and accomplishments. He is the first of India’s true investigative journalists who led to the fall of a Chief Minister in Maharashtra in the eighties. His most reputed tenure is that as the Executive Editor of Indian Express. At one point the Congress govt had nothing less than 300 cases slapped against the IE after the Bofors episode. Author of many books, MP and was also a minister under the NDA govt. It’s distressing for many that since the days of Shourie the fiercely independent IE has more or less become a ‘handler’ of the govt’s agenda. He had also strongly opposed Pratibha Patil for president and it’s not so hard now to see why. Every article and book written by Shourie is perhaps better researched, more thoughtful and provocative than any of the ones by many modern day journalists. Not surprisingly, he was he named as one of the International Press Institute's 50 World Press Freedom Heroes of the past 50 years in 2000 apart from being honoured with the Magsaysay award. The likes of Shourie and the others on this list keep the flame of hope for good journalism floating.

So there it is; India’s Best Journalists and I expect they will remain so for quite some time. In an age where skin colour, lipstick, make-up, laundering and brokering skills determine the prominence and influence of a journalist, it is not very difficult for them to stand out. I believe they would have stood out anyway. If most of the media crooks are a danger to democracy and freedom then there are some who strongly protect it too. And those are 10 good reasons to cheer.

PS: The candidates in the poll who did not make it to the Top-10 have nothing to worry. They are in great company and are sure to find their place in the sun for sure in the future.

Sonia's Supreme Sacrifice

2012-07-01T06:00:00.000+05:30

On the evening of August 9, 2011 Indian news TV made history of sorts. It was the second time that evening that Top Cop Sanjiv Bhatt appeared on Arnab Goswami’s Kangaroo court on TimesNow. Almost as if to tell Arnab ‘Meet my lawyer, don’t ask silly questions’. That’s right, Sanjiv Bhatt brought his lawyer along with him. Arnab must have gawked in surprise. Ever since that episode I have referred to the mouth as Justice Arnab. Former President APJ Abdul Kalam (APJ) must have similarly gawked when Sonia Gandhi (SG) had walked in to stake the Congress’ claim to form the govt after the 2004 elections. Per APJ’s account, they exchanged pleasantries and then SG must have said: ‘Hello Mr.President, meet our new Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’. Here was APJ, all ready with even a letter typed out appointing SG as PM and suddenly she brings in MMS. Damn! Now that letter had to be retyped! So reveals APJ’s latest book ‘Turning Points’. I have to agree that the decision to appoint MMS as PM is indeed a turning point. India’s steady slide down the drain since he became PM will be recorded in history as the greatest disaster.

And so, as the news of excerpts from APJ’s book broke all the news channels and newspapers had mostly only one page to read; no.135. Hindustan Trolls proudly flashed the headline 'Sonia Gandhi could've been PM if she wished'. That wasn’t what APJ said but the delight of Mr.Smirk can be seen in his tweet of June 29. HT quotes: “Kalam reveals that if Gandhi wanted to become PM in 2004, he would have had no option but to appoint her". What HT and other media outlets are not decoding is why APJ is saying he would have had “no option”. Ideally, for an elected and deserving candidate the president should have been saying ‘I would have been happy to appoint her PM but she did not stake a claim’. The loud noises in the MSM will not elaborate the fact that using the term ‘no option’ clearly indicates that APJ was perhaps not in favour of SG but had she so desired he would have been compelled to appoint her PM. That if he did indeed have an option he would have thought otherwise. So we must come to believe that SG, in the true tradition of the Nehru-Gandhi clan, made a supreme sacrifice.

This is what SG said in May 2004 after MMS was proposed as PM: “I was always certain that if ever I found myself in the position that I am in today, I would follow my own inner voice. Today, that voice tells me I must humbly decline this post….. Power in itself has never attracted me, nor has position been my goal. My aim has always been to defend the secular foundation of our nation and the poor of our country - the creed sacred to Indiraji and Rajivji”. Yeah, you see, in a country like ours the only sacrifices have come from the Nehru-Gandhi clan because they were assassinated. Others like L.B. Shastri, Subhash Chandra Bose, Madhavrao Scindia, Rajesh Pilot and many others – they just died. It’s only when somebody from the ‘clan’ dies, it’s a sacrifice. It’s only when somebody from the clan declines the PM post that it’s a sacrifice. JP could have been PM in 1977 but his was not a sacrifice.And, of course, events from May 2004 have substantially established that SG does not seek power. Haven't they?

APJ actually writes: “While this communication was in progress, I had a number of emails and letters coming from individuals, organisations and parties that I should not allow Mrs Sonia Gandhi to become the Prime Minister of our country. I had passed on these mails and letters to various agencies in the government for their information without making any remarks. During this time there were many political leaders who came to meet me to request me not to succumb to any pressure and appoint Mrs Gandhi as the Prime Minister, a request that would not have been constitutionally tenable. If she had made any claim for herself I would have had no option but to appoint her”. I guess the media and Congress party wants us to now believe that all these objections had nothing to do with SG declining to be PM.

My deep admiration and respect for APJ tells me he would do nothing but tell the truth. But I have to wonder if the entire truth has been laid out before us. That for three days since May 15, 2004 no one came forward to stake a claim to form a govt is mentioned by APJ. It is during this period one can assume he would have received all the objections to SG as PM. In the time line he narrates there is a reported letter he wrote to SG at 3.30 pm on May 17, 2004 supposedly mentioning objections to her as PM. Subramanian Swamy has consistently referred to this letter being instrumental in SG backing out of the PM post. (Read Firstpost report) Now APJ must either acknowledge such a letter was written or deny its existence. In absence of either, it will always be in doubt whether the entire truth has been laid out by him. There have also been reports that the release of this letter has been declined even under RTI as being ‘confidential’. Even Swamy’s letter to APJ which he claims impacted the latter’s choices was unavailable for release under RTI. (Read this Outlook report).

Technically APJ is right. Having been elected as MP it automatically entitles SG to be a PM. And therefore he would have had ‘no option’ but to appoint her PM if she had staked a claim. If there were any legal hurdles to her appointment as PM much of those would have also applied to her qualifying for election as MP. Even in the case of Indira Gandhi it was her election as MP itself that was overturned leading to the imposition of Emergency. I, for one, have absolutely no doubts that if SG had chosen to become PM there would have been a flood of cases in various courts, including the Supreme Court, challenging her appointment. Her citizenship history and electoral declarations have too many flaws to withstand scrutiny for a PM.

So, while the Congress’ secular media outlets and the party may celebrate APJ’s revelation as some kind of moral victory it is merely hypothetical. Fact: Sonia Gandhi has gone better than PM. She is comfortable as the back-seat driver enjoying power and all privileges as the Super PM. Unlike a regular PM she doesn’t have to answer anybody – not the press, not the people, not anybody but her own ‘inner voice’. The only person who really knows why SG declined the PMship is she herself and she is not about to make any confessions any time soon or in the future. There is another aspect to the story. If SG had become PM her lack of knowledge about the country, lack of education and much more severe drawbacks would have all been exposed. This is something that also threatens Rahul Gandhi. So for the present, the fairy tale that the media spins about Sonia’s supreme sacrifice is one of those mythical stories that people will be fed with. Only difference is it was so far done without APJ’s help, now it will be done with some help howsoever hidden the actual truth.

CNN-IBN, IBN7 - Criminally Communal Channels

2012-06-27T07:13:00.000+05:30

There is something about our media celebs that makes them hate anything remotely connected with Hinduism or the Hindu religion. Any symbol related to Hinduism or their spiritual leaders or Gurus is an insult to the intelligence of these elites. Of the many media outlets that frequently ridicule Hinduism, CNN-IBN and its sidekick IBN7 are channels that are undisputed leaders. Not so long ago CNN-IBN’s Sagarika Ghose ran a fraudulent live show about SriSri Ravi Shankar and his campaign against corruption. It was a case enough to ‘Sack Sagarika’. But just as in politics, nepotism prevails in the media too and she continues merrily on the channel, frequently spouting venom against Hindus, subtly on TV or more brazenly on Twitter. When the damage is done and she faces a backlash her typical response is to play victim. Here are some recent transactions by CNN-IBN’s Managing Director, Rajdeep Sardesai:

The tweet on the left was in response to many demanding coverage of the anniversary of Emergency on June 25, 2012. Now, what exactly does Emergency have to do with Babri? But unless a historic event of significance is not equated with some supposed ant-Hindu news Rajdeep’s equation is not complete. In reality, Emergency is a shame on the nation, destruction of democracy and is comparable with the tin-pot dictators of Pakistan, perhaps with Saddam Hussain, Pinochet or Idi Amin. Emergency was not an offence against any particular community. All communities paid a price. In contrast the Babri incident is one of many communal incidents in the country. If history is perspective, then Babri should be compared to Somnath and not to the Emergency. But such is the communal agenda of CNN-IBN.

On June 25 #Emergency75 trended all day on Twitter. So Rajdeep wants to know if tweeters will trend #Babri92 on December 6^. While he actually doesn’t suggest it, it’s almost as if Babri happened as revenge for Emergency. It’s alarming that those who pass off as editors in media outlets cannot distinguish between a national tragedy and a communal incident. The number of people killed or permanently disabled during Emergency will neither be known nor be ever revealed because our current media would prefer another Emergency. They would like a censorship of all voices in the social media and would delight in peddling only the voice of the Congress and their ruling allies. The Justice Shah Commission report on the Emergency was buried and lost till recently a writer (Era Sezhiyan) put the pieces together in a book.

Here’s another tweet from the same evening. Once again Rajdeep drags Babri and Gujarat 2002 to balance Emergency and the 1984 “Riots”. Mind you, he and others in the media continue to refer to 1984 as “riots” and Gujarat 2002 as “pogrom”. Most will disagree with 1984 being termed “riots”. That was a systematic killing of ONLY Sikhs in retaliation. It wasn’t a conflict in which both Sikhs and others were killing each other. Only Sikhs were being killed by Congress cadres. Still, what’s the connection? Unless the BJP’s so-called sins are called into the debate it is unfair to talk about Emergency. All the events Rajdeep talks about happened much after Emergency and aren’t connected in anyway. This is the media’s idea of “balanced” crap!

In another tweet Rajdeep laments being called a “pseudo-secular”. Why? Because he did a programme on 1984 on its 25^th Anniversary and about Gujarat/Godhra on its 10^th Anniversary. This is where Rajdeep comes across and establishes himself as an outright LIAR. And I do call him a LIAR. For long the media had buried 1984. It is only when the media was churning out lies about Gujarat 2002 that people wondered why a similar campaign wasn’t there for 1984. What the liar Rajdeep forgets is that from the day Gujarat riots started he, in whichever channel he was, has carried out a relentless campaign almost every day against the perpetrators and particularly Narendra Modi.The anti-Gujarat shows weren't on anniversaries - those were every week, every month, every year and still continue. Such were the extent of lies that media even reported as if February 2002 had 30 days and not 28. The stories are all in the open now and probably there is as much guilt that Rajdeep feels as other media crooks for stories about Gujarat.

If Narendra Modi were a Muslim I seriously doubt any of these channels would have mentioned Gujarat beyond 2002 or 2003. If Narendra Modi were a Congressman then Gujarat2002 would have been buried by the media as they did 1984. If Narendra Modi were a Congressman he would have been awarded a Bharat Ratna, streets would be named after him, airports named after him, govt schemes would be named after him. And would you see the media protesting? Make a wild guess! This is the communal nature of Rajdeep, Sagarika and all other bimbos in our mainstream media. Hate Hindus, magnify any Hindu crime and suppress the crimes of their paymasters, particularly Congress. Of course, when challenged about being anti-Hindu Rajdeep will claim he is a proud Hindu! Why? Because he eats beef! That’s his measure.

Now, while there have been frequent accusations of CNN-IBN and IBN7 being anti-Hindu and communal here is proof if you ever needed it. The latest catch in the 26/11 is someone called Abu Jindal. Umm… no one seems sure about his real name! He is also called Abu Jundal, Abu Hamza and new names might crop up soon. On every channel and newspaper there is only one picture of his – the one with the same expression and the same check-shirt. Wait, all except IBN7. An observant tweeter (@AwakeIndian) sent me this TV grab from the channel.

Out of nowhere you have Abu Whatever seen wearing a Saffron Kurta. IBN7 dressed him up him in ‘Saffron’ and that colour is symbolic with Hindus. The mischief behind altering a commonly circulated image is not lost on people. Of course, the journalistic-bimbo would disagree and suggest that isn’t Saffron but ‘Orange’. AwakeIndian also points to the saffron shirt the anchor is wearing but I wouldn’t read much into that. What exactly is the motive behind photo-shopping the image of a suspected terrorist?

This can be a good case for a criminal act under section 153A of the IPC – Creating communal disharmony, insulting the religious sentiments of a community and so on. The managing editor of IBN7, Ashutosh, is also often accused of his anti-Hindu stance. Such acts only confirm the agenda of the CNN-IBN group as a whole. So Rajdeep, Sagarika and Ashutosh and their team can flush their ‘secular’ credentials down the drain and stop any pretensions. Their tweets, their images, their misguided sense of ‘balance’ have been frequently exposed. In the case of SriSri, Sagarika claimed it was a “bug” and a genuine “mistake”. Nobody buys that anymore. As with that episode I have to repeat: It’s neither an error nor a mistake, it’s just wilful deception. The sly, subtle and deceptive anti-Hindu campaign will continue on their channels.

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Sangma Slaps Karan 'TheTool' Thapar

2012-06-25T07:16:00.000+05:30

In the American-Italian mafia business everyone had a nickname. Among the famous ones is George ‘Babyface’ Nelson. Then there’s the introduction to the GoodFellas: Nicky ‘Eyes’, Frankie ‘TheWop’ (A slur for those of Italian descent meaning ‘Without Papers’), ‘Fat’ Andy, and the best one had to be when Henry Hill introduces Jimmy: “And then there was Jimmy ‘Two’Times’, who got that nickname because he said everything twice”. And the typical response by Jimmy TwoTimes: “I'm gonna go get the papers, get the papers”.

Sometime back I had already explained why the MSM is ‘India’s biggest mafia’. One of the ‘honourable’ members of this MSM just got a new nickname: Karan ‘TheTool’ Thapar. This was in his interview of Presidential nominee of Opposition parties, P.A. Sangma. Anyone who saw the interview would easily agree it was indeed motivated, sometimes in poor taste, and mostly ‘Karan The Tool’ clearly seemed to be campaigning for the other ticket, Pranab Mukherjee. Such is our criminally biased media that far from interviewing Sangma, The Tool was actually ridiculing him on many counts. That Sangma is an ‘underdog’ is not good enough reason for the media to campaign for Pranab, which they have been doing so far.

There’s a reason Justice Katju once said our so-called journalists are not well-versed in History (or Science or anything). Take a look at the picture on the left. The headline says “Dewey defeats Truman”. The man holding up the newspaper and smiling is definitely not Thomas Dewey the Presidential candidate against Harry Truman in 1948. Truman was the underdog in that election and almost everyone had predicted he would lose. No one gave him a chance. The presidential elections were held on November 2, 1948 and even before final results were announced the Chicago Tribune had released its early morning edition of November 3, 1948 with that headline. Many newspapers even ridiculed Truman’s campaign and candidature, just like Thapar The Tool and the rest of Indian MSM do with Sangma. A New York Times article editorialized that "If Truman is nominated, he will be forced to wage the loneliest campaign in recent history". Everybody loves an underdog. Fact: Harry Truman won the election. You won’t find a bigger slap on the media in history than that headline carried by the Chicago Tribune. But the likes of Thapar TheTool, CNN-IBN and others in the Indian MSM don’t seem to learn from history.

Even if a candidate is an underdog, even if the media favours Pranab Mukherjee journalists would tread a bit cautiously in making extreme statements. The Tool’s interview of Sangma smacks of arrogance, extreme bias, motivated and in very bad taste. Here are some of the questions and statements (in blue) from the interview (Read the full transcript here):

Mr Sangma I have spoken to many people and practically all of them, including many of your sponsors, say that you have very little chance of winning. Then, why are you contesting..

I guess nobody taught Thapar The Tool, that in a democracy it is almost a ‘Sin’ to not contest elections and allow any candidate to be elected unopposed. This is the very foundation of democracy. But slaves like CNN-IBN, The Tool and others in the MSM want Pranab to be elected unanimously. Was democracy created for unanimity? Shameful!

Mr Sangma let me put it to you, people are fond of you, they indulge you, but they are laughing at the fact that you believe that you can win. Nobody believes it but you.

By sheer logic why was The Tool’s channel breaking so much sweat over Lee-Hesh and Tennis players for the Olympics. Does anyone seriously expect them to win a medal? What is the motive for deriding a person’s candidature? It can’t be mere bias or sympathy for the other ticket. It has to be a lot more than that. And those who play or contest elections must firmly do so with the belief they can win. If not, they should behave like losers like The Tool.

Are you a little worried that by standing in the face of such odds and they are incredible odds, you might make yourself a laughing stock?

A laughing stock? Where does such language come from? Only uncouth, uncivilised and badly reared journalists talk to a presidential candidate in this filthy language. I wonder if such journalists are becoming the speciality of CNN-IBN. In reference to BJP’s support for Sangma, The Tool comes up with this:

Mr Sangma are you reducing the killings in Kandhamal, the killings in Dang, the Graham Staines, as a few incidents?

And then morons like The Tool and his channel keep screaming about “Secularism” and “One nation”. What has Kandhamal got to do with Sangma’s candidature? Has The Tool asked Pranab about Emergency? Given that Pranab was directly involved in certain actions during that time? Has The Tool asked Pranab about favours and offences relating to benefits allowed to some corporate bodies?

Mr Sangma, even if you look at the BJP, who you said a moment ago had increased their support for you to 26-28 per cent, are using you… as a stepping stone over the bridge to Jayalalithaa and Naveen Patnaik. Mr Sangma you are a tool. You are a part of a strategy that supports their convenience. That’s why they are supporting you, not because they believe in you.

Those are not questions. Those are inferences and theories spawned by the interviewer himself. That’s CNN-IBN journalism for you. But Sangma responded with a resounding slap for The Tool: “You think we are ignorant of which media is whose tool? Mr Karan, you think we are ignorant of which media is whose tool. Mr Karan don’t talk about tools”.

Karan‘TheTool’Thapar: Are you suggesting that my questioning is motivated?

Candidate PA Sangma: Yes, yes, you are also a tool….

In trying to campaign for the Congress candidate Pranab Mukherjee, Thapar The Tool ended up making up an absolute fool of himself. I always knew that Thapar The Tool is a motivated, biased and a journalistic moron. Sangma just confirmed all of it and exposed him to the whole world. However, there is always this bright side. Given that the MSM is India’s biggest mafia, Karan Thapar has a first to his credit. He is the first one to be nicknamed by a Presidential candidate like in all mafias and the nickname suits him in many ways. He is now Karan ‘TheTool’ Thapar. He and CNN-IBN can celebrate!

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BJP - The Suicidal Bridesmaid

2012-06-23T13:30:00.000+05:30

The last time India had ‘Strategic alliance’ discussions with the USA, it was advantage India all the way. India dictated what kind of technology should be freely made available to it by the US and they agreed. India also asked the US to get rid of their plans to park armed forces in the Bay of Bengal and the US meekly agreed. The US also agreed to support India’s plans on Internet censorship in the UN and ban service providers like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Twitter in the US instantly, if India ever demanded it. (The power of Zero Sibal!) The best part was India finally forced the US to declare Pakistan a terrorist state. All this was achieved by the smooth and tactful S.M. Krishna against a bungling Hillary Clinton. At the recent G-20 meet when our honest, principled and decisive PM met President Obama one could tell even from a great distance that ‘Obama’s legs were shaking with fear’. India’s position as the new superpower is now firmly established.

I know what you’re thinking! You’re probably thinking the crook has gone nuts!

'Black Lotus' - The Suicidal Bridesmaid

Alright, alright, none of the above ever happened. But I can dream, can’t I? And so can the BJP! Truth is, in a strategic alliance one is better off negotiating from a position of strength or, at worst, from a position of equals. The recent nomination of a presidential candidate, the fracas with JDU leader Nitish Kumar, a bullying Shiv Sena and many other issues have shown all the strengths of BJP with relation to its alliance partners. Alliances make any sense only if you are in power. I doubt you had an UPA in 1970, 1999 or pre-2004 elections. Just as the NDA was cobbled together in 1998-99 the UPA too was cobbled together in 2004. In both cases the alliance partners have frequently changed but the one on top, the one with ‘strength’ retained the advantage. Once out of power the NDA has been practically dead. This is the fake dream the BJP still lives with. This is the reality the BJP is simply unwilling to accept and act upon.Fact: Except for the SAD in Punjab and ShivSena in Maharashtra the BJP does not have any real long term allies. Now, in contrast, look at the formidable alliance the Congress has with either or all of the following players at any given time:

RJD, CPM, CPI, MIM, DMK, Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, JD(S)-Karnataka, TRS (AP), CBI, ED, IT, RAW, NDTV, CNN-IBN, TimesNow, AajTak, HeadlinesToday, ABPNews (formerly StarNews), Indian Express, TOI, Hindustan Trolls,BSP (Mayawati), Christian missionaries, Islamic outlets, spurious NGOs AND, being in power, for a fair consideration,it can also rope in Nitish’s JD(U), AIADMK, even Naveen Patnaik’s BJD and Vaiko’s party in dire situations or if it comes to Marathi Manoos, even the Shiv Sena.

In case we forgot, the BJP even played T-20 (Term-20) matches with some of the Congress alliance partners for power. First Mayawati fooled them into a 20-month rule each. When the BJP’s turn came she dumped them. Then they played another T-20 with JD(S) in Karnataka who, after batting, refused to field. Dumped again! The outcome in Karnataka was a BJP victory without any alliances. That’s a first for the party in Southern India.

It doesn’t take a wizard to observe that the BJP in all its alliances where it’s the ruling party, it plays second fiddle. Bihar, Mumbai (Municipality), Punjab. Earlier the alliance with Naveen Patnaik also crumbled and the BJD came to power on its own in Odisha. That makes BJP the suicidal Bridesmaid!

Among its rare long-term allies the Shiv Sena is an out-dated, redundant party and doesn’t even add any value to a national party like BJP. This is what dismays its members and followers. Why does the BJP have any alliance with the SS when it’s not in power in the state or the centre? Foolishness! Despite the bad governance, all the scams and even 26/11, the Congress got a third straight term in Maharashtra in 2009 and is the dominant partner in its alliance with the NCP. Dominant is the key word. The one time BJP came to power in Maharashtra the dominant party was the SS. Since then it has been downhill for BJP in Maharashtra. So why does it still ally with SS in elections? Does it make any sense at all? So, if the BJP wants to assert leadership it has to go it alone in the state in the next election and any alliance with SS or MNS should be on the poll outcomes. Pre-poll alliances with the SS is nothing but suicidal. The SS has no respect from a majority of Maharashtrians and counts for absolutely nothing at the national level and in the rare instances it counts it goes against the BJP. Why play bridesmaid to this insignificant party? At best of times the SS behaves like those Kashmiri youths who store bagful of stones to throw at the slightest incentive at the BJP.

Now, where Bihar is concerned the JDU is now flexing its muscle perhaps because its leader, Nitish Kumar, has his own ambitions. Nothing wrong with that! But why should the BJP again be the victim? Simply because it is once again not the dominant party but the second fiddle. For a national party it’s better to sit in the opposition than to play second fiddle in a coalition. This is a lesson the BJP hasn’t learned from the Congress. It must anticipate that the JDUs and the BJDs are in principle more aligned to the Congress than to the BJP. Both, the JDU and BJD, are welfare-state specialists and are clones of the Congress. Their alliance is based on convenience, power, funds and not on principles. I’m sure this is not lost on BJP either. What kind of national party allows a man to dictate who will campaign in a state, who should be the party’s PM candidate in the future and who keeps defining ‘Secularism’ as frequently as he goes to the toilet every day?

In absence of a clear, unambiguous message to Nitish Kumar the BJP is once again playing the suicidal bride. Voters don’t vote on manifestos, they vote on the confidence and strength a party and its leaders exude, communicate and demonstrate. Tragically, the BJP management hardly seems to realise who represents that confidence, leadership and performance in their party. The other thing they would certainly know is that voters don’t often vote similarly in state and general elections. Congress which was thrashed in UP in 2007 came up with the largest seats for Parliament in 2009. Even Gujarat gives a better deal to the Congress in centre’s elections than in state elections. There is no reason to believe without SS or JDU the BJP wouldn’t score more in Maharashtra and Bihar where they have a much better standing than say a state like Bengal. Whether they declare Narendra Modi a PM candidate or not is hardly important. First they need to demonstrate they are at least a party capable of leading and performing and worth the votes without their sundry allies.

Given the complete disenchantment with the Congress and the UPA’s non-performance, scams and corruption there is absolutely no risk in going it alone in 2014 in states where their current or previous allies are a constant nuisance. Bihar, Maharashtra and Odisha are prime states ready for a solo run for BJP. In Punjab unless they get a majority of seats to contest the BJP must go it alone. In the state, it’s fine to allow SAD the majority but not at the centre. At no cost should they have a pre-poll alliance in these states unless they hold a substantial advantage in terms of seats to contest.

The artful photograph in this post, an imaginary dead woman underwater, is titled ‘Black Lotus’ I have just given it a new name. And the woman does look suicidal. Not much is different with the present BJP and its central leaders. Each time they are called upon to be tough, responsive and combative and to the altar to be the bride – They end up playing the suicidal bridesmaid. The worst part is their spokespersons keep appearing on and giving interviews to Congress alliance channels in the media. What is evident to even a stray observer seems invisible to the BJP. NDTV, CNN-IBN, ABPNews have sworn their allegiance to the Congress. Some channels are even predominantly anti-Hindu. Just as they should take strong positions with their state-based allies they need to take a strong stand with the corrupt media as well. If they are truly a national party then it’s time to assert their leadership.

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