Prologue: 2014 - Good Vs Evil

(This is a Maxipost)

In this opener for 2014 we will just go through some of what was posted on these pages in the past and see how much still remains relevant. Current flavour in the media is, of course, their infatuation with the AAP party in Delhi. Child gets a new toy and is unwilling to let go of it for days. At the same time, ask the child to throw or give off some old ones it will flatly refuse. That’s our media too. While the MSM is currently infatuated with AAP it is only because their masters, the Congress party, have been down.  It’s another election year and an important one. 2014 is not merely about which party but which path and ideology India will choose for the road ahead. We have been in a conflict for most of our 66 years of Independence. Privately we are a democracy but govt-wise we have largely been communists. Bengal managed to evict the CPM but it’s not as if the replacement is any different. The TMC too is another party with Commie ideology. The roots of a failed system have been installed by the one who firmly believed “socialism” was the only way ahead for India. It just so happens that the thin line between socialism and communism disappears fast. Here’s an excerpt from my post “Commie Media's Anti-Hindu Poison - Part 4”:

“The Aim of Socialism: I am convinced that the only key to the solution of the world’s problems and of India’s problems lies in socialism… Socialism is, however, something even more than an economic doctrine; it is a philosophy of life… I see no way of ending the poverty, the vast unemployment, the degradation and the subjection of the Indian people except through socialism. That involves vast and revolutionary changes in our political and social structure, the ending of vested interests in land and industry, as well as the feudal and autocratic Indian States system. That means the ending of private property, except in a restricted sense, and the replacement of the present profit system by a higher ideal of co-operative service… In short, it means a new civilisation, radically different from the present capitalist order. Some glimpse we can have of this new civilisation in the territories of the U.S.S.R… If the future is full of hope it is largely because of Soviet Russia… and I am convinced that, if some world catastrophe does not intervene, this new civilisation will spread to other lands and put an end to the wars and conflicts which capitalism feeds”.

That was Jawaharlal Nehru in 1936. That is also Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the 21st century. That is also Arvind Kejriwal and Yogendra Yadav in 2013. The only unfortunate change (for these people) is that catastrophe did visit USSR and it doesn’t exist anymore. And by catastrophe I don’t mean wars. That was catastrophe of poverty, hunger, lack of medical facilities, lack of opportunities, widespread corruption, political murders and a general decay. The Congress and newbie AAP continues to believe that same system is the solution to the problems it created. Corrupt and failed systems and parties find a willing partner in the news media. The Goebbels will keep telling you AAP is the greatest miracle to happen to Delhi and is likely to storm India. It is not prudence or logic; it is their desperate hope. This is a collage of that ideology:

  

We can add some more. USSR failed, Nehru failed, Indira failed. Poverty and other problems we started out with are still with us. The last five years of the Congress-UPA have been the worst for India by every measure. Just add terrorism to the concoction. It is a severe failure of another Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi that the media doesn’t dare to talk about. Puppets like Manmohan Singh or P. Chidambaram may share the blame but the fountain of failure is indeed SoniaG. She knows it and the Congress knows and the MSM knows and even Sagarika’s Uncle knows it. That being the case, the Congress is a master at building fences. Here’s my little piece on it from ‘Desperate measures – 9: Building fences”:

“It is necessary to flank and protect the queen as I have written over a year ago. Nothing that is happening is accidental. The fences were built long back but are only being erected in instalments. The fences are being erected out of the real fears of Sonia. The FSBs and MNREGs may bankrupt the country. Our security may take a back seat but under no circumstances is Sonia or Congress willing to sit in the Opposition again. They will follow the old CNN-IBN tagline: “Whatever it takes” to kill the devil that haunts them in the form of Modi. If the media finds time after all this you might get a peep into Coalgate, Black Money or Inflation, but it’s pretty unlikely. In the meantime you might want to figure out what the next “fence” will be and where it will be erected”.

Arvind Kejriwal may spend the rest of his life denying he and AAP are Congress stooges but I doubt anyone is going to buy it. AAP is just another “fence” for the Congress. The Congis know too well they’re going to do badly at the elections this year. They need a “fence” to fight the biggest enemy: BJP and, particularly, Narendra Modi. They have media channels like CNN-IBN, NDTV and their group outlets and also the India Today group to campaign for them. How AAP wants to combat corruption can be measured by the fact the states they have targeted for contesting LS elections are Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP and Tamil Nadu. All of these are “Congress-mukt” states. The only other state chosen by them is Haryana, being a Delhi neighbour and AK’s home-state. To put it bluntly, AAP is a bench-warmer till the LS elections and based on outcomes of those elections will see which way to jump.   

As with AAP the media too has slowly blacked out any mention of Congress corruption. So much so that the MSM and AAP would have you believe that BJP is more corrupt than Congress. I have strongly emphasised that the MSM is now a resort for scoundrels; a place where the dogs of society howl the loudest in protection of Congress. A serious crime investigation will expose the corruption in each and every major media outlet. An investigation into the assets of some of the media celebs will reveal even more. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has started an inquiry into the functioning of the fraudulent Tehelka group of Tarun Tejpal. There is no reason to believe the others are any different. Time will tell.

There is not a single institution that hasn’t been destroyed or bankrupted by the Congress in the last 10 years. Even PSUs and banks have been destroyed with worthless crony loans. Bad loans are their highest at the moment and you don’t have to wonder where all this money has gone. Some of it to the likes of the “king of good times”, some to the slaves in media and the rest just disappeared. I wrote in May 2013 that for India to progress Congress must die. It is not just the party but the Communist ideology which has failed all across the world and in India must die too. Here’s an excerpt:

“In the name of fake secularism the Congress party and its supporters have divided the nation through religious reservations and privileges. Every policy of the party smacks of vote-bank politics and nothing more... Rahul Gandhi campaigns in Karnataka and talks about corruption. With what face does this non-performer talk about corruption? His own personal integrity or commitment to public work is suspect going by his poor attendance and participation in parliament. The same goes for the PM who promises a corruption-free state in his insipid campaigns. All of this, while they represent the most corrupt party in the entire democratic world! What does it say about the slavery of Congress and its supporters who still live a life of slavery to one family which is protected like a royal household? Sonia Gandhi enjoys all the trappings of a queen without the slightest responsibility or accountability for any deeds of the govt or her party”.

RahulG still talks about corruption and claims Congress is the biggest fighter of corruption in the country. You can’t blame the man for lack of humour. How brazenly the party lies can be seen in the latest hoarding in Delhi over the Lokpal bill. His party projects this muddle-mouth as their PM candidate. You can estimate what would happen to the country if he were to ever become PM. And all the time this ‘Congotri of corruption’ that loots the country claims to stand for the poor, the downtrodden and farmers. Here’s a note left by a farmer killing himself (from NDTV April 2012):

But none of these matter to Congress or to SoniaG. This party has a one-point agenda: how to win elections and grab power no matter what it takes. In the process they will use and misuse all the powers of the state against their opponents. That’s why Congress and their crony MSM trashes and abuses Narendra Modi. He is the real fear of Sonia and the Delhi-Durbar media. Here’s an excerpt:

“The only ideology of the Congress is “Gandhi” as someone said. The only other ideology is how to gain and remain in power at any cost. The economy, economics and all other such considerations are secondary. The media keeps asking if RahulG will stand up and fight Narendra Modi. This is their fake wet dream. RahulG can’t even fight small-time politicians let alone a giant. The meteoric rise of Modi threatens SoniaG and this is probably her greatest fear. All the filthy language that Congress politicians use for Modi is used on her behalf. Her self-preservation is more important than any issue for the Congress. Without her the Congress is just a Sibal. If the Congress spokies are so agitated at the rise and elevation of Modi as the party campaign Chairman it is a reflection of the fears of Sonia Gandhi. The Congress political fortunes have been on a downswing and the one person who threatens their power the most is the one most discussed and vilified in the media. These are the fears of Sonia Gandhi manifested in the media’s poor discourse”.

The MSM that howls day and night in hatred for Modi suddenly woke up December end to talk about Muzaffarnagar. I estimate this was an advance notice secretly given to them about RahulG’s visit to the town and victims’ camps. Promptly, all the parrots in the media were talking Muzaffarnagar. Rajdeep and Sagarika even rushed to Muzaffarnagar for a curtain raiser. Oh yes, Sagarika was smart enough to do her whole show in “Hindi”. Wonder what she was eyeing, eh? But there’s another sinister near black-out that should tell you how Anti-Hindu the MSM is. Their hatred for RSS/BJP and Modi extends to anything that moves in saffron. These pics tell a story:

For years Sadhvi Pragya was jailed without sufficient evidence and denied bail. Nobody made any noise in the media. This same media screams itself hoarse when Muslims are arrested on terror-suspicion. On December 27, 2013 NIA was reported to be dropping the case against her. This important news went without a single debate or discussion on any news channel. Being Anti-Hindu pays for the media. The kicking and screaming over the Shankaracharya being accused of murder went on for months. The media had already declared him a murderer and criminal. When a court found him innocent it hardly found a passing mention. I don’t vouch for the hours they screamed as shown in the pic but it does reflect the severe prejudice against Hindus by channels like NDTV and CNN-IBN who appear to be the most communal in their slanted discourse. Some suspect it’s because the editors of these channels aren’t Hindus themselves and others suspect funding from vicious sources.

Communists, Socialists and Fascists have managed to fool people since the 19th century. It grew worse in the 20th century and it also died in most major countries of the world, except in India. Even the Chinese are now Commies only nominally. I sometimes talk about Evita (Eva Duarte de Peron) whose rags to riches story is still worshipped in Argentina (read here). She could be your Sonia Gandhi or Arvind Kejriwal or Mamata Banerjee or any other Amma. Che Guevara, a Commie guerrilla warrior, is also worshiped all over. I’m sharing a video in which I have slightly modified AK’s singing at his swearing-in ceremony to a commentary at the election of Juan Peron as President of Argentina in 1946 with the much adored Evita by his side. Then her appeal to Argentinos as her end nears after she had mostly lived a life of luxury and failed to deliver on her promises. The final part of the video contains what “Che” actually thinks of Evita (This Che is an imaginary Che Guevara as a narrator and not the real one). Video 7.15 mins:

Quite like the announcer, Kejriwal likes to tell everyone “we are all CMs now, we are all ministers now”. Communists like to glorify poverty. They make it so romantic and respectable that even movies used to glorify poverty. People should love the poor but hate poverty. For Commie misrule to survive it is important to keep people uneducated, poor and misinformed. This is the Congress trick that is followed by all its offshoots like SP, JDU, NCP etc. and lately AAP. Evita, unfortunately, died at young age of 33 (and she wasn't evil). Since those days, in the 1940s, Argentina has been through turmoil, trauma, anarchy, violence, military rule and even a war (Falklands 1982). It now enjoys some stability. Closer home, it took Bengal 34 years to get rid of the sickness called CPM. Delhi was already infected, it just became worse. India stands at the crossroads of Communism and Democracy, of honourable livelihood, freedom and fraudulent scam-ridden freebies. A victory for the Commies in 2014 will result in enduring loot, corruption and anarchy. It’s not a mere contest between political parties. It’s a contest between Good and Evil.

A Happy New Year to all…

Team Anna - The Genie's Back In The Bottle

On the evening of August 2 Team Anna (TA) decided to end their fast and confirmed their option of going political. So on prime time TV all the channels were discussing, debating, kicking and screaming over the decision, the nature and the contours of such a new political party. I have a very simple answer and willing to bet on this: There is going to be no TA political party of any kind. Period! Anna Hazare, the anti-corruption activist, never was and never will be a politician. Not because of some arithmetical outcome but because of his own choice. Throughout his life as an activist Anna has been confronting corruption, corrupt politicians or some social evil and that is the mission he has chosen for himself. This has been mostly as a lone ranger. I doubt he ever wanted a large national stage but yet he found himself in one. Perhaps this wasn’t of his own choice or making. The mystery remains over how he got into this JanLokpal (JLP) mess with a Rag, Tag and Bobtail outfit. Having gotten into it, pulling out was never easy even if one assumes it had crossed his mind sometimes. So whose movement was this really? Who were the real actors? And why were they doing this?

Like everyone else I was supportive of the fight against corruption and applauded TA’s efforts. In April 2011 after the govt blinked I wrote the post “Lokpal Bill: Why The Congress Blinked..”. The April 2011 round of fasts and agitation were followed by another huge one in August 2011 which appeared to be even more successful. But since August 2011 it has been downhill for TA. I had reasoned why in another post “TeamAnna-Goodwill Blunting”. Turns out the bloopers of TA go far beyond their media obsession. This is my final post on the saga of TA.

In a season of scams by the Congress-UPA govt any anti-corruption movement would naturally receive huge public support. Even Subramanian Swamy, who was almost in a political exile, came back to the mainstream with a flurry of court cases and was back in the limelight with a massive following. He is now part of the NDA. But we did have a very unlikely character launching an anti-corruption movement. In March 2010 Baba Ramdev, the yoga guru, launched Bharat Swabhiman. He called it a non-political movement against corruption and black-money. Er.. Totally unacceptable! Guy clad in saffron, strong Hindutva connections and a mass following threatens to take on the govt over corruption. He went on a yatra to many towns with his campaign. Before he got very far he was put down very savagely in June 2011 at Ram Lila by the govt. The media, of course, played their part in the mud-slinging against him as explained in this post. But even before the attack at Ramlila in June 2011 the Genie was popped out of the bottle. In comes Arvind Kejriwal (AK) to organise another anti-corruption movement demanding the JLP and the movement he decided would be headed by brand ‘Anna Hazare’.

Reports suggest Anna Hazare was not AK’s first brand choice. The pic shows a buzz in the Sunday Guardian (December 28, 2011) by Nora Chopra and explains how AK first approached former president APJ Abdul Kalam and then Infosys chief Narayana Murthy. Both seem to have declined. So the choice finally fell on Anna Hazare. The rest (and the unrest), as they tiredly say, is now history. AK wanted a JLP bill different from the one proposed by his former RTI campaign partner, Aruna Roy, through the NAC (Sonia Gandhi’s private club). Well, nobody cared if AK’s proposal was very different from Aruna Roy. But hey, he did offer more drama. Then the motley crew of Kiran Bedi, Manoj Sisodia, Kumar Vishwas, Shazia Ilmi and some more is assembled.  

So in April 2011 Anna Hazare goes on a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in Delhi to demand a Lokpal Bill. Govt holds talks with his team and agrees to a JLP. That’s when the term ‘TeamAnna’ (TA) was coined. The dais for the agitation was decked with symbols of national pride, patriotic songs were being sung, chants of Vande Mataram and Bharat Mata. All very moving! All, except that picture of Bharat Mata as we know. That was communal. Then that Imam Bukhari called for muslims to boycott the movement as it doesn’t give voice for Muslims. Not done! So Kiran Bedi and co. rush to placate the mullah, in vain. Team Anna promised their movement was non-political, no politicians will be entertained, no communal forces would be allowed. Anna Hazare hardly bothered much as long as there was forward movement. Nothing to worry, corrections will be made in the next bout.

The straight-talking, honest Anna Hazare made a deadly mistake though. He praised Narendra Modi and Gujarat. That was that! The secular credentials of the movement were questioned and the world came down on him. Modi immediately even warned him of the consequences of praising him in a personal letter. TA must have advised Anna to make amends. So Anna visits Gujarat and screams “Ghotala hi Ghotala” and there was corruption everywhere in Gujarat; that there were rivers of alcohol and hooch flowing in Gujarat. Okay, credibility restored!

In between TA, particularly AK and Kiran Bedi, go on a media-spree mouthing shrill dialogues. They called every politician corrupt, called everyone against TA corrupt. The applause was deafening. This post will deliberately ignore allegations of tax evasion by AK, his Trust being funded by Ford Foundation, fudging and swindling through travel bills by Kiran Bedi and other financial allegations against TA. These are not really relevant in politics, are they? So the govt doesn’t make much progress and there’s another round of fasts in August 2011. This time it’s even bigger with campaigns in various parts of the country. Add to the drama the arrest and immediate release of Anna. Then there was Om Puri’s speech, KB’s Ghoongat dance. Heady cocktail! Of course, gone was the pic of Bharat Mata, now replaced by that of Mahatma Gandhi, all saffron guys were evicted. It was now truly secular. The govt eventually gives in and Anna’s fast ends. This time the juice comes from Dalit and Muslim kids. Secular TA was complete.

Then around October KB and TA come out strongly against the arrest of anti-Modi cop Sanjiv Bhatt. What exactly did TA have to do with the cop? Nothing! But well, more secular points scored. There are more foolish points to score. Carried away with the public adoration both, AK and AH, accept sham awards from NDTV and CNN-IBN. What do they call it… Umm.. Indian of the year awards! You should know you are finished when the media starts giving out awards that are deceptively political in nature. But why complain about more recognition? And in the end even the figment of victory ends in the parliament with the “Fleedom at Midnight” moment on December 29, 2011. The Congress had achieved what it wanted to and TA were left holding the baby… er.. I mean Anna Hazare.

So AK comes up with charge-sheets against 15 ministers, including the PM but excluding Sonia Gandhi. Of course, he had called MPs corrupt, murderers and rapists. A sweeping generalisation by a losing man! And so it came to July 2012 with AK himself leading the charge and going on a fast. He took the opportunity again to condemn Narendra Modi, calling him corrupt and a communalist. Let’s see, Modi has been called a lot of names but surely corrupt has hardly been one of them. Even Wikileaks revealed that a US Diplomat mentioned that Modi is “not only NOT corrupt, but incorruptible”. If AK wanted to score Congress points like a Teesta, Shabnam, Mallika, Sanjiv Bhatt, Harsh Mander or the entire media by abusing Modi, he was a bit too late for that. AK’s political ambitions, though not explicit, were slowly being revealed in bits and pieces by Anna himself.

So after 9 days of fasting in July-August and no end in sight, the stalemate was evident and visible to everyone. The Congress sat happily over the reality that TA had alienated not only their opponents and Congress but also BJP, their own supporters, the media and were left with indecisive crowds at JantarMantar. No way out! Suddenly, on August 2  a letter with 22 signatures pops up requesting TA to end the fast. How these 22 people got together, communicated with each other and how the letter was organised, written and signatures obtained (not in hand) is best left to imagination. But it was a handy exit. The other handy exit, as Congress pointed out, was to announce a full-fledged political party. This move, so that that TA could fight corruption from within the system and not without. Nothing wrong with that! When I hinted at such a happy-ending there were many who pounced on me.

Even the best laid plans can terribly go wrong. AK didn’t provide for that. In his political quest he alienated not just supporters but many of his own team members. This list of bloopers and blunders are too long but here are some lessons:

… In a movement like this the media was already paying enough attention. There was no need for AK or for TA or Anna to constantly be in the media and suck up to them with interviews, sound bites and turning panellists. TA was too naïve to see the media is a puppet there to destroy them. Never accept sham awards from the media.

… Never criticise anyone to merely score silly points. Narendra Modi was all praise for Anna and has never criticised TA or any of their members. Yet turning an anti-corruption movement to also one against Modi is a fatal mistake. TA simply had no idea how many Modi supporters had initially supported them.

… Never lose focus. If it was JLP why turn it into a demand for SIT against some ministers? Never abuse by generalisation like AK and TA did with all MPs and govt workers.

… Never antagonise and side-line your own team members in an individual quest for glory.

… Most of all, the JLP movement never had to be secular or communal. It wasn’t a pre-requisite. It should have been just open to all citizens. By constantly catering to muslims and minorities TA became another Congress party. They forgot that a huge majority of their supporters were actually anti-Congress and anti-Fake-Secularism. Stay away from unrelated cases and issues (like those of Sanjiv Bhatt). You end up being terribly stupid.

Didn’t the Bhagwad Gita say: “Now I am become death..”? TeamAnna, after calling politicians corrupt, murderers, rapists and everything else now want to become a political party. They want to become THEM. Frankly, nobody gives a damn about their political party. It was good fun for the media crooks on TV to discuss a Fourth Front right through the night on August 2. Team Anna must find solace in the fact that they haven’t been defeated or disgraced. They have definitely delivered a greater consciousness to fight corruption among the masses. But it is really too naïve to cloak a political agenda with mighty moral stands.

In the end nobody stunted TA, not the Congress, not the govt but their own team did. Though TA has stated they will seek a referendum from their supporters on forming a political alternative I don’t think that is going to happen. There is going to be no political party by TA, regardless of any silly referendum. I don’t think people were desperate for another political alternative. I cannot say who but I can definitely say there has to be one person or a group or an entity that popped the genie out of the bottle in early 2011. On August 2, 2012 the Genie went back into the bottle and will stay there for a long time. 

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Media Loses Vote In LS, Battle On Streets

On the evening of December 27 one should have watched the faces of Rajdeep Sardesai and Barkha Dutt. The vote to amend the Constitution for Lokpal’s status was just complete and the channels had more or less reported it ‘through’ but frantically seeking a confirmation because there was some ruckus on in parliament. Opposition leader, Sushma Swaraj, then pointed out to the Speaker that the numbers weren’t enough to amend the constitution. Even the speaker looked at the numbers in disbelief. Rahul Gandhi was up from his seat in disbelief. His ‘game-changer’ constitutional status for the Lokpal had just been ground to dust. Both Barkha and Rajdeep looked stunned before finally announcing the inevitable fact that the ruling Congress had lost the vote. As did news anchors on the other channels. One would have thought it’s the media that had lost the vote and not the Congress.

The Game that didnt change

The game hadn’t changed and someone had to pay the price. Someone had to face the wrath of the media. Well, who else could be more handy than Anna Hazare, the man who has tormented the Congress party for nearly nine months now. Anna had already started his protest fast at the MMRDA grounds in Mumbai but crowds were low compared to his earlier venture in August at Ramlila. With nothing else to lean on, the media had already declared the protest at MMRDA a fail! On December 28, the Queen was angry and the clown prince had disappeared to the potato fields again. The Lokpal bill was still hanging for approval from the Rajya Sabha. And the media was left debating the low attendance at MMRDA.

Talk about low attendance! A man who read out a written speech in zero hour and heralded his own meaningless idea of ‘constitutional status’ for Lokpal as a ‘game-changer’ was mostly missing from parliament. Except for second hand news Rahul Gandhi had no way of knowing what was going on there. His second appearance in parliament was for the amendment vote. That failed! And he probably didn’t even know why it had failed till someone had pointed out to him the reasons. Bhupendra Chaube of CNN-IBN wailed the best for RG when he asked Jagdambika Pal (Cong): “How could this happen, how can the Congress defeat Rahul Gandhi’s own amendment?” It almost sounded like Chaube and CNN-IBN had faced defeat themselves. Sonia Gandhi, of course, blamed the BJP and later even stated “Cannot trust the BJP”! I couldn’t help laughing at her joke. Since when did she ‘trust’ the opposition to pass silly amendments desired by the ruling party or specifically Rahul Gandhi? 

And to her credit she did ‘debate’ the bill very hard. She breathed fire and ice in the parliament over the Lokpal bill. No? Don’t believe me, believe this pic from The Hindu and the caption below. That’s how the media paints and portrays the queen. The Hindu's caption read: "A TV grab of Congress president Sonia Gandhi participating in a debate on the Lokpal Bill in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday". If you saw the same pic and caption three years later you’d think she gave the greatest speech in the parliament.

Something had to be done. So the media turned their attention to Anna and MMRDA and by the evening on December 28 they had declared his protest a complete failure. The biggest rant against Anna Hazare came from Shiv Aroor of Headlines Today. Yes, the same journalist who is keen to know Anna’s views on pornography. The others weren’t far behind. A female journalist in her screeching voice asked Anna if “he was against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi or against the Congress”. Such was the curiosity! NDTV played that question over and over again on their channel. Even the best minds at NDTV cannot fathom that people identify the Gandhis and Congress as being the same and therefore Anna’s attack against them on corruption is not entirely misdirected. Another vociferous journalist asked Anna if “BJP was his biggest enemy today”. Unfortunately, Anna’s answer couldn’t have gone down too well with the brokeress when he said “the biggest enemy today is the Congress”.

Since August, the media despite covering Anna’s protests would not have wanted him to succeed. Channels like NDTV and CNN-IBN even showered him and his team with sham awards. Those awards were like knives through hot butter except TeamAnna will realise that only in hindsight. TeamAnna had taken over the turf which the media had considered all of its own and these civil idiots had no business to campaign for any cause. Justice for this, justice for that has to be media monopoly, theatre has to be media monopoly, policy directions are media monopoly, national debates are media monopoly. So, when a daring old village idiot with a few assistants steals their cheese naturally they would be terribly distraught. And the failure of the amendment vote in LS and the lower crowds at MMRDA were perfect for the media to lash out at the failing anti-corruption movement of Anna. For months though the likes of Shekhar Gupta and Tavleen Singh have done their very best to tarnish the movement calling TeamAnna fascists and anarchists. TeamAnna has made many mistakes and they will be learning. But the biggest mistake they made was letting the govt get away when they had them by the scruff of their necks in August. They should have finished the task then and not left it to later. They did not reckon with the cunning ways of the Congress and the govt.

Right now, the Congress and the media are trying very hard to pin the blame on the opposition parties should the Lokpal bill fail in Rajya Sabha. No one, no one has been even sure that the Congress was sincere in passing the Lokpal bill. Ram Jethmalani even went on to say that the Lokpal did not need a constitutional status to be effective or successful. I have to agree that it doesn’t. This nonsensical ploy brought about by the private wet dreams of Rahul Gandhi was a diversion right from the start.

The single biggest bone of contention in Lokpal was the status of CBI on whether it should be under Lokpal or not. Ordinary people believe, as do many leaders, that corruption cases are used, misused and buried at the convenience of the party in power with the manipulation of CBI. If the CBI were truly independent or out of govt control even many media broking houses may have seen a fair bit of trouble. Media has to even thank the opposition leader Sushma Swaraj for keeping them out of the Lokpal. What happens in Rajya Sabha today will unravel in due course of the day. But the media, more than the Congress, behaves as if it has been defeated in Loksabha on the constitution amendment bill. That would be terrible then, Congress being beaten in LS and being beaten on the streets by Anna & Co. As a last resort Congress could call on Rajdeep and Barkha to broker a deal with the BJP.

A Sardesai In The Works

Rajdeep Sardesai has released his latest Friday (August 26) blog-buster ‘An open letter to Anna Hazare’. I have always maintained that there are two Rajdeeps, one on TV and one on his blog or print. The latter one usually surfaces from deep contemplation. I have promised that I’ll often be there to rehash Rajdeep. In this case let’s start with the last para of his latest post: “Post-script: I have framed a picture of our meeting earlier this week. The caption reads: "When zero met hero!". India is not Anna, nor is Anna India, but you are now an icon for millions. Please don't allow a personality cult to shadow your ultimate gift of common sense.” What usually amazes me is fake humility, more than fake journalism. But let’s give the benefit of doubt to Rajdeep. The zero meets hero would have suited Kapil Sibal a lot better. We will come back to his open letter a bit later in this post.

I agree, India is not Anna and Anna is not India. That is a stupid statement from a woman in a frenzy. Why don’t journalists ask the question: Is Manmohan Congress and is Congress Manmohan? So why is the constant claim of MMS being clean offered as a defence for a corrupt Congress? As the head of govt if this man can’t even take responsibility for what goes on under his leadership events such as the Anna protest will come about. MPs will be gheraoed. The media should have condemned MMS strongly over the Ramlila crackdown and demanded his resignation. They should have condemned the PM strongly over corruption and demanded his resignation. The media should have demanded the PM’s resignation over Anna’s arrest. They did not. If anarchy is about to visit India it is not the making of Anna Hazare. It is the making of the PM without a conscience, a corrupt govt that has lost touch with people and a media that has been a slave to powerful forces. The shamelessly slavish media wouldn’t even dare ask the Congress or the govt on the truth about Sonia Gandhi or her illness etc. If Rajdeep were an ordinary citizen and watched some of the news channels he would know the media could well be party to any anarchy that might come about. Inadvertently, Rajdeep himself owns up to some of the lies media peddles and absolute fixation with powerbrokers. Now let’s understand the notes in his latest blog in this context. (All quotes in blue)

You (Anna) have worked tirelessly for more than two decades in exposing corruption in Maharashtra but Ralegan Siddhi is a long way from Delhi which is perhaps why television channels hadn't featured your contribution prominently till now. An opinion poll we did just a month ago suggested that more people had heard of yoga guru Baba Ramdev than a tireless fakir-like crusader from a Western Maharashtra village.

Bravo! So I wonder if Rajdeep thinks India is Delhi and Delhi is India. This is one of the cruel truths about our media. Almost all of their reports, be it politics, education, schools, colleges, police are about Delhi and few more metros. Why Ramdev? If I had conducted a poll like CNN-IBN I can guarantee more people would have heard about Barkha Dutt than they would have about Anna Hazare. Are the reasons so hard for Rajdeep to see? That their poll samples are pathetic! Anna Hazare is not a TV hugging campaigner. Ramdev is on TV probably more than Rajdeep and many other media celebs put together. Shamefully and conveniently Rajdeep’s channel has consigned the rest of India to ‘Citizen Journalists’ to report on and proudly tom-toms it as a great innovation in journalism. CJ is a good idea, but that innovation doesn’t take away the fact that the media doesn’t give a damn about the rest of India, which is why the immense response that Anna Hazare has generated has come as a shocker for many media crooks. More importantly, the intellectuals who frequently appear on TV simply cannot digest the fact that a simpleton from Ralegaon Siddhi has brushed their nonsense away with his sincerity, courage and focused campaign.

You've even shown that the Marathas, a community that has failed to conquer Delhi since losing the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761, can indeed take the national capital by storm. But in every battle there must come a time when you must call a halt. That time may well be approaching.

I’m not exactly a history expert but what has this got to do with Marathas? If the campaigner was from Indore would Rajdeep be invoking the history of Holkars? Or if he were from Mysore would he be citing the failures of Tipu Sultan? Or if he were a muslim would Rajdeep say that the Moghuls have once again conquered Delhi? This is how Rajdeep cites caste and community and divides the country as does the media in general. One particular channel turned the Anna campaign into the Ramlila crowds V Dalits & minorities. Such was the impact that Dalits and minorities carried out a rally in Delhi’s Connaught place area on Wednesday night causing a complete traffic mayhem. This is how our news media is dangerous for unity and the democracy of India. CNN-IBN’s  Lokmat group editor, the vicious Nikhil Wagle, has been consistently tweeting messages to incite religious divisions in the crowds at Ramlila and the public in general. That’s Rajdeep’s own backyard member.

Ram Lila is not Mumbai's Azad Maidan nor is it the village square in Ralegan Siddhi. This is not some battle to stop the local thug from shutting his liquor shop. Here, there are multiple agendas that require dexterous negotiation and not mere sloganeering. The sight of gangster Abu Salem's girlfriend Monica Bedi parading Mumbai's streets with an Anna cap should convince you of the dangers of reducing the fight against corruption to a well-choreographed prime time TV spectacle.

Fantastic! Who else to warn Anna Hazare and talk to him about ‘turf wars’ than Rajdeep? The idea is, go back to your village you village-idiot, places like Ramlila or Azad Maidan are not for you. These are for greater men and women who usually appear on CNN-IBN. The ones who believe have the right to set the multiple agendas. The NAC types who draft spurious bills to be presented in the parliament. The best part is about Monica Bedi. Hello? Who made Monica Bedi a media celebrity? Who are the ones who talk about Rahul Mahajan’s swayamwar as lead story? Have you forgotten all that Rajdeep? Monica Bedi has appeared for the protests voluntarily but it’s the media who promoted her on their channels. I am under no illusion if CNN-IBN had the chance to interview Ajmal Kasab they would be thrilled to devote an hour to him.

The frenzy being built up in the media by hyper-ventilating news channels and demagogic acolytes could easily transform a genuine people's movement into a lumpen expression of mob fury. It's a transformation that could end up destroying the hard-earned credibility of your struggle.

Imagine the extraordinarily malicious campaign that Rajdeep & Co. carried out on CNN-IBN against Ramdev during the first week of June. I could very easily say that media campaign emboldened the govt to become a lumpen expression of state fury. You never know what can happen with mobs, but so far the crowds at Ramlila and other places in the current agitation have been largely peaceful. It could well be that the goons floating around could well be plants of the movement's adversaries, just like media threw a spanner in the works of Ramdev. It is when the media has their own agenda that great concerns confront them – in this case another channel that has grabbed eyeballs. TimesNow maybe. Rajdeep even came up with his own 5-point strategy to end the current crisis. Is that the job of a news man? Someday, Rajdeep must wake up to the fact that the media actually throws a spanner in the works many times. Remember 26/11? In such a situation it’s a bad idea to throw a Sardesai in the works.