The Value Of Modi's Skull

By Guest writer Ram Valmiki

Lot has been already said and written about the “Hate Modi Brigade”. One can clearly see that this brigade is suffering from Ostrich Syndrome. As their lies and misdeeds are being exposed, they find new ways to manufacture new lies. Even though they have been caught pants down with their lies, they still are seen on TV and even in print media, still trying to propagate hate against Modi.

When Modi refused politely to wear a skull cap, “seculars” saw an opportunity to take shots at Modi. They gleefully grabbed it and went around the town crying how it proved that Modi was not serious about “Sadbhavana”. Fortunately they did not get as much audience as they would have liked to. No one was interested in their rants this time. I would like to ask these “seculars” a simple question.  Could Modi wearing a skull cap have made him acceptable as Secular leader in their eyes?

There are no doubts that had Modi accepted the skull cap, these same set of loud mouth activists and journalists would have cried hoarse , accusing Modi of “Drama” to appease Muslims. Modi  and his government have always maintained that they believe in  – “Justice to all, appeasement of none”. He succeeded in proving again to the country that he is not a leader who would stoop down to the level of appeasement for political gains.

The brigade is currently active in undermining the spectacular growth and development of Gujarat under   Modi.  They have now come up with figures and want us to believe that Gujarat under Modi rule is no different from Gujarat under congress rule.  I am not interested in the figures or what statistics are being used to propagate this new lie. One has to just look at various programs the Gujarat government has undertaken to bring prosperity to the State and its people.  Had earlier congress governments achieved what Modi has now, would people of Gujarat have chosen Modi as their Chief Minister continuously? The activists and journalists who doubt the Gujarat growth story surely suffer from loss of mental faculties.  They are insulting the people of Gujarat by not acknowledging their prosperity.  The Supreme Court recently praised the way Public Distribution System works in Gujarat and Chhattisgarh. It even asked central government to use implement similar model across the country. None of the MSM reported or had panel discussions about this model.

When Modi was on fast, all the MSM channels had panel discussions and as expected the debates would feature the gruesome Gujarat riots. The MSM and “secular” Activists have succeeded in separating Gujarat riots from Godhra train burning.  The activists project as if one fine day Hindus of Gujarat decided to go on rioting spree and Modi gave them freehand. Never in the debates have we seen the panelists discuss the case of 57 charred bodies of kar sevaks.  We hardly see Hindu victims being asked for opinions. It is as if the whole Media has decided that Hindu victims and Hindu pain does not deserve to be discussed about.

There wee 740 Muslim and 250 Hindu deaths. Every death was unfortunate and riots should be rightly condemned. But selective projection of views and opinions is more dangerous for the country. By separating Gujarat riots from Godhra incident will lead to wrong conclusions.

Activists demand apology from Modi on moral grounds. Why not the same activists demand apology from congress whose municipality member and an MLA were accused of conspiring and actively taking part in Godhra carnage. Media should in fact be debating the conspiracy, planning and intent behind the Godhra which resulted in riots. Asking right questions lead to right answers and correct lessons learnt.

To cover the lack of ground support for their ill intended protests, like the one by Mallika Sarabai where she could gather only 20 or odd people, these activists accuse Modi government of intimidating the minority. They claim the minority community lives in fear and do not come out in open against Modi. Well, it’s a joke. If that is really the case, why not the dare devil Media and activists bring out those victims and give them assurance of full support if they open up? After all, with the kind of Media and Congress support they enjoy, activists are in better position to ensure safety of the “would be” whistle blowers.

Hate Engineers

Believe it or not, in four years since 2007 an average of 25 women have been added to the imaginary number of women gang-raped in the Gujarat 2002 riots. That is how Shabnam Hashmi churns out figures. Now, Shabnam Hashmi is an activist extraordinaire, a media pet and an expert on communal issues. No matter what the discussion she will invariably come up with and link the issues to Ayodhya, Gujarat riots and Narendra Modi. Her world becomes complete with these three topics.

In 2007 Hashmi wrote an open letter to Narendra Modi about 300 women being gang-raped who are yet to get justice. This was in response to Modi’s offer of shelter to Taslima Nasreen in Gujarat. Taslima, being hounded by her own country Bangladesh and later by Bengal and the Indian govt, is a muslim writer whose writings have angered her community. You may carry on accusing Modi of a thousand things but what could possibly be wrong with such a gesture? But then for the likes of Shabnam Hashmi Modi represents the punching bag which keeps their careers and their NGOs funded. Now the lies that the NGOs peddled have already been exposed over and over again yet Hashmi continues to dangle hate through numbers.

 

On Sunday,  September 25, Narendra Modi was to hold a huge rally at Vastral on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. Obviously, he would make some political statements, but where was Shabnam Hashmi? She was right there in a predominantly muslim locality asking them to boycott Modi’s rally. What was her charge? Well, here’s what DNA reports: “Hashmi talked about the 400 women of 2002 riots who were allegedly gang-raped during the riots and were yet to get justice. She also talked in abusive terms about the Muslims who had attended Modi's Sadbhavna fast.”  So, from the charge of 300 women gang-raped in 2007, according to her letter to Modi, the number has now risen to 400. Such is the power of lies that are used to spread hatred.

The original accusation of 300 women, or any number, being gang-raped has not been backed by any evidence. Those lies already stand exposed. Now Shabnam Hashmi peddles more lies by throwing up a number of 400. Her letter of 2007 also accuses Modi of women being treated badly in Gujarat. Well, I don’t carry numbers or statistics but I am sure Hashmi can see only one state in India’s map and that is Gujarat. Safety or Crimes against women is altogether an issue and has little to do with her hatred for Modi.

Hashmi didn’t stop there, she went on to shower contempt on those who attended Modi’s Sadbhavna event: "We want to stop this politics of hate and you people don't feel ashamed in going to Modi's fast with the skullcap on your head? You posed for photographs with him after taking Rs200 to Rs500?" she said, referring to the chief minister in derogatory terms.“We will not stop anybody who wants to go to the Vastral rally but they should understand that all this is politics. People of India will never let Modi become the prime minister."

Now whatever else the criticism of the Sadbhavna Mission there is hardly any sense or maturity in showering scorn on those who attended it. Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, Jains and more attended it. Yet, Hashmi goes on to lecture the Muslim community with the hope and intention of permanently keeping them from integration. I call it hate engineering! I guess throwing up vague, irresponsible statements is a significant feature of hate engineering. There is no other way to describe the acts of Shabnam Hashmi. Ironically, such hate-mongers camouflage their intent and acts with smart-sounding NGOs. Hashmi’s NGO is named ANHAD (Act Now for Harmony and Democracy). She is the founder of this NGO along with Harsh Mandar. Now Mandar needs no introduction for his campaign against Narendra Modi. He is now a member of the NAC. I think the right name for these fake harmony mongers would be ‘Been-HAD’ for the manner in which they spread lies to divide communities. I could even comically redefine Anhad as “Act now for hatred and disintegration”!

On the same topic but on a different note DNA carries another article by Girish Patel (September 21). The title straightaway indicts and convicts Narendra Modi: ‘Despite Sadbhavna Narendra Modi guilty under international law’. If you read the article carefully, there is no such international law that exists and India is not a signatory to the International Court or Tribunal. But the writer’s theory could well be a veiled invitation for activists like Hashmi, Mandar and Teesta Setalvad to attempt a misadventure. Fact is, Teesta has already been rapped by the Supreme Court once for writing to the UN about Gujarat riots and trying to internationalise the matter. I do not know much about this Girish Patel or what his persuasion is, but I can tell him that the International Court was created to handle cases from countries whose legal systems were dubious. By his article Patel clearly rubbishes the justice system of India. Whatever our shortcomings, India still has a fine judiciary that is capable of delivering justice. Just because verdicts don’t go your way is no reason to sling mud at our judiciary system. But that is how media crooks invent theories.

For all the talk of women’s rights and safety, Shabnam Hashmi had spewed venom on the Baba Ramdev campaign in early June 2011. Activists like her and some media channels threw so much mud that it emboldened the central govt to carry out a brutal midnight violent attack on a huge crowd of peaceful protesters at the Ramlila grounds. Many were injured but one woman, 51 year old Rajabala, was paralysed for four months and finally died on September 26. I wonder what Hashmi & Co. have to say about that. Your guess is as good as mine. After all democracy or rights or security is not the greatest concern for the hate engineers.

Chidambaram - The Unartful Dodger

September 24, 2011 Update: Following the case against him by Subramanian Swamy and recent revelations on the 2G scam PC simply has to quit. The man who simply romanced power all these years has reached his nadir. The sooner he leaves in grace the better for him.. That's all I have to say!

All the years of carefully cultivated poise, smooth-talking and intelligence can be brought down in a few minutes of insanity. P. Chidambaram is now feeling the heat from the fire he had hoped would never come to singe him. Congress spokespersons have repeatedly dismissed A. Raja’s allegations against PC and the PM as those of a man accused of a crime and cannot be taken seriously. So what should we take seriously? The utterances of people like Digivijay Singh and P. Chidambaram? Wait, Raja didn’t make these statements to NDTV, CNN-IBN or Headlines Today whose everlasting love for both DS and PC is unflinching. He made those statements in a court of law in his defence.  The court is not a place for allegations but a place where facts would count. If it were a media courtroom PC would have been already declared not guilty. Raja may be crooked and that implies he is smart enough to know what he is throwing around. The bad news for PC is that Raja also happens to be a lawyer himself and should know what perjury means. This is the same Raja that the PM had so strongly defended for a long time.

So what is PC's response? He finally gets the inspiration from his one-time adversary Digvijay and delivers the answer that would make DS proud. He invokes ‘saffron terror’! So after almost a year PC pulls the ‘saffron terror cheap trick’ again.

"I think they know that there is no connection to the so called scam in 2G. I think they are targeting selected ministers for other reasons in this case. What I suspect is that we have quickened the investigations into a number of bomb blast cases where right-wing fundamentalist organisations are involved. We have quickened....we have persuaded the court to hear two Ayodhya cases on a more or less day-to-day basis" he said. Oh yeah, we can all, of course, see the very clear connection between the 2G scam and right-wing terror cases. Don't we? His statement to Times Now some days back was delivered in quite an agitated tone. The artful dodger finally ran out of artful defences and smooth-talk. This was now the unartful dodger at work.

Did we know all this before? Many have written about it but the mainstream cacophony media circle believed in continuously glorifying a man who kept building his own grave. Where do we begin? Let’s start with Radiagate itself.

In the post Radia Tapes, PhoneTapping - Chidambaram Must Come Clean (December 2010) I have quoted Subramanian Swamy’s serious allegations against PC. Any other man with any self-respect would have dragged Swamy to courts over these allegations. Response from PC – nothing! That post also mentioned: “Spectrum shares being resold to a mid-east company called Etisalat should have raised the eyebrows of anyone concerned with national security. But any word ever from PC? Not to my knowledge. I am confident some story about Etisalat will soon be out in the open.”

There is still no case or charge sheet against Nira Radia. I wonder why not. Let’s go back again to another post UPAGovt. May Not Have A Case Against Nira Radia ... (December 2010) This is what that post stated: “…..The phone tapping was started precisely for that reason – spying…..one can safely assume the complaint to the then Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, on the basis of which the phone tapping commenced might as well be fabricated. Else, Chidambaram can and should reveal who the complainant was. That is neither a matter of national secrecy nor a matter of grave danger. I wonder if the complaint was signed by anyone or was an anonymous one.” Well, the media still isn’t asking that all important question – who filed the complaint based on which the phone tapping was ordered? PC can surely tell us if it was a person, an organisation or an anonymous complaint. That little piece of information may well hold great secrets.

What next? In an alarming revelation Subramanian Swamy has now alleged PC has received 5000 crores in an interview with Asian Tribune (July 26). “I think he got Rs. Five thousand crores as a cut from Mr. Raja.” said Swamy. (In another 2G related development, the Enforcement Directorate has slapped a Rs 7,000-crore penalty on Etisalat-DB for alleged FEMA violations.) PC sent a legal notice to Reliance for remarks made by K R Raja (RIL employee) to corporate lobbyist Nira Radia which suggested that Chidambaram was a beneficiary in the 2G spectrum scam. RIL promptly apologised. Being a business unit RIL would hardly like to cross swords with the Home Minister or his government. Quite understandable! But the allegation by Swamy is similar and even puts a number to it and is far more serious. No response yet from PC. Wait and watch!

In another case concerning Intelligence Bureau, although unrelated, R.N. Kulkarni, who served in the IB for over three decades and retired as joint assistant director, has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Karnataka High Court questioning the agency’s legitimacy. Outlook magazine reports on that development that the IB, RAW and other Intelligence agencies are not accountable to parliament. They’re practically extra-constitutional. Not surprisingly politicians use these organisations for political purposes. I didn’t say that. That these agencies are being used for spying on political rivals comes from none other than former Home Secretary G.K. Pillai (IndiaToday). Guess who is in charge of the intelligence agencies? And make another wild guess what our intelligence sleuths might be overburdened with rather than crime and security issues.

In the worst pasting anyone would have recently given PC, Ram Jethmalani writes a mini biography of the man. In a piece in The Sunday Guardian titled “Friend, father & philosopher of black money is Chidambaram” Jethmalani showers an honour on PC that no politician would ever want. After chronicling what would appear to be a political career tainted throughout, Jethmalani ends on the following note:

“Chidambaram's record as Home Minister has been disastrous. Neither has he made any impact on internal security, with the worst massacres of his own paramilitary forces taking place in his time, nor on terrorism, which carries on in complete complacency because there are neither effective preventive or punitive systems in place, nor political will and national legislation to combat terrorism…….What a laughing stock we must be before the world. It is almost as if India is determined that it shall not combat terrorism, shall not have enabling legislation as enacted by the US, such as the Homeland Security Act 2002, and the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 of UK and similar legislations in European governments. India is determined not to have an effective national agency on the lines of the Homeland Security Department of the US. The ramshackle National Investigation Agency showed itself as a complete failure during the recent Mumbai attacks. Understandable, because its only mandate appears to be to investigate "Hindu terror", the last refuge for failed and hopeless Congressmen like Chidambaram. The CCTNS, JIC, ARC, NTRO (presently in another scam), and NCTC remain effete, scattered and unmonitorable, even by the Home Ministry. With such an unequivocal determination by the UPA government not to address terrorism effectively, I can only grieve for my country.”

I’m too optimistic to grieve for my country yet. But I do grieve having such a former Finance and now Home Minister. He’s been reduced to an ‘unartful’ dodger.

Media's Complete Loss Of Decency

The three-day  Sadbhavana Mission of Narendra Modi ended on September 19 with a rousing speech that sought to set new directions for governance, equality and national policies. The mainstream media had no option to be there. After all, no matter how much hatred they continue to heap on him, Modi simply stands tall where leadership and governance are concerned. It also helps that he is a great orator. But make no mistake, the MSM wasn’t there to just cover the event. It was there to see if any more muck can be raised against Modi and to remind him that in the ‘supreme court of the media’ he has already been declared guilty of crimes. Much of the transactions at the Sadbhavana event were live and will also be available to read in newspapers, magazines and online pages for quite some time. So let’s try and understand the orchestration to disrupt the event by the media and other charlatans. Mine is not to discuss the merits/de-merits of the event or its political impact but to understand the orchestrated campaign of hate from some in the media and some activists.

Here’s a tweet from @shammybaweja from September 16 (She is Harinder Baweja, Editor Investigations of Headlines Today):  “Off to Guj for Modis sadhbhavna. Remorse and legal justice needed for 1984 and 2002. Fast track justice, not cong bjp fast wars”.

Well, one would have thought like others she too would land up at the Gujarat University grounds but where does she land up? Naroda Patiya, a site of mob violence and killing in the 2002 riots. Hmmm, so what was cooking? In the morning of September 17 Mallika Sarabhai, another crusader for justice, suddenly summons a presser and accuses Narendra Modi of having bribed her lawyers to scuttle her PIL on the post-Godhra riots. The crusader-come-lately, Sanjiv Bhatt, backs up her allegations as being true. Then later she too lands up at Naroda Patiya. A small group of people, riot victims, are organised to protest and march for justice by Mukul Sinha, a lawyer. So, by strange co-incidence, Mallika, Mukul and Baweja all turn up at Naroda Patiya. Headlines Today was the only channel telecasting live from the site. The protestors were also carrying printed pamphlets that must have been organised overnight. Ordinarily, there would be nothing wrong in such protests except for the timing. Mallika could have made her allegations and led these protests many times over in the last few months but she did not. But the objective was simple – to rekindle and continue the hate-NaMo campaign during the Sadbhavana event.

And that was trigger enough for NDTV, CNN-IBN, Headlines Today and others to start their chorus of abuse without even verifying the accusations made by Mallika. So let’s deal with the the lies of Mallika Sarabhai. This report based on comments by her own lawyers should be enough to nail her filthy lies.

From TOI: “Lawyers who appeared for…Mallika Sarabhai in the SCourt in 2002 for her PIL on the post-Godhra riots denied her allegation that bribes were paid to her advocates by the Narendra Modi government to derail the petition…….Advocate Mahesh Agrawala, the counsel who filed the writ petition number 221 of 2002 in the SC with Sarabhai as the petitioner, said it was "totally false that any money was ever paid to us by anyone to do anything or not do something relating to the petition. No money was ever paid to us and we did the case free of cost. Moreover, her case was argued on April 15, 2002, by senior advocate P Chidambaram before a bench headed by the CJI and comprising Justices Shivraj V Patil and H K Sema. The court had admitted the petition, issued notices to the Centre and Gujarat government and allowed early listing,"…….Agrawala said, "She got the relief she wanted on the very first day of hearing. It is unfortunate that after nine years, she is making the allegation about payment of money, which is patently false."

So the TV channels had a blast with the lies of Mallika Sarabhai. And if lies are on the menu can Teesta Setalvad be left out? Naturally, this washing machine of justice was back on TV all through the last three days hurling abuses and spreading untruths once again. Acts for which she was awarded with a Padmashri, of course. And where else to go but on the channel that has been the worldwide platform for the lies against Narendra Modi and about the Gujarat riots, NDTV. It is widely believed that the only channel that Narendra Modi refused an interview to is NDTV. Barkha Dutt herself laments that the CM would not entertain her. There’s a good reason too. Anyone who knows well enough that NDTV and, in particular, Barkha Dutt has carried out a systematic campaign of calumny about Gujarat and Modi wouldn’t trust that channel to be honest or relate to facts.

Long before the Gujarat riots Teesta Setalvad was funded by the Congress, CPM, CPI and others to campaign and carry out ads against the BJP during the 1999 election campaign. She had asked for and received funds from these political parties for her campaign. And she did advertise and campaign against the BJP in her magazine ‘Communal Combat’. Therefore, the lie that Teesta is a ‘social’ or ‘rights’ activist is one of the greatest lies peddled by the media. She is clearly a political activist and her political persuasion and motivation is cunningly suppressed by NDTV and other channels.

Teesta’s campaign against the BJP in 1999 failed as the BJP+NDA returned to power. Naturally, the investments that the Congress made in her had to be recovered somehow. Come the unfortunate Gujarat riots and Teesta had to deliver her pound of flesh. She creates the CJP in April 2002 after the riots have calmed. What followed was the most extraordinary campaign of untruths, fake affidavits, rumour mongering – all gleefully accepted and churned out by the media crooks. How much money has poured into her CJP is not public knowledge. Even the SC had pulled her up for trying to internationalise Modi as a criminal by writing to the UN.

In my post “SC exposes the media’s clean shit” I have detailed the lies that Suzy Roy deliberately peddled about the riots. In case of Teesta her lies were exposed by the SIT itself. All the ‘copy-cat’ affidavits she engineered for the riot victims now stand thoroughly exposed. Her own former colleagues have also nailed her lies. Imagine, this washing machine of justice has twice sought anticipatory bail, something more common among politicians. Her organisation, Citizens for Justice and Peace, parades as an NGO while clearly being a political organisation. However, this campaign of lies did pay off in some way, coupled with many other reasons. The NDA lost power in 2004 and the Congress+UPA came to power. Rewarding Barkha Dutt, Teesta Setalvad (and also Rajdeep Sardesai) immediately would be a dead give-away. So a few years later all three were awarded the Padmashri. But every time Narendra Modi is in the news, these washing machines unfailingly get back into action.

Reading motives or even words where there were none, the MSM uniformly talked about NaMo’s PM ambitions. They sought an apology from him when their attempts to nail him legally haven’t produced anything so far. Interpreted Nitish Kumar’s absence from the Sadbhavana event as a snub and for that reason the event is not supported by all. They even employed fake tweets or manipulated them to heap further abuse. During the event CNBC-TV18 even carried a full interview with Teesta in its programme “Beautiful People”. Hahhaaa, that’s an irony and, mind you, I am not talking about her looks.

The Sadbhavana event can be criticised on many other fronts but that wasn’t the case. The entire narrative was built on continuing the hate-Modi campaign. Every media celeb that talked to Modi had not one question to ask about the development model of Modi. Not one had any question of how Gujarat coped with the historic problem of water shortages. Not one talked about the girl-child education campaign in Gujarat. Not one talked about how Gujarat grew without frivolous subsidies. Not one talked about how Gujarat got around to building such great roads and highways. Not one talked about how Gujarat manages to provide uninterrupted power supply. Not one talked about reasons why industrialists are thrilled to set up businesses in Gujarat. Nothing! Whether Modi gained by the event or not, time will tell. But one outcome has been clearly established. The media’s complete loss of decency, respect for facts and truth, and further erosion in their already low credibility. Modi was giving interviews to all and sundry and if Barkha Dutt feels snubbed by not getting her chance that should tell her how low her image and credibility has sunk. An interview with Modi would have given her some redemption, but I doubt that is ever going to happen.

For all the campaigns against Modi the same crooks are yet to even find what is wrong with Sonia Gandhi, her illness, her treatment, her whereabouts. NDTV has even comically reported her return to India at least 4 or 5 times. And I doubt they still know where Sonia is. Never mind that. But this mainstream media is hurtling towards greater decimation. The social network is already delivering it a severe blow. The online netizens have become a watchdog over the media in absence of an independent body. And if that isn’t enough, there is Wikileaks exposing all the information that the media may have covered up or suppressed.

The future of Narendra Modi doesn’t exactly concern me enormously as much as it concerns the media crooks. They live in fear that his rise to the top may completely destroy whatever is left of their credibility. Whatever else, but there is one thing that these crooks can learn from NaMo. In all this campaign of calumny he has conducted himself in a dignified manner and never shot back at any of his detractors. They called the Sadbhavana event a political stunt or gimmick. NaMo is a politician and the event IS political – what is so wrong about it? That is what politicians are supposed to do – mobilise political views and directions. Modi has successfully done that in at least one thing – ‘vote bank politics will not pay in the future’. The media even tried to make a big issue of Modi not wearing the muslim skull cap offered to him by a visitor. Here is the best response I found on Twitter to that by @Pari500: “…and Maulana says 'refusal of the cap is an insult to Islam', really? Now we know the honour of islam rests SOLELY on Modi's head!”

Here is an interesting observation by The Economist: “The biggest shift is that journalism is no longer the exclusive preserve of journalists. Ordinary people are playing a more active role in the news system, along with a host of technology firms, news start-ups and not-for-profit groups. Social media are certainly not a fad, and their impact is only just beginning to be felt. “It’s everywhere and it’s going to be even more everywhere,” says Arianna Huffington. Successful media organisations will be the ones that accept this new reality. They need to reorient themselves towards serving readers rather than advertisers, embrace social features and collaboration, get off political and moral high horses and stop trying to erect barriers around journalism to protect their position. The digital future of news has much in common with its chaotic, ink-stained past.”

If ever Bill Gates made a business error, the biggest one has to be his refusal or failure to see the potential of the Internet when it came about. Since that failure, his company has only been playing catch up. Google now reports that India will add 200Mn more net users by 2014. That’s a good sign for the nation but a serious warning for the MSM. If they don’t see the writing on the wall the social network will grow to a level that will make them obsolete where news and debates are concerned. The loss of credibility has already come about.. the best they can do is to attempt restoration of some decency and respect for facts and truth.

Don't Cry For Gujaratis, Barkha Dutt

Journalists who are soaked in ‘Arts’ education usually forget some important learning they may have acquired in school or college. They have forgotten Mark Antony V Brutus. The most important lesson being that the public has an opposite reaction to anything that is excessively hyped or should I say ‘trolled’. I recall when Hrithik Roshan first burst on the scene with a superhit with his debut film the media had declared him the next superstar, almost the new Bollywood god. He followed it up with a string of flops. Not too far behind was Vivek Oberoi who was similarly hyped up but came crashing down. But Brutus is an ‘honourable’ man and so too Barkha Dutt is an ‘honourable’ journalist. After all, wasn’t she awarded the Padma Shri? So what drives her obsession with Narendra Modi? She analyses him psychologically but can’t see her own visible feeling of ‘rejection’ that she couldn’t get him.  And that’s what she writes about in another troll-like article titled “Only half the truth” (September 16)  on the Hindustan Times website.

What is amazing is that on the same date as her article, another one appears on the website of her own channel, NDTV, “Narendra Modi on politics, poetry and Rahul Gandhi as PM” by CSS Latha. I wonder if Barkha has managed to read it. Doesn’t matter. As always let’s try and figure what the psychologist’s problem is. (Quotes from Barkha’s article in blue).

Here’s her opening salvo: Much as I would like to borrow from this season’s style and write an ‘open’ letter to Narendra Modi, the Gujarat chief minister would probably make it a point to throw my missive straight into the bin. So you see, when a mind is already working on assumptions and presumptions the road to prejudice is already paved in the recesses of her mind. A journalist has the freedom to write, whether people read it or not is their freedom. Unfortunately, Barkha Dutt is yet to completely understand the concept of freedom. Everytime she talks about absorbing criticism she should read the blogpost by Chaitanya Kunte on her ‘Shoddy journalism’ during the 26/11 terrorist strikes. Her stupid response to that was a legal notice to silence him. And frankly, Kunte hadn’t written anything that was remotely untrue.

While on that topic I wonder if  Barkha has read my open letter to her. She can choose to read and respond. If she chooses the dust bin that wouldn’t surprise me either.

As a journalist who reported the riots from the ground on the stretch between Godhra and Vadodara and pointed out— like many others — the complete absence of police intervention, I have earned the permanent ire of Modi and his legion of followers… Not exactly true! At the time the riots happened Barkha Dutt wasn’t the only journalist reporting from the ground. There were many others too. Barkha lives in denial if she doesn’t recognise that she has earned this “permanent ire” not just because of her reporting in 2002 but more because of the sustained peddling of untruths about Modi by her and her channel. If it still hasn’t occurred to her that she is predominantly perceived as a Modi-hater and Modi-basher then she’s the one out of touch with people and not Modi.  She has earned this “permanent ire”  by hosting dubious characters on her channel to spam Modi with hatred. The honest fact is that when the riots were being reported Barkha Dutt and her colleague Rajdeep Sardesai were actually held in high esteem by the public. It is she who should be wondering how she managed to erode all that trust and credibility that a journalist so values. While the public has helped Modi go from strength to strength, Barkha has simply become a caricature of herself. She has depreciated her standing so much so that her mere appearance on the TV screen is now revolting for many people. The TRP ratings and financial performance of NDTV should give her some sound lessons on who has lost credibility.

By now, in the public imagination, We, the English Media, had become the hostile outsiders and Modi’s narrative had managed to successfully equate all criticism of him with criticism of the Gujarati people. Subsequently, Narendra Modi has resolutely refused to speak to me and a few other journalists for nine years. I have to laugh at this one, hahahaha! Modi is not the only issue why the English media has become hostile outsiders. The slanted and biased reporting on every issue concerning the Congress is what has led English media to its fate. Here’s an honest question for Barkha. Has NDTV covered any major event of significance in Gujarat? Did she cover the last Vibrant Gujarat event? Fact is, every step of the way the English media, NDTV in particular, has provided a platform to Modi-haters than a more balanced approach. Recommend that Barkha read this and check for herself:  “15 Lakh Crores &The Business Channels Don’t Find It Newsworthy!”

But now Modi is confronted with a deeper philosophical question. Does he want to be the chief minister of Gujarat for the rest of his life or a pan-Indian leader with national acceptability and the ability to build consensus across party lines….. Hidden in this stupid question is an agenda that somehow seeks to bring in ‘philosophy’ rather than rational argument. If Barkha cared to read Latha’s article on her interaction with Modi on the NDTV website she would find the answers to all her questions. My advice to Barkha is – stop worrying about what Modi wants or what he will become and start worrying what you had aspired to and what you have become. Journalists are expected to follow morals and ethics more than politicians. This is where Barkha Dutt has failed and therefore everything she says seems hollow and merely a literary exercise.

Barkha Dutt cites the pleading of J.S. Bandukwala seeking some regret or expression of that by Modi. Following the Radiagate episode it was clear that Barkha Dutt had brought more shame on Indian journalism than any other single journalist. In subsequent programs instead of accepting she had erred or was actually corrupt she refused to even acknowledge any wrong doing. With her credibility so completely eroded over the years the wonder is not that this troll even appears on TV or writes in magazines/websites. The real wonder is how or why she has been allowed to even keep her job. No mature media outlet in any democracy would have condoned her conduct.

But reconciliation is often about new beginnings as well. The question is not whether Modi can shed his history. The question is: Does he even want to?  So she writes. Start with  yourself Barkha. Acknowledge you were biased not just on Gujarat or Modi but a whole lot of other issues. These include Kashmir, Kandahar and the list can be lengthened. But as in the case of any compromised journalist, in Barkha’s case truth seems to be that skirt that keeps getting shorter and shorter. The question therefore for Barkha is not whether Modi can shed his history, the question is whether she will express regret and shed her past. Stringing along a crooked source can be managed for a while, stringing along the public won’t succeed forever.

Here’s the reconciliation deal for you Barkha. NDTV has consistently lied about the number of people killed in the riots. Would you correct it and apologise? Your one-time colleague and prominent ingredient of Radiagate, Vir Sanghvi, called Modi a ‘mass murderer’. Is that meant to be objective criticism? Would you ask him to apologise? Your one-time colleague, Rajdeep Sardesai, used the same ‘mass murderer’ term to attempt to humiliate Modi in an HT event in 2007 where Modi was invited as a chief speaker. Would you ask him to apologise. Before you accuse anyone, let alone Modi, take a look at yourself. If people coined the term Barkhagate, they aren’t the vindictive pricks that you imagine they are.

Barkha accuses Modi of shunning criticism. Politicians are used to criticism, gheraos and even heckling as Rahul Gandhi would have recently discovered. There isn’t much they can hide from the public. There are many senior journalists today in Ahmedabad reporting on the two fasts. Where are you Barkha? Fact is there is hardly any public event that Barkha Dutt can go to without being heckled and booed. And that painful truth hurts her into crocodile tears for Gujarat. Barkha has called Gujaratis “traditionally effete people” ! Well, Barkha, don’t cry for Gujjus… We are doing fine.

Update (18/9/2011): Since this post was made many senior journalists have conducted interviews with Narendra Modi at the Sadbhavna venue in Ahmedabad. The ones whose conscience is tainted were the ones missing from the scene. After years of spewing hatred and spreading lies about Modi Barkha Dutt and Rajdeep Sardesai would be the ones facing the problems even talking to him. Instead, with no context at all, NDTV was busy airing a film about Sonia Gandhi during the initial hours of the Sadbhavna mission. Thereby hangs a tale.

Shrillery Of The Shill

Skills can be transferred, not talent. A look at some of the film stars who are kids of great actors would be a good indication. In his landmark book “First break all the rules”  Marcus Buckingham (A Gallup researcher) effectively lays down this principle after researching over 80000 managers across the world: “People don’t change, don’t try to put in what is not there. Try to get out what is left inside and that is hard enough”. Some of our TV news channels and journalists do well to use that principle. Among quite a large group Sagarika Ghose stands out as a media celeb who dishes out opinions, debates and articles that are filled with misleading statements that would make any reasonably sensible journalist think ten times before making. On TV she tries to make up with her shrillery her acute poverty of insight. Incidentally, you may not find the word in a regular dictionary but ‘Shrillery’ is a nickname awarded to Hillary Clinton.

Sagarika Ghose does come from a family of media persons but that is where it ends. This is where I emphasise that skills can be transferred but talent cannot. Her latest post, on September 14, on her blog (quite appropriately called Bloody Mary) is called ‘A class apart’. I am simply trying to understand some of the gems from her article. (Quotes in blue)

In the crowds at Ram Lila Maidan, at the height of Anna fever, there was anger against corruption, but there was also anger against the rich. An "elite class" milking the system, sending their children abroad, "looting" benefits was the particular target of rage.Is that really so? If this wasn’t a poorly crafted untruth it would have been laughable. Fact is, there were no slogans against the rich. There were no effigies of Ambanis, Narayanamurthys or any rich people burnt during the agitation. The most horrible slogans were reserved for politicians and, may I add, some media celebs. It is also strange that people who are usually seen as ‘elites’ by the public live in blissful imagination that they are not in that group. Most media celebs are clearly part of that elite group, Sagarika included. If she doesn’t know it, that’s blissful ignorance.

Today `Hindu nationalist rage and massive sangh parivar mobilization is taking place at all levels of society. Large sections of youth are becoming radicalized along right wing religious lines. The only way to win hearts and minds is to urgently start speaking the language of equality, without doublespeak or condescension. This idiotic assertion makes it amply clear that Sagarika perhaps really needs to brush up on terminologies. Hindu nationalist rage and radicalized religious right wing? Fact: It is unfortunately only the right wing in this country that talks about equality for all. The right wing doesn’t recommend covering up sins of political failure by populism or by sops or appeasement. Sagarika cleverly tries to associate the right wing with the Sangh Parivar and Hindus. This is another clever untruth that the media has perpetuated. Many right wingers are neither RSS nor BJP members and they do make up substantial numbers in the media too. And the sly injection of “massive sangh parivar mobilisation” is almost as if this mobilisation is going to hold the nation under siege.

Already, millionaire ministers and babalog MPs appear far removed from daily struggles. Birth-based privilege, so much in evidence in UPA II, is anathema to the millions who have to compete to survive. Really? Does Sagarika ever hold a mirror to herself? The mainstream media is supposed to frequently serve a reminder to these millionaire ministers and baba logs on what they are removed from. Instead, the shills are busy in the deploring the few states and their administrators who are doing well. A journalist who has shown scant respect for even the supreme court cannot be more farther from reality as Sagarika is. After all, she was the one pleading for at least a moral stricture by the lordships on Modi. CNN-IBN, NDTV are both part of the cottage industry that has been a platform for excessive hate-mongering against a politician with no real evidence or logic.That would leave much less time for real journalistic pursuits.

Rahul's wannabe "I have a dream" speech read out unexpectedly in Zero Hour even as the Anna crisis boiled over, showed a lack of understanding of New India. I don’t believe that… hahaha! A lack of understanding of New India? How did Sagarika ever come to that conclusion? I repeat for a thousandth time even though I have probably bored many with this actual statement of Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN-IBN. This is the statement made when CNN-IBN gave out the sham award of ‘Indian of the year’ to Rahul Gandhi: “Rahul Gandhi has been chosen CNN-IBN politician of the year over many of his more experienced colleagues and rivals because no one toured India the way he has in the past 60 months. Nobody has enunciated a vision of new India the way he has and none has understood the immediate need to bridge the city-country divide the way Rahul Gandhi has. His efforts show that hard work pays even in the uncertain world of politics.” Take that Sagarika. That is your channel recognising Rahul’s vision of New India. And now you think that moron is suddenly disconnected? Question your own organisation why they were in such a rush to please and award a politician who was around for just 5 years then. It is these very acts of servantile media that’s reflects the media disconnect with people.

UPAII's loathing of television media is another mark of its elitism. TV may be noisy, in-your-face, but it is now inescapable. The camera never blinks and often is the only recourse to those wanting to make their voices heard. To scorn television media is to scorn the millions who watch it. To refuse to use television for a political outreach is also to fail to recognize how fast the electorate is changing.   Another clever distortion of facts. Far from loathing television the UPA, particularly Congress, and the Left have extra-ordinary access, influence and presence on TV. If Anna’s fast had become similar to that of Irom Sharmila I doubt CNN-IBN would have cared two hoots to cover him. What forced the media to cover the event is the massive public support that his movement received, particularly after his arrest drama. To equate the scorn of the UPA for TV just in the case of this event to scorning the millions who watch it is another lie. A majority of those millions watching TV news neither trust the media nor believe media is unbiased. Doesn’t Sagarika receive enough tweets about it? Doesn’t she respond with anger on many occasions? The typical argument you will get from her is that there is a world outside internet. Well, that is true but much of that world is not watching her or her channel. If that had happened the loathing for her channel will be phenomenal.

Cambridge-educated Nehru spoke to rural crowds about foreign policy and non-alignment. Can we imagine any high grandee of the UPA respecting an audience enough to take them through the nuclear deal clause by clause? Has any UPA minister gone before a public rally in a town and rationally explained their objections to the Jan Lok Pal bill? Can Sagarika give us a quote or reference of what foreign policy or about non-alignment Nehru talked about to rural crowds or when he did that? The NAM was established in 1961, China War happened in 1962 and Nehru was going around talking to rural crowds about foreign policy and NAM? Where did you get that from Sagarika? Nehru was definitely a mass leader but a leader of a budding republic should be measured by his legacy and not merely his speeches. With all due respect to Nehru, both his foreign policy and the NAM  do not reflect a great visionary. Both his foreign policy and NAM are in shambles. After the 1962 war Nehru was quite a broken man before he died in 1964 so when did he go around talking about such stuff with rural crowds? Frankly, some the ‘Cambridge’ educated people in public fields haven’t exactly been great leaders in any domain.

Here’s where I would like to quote Marcus Buckingham again: "What a leader does for followers is..turn anxiety into confidence. They’ve always done that throughout time and in every different society and situation. When leaders lead well, it’s because they’re able to rally people to a better future and make people spirited when they were previously anxious." That is where the leaders in the Congress and UPA have failed miserably. Comparisons to Nehru based on inaccuracies is not the logical answer.

And here’s the final gem:

The entitled sons and daughters of the rich and powerful, whether in politics, film industry or in business have forgotten the essential ingredient that built modern India: treating every Indian as an equal. Domination by star children has robbed Bollywood of its precious common touch. In the media there is danger of a disconnect between readers and the imitative 'Sex and the City' type columns that pour out of glossy outlets. Academics, closeted in their ivory towers, are failing to engage with new realities and generate new ideas.    

Sagarika recognises the domination of ‘star children’ in Bollywood but won’t admit the same may be partly true for the TV news media. Barkha Dutt, Sagarika Ghose are all star children of media personalities. There isn’t a danger of disconnect between readers and viewers with the media – There is already a serious disconnect. Mind you, she says “readers” and not “viewers”. To my best knowledge there is still a great deal of honesty and value in print media and online media. It is channels like CNN-IBN that represent the disconnect with viewers. Talent cannot be transferred as in the case of Bollywood’s star children. But Sagarika can surely take a break and refresh her journalistic skills.

Hillary is fondly nicknamed Shrillery. I have fondly nicknamed Sagarika ‘Cacofonix’. And till the TV news media reforms itself we will continue to be blasted by the shrillery of the shill.

SC Exposes Media's Clean Shit

In 1999, after losing a no-confidence motion by one vote, the BJP+NDA came back to power after mid-term polls. It was a result that no doubt shocked the Congress and its ‘secular’ allies. The BJP victory was probably also helped by the Kargil war. That war produced a new media hero of sorts – Barkha Dutt. The StarNews team of Prannoy Roy, Barkha Dutt and Rajdeep Sardesai had gained prominence during that time. People still believed what the media said. Then came Kandahar. The extra-ordinary hysteria and emotions that the trio whipped up during the hijack drama on TV was unbelievable. Relatives of the hostages were flung on to the screens. The distress, chest-beating, wailing and abusing of the minsters was a precursor of sorts. Some of us suspected that the media was not doing this on their own. There are still suspicions that many of the relatives of the hijack victims were instigated by both the Congress and the Left and the media to humiliate the NDA with abundant aid from this media trio. So even today after every terror attack Kandahar creeps into discussions. That episode was the one where paid media started to go downhill.

On the morning of March 1, 2002 if you had walked the streets of the relatively posh western parts of Ahmedabad you wouldn’t believe what had happened while you were sleeping. You could see shops and restaurants that were burned overnight. All these shops had such names – Bhagyoday, Kabir, National and so on – all belonged to muslims, and this was a predominantly Hindu area. While there was property damage there was no report of people being killed in the area. Even residents of Ahmedabad had no idea of the scale of the riots that were going on. And then suddenly on the scene bursts Barkha Dutt and then Rajdeep Sardesai (both with Starnews then) and some more.

Hour after hour after hour we hear the most horrific stories of mass killings all over the state. In cities, towns, villages and even on highways. Words like mass murder, genocide, pogrom start to gain currency in some quarters. Were there terrible killings? You bet, some of it very horrible. But the kind of dramatic and hysterical reporting on TV was no more news reporting. It was almost fanning the flames. So much so that in some areas some TV channels had to be shut down to contain the provocation. As in the case of war, even in an unfortunate communal riot such as this, ‘truth’ is the first casualty. The numbers-killed story was generously sprinkled with imagination of people being raped, foetuses ripped and more by the media. I can safely say that the response to the Godhra train burning was spontaneous. The Gulbarg case which has become prominent because of the widow of Ehsan Jafri, killed by mobs, were attacks by mobs that would have been difficult to handle by any police force given that many other parts of Ahmedabad were equally badly affected. For all this to make one man singularly responsible could not have been anything but an agenda driven media. This agenda had to be surely backed by political forces and extraordinary influx of funds. This is where the witch hunt of Narendra Modi started. Lies, lies and more lies have been peddled by the media since then. The best example is of Suzanne Arundhati Roy who oozed brilliant lies.

Writing about the Gujarat riots, Suzy Roy had this to say (Outlook, May 6,2002).

A mob surrounded the house of ex-Congress MP Iqbal Ehsan Jaffri. His phone calls to the director-general of police, the police commissioner, the chief secretary, the additional chief secretary (home) were ignored. The mobile police vans around his house did not intervene. The mob broke into the house. They stripped his daughters and burnt them alive. Then they beheaded Jaffri and dismembered him.

The description is graphic; the veracity of the incident taken almost for granted coming from a writer of Arundhati Roy's reputation. But, alas, that's where we make the mistake. Fame and honesty are not interlinked as the following paragraph clearly indicates.

Jaffri was killed in the riots but his daughters were neither 'stripped' nor 'burnt alive.' T.A. Jafri, his son, in a front-page interview titled Nobody knew my father's house was the target (Asian Age, May 2, Delhi edition), says, "among my brothers and sisters, I am the only one living in India. And I am the eldest in the family. My sister and brother live in the US. I am 40 years old and I have been born and brought up in Ahmedabad. So if Ehsan Jaffri had only one daughter (singular) who was safe and sound in the US, where did Roy get her facts about not one, but daughters (plural) being stripped and burnt? Was it the fantasy of a writer's mind? Or was it willful deceit aimed at maligning her ideological adversaries?

Arundhati Roy did apologise for her mistake in a letter published in Outlook May 27, 2002. Could this have been a genuine mistake, one is tempted to ask? But when such 'mistakes' occur periodically, the chances of them being accidental appear remote. They appear to be in fact calculated machinations aimed at achieving a specific goal as the following incident further proves. In the same article, Roy claims.

"Last night a friend from Baroda called. Weeping. It took her fifteen minutes to tell me what the matter was. It wasn't very complicated. Only that Sayeeda, a friend of hers, had been caught by a mob. Only that her stomach had been ripped open and stuffed with burning rags. Only that after she died, someone carved 'OM' on her forehead."

Disturbed by the thought of such a ghastly act, Balbir Punj (a BJP MP) had this matter investigated. In Outlook (Jul 08, 2002) he wrote. Shocked by this despicable 'incident,' I got in touch with the Gujarat Government. The police investigations revealed that no such case, involving someone called Sayeeda, had been reported either in urban or rural Baroda. Subsequently, the police sought Roy's help to identify the victim and seek access to witnesses who could lead them to those guilty of this crime. But the police got no cooperation. Instead, Roy, through her lawyer, replied that the police had no power to issue summons. Why is she hedging behind technical excuses? So when asked to prove her allegations, Arundhati Roy developed cold feet; definitely not the attitude of a crusader for truth.

Despite the lies being exposed, Suzy Roy continues to be hosted as a crusader by our media. For such absolutely blatant and deliberate lies no journalist would have survived in any mature and honest media. Such liars can expect to grow in the Indian media. On TV Rajdeep and Barkha continued their blitzkrieg against Modi, while the likes of Vir Sanghvi called him a ‘mass murderer’ in print. I have absolutely no hesitation in saying that the degeneration of TV news owes a great debt to both Barkha Dutt and Rajdeep Sardesai. You could call them the leaders of the moral decay.

Now, after the riots calmed, out of nowhere came up another crusader. Someone called Teesta Setalvad, I had never heard of her before, she arrives on the scene with her NGO called Citizens for Justice and Peace. This NGO was created in April 2002, according to their website, to fight for justice for the riot victims. Hmmm! Suddenly, there was a flurry of affidavits being filed in the courts supported by Teesta’s group, flurry of FIRs being filed, complaints of lack of facilities at refugee camps. All this seemed noble till Teesta started appearing more often on TV channels. By now the newly born NDTV, CNN-IBN were already neck deep in targeting Narendra Modi at every opportunity. The discussions shifted from justice for the victims to singularly implicate Modi and somehow hang him. The Zahira case, the Best Bakery case, shifting of cases outside Gujarat, were all systematic effort at tarnishing Modi’s image and implying there can be no justice in Gujarat. Mind you, not one of these channels or journalists ever talked about justice for those who were burned to death on the Sabarmati Express at Godhra. Never mind!

Modi had then won the elections in December 2002. This was another blow to the media and the Congress. So later, Teesta and her cronies approach the Supreme Court and the SC also sets up an SIT to investigate. This year around 30 people are convicted for the Godhra killing of Hindu Kar sevaks. Contrary to expectations of the media and the Congress the SIT nails the lies of Teesta Setalvad and exposes her fake affidavits. Many witnesses back out from their original affidavit or testimony. In 2007, suddenly, Mrs.Zakia Jafri, widow of Ehsan Jafri finds evidence that some 60 officers of the state, including Narendra Modi, had conspired to engineer the riots and have her husband killed. This had to be the strangest concoction of a theory that came years after the investigation into the riots had started. The Gujarat High Court did not accept her petition finding no merit in it. That is how the Gulbarg case landed in the Supreme Court. Needless to say, her petition was obviously backed by Teesta Setalvad.

Despite the literary classic of ‘Maut ka Saudagar’ used by Sonia Gandhi, BJP wins the election again in 2007. As in the case of Suzy Roy, the media continued to host the tainted Teesta on their shows to support the malicious campaign against Narendra Modi. In the course of time Gujarat started gaining prominence because of development, investments and universal recognition of Narendra Modi’s performance on governance. So what happens? The Congress throws up a new hero, Sanjiv Bhatt, and more affidavits are filed in the SC.

Two of the prominent campaigners against Narendra Modi, Teesta Setalvad and Harsh Mander, go on to to a stage where they get to influence national policies and laws. They become part of a team, the NAC, that would draft the vicious Communal Violence Bill. Every step of the way these voices, along with nation-dividers like Digvijay Singh were given the biggest space in the media. If anyone remotely appreciated or associated with the work of Narendra Modi they were ripped apart. Ghulam Vastanvi and Amitabh Bachchan were fair targets for the Congress and the media.

The vicious anti-Modi industry is a mixed bag of media crooks, NGOs and politicians. A heady cocktail if you like and the only thing we don’t know about these liars is who funds them and to what extent they were funded. The misdeeds of the ‘cash-for-votes’ scam exposed Rajdeep Sardesai for what he is. But the final evidence of Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi being well entrenched in Congress persuasions was exposed by Radiagate. There was no place left to hide.

What the media did not anticipate in 2002 was another form of media. In 2002 the internet was just about growing in India, mobile phones usage was going up. There was no Facebook, Twitter, Youtube. The law takes time to catch up, but the social media doesn’t. In the absence of social network there was really no challenge to the corrupt media. The Congress was in power and they had a field day. Rajdeep, Barkha, Sagarika, Vir Sangvi, Prannoy Roy had established themselves as the most powerful force after the govt. One should recall a prominent editor once boasting that he “was the second most powerful man in India after the PM”. Naturally, the media believed the case against Narendra Modi was already rested. They had signed, sealed and delivered the judgement. He was guilty, he was a mass murderer and should be put away. The advent of the social network was a challenge the mainstream media did not calculate. Writers, bloggers, websites, tweeters, youtubers all started exposing the lies of the media.

The make-up and mask of Chachi 420 wasn’t meant to last forever. Like bad make-up, the media’s lies came crashing on September 12, 2011. The Supreme Court simply directed Zakia Jaffri to approach the lower court with her petition. Effectively, there was no significant evidence in her petition to pronounce any indictment of Modi or to warrant a probe against him by the SC. The SC also informed that it would not monitor the case further. The media crooks didn’t know which way to look. All the years of carefully crafted hate, lie-mongering had come undone in a single stroke. So, as in the case of many other verdicts, the media now even questions the wisdom of learned judges of the SC.

The media’s campaign against Modi shouldn’t be seen as a stand-alone case. The cottage industry of hatred has coloured every national issue. Be it terrorism, riots, communal harmony, civil rights. In all cases the media has mostly been on the wrong side of justice. Suddenly, new terms were being searched for  “clean-chit”, “relief”, “breather” to describe the SC verdict on Modi. And just as they called the Ayodhya verdict a “panchayat” judgement this time the crooks called the SC verdict overlooking the “moral” aspect of the Modi issue. So when a media campaign fails the legal measure, they invoke the moral measure.

Politicians in India are not reputed to have great moral standards. It’s the media that has become the gutter and the drain. That tainted journalists like Barkha Dutt continue in their jobs is a feature you may not find in the media of any other democracy. The ones who should be accused and found guilty of moral failure and more are Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai, Sagarika Ghose, Vir Sanghvi, Suzy Roy and many more. The list is too long. The bigger danger is that there could be darker forces funding and handling a media that never fails to honk its independence. Next time any of these media celebs talk about morals, imagine them naked and see how full of shit they are.

From Kandahar to 26/11, from 1984 to 2002, from Ayodhya to Ahmedabad, I maintain that the current media is the greatest danger to Indian democracy. I don’t think Modi is debating whether it’s a clean chit or not. But the Supreme Court of India has clearly exposed the media’s clean shit.