Self Destruction

Many humans have demons in their head; real or imaginary. They fight these demons in different ways. Some self-flagellate to punish themselves for some sins, some destroy their relationships or opportunities. There is this true story about a man who had everything a person could ever have. He was a good fighter, had good income, family and fame but his demons turned him in to a monster. Every emotion known to humankind was in abundance in him; love, anger, humour, hate, rage, jealousy, greed, intrigue, revenge, trust, suspicion, self-interest and self-loathing. You name it he had it. You may have heard of “Raging Bull” in reference to stock markets but the original story is of a boxer named Jake La Motta. Jake’s story is not very different from Shakespeare’s Othello. The only difference is that Jake delivered justice to himself inside the ring. He dealt punishment to his wife for his jealousy and suspicions, or to his brother, or to the mafia or he punished himself for his sins.

The movie “Raging Bull” is the story of Jake (Robert De Niro), one of the most extremely self-destructive characters. It is not about boxing and the movie has just about 10 minutes of boxing scenes. But those 10 minutes of boxing are some of the most vicious, graphic and bloodiest scenes ever put on film. And the scenes are not from the spectator’s seat, it is from right inside the ring. Let’s watch a bit (4.30 mins):

During his career and after retirement Jake had lost all his relationships. He had become a pitiful tub of lard and a pathetic stand-up comedian. Yet, by the time the movie ends, one feels a strange sense of sympathy for this vicious character. Sympathy for a loser! Every emotion and intrigue that Jake embodied can also be found in organisations with lots of people in them. In regular business organisations, NGOs, media houses, religious organisations and, most of all, in political parties. Let’s get back home.

The BJP is not exactly Jake La Motta but the party is suffering the consequences of all the negative human emotions of Jake that I listed earlier. Jealousy, intrigue, cunning and much more. At a time when the world’s most corrupt party among democracies should be thrown out the BJP is hell-bent on scoring self-goals. Not a single major event or decision in the party passes without controversy and mud-slinging. All of it cannot be passed under the garb of “we are a democratic” party. This is self-deception in implying democratic parties can never arrive at decisions in a cohesive manner defeats its purpose. To add to this, they have made some atrocious attempts to enrol the scumbags of India like Pramod Muthalik and Sabir Ali. Both had to be thrown out after their cadres and supporters revolted. Neither of these two scumbags would have brought any positive value to the party.

The tragedy is that on a day a video of a guy called Imran Masood (Congress) issuing threats to Modi surfaced the media was compelled to focus more on the comic self-goal of enrolling a character like Sabir Ali. I have to say this and say this bluntly: there are certain very senior leaders in the party who are no different from the pathetic stand-up comic that Jake had become. They are often referred to as “tall leaders” of the party. They may be tall but their height simply cannot be allowed to cloud a common goal of victory. Tall leaders need to demonstrate greatness and not engineer petty squabbles. Imagine, the Congress has been reduced to rubble with only Rahul Gandhi campaigning for them. And all this young child can talk about as solution to the country’s problems is “Love”. What kind of juvenile jerk talks of love and affection to the poor, backward, Tribals and Adivasis who have been deceived for ages by the Congress? In their arrogance the BJP appears to have taken victory for granted because the Congress appears to be losing.

Three months ago four of the current BJP CMs delivered a stinging blow to the Congress in the state elections. It wasn’t very different from the battering Jake delivers to Janiro. He delivers a bloody and brutal knock out. It is the conduct of some of the party’s members that makes people wish there were other options too. Fortunately for them, another juvenile jerk has made a thorough fool of himself with his street antics. We are now into the final phase when elections will commence. Any more bumps are bound to cause severe damage. A huge majority of the nation has backed Narendra Modi for PMship. It is time these sideshow actors in the party openly throw their full weight behind him and avoid any serious accident.

Jake La Motta had lost his title once over his personal demons. The BJP lost power in 2004 out of faulty appeasement policies of ABV and complacency. When he gets a second shot at the title Jake’s demons had grown so huge that he feels the only way to redeem himself is to take a severe pounding and then prove he wasn’t knocked out. There is a lot BJP can learn from him. Not being knocked out is not victory. The party is only one step away from self-destruction should there be another accident. There are BJP leaders who keep making odd statements which seem to originate from a Jake-size ego. There are regulars but even people like Shivraj Chauhan stated yesterday that he wants Modi as PM but Modi can’t work alone. Is there any intelligence in that statement? Why make such dumb statements in the first place?

If the BJP screws up, they will end up like pathetic stand-up comics and would have let down a whole nation waiting in hopes of a change. They should prepare for a 272-knock-out of the CongressPlus and not attempt a 160-points victory. One more major accident is sure to cause serious self-destruction.  

Fantasy Evidence For Hatred

Sometimes the people you run into have interesting things to say, sometimes intriguing things. In autos, buses, trains, ships, planes and balloons. I too run into a lot of people. I remember that one time I was in bed and flying from Dindigul to Delhi and a co-passenger got chatting with me. Based on this mid-air encounter here’s what I tweeted on March 16, 2006:

That guy spoke the truth. Rajdeep Sardesai did get a Padma Shri in 2008. But seriously, how credible is a Padma award from Congress govt? By Rajdeep’s logic, since the SC, the SIT and the lower court are spurious where Gujarat 2002 and Narendra Modi are concerned the Padma given to him has no credibility. I could conclude by RS’s logic that the award was given to him was for Gandhi-family services (as my flight co-passenger told me) and not for any journalistic achievements. Fair enough?

Over the years you would have heard many such claims of strangers dropping juicy stuff into ears of media folks and other “specialists”. The pioneer has to be Shekhar Gupta. Almost every person, famous and ordinary, runs into Gupta and gives him juicy stuff. Read a sample here: “Over the past three weeks I have been stopped by ordinary people at airports, in shopping malls, at a petrol pump, in a spiritual ashram, at the national athletic games in Bangalore and so on with a question that seems to have become a clamour: why are you in the media so scared of the Gandhis”? Oh yeah! Why? I’ve been asking this question for long. Why do they piss in their pants and skirts when “Gandhi” is mentioned? Even folks at spiritual ashrams are confounded it seems as ShekharG tells us. But he has still not managed to answer the question though.

Then there used to be a guy called Markandey Katju who used to often rant against Modi through extensive sky-research. Read this: “I was flying from Delhi to Bhopal recently. Sitting beside me was a Gujarati businessman. I asked him his opinion of Mr. Modi. He was all praise for him. I interjected and asked him about the killing of nearly 2,000 Muslims in 2002 in Gujarat. He replied that Muslims were always creating problems in Gujarat, but after 2002 they have been put in their place and there is peace since then in the State. I told him this is the peace of the graveyard, and peace can never last long unless it is coupled with justice. At this remark he took offence and changed his seat on the plane”. So you see, such crap is the foundation of a whole article where an individual’s unverifiable gossip is peddled as the basis of a commentary on the entire state of Gujarat and Modi. Splendid! Of course, I don’t have to tell you that Katju is lying when he claims 2000 Muslims were killed. Well, I also suggested why not claim 10000 killed if you had to throw up a “Worli Matka” number? This is what the media has been doing for a long time, haven’t they?

The twisted Rajdeep claims someone told him about dictatorship on a flight. The same practice also continues in interviews with people. Anchors throw all kinds of questions with no evidence or basis. When the motive of an interview is to peddle a pre-set agenda of the anchor, it becomes plainly obvious to even the casual viewer. Rajdeep still claims the SC rejection, SIT findings and the lower court rejection of petitions trying to hold Narendra Modi responsible for Gujarat 2002 are unacceptable to many critics. Are court rulings subject to acceptance of critics? And who the hell are these critics? Well, members of the same filthy Hammam that Rajdeep represents; his anti-Modi, anti-Hindu gang. So it stands to reason that RS’s Padma award is also corrupt and purchased. There are many critics who question if he deserved it at all. How many of you agree this cheap propagandist deserved a Padma? Naturally, Rajdeep’s hatred takes it further when he is angry that a Muslim like MJ Akbar has joined the BJP after criticising the party and Modi for many years.

In an interview of MJA on March 24 Rajdeep asks him many questions which have no basis or are at best hypothetical. He asks MJA “Are you today giving Modi a clean chit”? Oh! So MJA is authorised to give clean chits? And is that even acceptable to a Gandhi-family poodle like Rajdeep? MJA explains that for 10 years Modi was scrutinised by every legal authority and that too under a non-BJP govt and they still couldn’t find any linkages to the riots but that is hardly acceptable to Rajdeep. Then RS asks MJA “So you were mistaken”? And MJA tells him bluntly “We were all mistaken in putting personal linkages. We should have the ability to accept the facts”. Unable to digest the truth RS then says “There have been many question marks over the SIT inquiry”. What are those questions? And who are the ones raising those questions. Even that was tested in the lower court at Ahmedabad and the questions rejected. I would have to say only predominantly anti-Hindu rogues like Rajdeep are raising those questions. It is not just because of Modi, it is because they hate the RSS, they hate the BJP and they hate anything that is remotely connected to Hindutva. To them Hindutva is “evil”.

Then RS asks “Are you saying Modi was a target of witch-hunt by journalists like you”? It doesn’t occur to the corrupt Rajdeep that that is a question he should ask his own mirror. And then follows another moronic question “Would Nehru approve of Modi’s version of secularism”? (That is India-first, no appeasement and so on). Who the hell is Nehru to approve of anything today? Would Nehru approve of corrupt and bribe-taking journos like Rajdeep? That is the question I would like to ask. A guy fired from IBN had protested, called Rajdeep a “Dalal” and asked how Rajdeep got his 52-crore bungalow. Where did Rajdeep get such money except by corrupt means and bribery? Who are the ones who paid this corrupt media crook? Any answers Rajdeep? MJA pointed out to RS that it’s a Congress govt at the Centre that hounded Modi through various agencies. Similarly, it is a Congress govt which has protected Rajdeep’s corruption so far. Isn’t that plausible? And that is why RS rants against Modi and continues his witch-hunt. Isn’t that true as well? Because a non-Congress govt will prosecute him for illegal wealth?

And the biggest concern for Rajdeep has been Muslims, Muslims, Muslims! And when MJA pointed out Congress has left Muslims impoverished, Rajdeep was not willing to listen. MJA at one point had to ask him to show the patience to “listen” as a journalist should. If there are Muslims opposed to Modi, there are also Muslims in favour of Modi. Rajdeep believes Muslims should hate Modi as much as he does and that’s his problem. Muslims themselves have as many opinions as is natural in a large population like India. But here’s a sample of Muslims:

Rajdeep’s hatred has closed his doors to all other points of view that Muslims hold. Perhaps he too desires Muslims must remain a downtrodden community who should not take their chances with another leader without being prejudiced by corrupt media morons like him. Failure is not a person, failure is a situation. That applies to a community too. Muslims are not failures. They have been forced to believe they are but it’s a “situation” they too can overcome if not led by selfish politicians and parties. Modi has no selfish motive. If he wants to lead India to a better future he seems to possess the ideas to do so and he has shown no signs like some dynastic cronies of personally enriching himself in doing so. This is probably what compels the likes of Akbar and Siddiqui to reverse their opinions about him. I have pointed at the corruption of Rajdeep for the simple principle that allegations hurled without evidence or based on hearsay from Salma or Sabrina on a flight doesn’t count. Anyone can hurl a thousand. The answer to such nonsense is what is called Hitchens’ Razor:

For 10 years Rajdeep and the other crooks in the media have hurled any number of allegations against Modi without any evidence. They must remember, it is easy to concoct Salma-Sabrina stories from flights, it is easy to throw allegations like Rajdeep’s 52 crore bungalow. Rajdeep was so rattled by the 52-crore allegation that he pleaded that video be removed (and it was removed from Youtube). Therefore, it demands that he too be careful on mindlessly continuing to hurl allegations against others, especially when the courts of the country have dismissed them. Respect the law, moron!

But Rajdeep does have one good habit though. Every night he sings a lullaby for his Twitter followers. But even MJA told him to complete the song “Chodo kal ki baaten” which he sang with the second line “Naya daur hai, nayi umang hai”. It’s not just MJA but even others are telling Rajdeep not to sing “incomplete” songs but to complete with the second lines which are often more important. Whispers on a flight, “He said, she said” kind of evidence, motivated pimpernels like Teesta or Sanjiv Bhatt do not constitute evidence. Teesta in all likelihood will be prosecuted and sent to jail. Rajdeep may have his fantasy islands of all such evidences and witnesses. In the end they couldn’t survive. RS claims he is not a Congress or Gandhi doormat. But if he observes his Twitter feed and comments on his articles the Congress supporters usually defend him staunchly. And just to tell him, even though this site is often called a RW site, MJ Akbar (who was very anti-Modi) was still voted one of the best journalists. Rajdeep must wonder why. Living in fantasy is not a crime, but living in fantasies filled with hatred will invariably take its toll.

PS: The first image in this post with tweets of March 2006 is also a fantasy. Twitter wasn’t launched till July 2006.

The Eternal Lies Of Rajdeep Sardesai

(This is a MaxiPost)

Excessive self-righteousness is usually one of the signs of a corrupt mind and soul. That is what Rajdeep Sardesai is. I don’t know about financial corruption but I am in no doubt he is  morally corrupt. I can write a whole book on the crimes of Rajdeep but I will keep it as short as I can (which is quite a difficult task considering his crimes).

Ever handled a meeting of sales managers? The ones who have failed to achieve their targets usually have the most excuses and sometimes quite creative ones too. Then a typical sales manager will tell you “We need to advertise more. We need more innovations. We need more colours in our products. We need products for youngsters. We need products for the elders”. We… we… we! Who exactly is we? It is rarely “I need to do this. This is what I did wrong. This is what I need to correct”. This is exactly what Rajdeep Sardesai does in another article about what “we the media” did, what “we” need to do and what “we” refuse to acknowledge. He writes a supposed introspection titled 'Many of us peddle half truths and cheap sensationalism' (March 21) that sort of lists the misdeeds of MSM; his Hammam. But why “us”? Why not start with yourself Rajdeep? Why hide your own crimes behind this “us”? That is the biggest crime in pontificating. They whitewash their own sins couched in a general trashing of their clan. Regardless of this, we will examine the lies of Rajdeep (excerpts in blue).

“On social media – the ultimate space for the ‘outrage industry’ – journalists are routinely accused of being ‘paid media.’ For Modi bhakts, Congress chamchas and AAP cheerleaders, media bashing has become this election season’s favourite sport”. One must bear in mind that the MSM existed much before SM. As for “paid media” that too did not spring from the fountain of SM. The “paid news” evil was formally recognised in a report by the PCI itself so folks on the SM didn’t manufacture anything. And AAP is a party born through liberal use of social media. So who coins the terms that Rajdeep uses? Modi-bhakts, Congress Chamchas, AAP cheerleaders? Note carefully, this itself is a laundry job by RS. SM doesn’t use these terms. It uses Congress Coolies, AAPTards, ModiTards, Feku and so on. Where politics is concerned on the SM, it is an unorganised band of people who come together based on their political preferences in the actions they take. Some of them were already members of some political party or have graduated from SM to regular political members.  

“The charge of being ‘biased’ reflects a rising intolerance among the political faithful. So long as the media was hailing Arvind Kejriwal as the ultimate anti-corruption prophet, we were, in the eyes of aam admi supporters, allies in their war”. I have said before and will say it again this is a stupid argument that RS puts forth. Being biased itself is not a crime. Even SC judges are not free from bias but the Constitution and Law compels them to act honestly aided by the fact that it’s usually a bench and not a single judge. It is when this bias forces editors to twist facts, twist the truth and peddle headlines that have no connection to the real content that makes it criminal. Every channel and newspaper has been guilty of this crime. Rambo, anyone?

RS is idiotic to even suggest a rising intolerance. For one, RS and his bimbo deputy have been having a running battle with ordinary people ever since they got on Twitter. The provocation did not start from ordinary folks. How does RS explain this conduct? Whether it’s Hindus or BJP, only third rate editors would indulge in a running battle with viewers and readers. And Sagarika Ghose when once asked about when she ever criticised Congress had to pull out an eight year old article of hers from 2005 to prove she is neutral. Does RS think people are that dumb and can’t see whose doormats both he and Sagarika have been? Does Rajdeep forget who he was pimping for in the company of Prannoy and Barkha while he was with StarNews and later NDTV? Well, we will see some more.

“When we questioned Narendra Modi's handling of the 2002 riots, we were accused of being a pseudo-secular, anti-national force. Now, when the same media carries Modi’s rallies unedited with the assistance of the BJP’s own cameras, we are accused by the Congress of ‘selling out’ to the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate”. LIAR! Political parties accuse each other of many things; that doesn’t count. It is how those accusations are aired that count. For instance, when the Robert Vadra land scams were being discussed didn’t Rajdeep defend the indefensible? Or the National Herald scam? When you talk about what viewers and readers perceive, don’t argue with the nonsense of political parties. Does it occur to Rajdeep that BJP may have had to resort to their own feed because biased channels like his often cut parts of it? Does he know that channels had the criminal practice of putting up a panel and running expert discussions and commentary even as Modi would be speaking in the rallies? That is called ambush, Rajdeep. Don’t try to fool people.

Now, you questioned Modi’s handling of 2002 riots? What exactly were those questions? Day after day after day for over 10 years RS and his crooks from the media have hurled accusations at Modi. Is that questioning? In a programme where Modi was the key speaker this liar repeated the terms “mass murderer” and “hero of hatred” to describe Modi. Was that questioning? Bringing in the most fraudulent spokies like Teesta and Sanjiv Bhatt to rant against Modi even after their frauds were established. Is that questioning? I don’t give a damn what the Congress says or BJP says. Rajdeep should talk about his deeds and what the general public perceives. His deputy runs through the Muslim corridor like a joker before the Gujarat 2012 elections with a one-sided story of development. Is that questioning or propaganda? Is that questioning or political campaigning? Rajdeep himself has painted Modi as anti-Muslim with his 90% and 10% nonsense all the time. Is that questioning or making a judgement? And that judgement is based on what? Scientific research? No, it is based on pure hatred and evil in the head. Hatred for anything Modi, hatred for anything Hindu. And Rajdeep, you are one of the rare media crooks who has had the chance to personally interact with Modi more than once. You can’t even whine on that count.

“On the flip side, no government has been subject to the kind of media scrutiny that UPA 2 has, yet that has also not stopped the media from being targeted as agents of 10 Janpath”. Sorry, the most of the corrupt UPA2 is largely the Congress. Don’t shield the Congress by mentioning UPA. Here too, it wasn’t CNN-IBN but TimesNow that did the most scrutiny. Rajdeep, Barkha, Sagarika, Shekhar Gupta, Vinod Mehta and others have behaved like poodles of Sonia Gandhi. They piss in their pants and skirts at the very mention of “Gandhi”. When has Rajdeep ever questioned Sonia Gandhi? When has anyone in the media questioned her, her secret travels, her illnesses or scams or anything at all? When? On the contrary, when VishwaBandhu Gupta made a statement, the cowardly poodle Rajdeep screamed “no wild allegations please”. Is Rajdeep entitled to throw wild allegations or carry wild allegations against Modi but ban allegations against Sonia? And how does Rajdeep conclude they are wild allegations without even as much as hearing the man? Let us now do a small roll-call of Rajdeep’s crimes chronicled on this very site and this is just a small list:

December 2010: To Sermonise On Role & Responsibilities Of Media?

This includes the extremely unprofessional behaviour of Rajdeep at the HT summit with Modi. When is Rajdeep going to apologise for this misconduct?

December 2010: Rajdeep blames “corrupt society” for media weakness..

Really, all the evils in the media were brought about by society at large? Where do you get to blame people for your criminal misconduct, Rajdeep?

July 2011: "No Wild Allegations Against Gandhis, Please....."

This is the extraordinary show where Rajdeep cuts off anyone mentioning Sonia Gandhi. Who is the slave of 10JP, Rajdeep?

September 2012: Stenographers & Stray Dogs

This is the story of how the reporter who was involved in the Cash4Votes sting operation was made to feel like a “Dog” by Rajdeep. Any explanation Rajdeep? This is not some jerk on SM, this was your own employee who had to quit for your crimes.

October 2012: Robert Vadra & the innocence of journalists.

This is where Rajdeep more or less makes a defence of Vadra’s land scams with stupid “monkey balancing” (as I call it). Considering the phenomenal scams of Congress/UPA Rajdeep and the crooks in the media have tried to wash it somehow by pointing fingers at BJP even when the crimes were clearly disproportionate and incomparable.

March 2013: Rajdeep – Super troll and hate-monger.

Yes, I call Rajdeep and his deputy hate-mongers. I have no hesitation in calling them anti-Hindu either and that has been explained in many other posts. This one explains how the hate-mongering Rajdeep trolls Modi LIVE during Modi’s speeches. He abuses people he doesn’t like with fancy names like MUFC and then whines about people abusing him? Ordinary people will express what they want but since when do editors get to behave like street rowdies? Then he plays victim to the world? Pathetic!

Would Rajdeep care to answer all this? I wouldn’t want to be petty and list his chota-mota crimes like using fake tweets to further his agenda to legalise lobbying or other issues where he, his deputy and his channel has been proved to be anti-Hindu. I don’t want to list his crimes of covert and overt pimping for AAP. Even Bhupendra Chaubey tweeted how all IBN staff were in AAP topis. An IBN group employee tweeted she will campaign for AAP because she’s not happy with the Adarsh scam clean chit for Ashok Chavan. The crypt is too full of Rajdeep’s crimes. So I have chosen to list only a few of the crimes in the above posts. Here’s one of the most important ones:

February 2014: CNN-IBN – A history of abuse

This one explains how the shameful duo of Rajdeep and Sagarika have been hurling abuses at ordinary people since 2009 on Twitter and other media. I must mention here that I started this blog in February 2010 and wasn’t on Twitter till one year later. I became more active on Twitter only around June-July 2011. My earlier posts were based largely only on their TV shows or printed articles. I had to discover that this couple was as abusive on Twitter too. They have a pathological hatred for ordinary folks, particularly Hindus and call them names like “Internet Hindus”, “Guttersnipe” and consistently abuse Modi. What was all that for Rajdeep? And now that people are returning the compliments you cry “victim”. Worse, at a mere mention of P. Chidambaram this editor issued an apology:

Can Rajdeep tell us why for 12 years of mindlessly abusing Modi and also allowing his panellists and other crooks to abuse Modi on his channel he shouldn’t apologise to him? Will Rajdeep tell us why even after the SC, the SIT and the lower court in Ahmedabad having absolved Modi of involvement in the riots he, Sagarika and other fools on his channel still abuse Modi and refuse to accept legal rulings? Why does Rajdeep still call Modi “tainted”? And then the scumbag lectures the public? Why when Congis scream Hitler, Mass-Murderer, women raped and so on does he not say “Sorry, no wild allegations please”? Is that crony defence reserved only for Sonia Gandhi? That’s the reason you are called a slave and doormat of 10JP Rajdeep, don’t shamelessly claim you’re an editor. You aren’t worth being called even a journalist by any standards or measure.  

“Whichever kind of editor one chooses to be, the inescapable reality is that the editor must be more accountable to readers and viewers. A few years ago, as president of the Editors Guild, I had proposed that all editors declare their assets”. Stop playing Moses when you’re a plain 4 inch nail. Forget assets, you had the nerve to defend Barkha in the Radiagate episode at the very Editor’s Guild as its president. Have you forgotten that? Who the hell were you to give Barkha a clean-chit when she was clearly being a broker and go-between for Radia, DMK and the Congress? What kind of scumbag editor does that? You didn’t even offer any reasons or any scrutiny that you had conducted. You defended her simply because she and you are in the same rotten Hammam. Isn’t that true? And what kind of news channel dishes out IOTY awards to politicians? This is followed by some serious ass-licking of politicians. Does it occur to you that it is a simple conflict of interest to reward the same politicians that you’re supposed to report on? And on top of that the Category5Moron tweets Modi won’t get it for 2013, as if the bimbo was doing him a big favour stating he will be considered for 2014 if he becomes PM. You peddle such crap and call yourself editors? Even on a cloudy day anyone can you see you as pathetic anti-people criminals dressed up as journalists. Who the hell are you trying to fool?

There, that being said there is an opening for Rajdeep to come clean and state in unambiguous terms that he is willing to start over. People are not evil, individuals are evil. If there is an honest attempt to express remorse for the misdeeds, people will be sporting enough to put it behind them. But there is no way mindless defence of nonsense will be allowed to pass. It’s not half-truths and sensationalism Rajdeep; you actually peddle LIES and cheap theatre. Get out of your delusion and wear some clothes.