The ‘Kasab Factor’ and our Media’s skullduggery

( Here I write about two important issues which though not directly connected are somehow interlinked. Do have the patience to read through. )

So, the Supreme Court of India has on expected lines upheld the long awaited death sentence on the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack convict Ajmal Kasab. Does that make me happy? Not really. Unless I am assured by our beloved Govt. that he is to be hanged tomorrow itself which is extremely unlikely. The fact that a terrorist, who was caught red-handed mercilessly slaughtering hundreds of innocent victims in full- view of more than a hundred eye-witnesses, CCTV cameras and the local police- who already have given their statements, has managed to stay alive for close to four years now after the incident speaks volumes of our Govt.’s impotency. The whole world knows it, everyone agrees that a butcher of this caliber should be hanged till death, but what does our Govt. do? Hire him a lawyer and make sure he gets a decent trail. This despite him openly admitting to his barbaric act.  Honestly, how low can they get. People have been screaming hoarse to get this murderer to the gallows but to no avail. The ‘stringent punishment’ that our bechara Prime Minister had promised has fallen flat yet again like most of his other endless promises. I am not even going anywhere near the other endless fallacies of our Govt. as they would require a lot more amount of text added with the frustration I would get while typing them.

You should be rotting in your grave..!! 

The point is, the Govt. has failed miserably in the one serious chance they had to show the people that it means business. In such an open and shut case like Kasab’s they could have easily packed him off to hell at the earliest; it wouldn’t have made any difference to the damage that he and his ilk caused to our country but at least it would have sent a message across that we shall not kneel down and won’t take any more of these heinous acts casually. But that is exactly what our Govt. has done. Why the hesitancy then in serving out a prompt punishment to this terrorist? Again I let my readers guess the reason which I am sure is quite similar to mine. By the time Kasab really is hanged he would have been declared a martyr and a hero in his country including some on our soil who helped him and his folks get their business done. Our beloved neighbour would be laughing their heads off at our impotency and churning out hundreds of more Kasabs with vindictive pleasure while our higher authorities would keep giving those phony speeches and continue with their pseudo- secular image. The delay in giving this ‘justice’ is nothing else but a huge slash in the wounds of the families of the victims. It is an insult to those many lives lost. As a society we should raise our voices on these issues a little more than taking out candle –light vigils which is nothing but a completely bogus and pseudo-intellectual way of showing how thoughtful and sensitive one is. For now I just hope that little filthy rat is packed off to hell as soon as possible, for the longer he stays alive the more of our economy he keeps eating. May that scum never rest in peace!!

The Media Crooks

Now on to some musings over the other beloved pillar of our country; the Media, especially the TV media.  Before I delve deeper into the subject I would like you all to read carefully the content I have posted below. The Supreme Court while in upholding the sentence of Ajmal Kasab has also made some interesting observations on the media’s role during the 26/11 attack.  Trust me when I say it, you will not hear or read about these points in our main stream media. There will not be any debates whatsoever by the Barkhas and the Sagrikas on this issue. Neither will the newspapers (most of them) carry out front page headlines and write editorials on this. They have already completely ignored these observations by the apex body of our country for obvious reasons and continue with their biased reportage on their selective favourite issues. But I implore all my readers, especially those who are Indians, to read each word of this very carefully and understand the larger issue behind this.

The following are some of the extracts from the SC observations on the Role of the Media, (published without any change).  For people who might want to have a look at the original SC document, click here. 

403. Apart from the transcripts, we can take judicial notice of the fact that the terrorists attacks at all the places, in the goriest details, were shown live on the Indian TV from beginning to end almost non-stop. All the channels were competing with each other in showing the latest developments on a minute to minute basis, including the positions and the movements of the security forces engaged in flushing out the terrorists. The reckless coverage of the terrorist attack by the channels thus gave rise to a situation where on the one hand the terrorists were completely hidden from the security forces and they had no means to know their exact position or even the kind of firearms and explosives they possessed and on the other hand the positions of the security forces, their weapons and all their operational movements were being watched by the collaborators across the border on TV screens and being communicated to the terrorists.

404. In these appeals, it is not possible to find out whether the security forces actually suffered any casualty or injuries on account of the way their operations were being displayed on the TV screen. But it is beyond doubt that the way their operations were freely shown made the task of the security forces not only exceedingly difficult but also dangerous and risky.

405. Any attempt to justify the conduct of the TV channels by citing the right to freedom of speech and expression would be totally wrong and unacceptable in such a situation. The freedom of expression, like all other freedoms under Article 19, is subject to reasonable restrictions. An action tending to violate another person’s right to life guaranteed under Article 21 or putting the national security in jeopardy can never be justified by taking the plea of freedom of speech and expression.

406. The shots and visuals that were shown live by the TV channels could have also been shown after all the terrorists were neutralized and the security operations were over. But, in that case the TV programmes would not have had the same shrill, scintillating and chilling effect and would not have shot up the TRP ratings of the channels. It must, therefore, be held that by covering live the terrorists attack on Mumbai in the way it was done, the Indian TV channels were not serving any national interest or social cause. On the contrary they were acting in their own commercial interests putting the national security in jeopardy.

407. It is in such extreme cases that the credibility of an institution is tested. The coverage of the Mumbai terror attack by the mainstream electronic media has done much harm to the argument that any regulatory mechanism for the media must only come from within.

          

It is quite evident then that the terrorists alone aren’t our enemy.

Shouldn't the media guys be trending out a public apology in response to these observations, as they so often have ‘demanded’ from many public figures? But of course they won’t. Such is the case our blatantly hypocrite main stream media.

I am willing to bet that most of you are not surprised after reading this. But the point I want to stress on is the level of standards that our media has fallen to. The 26/11 was not just a one-off case. Our media, the fourth pillar of a democracy, is openly flouting all norms of decency and is hell – bent on its selective and biased reportage. Spewing venom on people and parties it doesn’t like and making the average citizen forcibly believe their point of view is the norm in most of the TV media shows these days. It is no hidden fact that more than a couple of them are open mouthpieces of the Govt. The Padmashree that some ‘renowned media personalities’ have been bestowed with is nothing but a pat on their backs for their loyal ‘services’ to the Govt.

The unfortunate fact is that most of the common folks follow these TV news programmes and take in whatever they are being fed to be the truth. They cannot see how they are being misled by the cunning ignorance of some facts, the hiding of details, favouring of one party’s spokesperson over the other in debate shows and other such slyness. Most people today follow the ‘sheep theory’, where they will follow whatever the masses believe without caring to delve deeper into the facts and the root cause. They will openly jump to conclusions as and when the media declares it.  The tale of many personalities like Gujarat CM Narendra Modi is a case in point where most people without knowing the true facts just declared him a ‘mass murderer’; as because that is what the media would maniacally make them believe for it serves their high-ended purposes. The reportage on him has been so scathingly biased by some sections of the media that it is purely filthy and nasty. Someday soon I shall write more on this subject.

This skullduggery by our media is what makes me despise them. The fact that they are beyond any control whatsoever and refuse to do a ‘check-in’ or self-regulation on themselves is highly despicable. The main stream media today in cahoots with a fair number of pseudo- intellectuals, who can be found in plenty in our country, keep on with their biased, hypocritical and selective reporting and we continue to take it in. Be it the ‘Aman ki Aaasha’ with our neigbours, or biased targeting and at the same time mollycoddling of some political leaders, even film stars and cricketers is something that if you sit and ponder honestly over would perhaps make you see reason. There are so many questions today that I would like to ask them. Whatever happened to the Afzal Guru case- the terrorist involved in the parliament attacks of 2001? Why is his case being completely forgotten and not discussed on by you?  Why was there such a prejudiced reporting of the Assam riots case recently? Why does the ‘prince’ Rahul Gandhi find such a huge amount of favour with you people without any credentials whatsoever? Why are people like Baba Ramdev scathingly put-down by you folks? Why does the colour saffron invoke so much hatred in you people? These are questions to which we shall never find any true answers; but deep down inside they know it and thankfully as I realize today many of my fellow countrymen too.

So with an impotent Govt. and a vile media system should we completely lose faith with our country? No. Without being over preachy I can safely say that the answer to a better future of our country solely lies within each of us. If we truly want to, we can make a difference. (And by that I do not mean candle-light vigils). I will try and do my bit. I cannot change the system, but I can and will do what I am capable of as a countryman. I will keep trying to do what I am best at; write my thoughts on issues such as these and let as many people aware about them as possible. Even if 10 out of you agree with me and think about it deeply, it would have been a job well done. For now I have decided to completely boycott the TV media. I do not watch it at all. The newspapers, howsoever genuine few remain, I read selectively. The internet is where I am these days. Thankfully this is where some ‘true’; unbiased and genuine reporting is taking place. I can’t ask you to follow my route but I will definitely ask you to think for at least a minute on this issue.  I believe the more we keep listening to these retards the more we become like them. There is a famous quote which goes like this - “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”  This stands completely true of the psychology used by our lovely media folks.

For people who do want to follow my lead I would be more than willing to share with you some of the best and refreshing blogs and websites that are around today. Just drop me a mail.

Lastly, I have repeated this time and again and I will do so again. The best way we can make our society and country better is through sound knowledge. The more ‘proper’ knowledge we have of the things around us, the better off we will be and would not fall prey to those wanting to mislead us. It is not that hard really, just takes a little effort on your part.

I end this by again using a famous line from the Harry Potter series- Dark and difficult times lie ahead. The time has come for all of us to make a choice between what is right and what is easy.

Ponder on this while I think of my next story.