The 'Hang-Modi' Weekend

Yes, it’s that time of the year. This year it’s even more special because it’s the 10th Anniversary of Godhra and the Gujarat riots. Throughout Monday, February 27, you can expect newspapers with specials and TV news channels to carry on endless debates on Gujarat and Narendra Modi. Expect to see sepia toned images of violence, deaths, burnt train compartments. Expect to see special documentaries on the plight, anger and anxiety in certain pockets of Gujarat. Expect to see how muslims from adults to school kids to new-born are systematically being discriminated against in Gujarat. Mind you, some of these stories aren’t unique to Gujarat but exist in pockets of many states in India. But once again, you will be reminded that it’s only in Gujarat alone that sufferings are magnified and state-sponsored. For the record, some of the lies about the Gujarat riots spread through the last decade have been exposed enough for the propaganda to change course. This is particularly the number of people killed, fake rape and torture cases and fake affidavits.

Let’s go back to September 12, 2011 when the Supreme Court returned the Zakia Jafri case to the lower court. Here’s how one politician still holding Modi criminally responsible for the riots responded: Sitaram Yechury of CPM stated that it does not absolve Modi of the “communal ri…” and then he paused, thought for a second and said “communal pogrom”. That is one of the major lies that was being spread. 790 muslims and 254 hindus were killed in the riots; far from features you would associate with a pogrom. The communal riots were terrible but creating a political agenda out of them is just as bad. The second big lie were the numbers themselves. All the reporters and political activists like Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai, Vir Sanghvi, Teesta Setalvad, Shabnam Hashmi, Sanjiv Bhatt, Arundhati Roy, Harsh Mandar and many more have consistently fabricated the numbers killed between 2000-3000. Some still and will continue to do so.

What to expect? Well, one of the reporters who was instrumental in spreading untruths about the riots, Rajdeep Sardesai, is already off the block with a blogpost “Modi's 'Sadbhavana' and the horror of 2002” on February 24 and he wonders if there’s closure and if Gujarat has moved on. Rajdeep continues the same refrain from the past of how muslims have become second class citizens in Gujarat. There is a major change though. In his post he doesn’t use the word “Guilty” for Modi and he doesn’t use the term “mass murderer” which he had frequently borrowed from his HT colleague Vir Sanghvi. But well, old habits die hard so Rajdeep does start his post with a lie: “Has Gujarat really moved on ten years after the terrible violence of 2002? The answer depends on who the question is asked to. Chief minister Narendra Modi, for example, claims to have moved on to the point where he refuses to take questions on the past”. Well, during the Sadbhavna mission in September 2011 Modi did speak to a lot of reporters including on the topic of the riots. T.M. Veeraraghav of Rajdeep’s CNN-IBN also got an interview with Modi. So you can expect Rajdeep to use newer, different lies to promote his sentimental clap-trap.

Fast off the block from Hindustan Times (whose former editor could have been in jail for slandering Modi as a “mass-murderer”) is another opinion from Shiv Vishwanathan. Like Rajdeep, he too, starts off with a bang and it’s pretty easy to miss his gentle twist. He states: “In recent times, we had a Special Investigation Team report into the Gujarat riots that claimed that Narendra Modi was not guilty of the riots. If the media were to be believed, the way is now clear for the BJP to anoint him unofficially as prime minister”. This when the SIT report is not even officially released. But that is not the point. The wording of Shiv’s line is “SIT CLAIMED”. Haha! SIT claimed? One should remember that the SIT is an investigative body appointed by the SC and they don’t make claims. They just submit reports on whether they have found evidence to prosecute someone. Claims are usually made by opinionated columnists or TV panelists. For them, unless some legal body or court finds Modi guilty everything is just a “claim”. And then Shiv goes on to wonder whether Modi will fit the bill as PM or not.

Isn’t it amazing? From calling him a criminal, mass-murderer, pogrom manager, Hitler, Nazi, fascist almost everyone in the media is now discussing whether Modi will make it as PM or not. Haha! During the last state elections in Gujarat these very people were wondering if he should even continue as CM. Now they don’t even have the remotest doubt if he will win another state election this year. The fake opinion polls for Gujarat election won’t be published anymore. They would be horrified if they looked in the mirror and noticed that Modi has silently led them up a path where they would be discussing his PM candidature.

Hindustan Times also published the transcripts of Modi’s deposition with the SIT in March 2010. That document contains all the responses of Modi to the questions raised by the SIT. None of the MSM appears to want to discuss or debate that. TV channels have been quiet on that front. The reason is pretty obvious. The answers contain many facts which were so far conveniently hidden from the public. That Modi had appointed Congress leaders to watchdog committees after the riots must come as revelation to the public. The number of times he had appealed for peace and called for the army in time is all facts that were twisted by the media. Having failed to politically or legally hang Modi the media crooks started a weird campaign seeking an apology.

What to expect? Well, I think one can also expect a special bout of ‘We the poodles’ by Barkha Dutt with the usual peddlers of the drug called ‘untruth’ on Sunday, February 26 or a special programme of some kind. After all, she and Rajdeep were the ones who fuelled the spectacular anti-Modi campaign which provided refuge for all kinds of liars. Arundhati Roy has more or less disappeared from her campaign of lies. Teesta and Sanjiv Bhatt are struggling to keep untruths alive. Vir Sanghvi has been mass-murdered by Radia. Barkha has been tainted by Radiagate, Barkhagate, Barkhabarks, shoddy 26/11. Barkha has now been reduced to a sorry mouthpiece of the Congress party and the Hurriyat (As Swapan Dasgupta jokes). To her credit she did manage to improve her wardrobe during this time though. Rajdeep, apart from Cash4Votes also got trashed for the fraudulent telecast of Sri Sri debate by his wife. Rajdeep has already announced a programme ‘Revisiting Gujarat and If Gujarat has moved on’ on CNN-IBN for the weekend. Expect another round of selective story-telling by him. And yes, Rajdeep will actually CRY!

They say truth is the first casualty of the war. Our media claimed Gujarat was different because it was the first time riots were on camera and on TV. That is only half the truth. The other half is that this is the first time a great campaign of lies and untruths was carried out by the media for political ends and sustained for the better part of a decade. Now the lies and the liars are falling apart. But brace yourselves – the ‘Hang-Modi’ weekend has just started and expect some new concoction to be served.

Also read:  1) Gujarat riots - The true story   2) SC exposes media's clean shit.

Bidwai's Unadulterated Bullshit

By Ram Valmiki

There is a particular pattern in the way Hate Engineers spread their ill-conceived opinions and manufactured lies as real facts. They have mastered the art of pushing across their propaganda as “analysis” or “news reporting”. Be it in print media or in MSM, be it “sickular” activist champions of secularism or panelists, all of them spare no effort in misguiding the gullible audience/readers.

It is very important for us to understand the modus-operandi of these Hate Engineers so as to gauge the kind of damage they do to national interests. Since Narendra Modi is flavor of the season and every “sickular” worth their salt has been writing on his fast, I will attempt to breakdown the language of Hate Engineers by taking one recent article of Praful Bidwai as an example.  I would like to inform the readers that this is the same way how the Marxists/communist historians operate and misrepresent the historical events. Bidwai's rant is titled: 'Modi's nasty fast politics - Shifting the BJP rightwards'.

Praful Bidwai is supposed to be political analyst/commentator and “peace activist”. It is expected of him to provide just the analysis and not pass judgments. It is for his readers to draw the conclusions and his duty to provide unbiased analysis. But it is not surprising that so much like many other “sikculars”, he exhibits intellectual dishonesty.

“Through his contrived sadbhavana mission and outlandish three-day fast, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra 'Milosevic' Modi staged a grotesquely fraudulent act in ugly political theatre, which he hoped would catapult him to the apex of the Bharatiya Janata Party and make him the topmost contender as the prime ministerial nominee of the National Democratic Alliance”

The very first line in his lengthy article starts by asserting that Modi is Indian version of Milosevic.  This only shows how prejudiced Praful Bidwai is. Even before Praful starts analyzing the “fast”, he passes on judgment that Modi is as dangerous as Milosevic for the country.  Praful Bidwai seems to have great powers at mind reading. He seems to know what is on Modi’s mind.  Actually, it’s the fear of  Modi gaining national acceptance and may be even becoming the PM that forces the “sickulars” to try and derail something that does not exist. Its Modi Phobia. Internet is abuzz with the growing popularity of Modi at national level and he is no more limited to State of Gujarat as “sickulars” want us to believe. Modi is already national leader and a prospective PM candidate. That is hard to digest by Hate Engineers.

“Modi's shenanigans will certainly do nothing to make him acceptable to the Muslims, who suffered Independent India's worst state-organised butchery under him in 2002. The presence of skull-capped men and burqa-clad women at his fast means nothing.” The riot cases are in court. Supreme Court constituted SIT did not find any evidence against Modi. The case is back in trial court and Modi is not listed as accused. But that does not mean anything to the Hate Engineers. They go ahead and make such a bold statement as calling the riots as “sate-organized”. This is not allegation, not even accusation but blatant way of presenting manufactured lie as a FACT.  As in my previous post have stated, delinking Godhra with Gujarat riots would lead to wrong conclusions. It is well known that riots were started as a reaction to Godhra carnage. The local newspapers carried rumors and it ignited the suppressed anger. Does Praful Bidwai suggest here that Modi planned the train burning? It does not need great intelligence to imagine what the death toll would be if a state actually planned and decided to something as heinous as riots. This also undermines the Indian Judicial system.

For people who are not aware, Gujarat has had history of riots before 2002. Based on Praful Bidwai’s logic, we should blame all previous Congress governments for those riots. The intended suggestion of Praful Bidwai may be that the Muslims present at the fast are not real Muslims and it shows in the way he likes to term them just as “skull-capped men and burq-clad women”. Probably that’s why he sees no meaning it their presence. For Hate Engineers any Muslim not willing to accept “victimhood” bestowed upon them by “sickulars” are not real Muslims. Remember Vastanvi incident?

“Modi didn't express remorse at the violence or signal moderation. He came through as an arrogant, duplicitous and hubris-driven politician bent on further humiliating Muslims. His fast wasn't about sadbhavana (goodwill or harmony), but about hyping himself up as a politician” Modi was clear that his fast is about “Sadhbhavana”. It is Hate Engineers who linked it to riots. Why would Modi express remorse for something he has been saying he is not guilty of? Let the courts decide.  And I fail to understand how the hell it becomes humiliating to Muslims if he goes on fast? This is the way Hate Engineers try to create “victim” syndrome and suggest “humiliation” and “insult” to Muslims. This is naked way of poisoning the Muslim readers with perceived “insult”.  I guess only Hate Engieers saw the arrogance in Modi which does not surprise me anyways.

“ He even belittled his former mentor L K Advani by making him sit in a smaller chair than his own at the venue of the fast, thus symbolically challenging conservative notions of hierarchy.”

Filled by hate towards Modi, Praful Bidwai finds hidden meanings in travail things. Was not Modi the one who was undertaking the fast and is he not the CM of the state? Why should Advani be given bigger chair? Oh sorry! I understand Mr Praful Bidwai. May be it is difficult for you to accept challenge to “conservative notions of hierarchy” due to your loyalty to a dynastic political party.

“However, the Supreme Court by no means exonerated Modi or the Special Investigation Team's report which holds that there is no prosecutable evidence against him and 61 others named by Jafri. Although the court sent the case to a trial court in Gujarat, it directed it to examine that report, as well as the comments made on it by amicus curiae (friend of the court) Raju Ramachandran, and to give the petitioners a hearing.”

One should focus on the word “prosecutable”. Praful Bidwai suggests though Modi is guilty, as per his earlier assertions in the article, there are no “prosecutable” evidences. This is an attempt to present Modi in media and public as “Guilty” and also part acceptance that Modi may come out clean in courts. Hence an attempt to brush aside any Judicial clean chit in future as just lack of “prosecutable” evidences. We already know that former IPS officer is alleging that Gujarat government destroyed the evidences.

“Of course, how the court acts within Gujarat's vitiated political climate remains an open question, but it cannot simply bury the case or accept a closure report without hearing the petitioners, and summoning witnesses if necessary.” Here comes the expected. This is the attempt to cast doubts on fairness of Trial Court should the court verdict go against Hate Engineers expectations. This is also suggesting to the readers that justice is doubtful in the state of Gujarat. Well hate mongers' definition of justice is– Hang Modi.

“Meanwhile, Modi's credibility has been further damaged by the disclosure by dancer-activist Mallika Sarabhai, based on an affidavit filed by former top police official R B Sreekumar, that his government tried to scuttle her writ petition for prosecuting him for the violence by paying a Rs 10-lakh bribe to her lawyer. This showed that the Modi regime could stoop to the rock bottom to suppress efforts to bring the culprits of the 2002 communal violence to book.”

This is half-truth. Praful Bidwai posted his article on 23^rd Sep 2011. But long before that, the lawyers had called Mallika Sarabhai as liar and denied any bribe was offered or taken. It serves good for Praful Bidwai not to mention this fact as it would put question mark on the credibility of Sarabai. The fake petitions of Teesta Stelvad have dented her credibility but Praful Bidwai would not acknowledge the level his “Brigade Brothers/Sisters” would stoop to in their hate towards Modi.  Sarabhai had option to go to court and accuse her lawyers. What stops her from taking the path of Judicial Process?

“Modi hasn't overcome even an iota of the stigma he earned by presiding over the anti-Muslim pogrom of 2002. It is of course utterly shameful that he hasn't been criminally prosecuted, and worse, even politically punished, for his role in falsely communalising the Godhra train fire, and systematically organising and colluding in the ensuing violence.” Praful Bidwai finally expresses his frustration. All “sickulars” have their own definition of “Justice”. Anything that does not satisfy their definition is by default wrong. “Sickulars” way of thinking is “my way or highway”. If a muslim supports Modi, he is not a muslim. If a court does not make Modi accused, court’s ability for fair trial is doubtful. Modi does not lose the elections, people live in fear. They fail to accept that the very facts that Modi has been elected by a democratic process by the people of Gujrat is itself the evidence that people have accepted him and rejected the lies spread by Hate Engineers. The fact that court has no evidences to make Modi as accused is itself evidence that Hate Engineers stand defeated.

But they will present it a shame and instill doubts in Muslim readers that they have been denied Justice.  These “sickulars” are greatest threat to India. There cannot be any better example of selective propagation of views as stated in my previous post other than the way Praful Bidwai makes a statement  - falsely communalizing the Godhra train fire. Excuse me Mr Bidwai, it was not just any other train fire. It was not accident. It was preplanned gruesome murder of 57 kar sevaks that included women and children. I suggest you update yourself on the reports on Godhra carnage. Secondly, what do you mean by “falsely communalizing?”. If a crowd of hundreds of Muslims with previously stored petrol cans and weapons burning a train coach full of Hindu kar sevaks is not communal, what else is? These are the same sikculars who call genocide of Kashmiri pandits as freedom fight and not communal. 

“Arguably, had the secular opposition, including the Congress's Sonia Gandhi, the Communist parties' Harkrishan Singh Surjit, Jyoti Basu and A B Bardhan, and centrist leaders like Lalu Prasad, Mulayam Singh Yadav and others, insisted on its dismissal through a sustained agitation, the NDA might have had no choice but to impose President's Rule.” Now we know what definition of secularism Praful Bidwai follows. We call it in our language as just appeasement politics.“His presence has been poisonous, not just in Gujarat. No one has brought as much international disrepute to India. No other Indian chief minister has been denied a visa in numerous countries for complicity in gross human right violations.”

Praful Bidwai again indulges in half truths.. But would Praful Bidwai care to tell the readers how much lobbying the “sickulars” did? Would he please let the readers know how false stories were planted in western media? While we are at it, does Praful Bidwai know that recent report on Modi by USA think tank? They do not agree that Modi was poisonous to Gujarat.

“The BJP could soon find that Modi, with his insufferable arrogance, megalomania and obnoxious ultra-individualism, is more a liability than an asset both for itself and its allies. It stands warned

Mr Praful Bidwai, I would like to thank you for providing this article so that I could present the modus operandi of Hate Engineers to spread half-truths, ill-conceived opinions as facts. The time for all the “sickulars” and “Hate Engineers” to pack their bags and shut down their shops is nearing as more and more people are realizing the crooked ways they operate in. Before it’s too late and they lose any bit of credibility left, they should express remorse. They stand warned.

The Value Of Modi's Skull

By Guest writer Ram Valmiki

Lot has been already said and written about the “Hate Modi Brigade”. One can clearly see that this brigade is suffering from Ostrich Syndrome. As their lies and misdeeds are being exposed, they find new ways to manufacture new lies. Even though they have been caught pants down with their lies, they still are seen on TV and even in print media, still trying to propagate hate against Modi.

When Modi refused politely to wear a skull cap, “seculars” saw an opportunity to take shots at Modi. They gleefully grabbed it and went around the town crying how it proved that Modi was not serious about “Sadbhavana”. Fortunately they did not get as much audience as they would have liked to. No one was interested in their rants this time. I would like to ask these “seculars” a simple question.  Could Modi wearing a skull cap have made him acceptable as Secular leader in their eyes?

There are no doubts that had Modi accepted the skull cap, these same set of loud mouth activists and journalists would have cried hoarse , accusing Modi of “Drama” to appease Muslims. Modi  and his government have always maintained that they believe in  – “Justice to all, appeasement of none”. He succeeded in proving again to the country that he is not a leader who would stoop down to the level of appeasement for political gains.

The brigade is currently active in undermining the spectacular growth and development of Gujarat under   Modi.  They have now come up with figures and want us to believe that Gujarat under Modi rule is no different from Gujarat under congress rule.  I am not interested in the figures or what statistics are being used to propagate this new lie. One has to just look at various programs the Gujarat government has undertaken to bring prosperity to the State and its people.  Had earlier congress governments achieved what Modi has now, would people of Gujarat have chosen Modi as their Chief Minister continuously? The activists and journalists who doubt the Gujarat growth story surely suffer from loss of mental faculties.  They are insulting the people of Gujarat by not acknowledging their prosperity.  The Supreme Court recently praised the way Public Distribution System works in Gujarat and Chhattisgarh. It even asked central government to use implement similar model across the country. None of the MSM reported or had panel discussions about this model.

When Modi was on fast, all the MSM channels had panel discussions and as expected the debates would feature the gruesome Gujarat riots. The MSM and “secular” Activists have succeeded in separating Gujarat riots from Godhra train burning.  The activists project as if one fine day Hindus of Gujarat decided to go on rioting spree and Modi gave them freehand. Never in the debates have we seen the panelists discuss the case of 57 charred bodies of kar sevaks.  We hardly see Hindu victims being asked for opinions. It is as if the whole Media has decided that Hindu victims and Hindu pain does not deserve to be discussed about.

There wee 740 Muslim and 250 Hindu deaths. Every death was unfortunate and riots should be rightly condemned. But selective projection of views and opinions is more dangerous for the country. By separating Gujarat riots from Godhra incident will lead to wrong conclusions.

Activists demand apology from Modi on moral grounds. Why not the same activists demand apology from congress whose municipality member and an MLA were accused of conspiring and actively taking part in Godhra carnage. Media should in fact be debating the conspiracy, planning and intent behind the Godhra which resulted in riots. Asking right questions lead to right answers and correct lessons learnt.

To cover the lack of ground support for their ill intended protests, like the one by Mallika Sarabai where she could gather only 20 or odd people, these activists accuse Modi government of intimidating the minority. They claim the minority community lives in fear and do not come out in open against Modi. Well, it’s a joke. If that is really the case, why not the dare devil Media and activists bring out those victims and give them assurance of full support if they open up? After all, with the kind of Media and Congress support they enjoy, activists are in better position to ensure safety of the “would be” whistle blowers.

Hate Engineers

Believe it or not, in four years since 2007 an average of 25 women have been added to the imaginary number of women gang-raped in the Gujarat 2002 riots. That is how Shabnam Hashmi churns out figures. Now, Shabnam Hashmi is an activist extraordinaire, a media pet and an expert on communal issues. No matter what the discussion she will invariably come up with and link the issues to Ayodhya, Gujarat riots and Narendra Modi. Her world becomes complete with these three topics.

In 2007 Hashmi wrote an open letter to Narendra Modi about 300 women being gang-raped who are yet to get justice. This was in response to Modi’s offer of shelter to Taslima Nasreen in Gujarat. Taslima, being hounded by her own country Bangladesh and later by Bengal and the Indian govt, is a muslim writer whose writings have angered her community. You may carry on accusing Modi of a thousand things but what could possibly be wrong with such a gesture? But then for the likes of Shabnam Hashmi Modi represents the punching bag which keeps their careers and their NGOs funded. Now the lies that the NGOs peddled have already been exposed over and over again yet Hashmi continues to dangle hate through numbers.

 

On Sunday,  September 25, Narendra Modi was to hold a huge rally at Vastral on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. Obviously, he would make some political statements, but where was Shabnam Hashmi? She was right there in a predominantly muslim locality asking them to boycott Modi’s rally. What was her charge? Well, here’s what DNA reports: “Hashmi talked about the 400 women of 2002 riots who were allegedly gang-raped during the riots and were yet to get justice. She also talked in abusive terms about the Muslims who had attended Modi's Sadbhavna fast.”  So, from the charge of 300 women gang-raped in 2007, according to her letter to Modi, the number has now risen to 400. Such is the power of lies that are used to spread hatred.

The original accusation of 300 women, or any number, being gang-raped has not been backed by any evidence. Those lies already stand exposed. Now Shabnam Hashmi peddles more lies by throwing up a number of 400. Her letter of 2007 also accuses Modi of women being treated badly in Gujarat. Well, I don’t carry numbers or statistics but I am sure Hashmi can see only one state in India’s map and that is Gujarat. Safety or Crimes against women is altogether an issue and has little to do with her hatred for Modi.

Hashmi didn’t stop there, she went on to shower contempt on those who attended Modi’s Sadbhavna event: "We want to stop this politics of hate and you people don't feel ashamed in going to Modi's fast with the skullcap on your head? You posed for photographs with him after taking Rs200 to Rs500?" she said, referring to the chief minister in derogatory terms.“We will not stop anybody who wants to go to the Vastral rally but they should understand that all this is politics. People of India will never let Modi become the prime minister."

Now whatever else the criticism of the Sadbhavna Mission there is hardly any sense or maturity in showering scorn on those who attended it. Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, Jains and more attended it. Yet, Hashmi goes on to lecture the Muslim community with the hope and intention of permanently keeping them from integration. I call it hate engineering! I guess throwing up vague, irresponsible statements is a significant feature of hate engineering. There is no other way to describe the acts of Shabnam Hashmi. Ironically, such hate-mongers camouflage their intent and acts with smart-sounding NGOs. Hashmi’s NGO is named ANHAD (Act Now for Harmony and Democracy). She is the founder of this NGO along with Harsh Mandar. Now Mandar needs no introduction for his campaign against Narendra Modi. He is now a member of the NAC. I think the right name for these fake harmony mongers would be ‘Been-HAD’ for the manner in which they spread lies to divide communities. I could even comically redefine Anhad as “Act now for hatred and disintegration”!

On the same topic but on a different note DNA carries another article by Girish Patel (September 21). The title straightaway indicts and convicts Narendra Modi: ‘Despite Sadbhavna Narendra Modi guilty under international law’. If you read the article carefully, there is no such international law that exists and India is not a signatory to the International Court or Tribunal. But the writer’s theory could well be a veiled invitation for activists like Hashmi, Mandar and Teesta Setalvad to attempt a misadventure. Fact is, Teesta has already been rapped by the Supreme Court once for writing to the UN about Gujarat riots and trying to internationalise the matter. I do not know much about this Girish Patel or what his persuasion is, but I can tell him that the International Court was created to handle cases from countries whose legal systems were dubious. By his article Patel clearly rubbishes the justice system of India. Whatever our shortcomings, India still has a fine judiciary that is capable of delivering justice. Just because verdicts don’t go your way is no reason to sling mud at our judiciary system. But that is how media crooks invent theories.

For all the talk of women’s rights and safety, Shabnam Hashmi had spewed venom on the Baba Ramdev campaign in early June 2011. Activists like her and some media channels threw so much mud that it emboldened the central govt to carry out a brutal midnight violent attack on a huge crowd of peaceful protesters at the Ramlila grounds. Many were injured but one woman, 51 year old Rajabala, was paralysed for four months and finally died on September 26. I wonder what Hashmi & Co. have to say about that. Your guess is as good as mine. After all democracy or rights or security is not the greatest concern for the hate engineers.

Media's Complete Loss Of Decency

The three-day  Sadbhavana Mission of Narendra Modi ended on September 19 with a rousing speech that sought to set new directions for governance, equality and national policies. The mainstream media had no option to be there. After all, no matter how much hatred they continue to heap on him, Modi simply stands tall where leadership and governance are concerned. It also helps that he is a great orator. But make no mistake, the MSM wasn’t there to just cover the event. It was there to see if any more muck can be raised against Modi and to remind him that in the ‘supreme court of the media’ he has already been declared guilty of crimes. Much of the transactions at the Sadbhavana event were live and will also be available to read in newspapers, magazines and online pages for quite some time. So let’s try and understand the orchestration to disrupt the event by the media and other charlatans. Mine is not to discuss the merits/de-merits of the event or its political impact but to understand the orchestrated campaign of hate from some in the media and some activists.

Here’s a tweet from @shammybaweja from September 16 (She is Harinder Baweja, Editor Investigations of Headlines Today):  “Off to Guj for Modis sadhbhavna. Remorse and legal justice needed for 1984 and 2002. Fast track justice, not cong bjp fast wars”.

Well, one would have thought like others she too would land up at the Gujarat University grounds but where does she land up? Naroda Patiya, a site of mob violence and killing in the 2002 riots. Hmmm, so what was cooking? In the morning of September 17 Mallika Sarabhai, another crusader for justice, suddenly summons a presser and accuses Narendra Modi of having bribed her lawyers to scuttle her PIL on the post-Godhra riots. The crusader-come-lately, Sanjiv Bhatt, backs up her allegations as being true. Then later she too lands up at Naroda Patiya. A small group of people, riot victims, are organised to protest and march for justice by Mukul Sinha, a lawyer. So, by strange co-incidence, Mallika, Mukul and Baweja all turn up at Naroda Patiya. Headlines Today was the only channel telecasting live from the site. The protestors were also carrying printed pamphlets that must have been organised overnight. Ordinarily, there would be nothing wrong in such protests except for the timing. Mallika could have made her allegations and led these protests many times over in the last few months but she did not. But the objective was simple – to rekindle and continue the hate-NaMo campaign during the Sadbhavana event.

And that was trigger enough for NDTV, CNN-IBN, Headlines Today and others to start their chorus of abuse without even verifying the accusations made by Mallika. So let’s deal with the the lies of Mallika Sarabhai. This report based on comments by her own lawyers should be enough to nail her filthy lies.

From TOI: “Lawyers who appeared for…Mallika Sarabhai in the SCourt in 2002 for her PIL on the post-Godhra riots denied her allegation that bribes were paid to her advocates by the Narendra Modi government to derail the petition…….Advocate Mahesh Agrawala, the counsel who filed the writ petition number 221 of 2002 in the SC with Sarabhai as the petitioner, said it was "totally false that any money was ever paid to us by anyone to do anything or not do something relating to the petition. No money was ever paid to us and we did the case free of cost. Moreover, her case was argued on April 15, 2002, by senior advocate P Chidambaram before a bench headed by the CJI and comprising Justices Shivraj V Patil and H K Sema. The court had admitted the petition, issued notices to the Centre and Gujarat government and allowed early listing,"…….Agrawala said, "She got the relief she wanted on the very first day of hearing. It is unfortunate that after nine years, she is making the allegation about payment of money, which is patently false."

So the TV channels had a blast with the lies of Mallika Sarabhai. And if lies are on the menu can Teesta Setalvad be left out? Naturally, this washing machine of justice was back on TV all through the last three days hurling abuses and spreading untruths once again. Acts for which she was awarded with a Padmashri, of course. And where else to go but on the channel that has been the worldwide platform for the lies against Narendra Modi and about the Gujarat riots, NDTV. It is widely believed that the only channel that Narendra Modi refused an interview to is NDTV. Barkha Dutt herself laments that the CM would not entertain her. There’s a good reason too. Anyone who knows well enough that NDTV and, in particular, Barkha Dutt has carried out a systematic campaign of calumny about Gujarat and Modi wouldn’t trust that channel to be honest or relate to facts.

Long before the Gujarat riots Teesta Setalvad was funded by the Congress, CPM, CPI and others to campaign and carry out ads against the BJP during the 1999 election campaign. She had asked for and received funds from these political parties for her campaign. And she did advertise and campaign against the BJP in her magazine ‘Communal Combat’. Therefore, the lie that Teesta is a ‘social’ or ‘rights’ activist is one of the greatest lies peddled by the media. She is clearly a political activist and her political persuasion and motivation is cunningly suppressed by NDTV and other channels.

Teesta’s campaign against the BJP in 1999 failed as the BJP+NDA returned to power. Naturally, the investments that the Congress made in her had to be recovered somehow. Come the unfortunate Gujarat riots and Teesta had to deliver her pound of flesh. She creates the CJP in April 2002 after the riots have calmed. What followed was the most extraordinary campaign of untruths, fake affidavits, rumour mongering – all gleefully accepted and churned out by the media crooks. How much money has poured into her CJP is not public knowledge. Even the SC had pulled her up for trying to internationalise Modi as a criminal by writing to the UN.

In my post “SC exposes the media’s clean shit” I have detailed the lies that Suzy Roy deliberately peddled about the riots. In case of Teesta her lies were exposed by the SIT itself. All the ‘copy-cat’ affidavits she engineered for the riot victims now stand thoroughly exposed. Her own former colleagues have also nailed her lies. Imagine, this washing machine of justice has twice sought anticipatory bail, something more common among politicians. Her organisation, Citizens for Justice and Peace, parades as an NGO while clearly being a political organisation. However, this campaign of lies did pay off in some way, coupled with many other reasons. The NDA lost power in 2004 and the Congress+UPA came to power. Rewarding Barkha Dutt, Teesta Setalvad (and also Rajdeep Sardesai) immediately would be a dead give-away. So a few years later all three were awarded the Padmashri. But every time Narendra Modi is in the news, these washing machines unfailingly get back into action.

Reading motives or even words where there were none, the MSM uniformly talked about NaMo’s PM ambitions. They sought an apology from him when their attempts to nail him legally haven’t produced anything so far. Interpreted Nitish Kumar’s absence from the Sadbhavana event as a snub and for that reason the event is not supported by all. They even employed fake tweets or manipulated them to heap further abuse. During the event CNBC-TV18 even carried a full interview with Teesta in its programme “Beautiful People”. Hahhaaa, that’s an irony and, mind you, I am not talking about her looks.

The Sadbhavana event can be criticised on many other fronts but that wasn’t the case. The entire narrative was built on continuing the hate-Modi campaign. Every media celeb that talked to Modi had not one question to ask about the development model of Modi. Not one had any question of how Gujarat coped with the historic problem of water shortages. Not one talked about the girl-child education campaign in Gujarat. Not one talked about how Gujarat grew without frivolous subsidies. Not one talked about how Gujarat got around to building such great roads and highways. Not one talked about how Gujarat manages to provide uninterrupted power supply. Not one talked about reasons why industrialists are thrilled to set up businesses in Gujarat. Nothing! Whether Modi gained by the event or not, time will tell. But one outcome has been clearly established. The media’s complete loss of decency, respect for facts and truth, and further erosion in their already low credibility. Modi was giving interviews to all and sundry and if Barkha Dutt feels snubbed by not getting her chance that should tell her how low her image and credibility has sunk. An interview with Modi would have given her some redemption, but I doubt that is ever going to happen.

For all the campaigns against Modi the same crooks are yet to even find what is wrong with Sonia Gandhi, her illness, her treatment, her whereabouts. NDTV has even comically reported her return to India at least 4 or 5 times. And I doubt they still know where Sonia is. Never mind that. But this mainstream media is hurtling towards greater decimation. The social network is already delivering it a severe blow. The online netizens have become a watchdog over the media in absence of an independent body. And if that isn’t enough, there is Wikileaks exposing all the information that the media may have covered up or suppressed.

The future of Narendra Modi doesn’t exactly concern me enormously as much as it concerns the media crooks. They live in fear that his rise to the top may completely destroy whatever is left of their credibility. Whatever else, but there is one thing that these crooks can learn from NaMo. In all this campaign of calumny he has conducted himself in a dignified manner and never shot back at any of his detractors. They called the Sadbhavana event a political stunt or gimmick. NaMo is a politician and the event IS political – what is so wrong about it? That is what politicians are supposed to do – mobilise political views and directions. Modi has successfully done that in at least one thing – ‘vote bank politics will not pay in the future’. The media even tried to make a big issue of Modi not wearing the muslim skull cap offered to him by a visitor. Here is the best response I found on Twitter to that by @Pari500: “…and Maulana says 'refusal of the cap is an insult to Islam', really? Now we know the honour of islam rests SOLELY on Modi's head!”

Here is an interesting observation by The Economist: “The biggest shift is that journalism is no longer the exclusive preserve of journalists. Ordinary people are playing a more active role in the news system, along with a host of technology firms, news start-ups and not-for-profit groups. Social media are certainly not a fad, and their impact is only just beginning to be felt. “It’s everywhere and it’s going to be even more everywhere,” says Arianna Huffington. Successful media organisations will be the ones that accept this new reality. They need to reorient themselves towards serving readers rather than advertisers, embrace social features and collaboration, get off political and moral high horses and stop trying to erect barriers around journalism to protect their position. The digital future of news has much in common with its chaotic, ink-stained past.”

If ever Bill Gates made a business error, the biggest one has to be his refusal or failure to see the potential of the Internet when it came about. Since that failure, his company has only been playing catch up. Google now reports that India will add 200Mn more net users by 2014. That’s a good sign for the nation but a serious warning for the MSM. If they don’t see the writing on the wall the social network will grow to a level that will make them obsolete where news and debates are concerned. The loss of credibility has already come about.. the best they can do is to attempt restoration of some decency and respect for facts and truth.