Washing The Sins Of 1984 With Gujarat

It’s that defining debate that will settle all arguments. Which is the worse movie, Ra.One or Joker? I hear you: Ra.One was made with 100Crores plus, Joker just 30Crores. Ra.One was a cheap copy of some Superman movie. Joker is a cheap original Indian joker. SRK is from the minority community so overhyped. Akshay Kumar is not, so panned by critics. SRK is the choice of big-brands, Akshay is of under-garments. SRK has been detained by American security but Akshay doesn’t have that record. Finally, they all agree, both movies are terrible and should be trashed. Convinced? That was quite arousing and educational, wasn’t it? Debating such mundane stuff may excite fans. But our MSM delivers the same debates over riots and mass deaths. Fans of SRK and Akshay can be forgiven for warring over movies. They entertain, no harm done. Riots, violence and deaths are used by MSM for the same reason: Entertainment, but they also cause damage.

Debates over riots at best should be limited to whether justice is being delivered and not turned into a comparative, competitive battle. The worst offender has to be Rajdeep Sardesai who tweeted coverage of Gujarat was because there were over 1000 deaths but Assam wasn’t on the same scale. The intriguing aspect of Rajdeep’s stupid argument is that he makes it sound as if he knew when he landed in Ahmedabad on day 1 or 2 of the riots that there would be 1000 deaths. Miracle! Let’s do some silly math Rajdeep! 1044 people died in retaliation to 59 killed in Gujarat 2002. In contrast over 80 have died so far in Assam that started with the killing of two. By Assam’s ratio 2360 should have died in Gujarat. Would that be fair and balanced? I suppose by media logic, yes. Debates need to be balanced in terms of timeshare, in terms of alternate viewpoints and reasoning. It is criminal of our media celebs to lead people to believe that “balance” is all about slamming two political parties equally. In essence this equates one crime with another. It even seeks to somehow equate the proportions of the crime.  

This is the terrible drama being played out on TV. Throw 2002 and 1984 together, slam BJP for 2002 and slam Congress for 1984. There, “we are fair and balanced”. Such misplaced sense of balance sounds very sexy to them. Even if that were the motive they fail miserably by comparing a miserable riot to a one-sided killing of Sikhs. One is called a mass-murderer and the other is awarded the Bharat Ratna and streets, airports, institutions are named after him. Madhu Trehan’s tweets demonstrate this well. Many others have made similar statements. First state 1984 and 2002 shouldn’t be linked and then applaud a trapeze artist balancing and slamming both political parties. Whoa! Like good Accountants we matched both sides in the Trial Balance.

The media crooks don’t normally think before they speak. Imagine for a moment that Gujarat 2002 had never happened, would this same TV media then be even talking about 1984? After all, for over 2 decades they never debated it even on anniversaries. It’s only when people, social media in particular, raised voices over the excessively political coverage of Gujarat 2002 that media had to talk about 1984. Still, that is hardly an excuse to discuss both in conjunction. And what’s worse? They have this stupid excuse that during and much after 1984 there was no TV, no technology and sting operations were not possible, which is why media couldn’t chase justice for the victims. Only a thoroughbred moron could have offered this as an excuse.

Oh wait, someone did offer that excuse! That was none other than Shoma Chaudhary on Barkha Dutt’s ‘Sunday show’ on September 2. How such stupidity gets overlooked and condoned in a debate is indeed the art of TV’s manufactured outrage. Tehelka, Shoma’s leaflet, believes ‘stings’ are the only way of journalism. Er.. let me correct that, the only way of scavenging. For the record let’s hear some more statements from Barkha’s show:

Dushyant Dave: After 9/11 George Bush met Muslims and assured them they wouldn’t be targeted and only 2 Sikhs were attacked and no Muslims were attacked. This guy surely needs psychiatric help. What he despicably hides from the world is that the 2 Sikhs (One I believe was killed) were actually mistaken for Muslims. So the targets WERE indeed Muslims and Sikhs were “mistaken identities”. That a SC lawyer can fool himself in this manner and then rage against the judiciary as he did during the program exposes his Himalayan crap. Nobody called his bluff and nonsense.

Rabbi Shergill: Over 10000 were butchered. My father was beaten up and left for dead. We (meaning public and media at large) don’t care about 1984, it’s like some old exotic saree of my Mom. Does it ever occur to any of these media celebs that till date there isn’t an official number of Sikhs killed? There is an official number of those killed in Gujarat, but nobody even knows how many Sikhs were really killed. Shergill mentions 10000 were butchered. The image from NDTV’s show says over 2500 killed in 1984. Over 2500? That is nothing more than “Ratan Khatri’s Worli Matka” number!  And they debate and compare 1984 with 2002 without the bare and basic facts?

The most atrocious statement still has to be that of Shoma Chaudhury (From a leaflet that uses prostitutes for journalism). It’s an insult to journalism and an insult to the many in history who have staked their lives to bring criminals to justice. Arun Shourie didn’t have technology or use “sting” to expose A.R. Antulay. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein neither had great technology nor used “sting” to expose Watergate. Simon Wiesenthal, also known as “Nazi-Hunter” also didn’t have modern technology or use “sting” to hunt down Nazi war criminals. He has had a hand in bringing many Nazi criminals to justice. The Nazis supplied free Jewish labour from concentration camps to car, fighter jets and weapons manufacturers during Hitler’s rule and during WWII. Even years after the war was over many such slaves were being paid compensation. Many were not. Michael Moore, often called a leftist muckraker, in a series titled “The Awful Truth” exposing govt and corporate crimes had one episode about such slaves in auto giant BMW. Watch this video (7.30 mins):  

It’s a funny take about a real issue. BMW or ‘Break My Windows’ is not a bad way of putting the point across. That episode is one about where Jewish slave labours were paid compensation even after 50 years of the holocaust. So, politically-motivated hacktivists like Shoma Chaudhury should think twice before they speak. Fact of the matter is: there has been justice in Gujarat, there has been relatively little or no real justice for 1984. I sometimes think many politically motivated hacktivists pretending to be “journalists” would have preferred there was no justice in Gujarat so that their merry, luxurious cottage industry could have continued flourishing.

The awful truth that is so far being shielded from public is that Gujarat is covertly being used to cover up for 1984. In Gujarat 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus are reported to have died. In the case of 1984 nobody has an accurate number but only Sikhs were targeted and killed and no members of any other community were targeted. Yet, media outlets of Barkha, Rajdeep, Shoma and many others have repeatedly referred to or condoned Gujarat being termed as Holocaust, Pogrom, Genocide to make it appear a much larger crime compared to 1984. Cronies in the media and NGOs, funded by political parties, have targeted one individual with epithets like “Hitler”, “Mass murderer” and even “Common Criminal”. What rules of debates have these TV criminals followed in discussing any riot? Was it about justice at all? Are the ground rules of debates ever explained to the audience or the public? Do they even explain it to the participants?

After 1984 Rajiv Gandhi returned to power with the highest majority the Congress party ever had in the parliament. Would it have been really possible for the Sikh killings to be probed and justice be done? Yet not one debate holds him responsible in anyway, neither for the killings nor for the lack of justice to the victims. Forget justice, some of the key accused were even appointed Ministers in his and later Congress govts. This tweet by another crony hack called Nikhil Wagle is a classic attempt at skulduggery. No PM ever justified riots? This is how he makes a reference to Modi while conveniently covering up the fact that Rajiv Gandhi did make the statement: “Some riots took place in the country following the murder of Indiraji. We know the people were very angry and for a few days it seemed that India had been shaken. But, when a mighty tree falls, it is only natural that the earth around it does shake a little”. Some riots? Might tree falls only natural that earth shakes a LITTLE? That is not even ‘subtle’ in justifying the Sikh killings. Yet, propagandists like Wagle, conveniently spread lies through any available channel.

The agenda was, and still is, simple:

1.   Target Gujarat, make Modi a monster and influence elections in 2004. Some NGOs were funded by Congress and CPM for this purpose. Gujarat is a “balancing” act.

2.   Use the same theme and attempt to influence every election in Gujarat.

3.   Keep screaming the Gujarat riots were the worst “holocaust, genocide, pogrom” ever in India. And make 1984 look like some street mugging.

4.   Use Gujarat to divert from the many scams of the Congress when convenient.

5.   Drum up much hate against an individual and for Hindus. That would keep a ‘certain kind’ of fund flowing to media coffers.

6.   It doesn’t pay to antagonise the richest political party in the country and the richest political dynasty. Truth or justice is not the cause or goal for these media crooks and NGOs.

Tavleen Singh rightly argues that if perpetrators of 1984 were punished it may have prevented many other communal riots, including Gujarat. It is certain that verdicts in Gujarat are likely to deter rioters in future. If BJP has sometime referred to Gujarat as the ‘Hindutva Laboratory” then the media crooks and the political NGOs have made Gujarat their “Fund Flow Laboratory” and a target to cover up and wash the sins of 1984. For a new generation that hasn’t really known much about 1984 feed them poisonous propaganda of the media celebs and sidekicks like Shoma Chaudhury and Nikhil Wagle. For the media and the justice crusaders the awful truth is: 1984 is indeed a Mom’s exotic old saree. Wear it on some occasions, like teary fake debates, and hang it back in the closet.

NDTV – We The Poodles: Crime Pays!

'We The Poodles'

It is laughable to watch a tainted journalist strutting around a TV studio asking this question to prominent politicians and citizens. That’s right, Barkha Dutt’s ‘We The People’ on Sunday (February 20) had this very question: “Has the India Story been endangered by Scams or is that too negative a self image”? Imagine discussing the effects and consequences of corruption with someone like A. Raja. Would you? I doubt, but there are prominent journo-politicos like Chandan Mitra and Congressmen like Manish Tiwari who don’t seem to know better.

A few days back NDTV also had another ‘Indian of the year award’. Prominent citizens worthy of many awards, like Sachin Tendulkar and superstar Rajnikanth, were among the recipients. Once again, would you receive an award for honesty from an A. Raja? I admire both Sachin and Rajnikanth but I somehow feel they should avoid awards from the tainted. It is time prominent citizens started sending a clear message to tainted journalists, tainted news channels and the poodles of a corrupt government. Both Sachin and Rajnikanth represent the best of the Indian people and not the ‘negative’ self-image that the scams have brought upon India.

Experience TRUTH?

Corruption and scams by politicians and businessmen are not new to India. They existed since independence and were largely institutionalised by the likes of Indira Gandhi and the Congress. If the recent scams have deflated the Indian spirit and brought in a negative self-image it is largely due to the media scams. People had immense trust in journalists and the news media. It is when the last bastion of ethics and propriety collapsed that people are now stunned and have no one to trust in the public domain.

Of course, there are still many honest and upright journalists who dare to talk facts. But if anything has contributed strongly to denting India’s image it is the news media.

The scams are huge. But if one were to look up news coverage and journals since November 18, 2010 the most talked about corrupt-practices are the ones about the media. Even international journals and websites have discussed Indian media’s corruption extensively. Barkha Dutt being the main focus of most of that coverage. And yet, the gall with she asks such questions seems to be a tradition with NDTV.

The chairman of NDTV, the smooth-talking Prannoy Roy, is sometimes referred to as the father of Indian NewsTV. Some observers have been watching this father quite closely since the Radia tapes broke. Here’s a report from the Indian Express in January 1998:

Indian Express in an article CBI case against Prannoy Roy dated 20 January 1998 reports

"Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a case of criminal conspiracy against New Delhi Television (NDTV) managing director Prannoy Roy, former Director General of Doordarshan and present Chief Executive Officer of Star TV R Basu and five other top officials of Doordarshan.  The First Information Report (FIR) filed on the basis of “source information'' says that the undue favour granted to Prannoy Roy had led to a loss of approximately Rs five crore to Doordarshan. The FIR names Ashok Mansukhani, the then Deputy Director General (DDG) of Doordarshan, Harish Awasthi (DDG), Shiv Sharma, the then Director General (DG), S Kapoor, the then DG, S Krishnan, the then DG, Prannoy Roy, Managing Director NDTV and the television network too  According to the CBI charge-sheet, DD suffered a loss of over Rs 3.52 crore due to the ``undue favours'' shown to NDTV as its programme The World This Week (TWTW) was put in `A' category instead of `special A' category".

Roy (R) - Romancing the Good Times

So the story on Prannoy Roy and NDTV’s romance with corruption and the corrupt doesn’t seem to be something new. One has to wonder what happened to the CBI investigation and who buried it. The case and related reports and developments or its sudden closure is dealt with in great detail on the sites of some media watchers listed below: (and I strongly recommend reading them)

CBI FIR against Prannoy Roy on MediaShame. NDTV & Prannoy Roy – Once upon a time on Zoomindianmedia and CentreRight. I have stated a few times earlier that no matter how much the mainstream media tries to suppress facts and history, it is hard to do so in the tech-age. Is it any surprise that Barkha Dutt dislikes bloggers?

Forget corrupt politician and business men. The only message coming out of tainted journalists and corrupt media channels is: Crime Pays! And to add insult to the injury they will talk about India’s ‘self-image’! “Oh God! What should I tell them”?

NDTV Finally Pulls ‘The Buck Stops Here’

Wisdom seems to have finally dawned on NDTV. The channel has quietly pulled Barkha Dutt’s program ‘The Buck Stops Here’ from its usual night time slot of 10pm.

It would be apparent to Prannoy Roy & Co. that it is probably difficult to even get panellists to appear on a program hosted by a maligned journalist. In the face of mounting public anger and criticism it was probably getting difficult for Barkha Dutt to continue sermonising us on ethics, corruption and the like.

So what’s the next stop? That insufferable program ‘We The People’ should be the next to go and finally end the divisive discussions that have encroached our TV comedy channels for the last decade.

And what about Barkha Dutt herself? Well, I have to state that everybody deserves a second chance. If idiots in a nation can keep electing corrupt politicians then a bad journalist too deserves a second chance. So it might be wise for her to cool her heels in the backrooms of NDTV for six months or go on a reporting spree to foreign countries.

There is one more thing that NDTV needs to do. There are Facebook groups who have campaigned against Barkha Dutt ever since the 26/11 attack and the Chetanya Kunte episode. It may not be a bad idea to start a dialogue with members of such groups to recover lost ground and assure people that the channel intends to establish fair practice in reporting and analysing news. NDTV should also reopen its feedback and comments page on its website. That takes courage and humility at the same time.

Let’s see if NDTV has the courage and humility to interact with its strongest critics.

Note: This post is based on the fact that Barkha Dutt has not been hosting 'The Buck Stops Here' for some days now and the program is also not listed on the NDTV schedule on their website.