Losing The Plot

From what we had during the 10 years of corrupt Congress-UPA govt, the current one has come a long way in restoring governance at the Centre. It is nearly a year of ModiSarkar and one hasn't heard of corruption or scandals. The dramatic decline in corruption has also been acknowledged by big industries. The govt has done many significant things right and there has really been nothing to seriously criticise. What is being passed as criticism is the demand for more, greater speed in action in some areas and avoiding doing stupid things like the ITR form goof-up. Yes, govts must be strongly criticised and frequently too but what we are seeing is "orchestrated criticism". 

People like SoniaG and RahulG have suddenly discovered their voices in the parliament. The comedy king first went on a spree even mouthing absolute nonsense on the Net Neutrality issue. Then the queen went on a round of hypocritical blabber about govt throttling information and RTI being blocked. This is the same woman whose govt refused to divulge even details of her many travels abroad as also that of her son. She even wants the corrupt to be punished urgently - that is like seeking a self-goal. In reality, the Opposition doesn't really have valid criticism but will keep shouting in the parliament to make sure the govt doesn't pass any bills at all. 

When the "Christians under attack" fraud was being perpetrated by the Opposition and media they got hold of any Christian celebrity who was willing to attack the GOI and play victim. It's a simple trick by the media - quote only those willing to criticise and play victim and black out those saying the opposite. They seek out persons who will go with their agenda. Shahid Siddiqui once tweeted he was dropped from a debate on TimesNow because his vieews did not match that of Arnab’s agenda, which was to tar Modi on the Moradabad riots. He was told the programme was cancelled when it wasn’t. They even got Julius Ribeiro to write a “Meena Kumar oped” where he claimed he felt like a stranger in India now and was on hit list. There have been a couple of church related incidents since then but since the media-fraud got exposed they have been more circumspect. I am sure Headlines Today got Arun Shourie (AS) in the same fashion. I doubt HT even wanted to interview Shourie. It is possible that he may have volunteered to slam ModiSarkar and HT's delight must have gone through the roof.

AS is a much respected journalist, writer and politician but he is downright ordinary when it comes to diplomacy. It is something expected of a mature politician like him. And it is seriously unbecoming of him to trash his own party (Although I wonder if he is still in BJP) when a guy like him does have access to those in power. There is absolutely nothing in criticising ModiSarkar and he can do so as much as he wants. And it's also not that all of his criticism was invalid. The problem is doing an interview with a known Modi-hater like Karan The Tool (Who wanted a sudden removal of Modi so Congress could regain power in Gujarat) and even using lies to garnish the criticism. You cannot use the lies of Ribeiro and the fake minorities-under-attack nonsense and claim good intentions. It makes it abundantly evident that AS's crticism was motivated and probably comes out of a sense of frustration of being sidelined from any ministerial position. 

If you look at the laundry list of his complaints there isn't really much substance except on a few issues. Much of it is mere personal opinion - Saying the govt lacks clear thinking is a very general statement. Then statements like Modi's economy policy is directionless is another mother-hood statement. If it was so, AS could have criticised the Union budget when people all around were praising it. He says Modi's foreign policy is a success but must follow up on MOUs. Does he have any evidence there is no follow up? This whole point quoted by HToday reads quite silly:

"Modi's foreign policy is a success but India has to follow up on the MoUs. Modi needs to execute policies quickly. China is a principal challenge for India. India's foreign policy is getting reoriented. Modi has to move much faster. Nobody is waiting for us. The US is already feeling impatient. Keeping Sushma Swaraj on the margins is wrong".

What exactly do these disoriented statements mean at all? If anything, the whole country acknowledges if there is one thing Modi has moved fast on it is Foreign relations. What is the US feeling impatient about? And our govt must work to satisfy their impatience? That’s a stupid statement one can expect from the C5M not someone like AS. And AS adds the govt must have clarity on Pakistan. Now what clarity does AS want? Years of attempts with Pak hasn't got India anywhere so Modi focusing on other countries of opportunity makes a lot of sense. I have found only one important message from the entire thing that TheJaggi points out: 

"Modi's discomfort with empowering competent people beyond a chosen few is worrying...  Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari have strong credentials, and are competent administrators. Modi has to allow them to grow further and cultivate a higher profile in the interests of the nation".

In fact, GOI often gives an impression it's being run by a small coterie of Modi-Jaitley-Amit Shah. Modi has also given the impression of being excessively flamboyant which is not the image he had earlier - that of a tough-working, result-oriented CM. And as Jaggi says at the end of his article: "For example, why not propose an amendment to Article 30 – which guarantees minorities the right to run their own institutions – to give the exact same rights to majority-run institutions? Who can oppose this right to equal treatment under the law? Being intelligently pro-majority is better than being dragged into the usual tokenisms like offering chadders at Ajmer". Special helplines for Christians, Chaddars at Ajmer all seem to follow the same appeasement nonsense of earlier govts. ABV with a coalition govt managed social issues quite well. Modi, with a brute majority in current times, seems unwilling to address social issues, especially where Hindus are concerned. Having promised Kashmiri Pandits a return to their home-state why would we see such an agitation which wasn’t seen so often in the past? 

I have written before there are two kinds of development that affect people - One that is visible and one that is experienced. Good foreign relations, terminating antiquated laws are all good things but do not directly affect people.  For instance a BJP MP complained roads in his UP town are not built despite PM Sadak Yojana funds made available. That is really a State problem but the GOI has to pressurise the state to execute too.  ModiSarkar is failing in communicating those achievements that are not visible but are being experienced. Even good achievements like reduction of power supply deficit aren’t being communicated all too well. We haven’t seen agitations in Delhi like before and even UP reportedly is experiencing better power supply:

Modi increasingly gives an impression he doesn’t listen anymore to anyone other than his small coterie. And his Delhi-Durbari Arun Jaitley organises secret dinners for media editors who have indulged in concocting fake reports against his govt and his party. From Rambo to 10-lakh suit to Luis Vuitton shawl to a documentary on his community being the latest fraud. Here’s the latest fraud by Indian Express:

Jaitley organised this secret meet and also wanted no one report it. Why? The PM also dropped in briefly at this party. These attempts to convert the anti-BJP MSM crooks to being “faithful” slaves is the most stupid thing yet by the GOI (Or Jaitley in particular, if you like). A report on this secret dinner really makes BJP and GOI look foolish. There are hundreds of fraudulent articles written with malicious intent by many media houses. Either bring a strong autonomous watch-dog or prosecute every criminal media house indulging in wanton, willful slander. No, instead the Delhi-Durbari wants to groom media editors as has been his passion through his entire career. What is the message being sent out? That there are no sane voices to listen to? People like Jaggi are strong supporters of Modi and offer very valid criticism. He also wrote a piece “Modi doesn’t need a Palanniappan Jaitely” and that should tell the PM a lot. A good cleaning up of fraudulent NGOs gets this response from the US Ambassador who exceeds his brief with such comments:

GOI must clearly assert that it will not tolerate interference in our internal affairs and not receive sermons from US Diplomats. This obviously comes over the Ford Foundation being put under scrutiny. And the Ambassador’s nonsense confirms that many criminal NGOs are indeed poodles of the US govt (in case of FF, there are many reports of CIA links). According to MHA this TOI report indicates FF has illegally funded profiteers and political parties too. If there is wrong-doing GOI should damn well kick out FF the way it has dealt with Greenpeace. Ditto for thousands of other NGOs too. Modi became PM under the weight of excessive expectations (part of it created by himself) and therefore he gets measured by those expectations. It is not as if the govt is doing badly or has not done good things. It is just that criticism is for demanding more and there is nothing wrong in that. But motivated criticism from people like Arun Shourie need not weigh heavily. But ModiSarkar is giving the impression they don’t give a damn for any voice even from those who support him. 

It is important to win private victories before public victories as Stephen Covey puts in 7 Habits. I could even ask if Modi wants to be the next model for Mayur suitings like Virender Sehwag or a PM. It is disgusting; the kind of promotions being undertaken. Who is doing all this for you? Your jokers at PMO or Arun Jaitley’s durbar? Modi needs to win at home before seeking foolish victories abroad. I would rather Modi gave an interview to Dinamalar or Chitralekha or some such media in India than India-haters like TIME. The silly obsession of seeking laurels from Western-trash (from the same morons who trash Hindus and Hindu culture for no reason) is the first sign of a silly govt that has forgotten who got them there in the first place:

Also, the belief in incrementalism in many areas by the govt is also surprising; like income tax rules. There are many areas where incrementalism will not produce any great results. There is a distinct lack of courage in taking bold decisions. The media went gaga over Jaitley’s budget (for obvious reasons - they being his durbaris) but I would consider it one of the most uncreative budgets of recent times. What is obvious is that there is a serious lack of creativity in the Cabinet although most ministers are doing quite well.  For a country like India saddled with the sins of past govts it needs to show some dramatic and bold decisions. 

Modi and his team need to communicate more with people. Fraudulent reports in the media must be dealt with through regular press conferences and not through silly debates in criminal media channels. The unwillingness and lack of courage to change public discourse is the biggest failure of ModiSarkar. After the recent dinner nonsense of Jaitley one very strong supporter of Modi and BJP since the party was born remarked in private: They are losing the plot or have already lost it. 

The "Incremental" Fallacy

(This is a maxi-post)

Some days back I was chatting with a friend about the media. Towards the end of the discussion we were talking about “incremental changes” happening in the media but we had run out of time and couldn’t take it further. Although it seems like a minor mention the issue of incremental change is an important one which affects almost all policies in our country. Big changes don’t happen incrementally, they happen dramatically through choice or by circumstances. This incrementalism has seeped so deep into our decision-making process that even minor extensions of FDI are referred to as “Big Bang” by the media. A decision to hike rail fares is being termed “reforms” by some. In reality, incrementalism doesn’t change much for anyone. The Radiagate incident, dramatic as it was, hasn’t brought about too many changes in the media. In fact, nothing at all! The same tainted people carry on with their propaganda work. Our lawmakers and govt have also chosen to completely turn a blind eye to Radiagate. Incrementalism requires sustenance and bad habits have a great gravitational force about them. They tend to pull us back to the same situation over and over again.

Incremental changes require sustenance and if there are repeated events and incidents that disrupt such sustenance, the desired change will never happen. Clearing all the clutter from your drawers in one shot is a dramatic or radical change. But to keep it neat and orderly requires a good habit. When that fails, the drawers return to clutter in no time at all. The gravitational pull of habits is quite powerful. It requires the power of a rocket to shoot out of such gravitational pull. That is called dramatic or radical change. Ever met a smoker who said he will quit? Ever heard him say he will cut down slowly and finally quit in a month? Has it ever happened? At the most he may have cut down a few smokes but unlikely he would have quit. But if he runs into trouble and sees the doctor who tells him “You smoke another pack and you’re dead” then that’s a dramatic insight about his health that could force him to quit. The quitting doesn’t happen incrementally, it mostly happens radically.

Rajdeep Sardesai (RS) is now leading an Image-makeover campaign for CNN-IBN. For the last two months he and other anchors at his channel have been screaming they are changing. They’re telling us CNN-IBN is about “News, not noise! Sense, not sensationalism! Intelligent, not extreme”! Nice! They are trying to raise the BAR of journalism as RS himself says. Well, who got you to the bottom in the first place? It now dawns upon RS that in the game of noise and sensationalism someone else turned up who played the game better. So RS now wants to choose a moral path of upright journalism. This is not voluntary change, this is change forced by circumstances. Even this is merely incremental. Forgive me, but any channel that has Sagarika Ghose cannot even remotely claim they’re NOT in the “noise” business. Sacking her would imply dramatic change but I doubt RS really wants change. And sack her not because she is noisy, but she is not really a journalist who measures up to any BAR. He just wants you to think better of him and his channel. Here’s what RS wrote in February 2013 (edited excerpts) Making sense of sensationalist TV journalism: (A word of caution: I am using RS’s quotes because he talked about change but this is not to single him out, his quotes are used for the whole media).

In 1998, there was only one 24x7 news network. Today, there are more than 300 round the clock news channels, carnivorously devouring every morsel of news, the noisier the better… News has been replaced by noise, sense by sensationalism, history by histrionics; the medium is the same but the message has drastically changed.

It is convenient to forget the misdeeds of that ONE 24X7 channel that RS talks about. The BAR set by the members of that channel have contributed to degeneration of TV news. What RS doesn’t acknowledge is that now there a million eyes watching over these noise-mongers. It’s commonly called “Social Media”. Even today RS and his gang of noise-mongers refuse to accept a watchdog that will ensure they maintain quality standards. RS still believes he is still his own best policeman. And so does the BAR.

Take the recent Indo-Pak fracas at the Line of Control. The dastardly beheading of an Indian soldier and Pakistan's reflexive denial rightly led to indignation in the country. But when justifiable anger threatens to turn into uncontrolled jingoism in TV studios, to the point where the Indian government is forced to send back Pakistani hockey players, stop trade relations and almost rupture diplomatic ties, then we must ask ourselves whether war-mongering hysteria is what must define the media's collective responsibility.

I have always said there are two RSs; one on TV and the other off it. The one off it sometimes thinks profoundly like a monk. I agree, stopping hockey games is a knee-jerk reaction. But RS doesn’t ask the question why we started hockey, cricket or any other relations with Pakistan in the first place. The reason we fail to deal with Pakistan is the same incremental crap with which RS hopes to change the image of his channel. Even so, if RS is really serious he should first look at the hypocrisy within his own group. His water-less Holi sermon for ordinary people and his deputy rollicking in a swimming pool should tell him something. The comic duo never fails.

Let’s see, 65 years, 3 wars, number of major and minor skirmishes, LOC beheadings, terror attacks, hijackings, bombings and we are still worried about hockey games. Where have all the incremental steps taken us with Pakistan? First we said peace and cricket. Then more wars. We said peace and cricket. Then came terror attacks and ethnic cleansing in Kashmir and other places. We said peace, let’s play cricket. Mumbai 26/11 and we exchange dossiers and the media starts “Aman Ki Asha”. We say peace, let’s play cricket. We say let’s build confidence building measures (CBMs). Bollywood says let’s get some Paki dancers on our shows, let’s play cricket. And I have lost count of all the morons who never stop saying “peepull to peepull contact”. Our media says let’s frequently suck up to war-criminal Musharraf and maybe we will get peace. Let’s play cricket. Ever seen anything more incrementally foolish about a nation? When it comes to Pakistan, India too is like that smoker who says he will cut down slowly and quit. It has never worked. Incrementalism in tough situations gets you nowhere.

RS talks about 1998. Imagine, around that time there was no Google. The arrival of Google dramatically changed the world. The Yahoos and MSNs may have gotten better incrementally but Google brought dramatic change through innovation. Then followed Youtube, Facebook, Twitter and a host of other innovations, people changed, not the MSM. RS and news channels did not change. It’s the world around them that changed and forced introspection on him. Can he admit that honestly? Can he take his message of change to all the other crooks in his own Hammam? I doubt it. They don’t want change, they want to “appear” better. Try ‘Fair & Handsome’.

In the unfortunate incident in Kashmir involving an all-women band, did we make enough of an effort to seek out the voices of reason and moderation or does it suit us to paint every Kashmiri with the brush of religious extremism? A fulminating Asiya Andrabi-like anti-India figure fits a stereotype we wish to create of the average Kashmiri; the voices of young Kashmiris who express solidarity with the girls get blanked out.

When you assess the problem itself wrongly, you are bound to end up a Don Quixote. The Kashmir girl-band issue didn’t start now. It started it 1989 when the govt allowed extremists and terrorists to displace lakhs of its residents. It started when the media for over 2 decades continued to ignore the plight of refugees in their own land and still do. They empowered extremists by sending them a message that the Fiberals in the media will cover up their crimes and allow them to play victim. It has gone so far that the media has even coined the term “moderate separatists”. When I heard the CRPF Jawans who were killed in the last terror attack in Srinagar (March 13) were without guns I called it murder. A Kashmiri “youth” responds that he would have loved a 1000 CRPF jawans to have died. Who’s the voice of young Kashmiris that RS talks about? The one in the tweet? Or is that a lie too? What evidence does RS or media have that most Kashmiri youth don’t think like this guy? Asking CRPF Jawans to fight terrorists with Lathis is the incremental nonsense that costs lives.

In an article in Firstpost, Praveen Swami notes how the Fiberals are damaging the cause of India’s fight against jihadis. Er… Where Fiberals are concerned can Macaulay Putri Sagarika Ghose can be far behind? In her article that Swami quotes she laments Muslims being targeted by Police. This is as Bimboesque as it can get as Swami himself explains. But she feels we are soft on “saffron terror”. Now, she doesn’t have the guts or the honesty to confront Islamic terror because if she rants about that she knows the consequences. And then, when the Hyderabad attacks happened she was tweeting about “meat shops”? Why she wants to play one community as a permanent victim and her many other goof-ups are reasons why RS should first sack her if he is serious about change or his slogan about “news not noise” not being as hollow as “waterless Holi” with deputy in the swimming pool. Does he really want change? No! He just wants us to think better of him. If he wants his reputation to go up, he must demonstrate that change. Mere slogans like “waterless Holi” won’t sell.

Today, many states are competing with each other on who provides lesser power-cuts. Some have 8 hours, some have 16 hours. Is that the incremental goal to be fought for? Then they compete on who gives more water-hours. Forty years ago someone came up with “Garibi Hatao” and we are still doing “Garibi Hatao”. That’s how incrementalism fails. In contrast, a young democracy came up with the “Green revolution” in agriculture. That’s a radical approach, a revolution it was called. Revolutions are not incremental. The late Verghese Kurien came up with “Operation flood” in milk. An “operation” is not a call for incrementalism it’s a call for radical change on war-footing.

It would be easy for critics to blame the television rating point system as the 'evil' responsible for the declining standards. Yes, weekly TRPs do reduce journalism at times to tabloid-like box office, but would a more sophisticated measurement of content really change the manner in which we choose to do news? The truth is, we have lost the moral compass that should define journalism's priorities. Maybe we have got carried away with our celebrity status, maybe just being on camera is a drug that prevents us from separating right from wrong and rediscovering our inner conscience.

Critics are not blaming the TRP system. The TV channels are blaming the TRP system and filing cases against it like NDTV did. If the confession that “we have got carried away with our celebrity status” has any honesty then let’s see some radical changes. Viewers will flock to the channel that brings in dramatic change and so will advertisers. Many surgeries seem to be routine or minor but they aren’t. All surgeries are radical changes to a body. The only way incrementalism works is physically. If there are stairs you can climb one step at a time. If you’re ill you can recover in stages. From a child to old-age is an incremental process. If you’re fat you can diet, exercise and lose weight in due course. “One day at a time” is a good line to quote because we are uncertain of the certainty of death which will one day visit us.

In the current state we are in, incrementalism will simply not work. Italy slaps us, Sri Lanka slaps us, Bangladesh snubs us, Maldives snubs us and Pakistan keeps bombing us here and there. These can’t be solved with incrementalism. Even after 26/11 we said let’s play cricket. Radiagate didn’t change the media one bit in anyway. It only changed the way consumers looked at news and the anchors. They started using terms like “Paid media” and “Dalal media”. So if RS speaks for his clan and wants to be respected, he had better start doing the good things first. And that will take radical change not slogans like “Garibi Hatao” or “News, not noise, sense, not sensationalism”. Is it easy? No! No revolution, no radical change is ever easy. Paradigm shifts cannot happen incrementally.