Barkha Dutt - Queen Of Telly Trolls

A fired journalist creates a fictitious letter from John Doe, as her last column, who threatens to commit suicide for society’s ills. The letter enjoys wide public curiosity and the journalist is hired back. Also hired is a character to play the fictitious John Doe. Before the journalist and her employer know it, John Doe’s movement becomes a real political movement and he really attempts suicide. That’s the story of Frank Capra’s 1941 movie ‘Meet John Doe’. Closer home, Bollywood remade that movie as ‘Main Azaad Hoon’ featuring Amitabh Bachchan and Shabana Azmi. In the Bollywood version Bachchan does actually commit suicide. These are works of fiction but good examples of how far journalists can go for sensational stories and lucrative careers. However, there is every reason to believe that even in real life many stories are manufactured, especially in the new dreamland of Indian media. Fame, wealth can lure the best to fake stories and slanted reporting and planted stories.

Not convinced? Okay! In an article titled "Jimmy's World", which appeared in the Washington Post on September 28, 1980, Janet Cooke wrote a gripping profile of the life of an 8-year-old heroin addict. She described the "needle marks freckling the baby-smooth skin of his thin, brown arms." The story engendered much sympathy among readers, including Marion Barry, then mayor of Washington, D.C. He and other city officials organized an all-out police search for the boy, which was unsuccessful and led to claims that the story was fraudulent. Barry, responding to public pressure, lied and claimed that Jimmy was known to the city and receiving treatment. Well, despite suspicions, the Post’s Assistant Managing Editor, Bob Woodward of the Watergate fame, stood by the story. Janet Cooke went on to win the Pulitzer prize for her story. It was finally established that the story was a fraud and Cooke returned the prize and was fired from the WaPo.

TV news media is not all that old in India but has acquired all the bad symptoms of shoddy journalism very quickly. Imagine the luck of TimesNow that the thrashing of Prashant Bhushan happened right in front of their cameras. And they went on to film the whole scene without pausing to think. Soon the scenes were on all the channels. The reason for beating up Bhushan was a statement he made supporting plebiscite in Kashmir. The incident was enough to set up discussions on all news channels with the usual suspects turning up as panellists. And the usual rant was about freedom of speech and intolerance. But this one is about a particular telly troll who considers herself the champion of free speech. Barkha Dutt. Except for some hot heads I don’t even believe anyone would remotely condone the thrashing of Prashant Bhushan. But BD would like the world to believe that there is a huge population of hot heads are spreading hate and encouraging violence.

Now personally, I support ABSOLUTE freedom of speech with no limits and no restrictions. If in that exercise someone defames, libels, incites violence or overthrow of the state or causes real damage to any person or group the courts can make him pay the price. Those who call themselves liberal and tolerant will never support that kind of absolute free speech. Why? Because it would then open the door to speech against the very things they hold dear – their fears, their biases and their hidden agendas. Barkha is fond of calling people who vehemently criticise or ridicule her ‘trolls’. Barkha was even silly enough to threaten a blogger for an article criticising her. That is the level of tolerance she has for opinions and criticism. After peddling all possible biased opinions and analysis on her channel, she then finds solace in sermonising in print. Therefore she writes another article “Argue your case” in Hindustan Times. That this media outlet is a mouthpiece of the Congress is not exactly a big secret, but that’s a different issue.

Her opening shot: “One would have imagined that increased communication opportunities would have led to a greater civility in public discourse. After all, the internet and social media have democratised debate and eliminated the arrogance of a hierarchical talking-down style. Yet, lurking online - usually behind anonymity or names that suggest an evangelical religiosity - are many propagators of hate and violence”. Maybe in her dreamworld Barkha doesn’t understand that the Internet didn’t bring about hate or violence. They have existed for eons. The social network just provides a vent where every other forum has failed. Would NDTV publish all the feedback it gets (if it does have a feedback system) including hateful, negative ones? People in public life need to get used to ridicule, sarcasm, satire and even hate messages. Someone saying “I feel like killing so and so” is not exactly a violent threat. It’s an expression that the literary types like Barkha fail to understand even as they invoke Shakespeare and Lewis Carroll so frequently.

 “What lessons can we learn from our own experience? Is it that as our country travels through a phase of restless flux - the sense of being betrayed by the political leadership - all kinds of subterranean faultlines are being exposed? My instinct is that disillusionments notwithstanding, the majority of Indians are uncomfortable with extremes of any kind - opinion, ideology, politics or religion. Yet, our public discourse has been slotted into black and white boxes in a manner that can only be called anti-intellectual”. The main reason for the hate and ridicule Barkha experiences seems completely lost on her. That biased reporting and opinionated TV shows anger people. As in the case of Cooke’s fraudulent story that won the Pulitzer prize, there is a former Admiral who has mentioned that a lady journalist was the cause of some deaths in the Kargil war. The lessons that Barkha hasn’t learned yet is that terms like Paidmedia, Chormedia, Dalalmedia didn’t come about because people simply wanted to sit in a corner and spread hate or coin new terms.

That many had suspicions of Barkha’s reporting and her doctored panel discussions was finally established when the Radia tapes broke. Amazingly, unlike Janet Cooke, Barkha continues to retain her job. Why? It is something nobody knows but it’s quite possible that she holds many secrets about NDTV and therefore sacking her may not have been a good idea. And she also forgets that much of the anger against her is generated by the kind of people she hosts. She proudly claims that she cut off and never had that Imam Bukhari on her shows after he had called Shabana Azmi a ‘naachnewali, gaanewali’ on her show. There was Taslima Nasreen who was attacked in Hyderabad by the group belonging to A. Owaisi. So why does she host this Owaisi so frequently? The man is foul mouthed, vulgar and has also stated on NDTV that he wants all Indians to convert to Islam. I guess those are ‘liberal’ views that Indians should tolerate and get past.

There is an old case of the publisher of a book called “Rangeela Rasool” about Mohammad. He was murdered. I wonder what Barkha would ever have to say about that. To not acknowledge that much of the intolerance that has invaded this country comes from religious sentiments is to ignore reality. The Kashmir issue also has its roots in religion. Some hotheads thrashing up someone does not mean society as a whole has become intolerant. If anything, it is the so called liberals in the media and in the establishment who have become intolerant of any opposing views. That’s the reason Barkha finds so many trolls on the net and has to use the block button so often.

“Anna's Team clearly struck a chord and tapped into a deep public anger. So, it was not surprising at all when its members were heralded as new-age heroes. Yet, the moment, any member of the team deviated from a certain kind of online consensus, they were heaped with abuses and vitriol. Whether it was Kiran Bedi's criticism of the arbitrary arrest of IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt or Prashant Bhushan's comments on Kashmir and Maoist violence - suddenly the same individuals who had been feted were now being roundly condemned. When I argued on Twitter that serious disagreement with his comments could not in any way justify the sickening assault on Prashant Bhushan, I was immediately targeted by some of these 'trolls' for supporting traitors”. That’s a strange twist of facts. That Anna or his team were feted by people doesn’t mean a permanent fan-base. Barkha must finally realise that such support is for causes and not a blanket sanction. Kiran Bedi tweeted a lot of rubbish about Gujarat and Modi in the case of Sanjiv Bhatt’s arrest. By the end of the day she had changed her stance about Gujaratis. She did not differentiate between Gujarat and Sanjiv Bhatt. The second lie that Barkha peddles is that she makes it appear that online people approved of the thrashing of Bhushan. On the contrary a very huge majority of people online condemned the attack while also stating that his comment was bad. Even Sachin Tendulkar, God of cricket, would have received severe condemnation had he made the same statement as Bhushan. And yes, no one would approve of beating up Sachin either had such an incident were to happen.

How can anyone explain Mallika Sarabhai as a panellist in the case of tolerance? She lies profusely and her own lawyers have exposed her lies. Yet the media insults the public’s intelligence by hosting her frequently. That, dear Barkha, does anger people. NDTV frequently hosts Teesta Setalvad who has been exposed for fake affidavits. That, dear Barkha, does anger people. When Radiagate broke the first response of Barkha Dutt was not “argue your case”… it was a threat, probably of legal action. Barkha also forgets, that it’s the social networks that brought pressure on the MSM to discuss her Radiagate episode when her Hammam friend and others tried desperately to bury it. The media has gone overboard with the case of Bhushan. The same media didn’t find time to discuss the death of a woman called Rajbala who was a peaceful protester and following police atrocity was paralysed and later died. I suppose Rajbala’s death falls within liberal tolerance for the likes of Barkha Dutt.

While Barkha complains about online ghosts and calls them trolls she forgets that like Vicky (Bachchan in the movie Sharabi who has chamchas “wah-wahing” his stupid Shayari) she too has her followers who wah-wah everything she does. Be grateful for that and stop sermonising the trolls. Some of her fans even cite the awards she has won. Well, I did point out the case of Janet Cooke who was awarded a Pulitzer for a fake story. Media awards in India are more of scratching backs than anything else. As far as I am concerned Barkha Dutt is just a Telly troll… who trolls a lot more than any of those online ones she constantly complains of. She is, on TV, the queen of trolls!

Aviation: The Next Scam?

The fake pilot license scam is in the news for some days. News reports suggest that this was possible owing to some crooks in the DGCA itself. That doesn’t surprise anyone. There seems hardly any government department that isn’t enjoying its free run on corruption. That is just about breaking. Sometime in November 2010 neither the media nor the then Aviation Minister, Praful Patel, paid much attention but some passenger groups protested the extra-ordinarily high fares being charged by airlines. Fares between metros went up as high as Rs.20000 to Rs.30000. Praful Patel acted only after flyer groups forced him to.

Now this smoothing talking minister is on record calling Nira Radia an ‘economic terrorist’. This was probably in response to her statements about him in the leaked tapes. And this is what she had said: “But he [Patel] has destroyed the sector.....He’s worked as a minister for Naresh Goyal [Jet Airways] and now Vijay Mallya [Kingfisher]. He cannot brush off this charge”. (From Outlook)

Between Nira Radia and Praful Patel you can decide who you want to trust. That Air India has been bleeding and making severe losses is no big secret. One would have thought the Civil Aviation minister would be very concerned and involved in reversing the loss-making trend of Air India. However, since Vayalar Ravi took over the aviation ministry some news reports make alarming reading indeed.

Here are excerpts from an Outlook magazine (March 28) report which make sorry reading:

Killing the Maharaja gently! (From Hindustan Times)

“As many as 32 routes, many of them believed to be profitable, have been abandoned by the carrier (Air-India) since 2004. (This includes those run by Indian Airlines and Air India, before they were merged in 2007)Union aviation minister Vayalar Ravi confesses his ignorance of why his predecessor, Praful Patel, would have cancelled profitable routes.....” The report also mentions Air India withdrawing from the busy Bangkok and Singapore routes.

Some union members of Air India have also complained of profitable time slots being shifted while private airlines had better and more profitable time slots. So your guess is as good as mine on who eventually benefitted from the profitable routes vacated by Air India. 

In  Good Times

 It seems the opening up of the economy and allowing private enterprise to take up major domains of previously government held businesses is now the primary source of revenue for political coffers. It is just as well that Praful Patel is out of the aviation ministry. 

Whether she is an economic terrorist or not, Nira Radia does have information and insight that enable her to make the statement she made about Praful Patel. The aviation scams may be just starting to take off!

Indian Media Crook Of The Year 2010

The voting is done with and the results are out. I am thankful to all those who participated. Though this poll is by no means scientific, it is still honest and far more open than any of the polls that our media conducts on a daily basis. The media polls are  the biggest farces ever pulled on people. None of the TV channels ever show you how many people actually voted on any of the issues. You usually get to see something like 80% said Yes and 20% No. For all we know, 5 people might have voted and 4 may have said yes and therefore you have 80% saying yes. That’s a very convenient way of fooling people.
 

INDIAN MEDIACROOK OF THE YEAR 2010

Not surprisingly, here is your Indian MediaCrook of The Year 2010 BARKHA DUTT and the Runner-up VIR SANGHVI

Barkha Dutt of NDTV                                           Vir Sanghvi of Hindustan Times

Both these journalists have brought to a climax what was always suspected of our media, biased, slanted, influenced and often outright lobbyists. The Nira Radia tapes have done to expose what otherwise would have been a daunting task. Not far behind is Rajdeep Sardesai and deservedly so. We have now been witness to even fake tweets by CNN-IBN and TimesNow. Rajdeep nearly polled as many votes as Sanghvi and lost the honour of being runner-up narrowly. One of the two, Vir Sanghvi, has slipped into the background a bit. The other, Barkha Dutt, continues to peddle her mindless nonsense still but has toned down her kicking and screaming. That NDTV continues to put her on their screens is proof enough that ethical conduct in the media is dead and gone.

There is hope, of course. The new-age media will be the online Social Network with its honest assessments and writings. They will be our new Watchdogs.

Do You Really Trust CNBC-TV18 ?

“CNBC-TV18 today is clearly the last word in business news. CNBC-TV18 is a joint venture between Network18 and CNBC, the global leader in business television”. That is what their website tells us. With the Radia tapes exposing many journalists and news channels and newspapers,  the financial networks haven’t received much attention. They, of course, offer wisdom on how your money works best or how the economy is doing or what shares will do well. But do they always tell you the facts? Can you trust them? Let’s take the case of CNBC-TV18. The TV18 group is headed by none other than Raghav Bahl, the author of a recent book called ‘Superpower’. Yes, he should know everything about power. 

                     Udayan Mukherjee - Pays 6 Crores as Income Tax?

Girish Nikam, a journalist, has been following the telecom scandal for quite a long time. Following the second round of the Radia tapes exposure in Outlook magazine, here are some extracts from his site: (in colour and edited for space by me)

What does Raghav Behl, the MD of TV 18(CNBC TV 18 and CNN-IBN), have to say about Manoj Modi (right hand man of Mukesh Ambani) claiming (on June 10,2009) in his conversation with Niira Radia that he told(threatened) him(Raghav) “your organisation is corrupt…. Even factual stories you don’t print about ADAG and you will work for us. I want to know who is the source, Mukesh(Ambani) ko personally attack karega toh main manoj modi hoon, chodega nahin kisiko.——-Raghav said in order to put pressure on me(Raghav himself)— send me(raghav) a legal notice”...... Did Raghav Behl ask Modi to send him a legal notice? If not true, did Raghav Behl get a letter from Modi, making such threats, as Modi claims in this tape and repeatedly asks Niira Radia not to disclose about it to anyone?

In one of the conversations(on June 13,2009) .......Niira Radia remarks that “Sebi investigations is on against Siddharth(Zarabi, Economic Policy Editor, CNBC TV 18), Udayan(mukherjee, anchor and MD CNBC TV 18)....they are getting their wives involved in the (stock) market), and the SEBI investigation is on”. She also goes on to say that Udayan Mukherjee “files the highest tax returns among journalists…… he pays Rs.6 crore as income tax, and he doesn’t even earn that much”. Now what has Raghav Behl and his colleagues named here done about these obviously serious charges? Is what she is saying true? If not what action are they contemplating or have taken?

 

Make no mistake whatsoever. CNBC-TV18 and other financial channels as also most of our news channels and journals can only be expected to be faithful to their paymasters. The viewers and readers are their last priorities. And if you believe all the stories that appear on financial channels, do so at your own risk. Most financial journalists eat from the palms of corporate bosses and advertisers. Not convinced yet? Let’s go to the global CNBC itself.

In my post ‘Servantile Journalism’ in March 2010 this is what I wrote:

"... In March 2009 in his now famous smack-down of CNBC (the American financial channel) Jon Stewart of The Daily Show showed how the journalists at CNBC asked all stupid and servantile questions to CEOs of companies like Bear Sterns, AIG, GM, Merryl Lynch, one even went far enough to ask Allen Stanford “how does it feel to be a billionaire?” ....In weeks after the interviews each company collapsed and Stanford was actually running a Ponzi-scheme. Yes, the very same Allen Stanford who sponsored a cricket event in the WI. The point here is, the journalists sucked up to the CEOs of these companies and never asked real hard questions that would indicate the health of their companies. The end result was the economic collapse in the US."    View the full Jon Stewart CNBC smackdown video HERE.

That US economic collapse also affected India. There were suicides by many financially broken people. When it comes to your money beware of servantile journalists and channels. When it comes to financial channels, be cynical. Be very cynical. Can you really trust them?

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.

UPA Govt. May Not Have A Case Against Nira Radia ...

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.

In the affidavit filed with the Supreme Court  the UPA government has stated: “Ms. Radia had within a short span of 9 years built up a business empire worth 300 crores, that she was an agent of foreign intelligence agencies and that she was indulging in anti-national activities”.  Let’s see, Rahul Gandhi, the clown-prince, had assets worth 22 lakhs in 2004 and 2.25 crores in 2009. On his known income, isn’t that a big leap? Subrata Roy Sahara’s business group grew from Rs.1500/- ($43) in 1978 to over billions of dollars in just over two decades. Isn’t that a big leap? In comparison, Radia’s growth doesn’t seem all that spectacular considering she was the PR agent for some big business groups. As for being anti-national, Subramanian Swamy has frequently accused Sonia Gandhi of being anti-national and of having received money from the KGB.  And that, is in the public domain. Where are the inquiries on Rahul, Sahara and Sonia?

It shouldn’t fool any one in the least that the spy here may not be Nira Radia at all. The spies here appear to be obviously the ministers or departments of the UPA government.  I have repeatedly emphasised that P. Chidambaram has to come clean on the phone tapping and selective leaks.  We have to wonder if the UPA government IS the spy. And  if so, what or who all were they spying on?

On another note, it is frivolous for the Union Home Secretary or a State Home Secretary to have the authority to sanction surveillance. Such officers are usually ones that do the bidding of the political party in power or the ministers in charge. No one less than a High Court judge should authorise such surveillance. It took the CBI over a year to raid the homes/offices of A. Raja and other officials in the telecom case.  Why wasn’t Nira Radia ever raided or questioned till recently? Following the complaint against her and the phone tapping, was nothing incriminating found in the first month itself? Why phone-tapping over a two year period?

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?

Between BJP, Congress and the Media..

A reader posted an anonymous comment in response to my article ‘Parliament Blockade: NDTV’s Dorab Sopariwala Gets It Wrong Again’:

Anonymous said...

“While I do agree on you on your views of the Congress or of the national media, I feel that you are very biased towards the BJP, which goes very much against the spirit of such a nice and honest blog. You never seem to mention the scams done by the BJP and its cover up, Yedurappa for instance. December 06, 2010”

The comment raised a question on my bias,  I thought I should respond with some clarification. There are a few more comments on some other posts with similar sentiments.  First off, this blog is not about corrupt politicians. It is about our corrupt media.  And as the headline for the blog indicates I consider a corrupt media more dangerous than anything else to a democracy.

Where scams, or Rahul Gandhi, Congress or Narendra Modi appear in my posts that is mainly because the spins of the media. The media consistently suppresses facts and plays puppet to the Congress. Recent events like the Radia tapes expose have pretty much settled that doubt. This blog has been carrying posts on such issues much before the Radiagate incident.

For instance not one single media outlet still holds Manmohan Singh or Sonia Gandhi culpable of any wrong doing. The first person to openly write about Manmohan’s corruption is Ram Jethmalani in The Sunday Guardian and in his own blog. This is the job of the mainstream media. 

Furthermore, the msm (mainstream media) tends to tag parties or outfits mouthing the same language as the ruling party (saffron terrorists,  communal etc) when that is not its job. The Congress may have compulsions not to use the term “Islamic Terror” when that term is now used worldwide, but why should the media have similar compulsions and suppress facts?

If B.S. Yeduriappa is guilty of corruption then the media has more than exposed him, granting the issue almost equivalent news space as the 2G and other scams. Therefore, it is not a case where I have to comment upon the media.

If my personal opinion on Yeduriappa is being sought, I have absolutely no doubt that he should resign or should be sacked. Such scumbags should not be in politics again. Last I heard the illegally allotted lands to his relatives are now being returned. Can we ask the Congress and DMK to return the money stolen under various scams? Not that it makes Yeduriappa any less guilty. The question is about the media not asking the right questions or avoiding the questions altogether.  I have written on Rahul Gandhi being excessively being promoted as the next PM by the media. Is this their business? If they were promoting Varun Gandhi then I would be questioning that too. Read some more important questions to the clown prince Rahul by Ram Jethmalani here.

Lastly, unlike our corrupt media I do not have to write because of any political compulsion. I do not have any sympathies for any political party, but I definitely am against an anti-national Congress and because much of the media play its puppet, it attracts my passionate condemnation. If  our media were honest and impartial, half the corruption in the country would disappear. When the supposed ‘watchdogs’ fail in their job, it is for ordinary people to make our voices heard.  That’s what this blog is all about.

Changing Lanes: Alternative Career Choices For Barkha Dutt

The transition from journalism to another career will be quite easy for Vir Sanghvi.  The tainted journalist was already writing on ‘food’ and a full-time career as a ‘foodie’ would be the obvious choice for him to change lanes. He has already taken a break, in Bangkok, to contemplate his choices.

Changing lanes, however, is a problem for Barkha Dutt. Especially in her current mood she is unlikely to think straight.  For all the self-righteous kicking and screaming in her own defence her credibility has been severely dented.  More so after her particularly outrageous and disgraceful self-defence on NDTV (November 30) for which I asked her channel to FIRE her. 

So out of concern for Ms.Dutt I spent some time pondering what could be the alternative career choices for her. This is, of course, unsolicited advice, but that is of no consequence since the lady is not known to listen to any kind of ‘wisdom’ so frequently delivered to her. And I have been careful to restrict myself to offering only 5 choices, just in case she decides to try all of them. (My fear was that if I had offered 10 she might have taken up all, damaging many more industries or domains.) So here goes:

1.       Teacher in a school for journalists: This would be an excellent choice since she will be able to tell aspiring journalists what NOT to do as a journalist and how lack of ethics did her in.  I must admit I had thought of it on my own but I find someone else had thought of it long back. Sushant Kumar’s advice in December 2008 can be read here.

2.       Spokesperson for Hurriyat Separatists:  Swapan Das Gupta mentions he jokingly taunts her being the “Voice Of Hurriyat”. I for one think he wasn’t really joking. So this is another choice. She can become a full-time spokeswoman for the Hurriyat. In any case she understands the separatists and their goals quite well and has spoken up for their plight on many occasions. Hurriyat’s gain could be our gain too. A true win-win for all. 

3.       Campaign Manager for Musharraf:  It was Musharraf’s suprise breakfast presser in 2001, hosted by Prannoy Roy, that helped launch NDTV in Pakistan. Since the Kargil war-criminal has recently launched his own political party she might just fit the bill as his campaign manager. She does love interviewing this guy and she knows a lot about Kargil too.

4.       As model for M.F. Hussain: Since moving to Qatar we haven’t heard or seen much of Hussain’s nude paintings. Obviously, with a lot of women in ‘Burqa’ he would have struck a lean patch in the inspiration department. Who better than Barkha to fill in that void for her friend? Relax, I am not suggesting nude modelling by any stretch of imagination.

5.       Waitress at Starbucks:  In my own bloated opinion this could well do the trick for Barkha. Let’s see – she is definitely a ‘STAR’ and who in the world knows more about ‘BUCKS’ than Barkha? This could really be a perfect FIT!

Many of us have had to change careers at some point on account of one reason or the other. And at this moment if there is someone who dearly needs more suggestions and offers it has to be Barkha Dutt. Do you have any more suggestions? Barkha could surely do with some help!

Update: Quite a few people called me up and asked "why not spokesperson for Congress (I)?" I have specifically excluded that since she is already doing that job.

Barkha, Rajdeep, Teesta Setalvad, Sonia Gandhi...Eat Humble Pie, SIT Clears Narendra Modi..

For years Barkha Dutt and Rajdeep Sardesai, the so called ‘secular’ media champions have maligned Narendra Modi with not just false reporting but with outright lies.

In this crusade against Modi, Rajdeep and Sardesai built around themselves a star cast of anti-Hindu and pseudo-secular liars. Chief among them has to be Teesta Setalvad. This scumbag has again been admonished by the Supreme Court today. Not far off is Arundhati Roy who stopped at nothing to invent lies and her imaginary ‘sources’ to peddle stories in the media.

As for Vir Sanghvi, the much tainted Congress broker, he went as far as calling Modi a “Mass murderer” in every article of his concerning Gujarat and Modi. And the final crook in the whole story has to be Sonia Gandhi, whose Congress, despite all abuses showered on Modi still languish in the state.

Now that the truth is finally out..wonder how NDTV, CNN-IBN, Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai and Vir Sanghvi are going to sustain their ‘secular’ hate campaign. They will have to find someone new. One keenly waits to see how they report the findings of the SIT now. In a desperate bid to find if the SIT has indeed had some negative comments on Modi, Headlines Today asks "...if there is anything to indicate Modi was indirectly involved". Indirectly?

The only ones 'indirectly and directly' indulging in a gross propaganda of lies are the media crooks named above. As if the Radia tapes weren't enough to expose these crooks, the SIT drives another nail in.

Supreme Court Shows Manmohan Singh How To Do His Job..

It is one thing for Manmohan Singh to be Sonia Gandhi’s poodle, but to be a ‘sleeping dog’ is an altogether different thing. On December 2, the Supreme Court of India rapped A. Raja (the man who nearly sold India) on the knuckles.  The SC noted Raja had shown ‘disrespect’ for the PM. According to news reports here are some of the comments the SC has made in admonishing Raja.

Supreme Court to A. Raja:

1.       When you write to the Prime Minister, your language needs to be tempered.

2.      You cannot use words like arbitrary, discriminatory, capricious and unfair... 

3.      This is not ‘gloss’, look at your attitude...  (this in response to Raja’s lawyer explaining the language used)

4.      How can you brush aside the Law Minister’s advice?

5.      Law ministry’s advice to refer the matter to EGoM disregarded.

6.      Why was Finance Secretary excluded from the Telecom Commission?

7.      SC also noted that Raja, had not paid heed to the Prime Minister's letter which advised him to wait for some days before taking action on the allocation of spectrum.

Ordinary people like me have already written on various forums that these thoughts should have occurred to Manmohan Singh himself.  The words of the SC are the type a ‘Boss’ uses to address an errant subordinate. Yet, the man holding India’s most powerful position, glossed over all of Raja’s wrong doings. Condoning the acts of Raja is nothing short of willful negligence.

What could be the possible reasons for the PM allowing this? There must have been a pact between DMK and Congress that the DMK will be allowed to run its ‘ministries’ without let or hindrance by the Congress for its support to the UPA. In other words, the DMK  would have bargained to have the absolute power to loot the nation. Raja is just a small joker in the whole pack. The media still remains silent on the wrong doings of Manmohan Singh and continues giving him certificates of “honesty’ and ‘integrity’. The media response is this is a “relief for the PM” now that Raja is being admonished. It’s the PM who had given a free run to one of his corrupt ministers, and the SC observations should be interpreted as an indictment of the PM not doing his job.

Lately, it is mostly the Supreme Court doing the job for various government heads and the media. It has, without intending to, educated Manmohan Singh on the job he should be doing. It would be in order for the PM to accept moral responsibility and resign. India can do without such complying cowards.