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.

Fai Accompli For Mediacrooks

Throughout the evening on July 19 most Indian news channels were live with the British Parliament hearings of the NOTW-Murdoch phone hacking scandal. Some even had expert panellists to comment on the proceedings. The NOTW scandal isn’t about just phone hacking but also about bribing police officials, nepotism in recruitment and the connection of journalists with top politicians of the UK. Our media celebrities then went on a discourse on media ethics. If anything, the corrupt media in India is far worse than the one in Britain. Out there someone did expose the corrupt practices but here in India the media follows the Rajdeep Sardesai ethic of “Hammam Mein Sab Nange Hain”!

So enamoured with the hearings was one media celebrity that she sent out this tweet:

BDUTT barkha dutt

Could India ever hope for such a transparent and civilised inquisition as the one unfolding in UK right now. That would be the day.

July 19

Yes indeed! That would be the day! But prior to that NDTV needs to hold a mirror to itself. This is the channel whose most prominent media celebrity, Barkha Dutt, was in the midst of the Nira Radia scam and is accused of power-brokering. NDTV’s muddled financial dealings were also exposed by The Sunday Guardian. NDTV is also the channel whose head, Prannoy Roy, is accused of being let of by CBI. NDTV is also the channel whose journalist, Sunetra Choudhury, is on leave from 13^th July. Sunetra Choudhury had to write an article in the DNA newspaper about a top UPA politician insulting her modesty with sexual innuendos. Yeah, this is the NDTV that wouldn’t stand up for its own journalist and put that politician in the dock. Barkha Dutt should have been fired long back and NDTV should have shut down by now. A prominent financial news journalist wonders how the loss making NDTV continues to receive funding. “Transparency and civilised inquisition”, Indeed!

As a wag puts it:  “Act like Rebekah Brooks and talk like Mother Theresa”!

It doesn’t stop there. As if in a divine turn of events the Cash-for-votes scam has surfaced again due to court intervention. Some key players have been arrested and all roads seem to be leading to Amar Singh. He is, of course, the media’s once favourite politician who sang songs on NDTV. The sting operation tapes which CNN-IBN had were not aired in July 2008 before the parliament voted on the no-confidence motion. There was tall talk of ethics by Rajdeep Sardesai then. Dirty politics and politicians would have been exposed and the course of the nation could have been altered. Now, Rajdeep of the ‘Hammam...’ fame claims credit for the sting and expose. There was no expose because the tapes were not aired but were suppressed for reasons best known to Rajdeep Sardesai. He is the guy on July 19 during the UK parliament hearings who stated “Indian media doesn’t have such tabloid culture”! No, Indian media has worse. Many of our media celebrities are pawns of politicians and practically political players themselves. The media exists to curb abuse of power but in India the major players have themselves joined the party.

Corruption and Corrupt politicians exist and thrive because of corrupt media. The media silence on Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Robert Vadhera, Sahara group, Paid news, Reliance group and many such issues get successfully covered up due to a compliant media. For these celebrities to talk about ethics following the UK hearings is a terrible joke. If anything people like Rajdeep Sardesai and Rahul Kanwal have actually cut off people who even want to talk about the corruption by Sonia Gandhi and the Gandhi family. Besides these channels are too busy doing the Bollywood nonsense with every week’s new releases and their actors and directors. Let’s also not forget they are also into kitchens, couches, nights out, saas-bahu and so on. Real news and real reporting is like a part-time lover.

As if all that wasn’t enough out comes the news of the arrest of Ghulam Nabi Fai of Kashmir American Council. He’s the guy who had many sympathisers of Kashmir Azaadi from India at various conferences and meetings. Journalists, politicians, humanitarians have been involved with him. Among names associated with him at some time and in some way or the other that are coming out are Kuldip Nayar, Rajinder Sachar, Arundhati Roy, Dileep Padgaonkar and the list may be longer. Turns out for over two decades Fai’s organisation was being funded by the ISI of Pakistan.

Indian media is not all corrupt. But the ones that are corrupt are not just hand-in-glove with corrupt politicians but may even turn out to be unwittingly assisting anti-national elements like Ghulam Nabi Fai.

Shall we say – Fai Accompli, mediacrooks?

CNN-IBN Inaugurates Mud-slinging Season

Why is CNN-IBN rattled?

On June 2 CNN-IBN had back to back programs covering the proposed hunger strike by Baba Ramdev. It was Rajdeep Sardesai first at 9PM and at 10PM Sagarika Ghose. The Ramdev issue was top of the list and then, of course, some routine issues of corruption concerning Dayanidhi Maran. Isn’t that nice? For once almost all channels had the Maran kickbacks and corruption issue in second place when normally most channels would have been screaming about it all evening. It’s natural! The Maran corruption case is certainly not as dramatic as the Ramdev satyagraha and by now the nation is pretty used to these stories of kickbacks and corruption. Aren’t we?

Both the programs had a similar agenda – Is Ramdev morally credible to launch a fight against black money and corruption? How did Ramdev get his enormous funds and build an empire worth 11000 crores (None being sure if this is 1100 or 11000). And of course, if this is a threat to democratic processes. The focus of Rajdeep’s program was the money part and that of Sagarika, the moral part. Money and morals! Hmmmm! Our media persons are the best to sermonise on both, aren’t they?

I have a decent understanding of finance and economics. But for those who are challenged in that area I will let Sagarika’s words enlighten on you on some economic and black money issues (Her tweets from June 2):

“Can black money simply be brought back by going on hunger strike? Or systemic currency reform needed so rich stop parking money abroad…..argument is rupee will have to be made into a hard currency. for that india will have to get its fiscal deficit etc in check…..Untaxed foreign exchange hidden abroad is a consequence of exchange controls on rupee. experts say only fwd is to make rupee a hard currency….Real issue of black money shd concern us. need to understand why it happens, a bash-the rich-and-UPA slogan will achieve little…..The govt shd look into why untaxed foreign exchange is hidden abroad, not just penalise those who do it. Reform is urgently needed….”

Do you feel educated now? She wants the government to look into why untaxed foreign exchange is hidden abroad when she, the wise one, already answered that question by stating it's a consequence of exchange controls on rupee. Duh? If any of you really manage to decipher what economic tenets or principles or theories Sagarika has laid out, do let me know and I will send you a special reward.

The Rajdeep program at 9pm in all its cleverness was basically a bash Ramdev exercise with no particular focus except to question his funding and his properties. Now, all the panelists were supporters of Ramdev except one – Nandita Rao. CNN-IBN pulled this person somewhere from the woodwork. She is supposedly a human rights activist and went on a rant on how Ramdev’s funding should be investigated, whether hawala channels were involved and whether illegal money was being transacted in his trusts and so on. Wait a minute! Doesn't that sound like gutter mouth Digvijay Singh? Never mind! Well, first of all assuming the Ramdev trusts are registered as charitable trusts there is a system for filing returns and being audited which is a government job. Secondly, throwing around wild charges of illegitimate funding and hawala transactions against someone is very un-lawyer like. Nandita Rao is also supposed to be a lawyer. So what exactly was her real problem? The real problem is that this guy Ramdev wears saffron, is being backed by BJP and the RSS and could be a front for the ‘saffron brigade’. Isn’t that the same fear that the Congress has? So in absence of any Congress spokespersons CNN-IBN found a proxy in Nandita Rao. The queen has ordered a gag on her puppets against talking about Ramdev. So CNN-IBN takes on the job of a smear campaign with panelists like Nandita Rao. Shades of  operation Namo?

Now, did CNN-IBN know who exactly Nandita Rao is? And what her persuasions are? Make no mistake, they damn well did. And in case you are still wondering, go through the communication exchanged by her with the IAC (India Against Corruption) group. You can read the whole lot (before it gets taken off). She considers RSS, Modi and such entities anti-national and killers, so by association Ramdev is equally anti-national. So who could be a better bet for CNN-IBN’s mud-slinging against Ramdev if not this activist?

The history of corruption in this country is almost equal to the history of the Congress. So the questions being bandied about in the media are whether Ramdev is the right person, whether his methods are right and so on. Nobody asked  – What exactly is the alternative? Shoot some corrupt ministers as in ‘Rang De Basanti’? The program started with images of Ramdev’s people collecting funds by cheques. Yes, would you believe it – they were collecting funds by cheques? Isn’t that alarming when we are talking about black money? By cheques? So CNN-IBN tells us how critics are questioning this fund collection. Wait, hahahahaha! No not critics, it’s CNN-IBN that is questioning or portraying the fund collection as something illegitimate and illegal. CNN-IBN’s cup of joy would have run over if those Ramdev guys were collecting cash!

So Rajdeep accuses Ramdev of using ‘public funds’! Once again, we are being enlightened on economic terminology. Does Rajdeep even know what ‘public funds’ means? Let me educate the assholes at CNN-IBN that collecting donations from the public is not the same as ‘public funds’ in legal terms. Go check that out with your lawyers or an economist, Rajdeep! But this is how they will indirectly imply that public funds are being used or misused to support the activities of Ramdev. And in case CNN-IBN stalwarts forget, one of the most corrupt bodies in this country is the BCCI which controls Cricket. One of the heads of the BCCI, Sharad Pawar, was the first to disappear from the scene when Anna Hazare started his agitation.  Despite all commercial operations, extra-ordinary funds, the BCCI is still a charitable trust. Quite a few politicians, especially Congressmen, are involved in the operations of the BCCI. The funds at the disposal of BCCI far exceed everything that a Ramdev can show. Is there any charitable work that the BCCI does as part of its main agenda?

If the likes of Nandita Rao and Rajdeep Sardesai are really interested in exposing illegitimate funding and spurious NGOs then they can refer to the book NGOs, Activists and Foreign Funds, Anti-Nation Industry edited by Radha Rajan and Krishen Kak. How about inviting those authors on your program, Rajdeep? Their book exposes the various illegal and anti-national funds that flow into India for anti-national NGOs. Read more HERE and HERE.

 

Still, if Ramdev has all kinds of illegitimate wealth CNN-IBN should take the trouble of investigating and reporting and not indulge in showing some images of donation-collection to imply there was some wrong doing where there is none. Same goes for the likes of Nandita Rao. Digvijay calls Ramdev a businessman and not a spiritual leader. Well good for Ramdev, at least he is not a crooked politician. And what is wrong in being business minded? Nandita Rao quite clearly demonstrated the fears of the Congress. And what do you know? Digvijay Singh states that “if the Congress was scared Ramdev would have been put behind bars”. Oh yeah? On what grounds asshole? On cooked-up charges? The Congress knows what mayhem will break loose if Ramdev is arrested. I don’t think the Congress is as stupid as Digivijay Singh, not yet.

The woman who opened a pandora’s box, Nira Radia, was put on surveillance by the Home and Finance ministry based on a ‘complaint’ received by the Finance Ministry in 2008. Well, what stops Nandita Rao or CNN-IBN filing a complaint with the ED or the CBDT on similar lines against Ramdev? The UPA government will be more than delighted to act on such a complaint, including phone taps and all. No, instead the likes of Nandita Rao will keep peddling nonsense which no one can decipher but can pass off in the media as gospel. And CNN-IBN will gladly oblige such gossip and rumour mongering.

The tag lines from Sagarika’s ‘Face the nation’ should tell you everything about spirituality. ‘Ungodly politics?’, ‘The asanas of protest?’, ‘Gurus of Government?’ …. Her program started by invoking Chanakya and then listed gurus right up to Bhindranwale. Yes, that same guy who held weapons in a place of worship! Do you feel wiser? See the equation?

Anna Hazare didn’t bother the media or CNN-IBN so much when he was on a hunger strike. It was great for TV. But this guy Ramdev does bother them immensely. Why? His protests and action seem to be backed by Hindus or Hindu organisations. And anything Hindu in this country is bad for the Congress and our 'secular' media. After years of Hindu-bashing, minority appeasement, coining terms like ‘saffron’ terror this comes as a different terror threat to some in the political domain and, of course, some in the media. Is Ramdev right in everything he has proposed? Obviously not. His demand for death to the corrupt, withdrawing 500 and 1000 currency notes, Hindi in some college courses are absurd and are surely not going to be accepted and shouldn’t be. But there are worse cases of absurd demands. The Gujjar agitation for reservation, blocking all rail and road traffic despite High Court orders is a classic example.

Does Ramdev really understand complex economic issues and even that of black money? I don’t think so. Ramdev only understands that black money needs to be tackled. And there is one more dangerous thing that he and many Indians know – this level of blatant and nonchalant corruption and stashing of funds abroad does not happen without the tacit approval or participation of the highest power-holders in the land. The fear for the Congress is that some of its top names may have to eventually tumble. That is bad news for Congress and in many cases, bad news for the media as well.

Let’s do a roll call. Laloo Prasad, Mulayam Singh, Amar Singh, Mayawati all of them have had or still have cases pending against them for corruption. Based on the whims of the Congress the CBI and other agencies go after them or slow down their action against them. Why aren’t these people being prosecuted or why aren’t they in jails?

Much of our ‘secular’ media personalities have built their career on Hindu bashing. If someone like Anna Hazare clad in white Khadi protests, it’s not much of a problem. But beware, if someone in saffron goes into action, all the alarm bells will go off. So you can expect a lot vicious attacks that are still to come. Mud-slinging season has just been inaugurated by CNN-IBN!

2G Scam: There Will Be Blood

Newer scams, Wikileaks, Cricket, other crimes have helped push the Nira Radia case to the back-burner. This would, of course, come as a relief for the Congress which is still embattled on many other issues. As days pass the 2G scam cases get more curious coupled with the even more strange case of Hasan Ali in the black money scandal. The black money case is an entirely whole topic for a separate post but let me start with a refresher of my previous posts.

Nira Radia was considered central to the 2G scam case. The ED followed up with raids, interrogation etc. So let’s look at this post I made in Nov. 2010:

Nira Radia – A Real Hero : Who’s Behind The Tapes Conspiracy? (Nov. 28, 2010)

"Nira Radia has to be considered a real unwitting hero of sorts. The public has long suspected a politicians–corporate houses–media nexus in the ongoing season of scams. In one single stroke, with a partial release of her tapes, she has inadvertently exposed the powerful and the corrupt in the nation......... I can’t help imagining Ram Gopal Verma rubbing his hands in delight. He would have liked some blood, of course. And who knows, that might even follow."

Sure enough, there is blood. First is that of Sadik Batcha, a former aide of A. Raja. His death is reported as suicide. Only time and proper investigation (if any at all) will reveal if this was indeed a suicide. One does not know how many such Batchas are involved in various transactions or how many more will die in the course of the investigations and possible trials. It may sound far- fetched but it may be safe to assume Nira Radia herself may be in danger.

The phones of Nira Radia were reportedly tapped on a complaint to the Finance Ministry. Who indeed is that mysterious complainant? That single piece of information can solve a lot of puzzles surrounding the 2G scam. Is anyone in the media following up on that? Let’s go back to another post I made in December 2010:

UPA Govt. May Not Have A Case Against Nira Radia ... (December 14, 2010)

"Hasty to call Nira Radia a spy. Thus spake Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister. The phone tapping was started precisely for that reason – spying.  If Pranab Mukherjee, the man in the middle of everything could say that, one can safely assume the complaint to the then Finance Minster, 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.......It is extremely probable that the phone tapping was initiated and meant to be used by the Congress to embarrass, expose or even blackmail some businessmen, media-persons and political allies or enemies.  It seems more and more likely that the government may have no real case against Nira Radia. The exposures are welcome, but the motives remain suspect. Will the media now push Chidambaram for facts?"

In developments so far there has been nothing against Nira Radia. No FIR, no evidence of any conspiracy, no indication of an international spy ring. Nothing! The last report in January 2011 according to Rediff: “A top official of the Central Bureau of Investigation, currently investigating the 2G spectrum scam under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court of India told this correspondent in an informal conversation that the bureau has not registered an FIR against lobbyist Niira Radia, because "there is no case against her....Asked why the CBI had then raided Radia's offices and residence, the official said, "The agency had conducted the raids in a bid to look for evidence in the 2G scam." The official, however, refused to answer questions relating to the kind of evidence the agency was looking for or whether they were able to pick up evidence that would prove useful to in proving its case in a court of law”.

Recent publication of the Justice Shah Commission reports (about the Emergency) also show Pranab Mukherjee in a very dark light. 2G, black money and other scams may well turn out to be a serious conspiracy of dangerous proportions. The likes of Nira Radia, A. Raja may just be small pawns in a much larger and dangerous conspiracy. Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, P. Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee have a lot to answer for.

Among other things the JPC is looking into, it must reveal who lodged the complaint against Nira Radia that initiated the phone-taps. It may not be good reading, but there will be more blood.

Is CNN-IBN Plagiarising From MediaCrooks?

Don’t let the title of this post surprise you in the least. The mainstream media is notorious for lifting pieces from blogs and passing it off as their own. Even fake  news and spoofs.  Here is what I wrote in my post titled ‘UPA Govt. May Not Have A Case Against Nira Radia’ on December 14.

“...one can safely assume the complaint to the then Finance Minster, 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”.

This morning, reporting on the CBI raids on Nira Radia, CNN-IBN’s Bhupen Choubey asked the very exact question that I asked above. So why does it strike me? Because nobody, no one in the MSM had asked this question before. Who is the complainant? Is the complaint signed or is it anonymous? This was the exact question that Bhupen Choubey asked.  Picking up pieces from various journals or sites is no crime at all, as long as the source is mentioned. Let’s see if CNN-IBN refutes what I have called plagiarism.

Even if they did, I have no problems. This blog was any way meant to persuade the media to ask the right questions. And for once CNN-IBN, at least, has asked the all important question. Who was the person who filed the complaint against Radia? Was it anonymous? I believe the answer to this simple question will solve the entire drama surrounding the 2G Scam. The CBI raids, eye-wash as they are, on Nira Radia and others is bound to reveal absolutely nothing. With all the intelligence at their disposal it seems outright stupid for the government to be raiding Radia or others now.  Even the tape-leaks are nearly a month old. Everyone involved had enough time to cover their tracks and clean up. I am confident the CBI is working like an old dog that has lost the sensory effectiveness of its nose and smell (or should I say Congress’ ‘pet-dog’?)

Regardless, now that CNN-IBN has asked the question, others in the media should pick it up and pressurise P. Chidambaram to come clean.  The questions that the government should answer are:

1.   Who filed the complaint against Nira Radia that instigated the phone-tap?

2.   Was the complaint signed or anonymous?

3.   If the complaint was signed, was the complainant ever queried or questioned?

The media must now put pressure on P. Chidambaram to come clean. These 3 questions hold the key to the entire phone-tapping and 2G scandal. My personal bet is the complaint was anonymous and was probably fabricated once the Supreme Court got involved in the case.  Will the rest of the mainstream media now pick up the challenge and ask these questions? Even if PC can't reveal the name for some reason, he can definitely inform whether the complaint was signed or anonymous.

Anti-Indian Of The Year Awards

Our ass-licking news media does not fail to fall over each other in conferring 'Indian of the year' award each year to politicians and businessmen, among others. I consider it extremely unwarranted and inappropriate for any news media outlet to be giving out such awards. I also consider it a conflict of interest. You cannot be handing out awards to the very people you are supposed to question and monitor. That's the job of a 'watchdog'. When watchdogs turn into lapdogs, ordinary citizens must revolt and make their voices heard.

Therefore, in revolt against this repugnant practice Mediacrooks has instituted the annual 'Anti-Indian Of The Year Award'. The nominees may not be too hard to pick and some of them have also been conferred the 'IOTY' award by both CNN-IBN and NDTV. The lack of prudence on the part of these channels cannot be lost on anyone now.

Your poll and choices are available on the right side of this page. Please do go ahead and vote. If I have missed out any names, please add them in a comment and I shall be happy to add them to the list. Also, I do not have the kind of lavish money to conduct a grand ceremony but, hopefully, more bloggers and online media will conduct such a poll and institute such awards.

“NDTV, Please FIRE Barkha Dutt Immediately”

There is something like making a mistake. We all do. When it comes to a public figure or a journalist we temper the mistakes by using the line “error of judgement” or “bad judgement”. The discussion last night (November 30) on NDTV with Barkha Dutt and other renowned journalists like Dileep Padgaonkar, Sanjay Baru, Swapan Das Gupta and Manu Joseph (of Open Magazine that exposed the Radia tapes), moderated by Sonia Singh of NDTV was a disgraceful display by Barkha Dutt. And to call it disgraceful would be putting it mildly.

The shrill tone, the self-righteousness, the kicking and screaming,  and the militant-like uncalled for attack on Manu Joseph was a horror show to say the least.  Barkha Dutt was worse than an uncouth politician that usually appears on her shows. There shouldn’t be any doubt whatsoever that Manu Joseph did the right thing by publishing the tapes and the transcripts and Barkha had no business to demand on a reference first.  There was nothing in the transcripts that she has denied or refuted. Had that been the case her grievance would have been valid.

Instead of humility, regret and remorse what was on display was utter shameless defence of unethical journalism on her part. It is Open Magazine itself which has accurately rebutted her entire defence and shown how hollow it is. Hartosh Singh Bal at OM has this to say about Barkha Dutt’s conversation with Nira Radia : “For any political journalist worth her salt, the alarm bells would have gone off at this stage, and should have led to one of the biggest stories related to government formation in this country: ‘Tata telecom PR chief handles negotiations for telecom portfolio.’ Did you happen to see this story on NDTV?” (Read his full article Here)

In an open letter to Barkha on this very blog (Here)  I had mentioned Barkha may not be outright corrupt but an expression of regret over bad judgement could deliver redemption. But having seen the NDTV program last night I am now convinced her histrionics, arrogance and utter lack of decency, which permeate most of her programs cannot pass for journalism anymore. In contrast the other journalists on the panel last night conducted themselves with extraordinary professional skill, something that Barkha doesn’t appear to have learnt at any school of debate.  At times, these journalists had to "counsel" an extremely agitated Barkha. A journalist that doesn’t understand the difference between legalese and ethics and insults the intelligence of both, the professional journalist and the common viewer should go.

Therefore, I have to strongly recommend NDTV to fire Barkha Dutt immediately and save themselves and protect the morale of others at the channel.  Prannoy Roy is often referred to as the ‘father of Indian news TV’. If he doesn’t sack Barkha, he might see his legacy as the ‘father of the most corrupt news channel in India’

Nira Radia – A Real Hero : Who’s Behind The Tapes Conspiracy?

Nira Radia has to be considered a real unwitting hero of sorts. The public has long suspected a politicians–corporate houses–media nexus in the ongoing season of scams. In one single stroke, with a partial release of her tapes, she has inadvertently exposed the powerful and the corrupt in the nation. The list of participants in her conversations (directly or indirectly) reads like a who’s who. Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani, A. Raja, Barkha Dutt, Vir Sanghvi, Prabhu Chawla, M.K. Venu, Kanimozhi, and many other names that have received casual mention in the conversations. I can’t help imagining Ram Gopal Verma rubbing his hands in delight. He would have liked some blood, of course. And who knows, that might even follow.

According to reports Radia’s phone was being tapped between  August 2008 and November 2008 and again between May 2009 and July 2009. But why this woman was picked up for surveillance has to make for some juicy stuff. What is it that the IT or the government agencies really wanted to know? Money laundering? Tax evasion? P.Chidarambam is on record stating that potential IT offenders can be subjected to surveillance. With plenty of bigger crooks to target why was Nira Radia a good choice for surveillance?  The tapping of phones started with just over six months to go for general elections (2009).

There can be many conspiracy theories, I repeat 'theories', but I will start with a four letter word – “NANO” !

1.      Around the time the phone tapping was authorised the Nano plant at Singur had run into trouble and there were plans to shift it elsewhere. The Tata’s new location would have scored some political points for any  party. As it transpired, it was shifted to Gujarat. The talk of Gujarat was doing the rounds for some time and so to eaves drop on Ratan Tata’s PR agent and try to hook up to any juicy political inputs would have been handy. And where was the Nano headed? Narendra Modi’s Gujarat! All the more reason for a Congress headed UPA to pick up any dirt they could have on the exchanges. Anything that could nail Narendra Modi to something.

2.      According to reports the phone-tapping was approved by the Home Secretary or the Home Ministry. Given this tapping was requested by the IT department,  was it routed through the F M?  Did P. Chidambaram, then FM, approve of it?

3.      Around March-April 2009 rifts started appearing in the Samajwadi Party with Amar Singh involved in quite a few confrontations. If he were to quit SP, which way would he jump? Given his proximity to Anil Ambani would there be interesting titbits to be picked up from the Radia conversations and her sources? She being the PR agent for Mukesh Ambani. Amar Singh also complained about his phone being tapped (a few years ago), was his proximity to Anil Ambani the reason? Who authorised tapping of Amar Singh’s phone?

4.      In the Vibrant Gujarat event in January 2009 quite a few industrialists endorsed Modi as PM.  Participants at the event included Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani,  Anil Ambani and Sunil Mittal apart from many others. Did such pronouncements scare the UPA on which way the funds would flow during the general elections in May? Did this also influence the phone tapping approval?

5.      On the CNN-IBN pages Arun Shourie mentions he was replaced as the first opposition speaker in the LS on the budget (2009) with N. Venkiah. This was supposedly to soften any opposition to budget proposals that favoured the Mukesh Ambani group. It is reported this was as a consequence of conversations on the Radia tapes. So was the budget framed to favour Mukesh Ambani? And if so, why? Will Pranab Mukherjee explain? Arun Shourie also clearly mentions that the voice suggesting the change was that of  N.K. Singh. What was N.K. Singh’s interest?

6.      The second round of phone tapping was authorised in May 2009 according to press reports. Was this again for IT purposes? It hardly seems likely.  And this time the home minister was P. Chidambaram. As Finance Minister in August 2008 did he approve the phone tapping? And in 2009 if it was for IT purposes was the tapping approved by Pranab Mukherjee?

7.      Is it possible that there might be some minister in the government who may have initiated the phone tapping for not having gotten a decent share of the 2G scam pie?

8.      P. Chidambaram mentioned surveillance is justified for investigating IT and economic offences. Is he suggesting that any such offence can be prosecuted based on secret phone-taps? Are no documentary evidences of violations required for IT and economic offences?  Has the government conducted any raids or procured any documents as a follow up to the phone conversations? This doesn’t seem to be so. So the entire motive behind the phone tapping is seriously suspect.

I can keep adding to these questions but it’s time the media started asking really serious questions over the whole issue. It is unfortunate that the media itself is on the defensive owing to the leaks of some tapes. That, however, may be the very purpose with which some select tapes were leaked. To put the media on the defensive to avoid the real questions about the conspiracies hatched by those in the government (and maybe even in the opposition)

My own assessment is that based on reports so far there seems to be no serious evidence of any wrong doing against Nira Radia. And she will probably not even be prosecuted. She does what lobbyists do. It is our government and our media that isn’t doing what it is supposed to do. The phone tapping appears to be nothing more than political eavesdropping and some senior minister in the government has to be involved. It wouldn’t be too hard to guess who.

Hopefully, the media will now wake up and start asking harsh questions and not run comedy shows like  Cuckoo on the couch, Foodie, Secret Kitchen and so on. Real news media must ask real questions. If readers of this blog have any more such theories I welcome those authors and will be happy to carry their articles.