Watergate - 40th Anniversary: Lessons For India

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Rajdeep Sardesai & His Dirty Mirror

I have always maintained there are two Rajdeep Sardesais – One the buffoon on TV and the other a profound thinker when he’s off it and writes blogs. RS himself has stated sometimes that he would have loved to continue as a print journalist than as one on TV. I can understand that. Anchoring on TV doesn’t need being thoughtful, it’s a ‘show’ as they all call it. His latest lament is about the lack of genuine public debates on issues. And, as with the family extension of CNN-IBN and NTDV, his choice of publication is naturally Hindustan Trolls (HT). His latest Friday Blogbuster is “No Questions please” on June 15. We’ll come to that in a minute.

“The lowest part was just being in prison, it is a lonely place. You are sent to prison to serve time but I reversed it and let time serve me… You are just no good to anybody when you are inside”. That is criminal Ade Orioke who had spent about 1o years in prison. He now has a regular career and is frequently counselling prisoners and criminals. So you see, it took prison to help Orioke see there could be another side: A life of decency. That may not be an isolated story. Closer home we have the story of Laxman Gole. He was a prisoner who is now into spreading the message of Mahatma Gandhi. Rajdeep’s story is somewhat similar. He is acutely aware of his crimes on TV but when he puts pen to paper or words from a keypad to the screen he sees things differently. But, unlike reformed criminals, RS is still unable to move away from his TV agenda. Let’s see what he has to say.

That's dirty & upside down.. Buy a new mirror

“Move over George Bush, Baba Ramdev is here. In the course of a recent interview, I asked India's tele-friendly yoga guru-turned-black money avenger, the source of his great wealth. "Why are you asking me these questions? Are you with us in the fight against corruption or with our enemies?" was the Baba's riposte. Ah! Asking mildly uncomfortable questions to an anti-corruption 'crusader' meant that you had somehow switched to the 'other side'. Us and Them…. Last year, the redoubtable activist Aruna Roy was virtually chased away from the Ramlila Maidan by Anna Hazare's army of cheerleaders and dubbed a 'traitor'. Her 'crime'? She had sought a wider public debate on the Lokpal Bill as formulated by Team Anna. But then, when you are so utterly convinced about your own cause and your infallibility, where is the space for any debate or dissent”? First, RS is a terribly confused man. To equate BRD with Bush is outright stupidity. BRD speaks from a position of weakness and Bush spoke from a position of immense power (after the biggest attack on the US). Poor analogy! Besides, the fact that RS has an in-built dislike for BRD was already established last year when his channel indulged in extra-ordinary mudslinging against the saffron clad Guru. And what about Aruna Roy? She wasn’t literally chased away as readers might understand. She’s not just another activist, she is a member of the powerful NAC, Sonia Gandhi’s tool to draft unwanted laws. So if she is at odds with TeamAnna they are well within their rights to reject her. Would RS invite Arnab as an expert on his channel or vice versa? Or even his close friend Barkha Dutt?

“The intolerance that appears to drive the anti-corruption 'revolutionary' mindset is equally applicable to those in the government who oppose them. Last week, when Team Anna members raised the pitch on coal allocations, senior ministers responded by dubbing them 'anti-national', even raising the spectre of the ubiquitous 'foreign hand'. Yes, the language used by some of the respected members of our anti-corruption brigade has been coarse and ill-judged, but is that reason enough to dub them anti-national”? Alright, so it doesn’t take even a petty criminal to decide who is in a position to cause greater damage. TeamAnna or the Govt.? Don’t complain about the language of TeamAnna. They are being far more polite than the language ordinary people use to describe UPA, the most corrupt govt in the history of this country. Come on Rajdeep, have you not been provoked to use the F word yourself when agitated, in public? So why sweat the small stuff? Why poke holes into language and bury the main issues. What exactly had CNN-IBN done to pursue Coalgate even after the CAG report? You see, on TV we do shows, we can’t do more than that now, can we?

“Indeed, a creeping intolerance now threatens to destroy the very basis of democratic freedoms in the country. Don't like a cartoon? Ban the book. Don't like the questions asked in a television chat show? Walk out of it, and dub the audience 'Maoists'. Don't want a debate in Parliament? Block the House by forcing repeated adjournments. Don't like questions raised on sensitive issues like the Gujarat 2002 riots? Start a character assassination campaign on social media, or worse, file a sedition case. Narendra Modi, the BJP's poster boy, in fact, is a good example of the polarisation of public opinion. Praise the Gujarat chief minister's administrative acumen, and you run the risk of being accused of a 'sell-out'. Question the Modi government on its attitude towards minorities and be damned as a 'pseudo-secular' 'anti-national' humbug”. I won’t go into the fact that RS was one of the pioneers of the massive campaign of lies against Narendra Modi in the media. And what’s the point behind quoting a few incidents to characterise all of democratic freedoms? Who was the guy, as head of the Editors Guild of India, who staunchly defended the corrupt journalists in Radiagate? There wasn’t any outside influence there. Or is it okay when media is concerned because “Hammam main sub nange hai”?

“This 'twitterisation' of news now threatens to overwhelm us, within and outside the media. Governments and civil society groups have a proclivity to play to the gallery, offering few solutions but ever-ready to enter into slanging matches. The result is more heat than light, a greater emphasis on noise than knowledge”. Of all the people and groups that RS names the only ones truly playing to the gallery are the utterly corrupt media morons. It is no secret that media celebs hate the freedom of internet. How does RS explain the art of blocking anyone who even slightly questions any media celeb? How does he explain calling them trolls or fascists as media celebs do? How is that different from tagging and character assassination that he laments? Where does such hatred for ordinary people come from? And then talk of tolerance? Whoa! And much as RS may lament Twitter I can bet his last dirty mirror that there are far more gems of genuine wisdom on Twitter and social media than all his filthy mirrors and all the pole-dancers on TV channels.

“Sure, the media offers a ready platform for this 'game' to be played out, but it isn't as if a television studio is a magnet that should make us lose our finer senses. Why don't those in leadership positions recognise their obligation to enriching the public discourse rather than making it more debased? The answer is not long periods of silence as preferred by our PM who appears unwilling to even attempt to converse with the nation. But neither is the solution a hyper-ventilating 'shoot-and-scoot' culture that is preferred by some of our so-called moral guardians”. Well said! But people have come to expect less from politicians but expect journalists to be a lot more decent. Why does Rajdeep’s channel keep bringing on the most uncouth, uncivilised guttermouths to their debates? What finer sense compels him to allow a slanging match on his channel? I don’t know if RS considers his role as a media head a leadership position. How does he allow a person like Sagarika Ghose to still continue on the channel despite her many serious goof-ups? Can’t manage his own house and then tries to sermonise ordinary people on decency and tolerance. At least you can't accuse Baba Ramdev of not managing his own house pretty well. 

Still, I have often given credit to Rajdeep Sardesai for having a conscience (and still do) that often strikes when he’s off TV. He does make an effort to be thoughtful and wanting change. But change won’t happen if you keep looking at the same dirty mirror. Maybe RS should just buy a new mirror without dirt and smudges and look at himself in it. That might tell the truth.

Three Idiots In Ahmedabad

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself. - Mark Twain.

Sure, Mark Twain meant the American Congress, the equivalent of parliament but then I’m learning to spin and in our context I’m also starting to think he meant India’s Congress party. It’s because I can’t think of anything else to describe why three idiots from the Congress landed in Ahmedabad on June 13, 2012. P. Chidambaram, Salman Khurshid and Ambika Soni landed in Ahmedabad (Gujarat) supposedly to boast of the UPA’s achievements in the last 8 years. The other undisclosed agenda was to challenge the achievements of Gujarat under Narendra Modi. They came too soon! Elections are still some months away.

And then talk about bad luck and bad timing. On a day when some of the national media too landed up in Ahmedabad the main story on all news channels was that of the Presidential election circus. Who screwed them? It was one of their own alliance team – Mamata Banerjee and Mulayam Singh, who snubbed Sonia Gandhi with their choices for President. That’s for the politics bit. The three wise kings were not about to talk to their subjects in Gujarat but to their ‘Inner-wheel’ club called the media.

Ambika Soni, the I&B minister, who is known to arm-twist media outlets (according to Aditya Sinha of DNA) made it abundantly clear to the folks in the theatre: “Ask the questions you were supposed to ask”. Of course, that’s like parents of students telling teachers to stick to the syllabus. So here are some highlights:

Salman Khurshid was unexpectedly asked about the Supreme Court refusal to stay the sub-quota for muslims which was earlier struck down by the Andhra High Court, which SK had earlier made an election bomb in UP, which was earlier criticised all around, which was earlier…. This was the Law Minister’s response: "Vacation benches tend to be conservative. We thought we will get relief but it did not happen. It happens at times... when the court reopens it will go to the regular bench where the matter will be heard before we get a final answer”. Oh okay, so vacation benches are conservative. I wonder what regular benches of SC would be like – Fascists or Secularists? So now you know when to go to the SC and what kind of bench for the verdict you want.

When a reporter persisted with his question on Gujarat’s development it was left to P. Chidambaram to answer. PC accepted the Gujarat development story but wanted to let the world know that the Centre had provided great help for the cause. What he doesn’t mention though is that much of the Centre’s resources to Gujarat comes from its own contributions and do not amount to doles given out to some other states. Read more at DeshGujarat.

And Ambika Soni had only one thing to talk about – Malnutrition. That malnutrition in Gujarat was higher than the national average. Point made. But she forgot to mention what Gujarat was doing about it. Worse, she forgot to mention what the Centre was doing about it. In a speech in Mumbai recently Narendra Modi had pointed out that the PM’s three year report about UPA-2 didn’t have any mention of malnutrition in women and children although he considered it a ‘national shame’. Jainarayan Vyas, minister in Gujarat, has challenged the figures quoted by Soni but malnutrition is hardly a matter of numbers game. Whether in Gujarat or the country it is a shame indeed.

Now, you would have thought that after the grand show of the three kings in Ahmedabad the front pages of Ahmedabad would be flooded with the blast they had. Well, instead the Times of India front page story today, the day after, is “It’s advantage Modi in Gujarat’s Kurukushetra”. That says a lot for the lightning media campaign of the three idiots. Worse, the TOI Ahmedabad edition doesn’t have a single word of this press meet on its front page.

Reminds me of the question the teacher asked the class: “Who were the three kings who brought peace and happiness....?” A thoughtful little Johny responded: “Smo-King, Drin-King and F**-King”.  I don’t know what the three idiots or their party smoke or drink but I would certainly hope they get to their jobs seriously and stop ‘F**king’ Gujarat and the nation.

Barkha Darwin: Evolving The Gandhi - Part 2

The wife constantly nagged him for being a thorough idiot. Not surprisingly his name was Buddhuram. She frequently kept hearing of other men reciting poems at the King’s court and winning gold coins while her husband never won anything. One fine day she forced him to write a poem and win some coins else there won’t be any food for him, she threatened. So B goes out to drown himself and fails but observes Kalia the Crow that is dipping its beak into the water and then sharpening its beak against a stone. And voila, poetry strikes him: “Oh Kalia, I can read your mind, you sharpen it again and again and you dip it in water. Oh Kalia I can read your mind”. As he recites the poem in the King’s court everyone laughs but the King believes there has to be a real deep meaning in what Buddhuram recited and awards him a few gold coins. Read this old and hilarious Indian folk tale here. Sometimes, the King or Queen does recognise even garbage as profound brilliance to look and sound intelligent. Well, that Indian folktale does continue in different forms in our modern MSM where garbage passes off as brilliance. And yes, there are gold coins too.

Buddhuram came up with the Kalia story innocently without any intention of making other poets look like idiots. But, as with narcs, Barkha Dutt is frequently tempted to enlighten the world on something she sees that other idiot journos cannot. Most people may not remember, but sometime in February 2011 the PM decided to have a live conference with top editors. They discussed this and that and Arnab Goswami, in particular, was pulled up by Harish Khare then media advisor to the PM. Most discussions were on domestic issues but Barkha felt ‘Domestic concerns were distractions’ and all the idiotic journos at the conference failed to discuss Pakistan. Yeah, if she were there she would have brought up Pakistan. Wouldn’t she? So on June 11, 2012 Barkha put on her Gambler Hat and tweeted this:

“My wager for 2014. It will not be a Narendra Modi Vs Rahul Gandhi face-off. Neither, in my assessment, will be a PM candidate”. Right, so most other journos can’t see what she can. Umm.. just like “Oh Kalia, I can read your mind”!

Oh Kalia! (Do watch out for the Beast)

“In the parlour games that often masquerade as punditry in India's political capital, there is already frenzied betting on who will be the contenders for 2014. Despite the fact that every media cliché - 'litmus test' to 'make or break' - has been exhausted while debating Rahul Gandhi's performance in Uttar Pradesh, most political gamblers believe that irrespective of the outcome in the state, the Congress general secretary will be the party's prime ministerial candidate”. No, that’s not the report of an independent observer from the United Nations. That’s our very own Barkha Dutt’s “Oh Kalia” moment”. Of course, Barkha isn’t part of the parlours where our pundits parade. She, like the profound Buddhuram, can see what others can’t.

In the context of her tweet that I quoted above she refers to her article “PMs not in waiting” of March 12, 2012 in, where else, but Hindustan Trolls (HT). So there we go, Barkha Darwin is about to evolve Rahul Gandhi again. She can read his mind and that of the Congress. Now, I recommend you read the first part: “NDTV – Evolving the Gandhi”, in case you haven’t already, where in a show Barkha tried to evolve Gandhi as a great politician who will thrash every other party in UP.

Let’s read further:

“Gandhi has made the Youth Congress his laboratory to experiment with what he has often called a new brand of politics. What remains unclear is whether the mobilisation of numbers under the Youth Congress will have any impact on the electoral prospects of the parent party. But this is where his personal focus is centred on Uttar Pradesh - to create an organisational structure that can challenge regional forces like Mayawati's BSP and Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party…..  In many ways, the experiment mirrors the social engineering model perfected by Nitish Kumar in Bihar, in terms of going beyond the political loyalties of dominant caste groups to build a new structure from the disadvantaged and the marginalised of all these groups”.  Hmm! All that stuff is so easy to understand when Barkha explains it. I wish RG would explain his strategies and tactics as simply as she does. As for Youth Congress numbers, they are indeed having an impact as the million plus numbers in Tamil Nadu have already shown. And Uttar Pradesh? RG did challenge the forces of Mayawati and Mulayam and was exonerated for his failures due to absence of organisational structures. So Barkha reads his mind on that one again – Now RG will evolve as the organisation builder rather than as a PM candidate. Fantastic!

“When the moment of reckoning comes in 2014, you may well find Rahul Gandhi apply the same philosophy to the national stage. He has often said that the issue of who will be PM is a media obsession. But reading between the lines, one gets the distinct impression that Gandhi may opt to focus all his energies on a long-term revamp of the Congress from within, seeking to revitalise and rebuild its structural weaknesses. In other words, 2014 may not be his personal milestone to fight as a prime ministerial candidate”. Oh yeah, if only I could read and understand what RG says as Barkha does. And yes, RG won’t make 2014 a personal milestone of any sort just as he didn’t appear to make UP 2012 a personal milestone. She quotes: “He has often said that issue of who will be PM is a media obsession”. Damn! RG must have whispered that in Barkha’s ears because I have never heard that from him. Or maybe Barkha is seeing and hearing what others can’t like Buddhuram with ‘Oh Kalia’.

And Barkha finally adds: “And the political pundits may well have to imagine another face-off to keep themselves entertained”. Indeed, we may have to find someone else. The honest truth is: Rahul Gandhi doesn’t even seem to be any kind of match for Narendra Modi. It will take Barkha Darwin a huge effort to evolve him to some level of maturity. Till then, like Buddhuram, she and only she, can read Kalia’s mind.