Bad ideas

Appeal to all Voters to Protect Democracy – People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism

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Dear fellow citizens

Sixty seven years ago, independent India adopted a democratic constitution that created a platform for equality and justice by ensuring the participation of all. Our constitution-makers were concerned to maintain a secular society free from any divisions of caste, sect and religion. 

What has become of that vision? A large part of the population lives in extreme poverty. Millions of Indians are denied their fundamental rights. There are strong linkages amongst powerful capitalists, biased officials and unscrupulous political representatives. The political system is in danger of being taken over and run for the benefit of the rich, rather than for the vast bulk of the Indian people. Communal forces of all colours thrive in our society. Their growth has been evident since the Delhi carnage of 1984. Biased behavior has appeared in the media, police, bureaucracy and executive. We are witnessing the criminalisation of the state. One example of this is the operation of private armies all over the country.

The Sixteenth Lok Sabha elections are an opportunity for us to preserve democracy. The RSS has emerged as a direct participant, discarding its ‘cultural’ mask. Continue reading Appeal to all Voters to Protect Democracy – People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism →

Bad ideas, Media politics, Sex

What do Tejpal supporters choose to see? Team FeministsIndia

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[FROM THE BLOG FEMINISTSINDIA]

Tarun Tejpal, who was the editor of Tehelka magazine, is alleged to have sexually assaulted his junior journalist in a lift in a Goa Hotel. The past few days have seen subtle and direct statements that seek support for Tejpal based on the CCTV footage of the survivor and Tejpal outside the lift. While senior journalists Manu Joseph and Seema Mustafa wrote articles dissecting the incident in favour of the accused, well known film maker Anurag Kashyap accused the survivor of not telling the truth – they all were basing their opinions on the CCTV footage they saw. The campaign coincides with a bail application made to the Supreme Court.

Feminists Vrinda Grover and Kavita Krishnan analyse flaws in the arguments made in support of Tarun Tejpal in media and social networks by those who have illegally watched sub judicial CCTV footage.

Read the rest here.

Bad ideas, Media politics, Sex

Letter to Press Council re Tehelka case from Network of Women in Media

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Dear Justice Katju,

The Network of Women in Media, India is deeply concerned about what appears to be a renewed media campaign that threatens the course of justice in the sexual assault and rape case involving the former editor of Tehelka, Tarun Tejpal.

In this connection we would like to call the attention of the PCI to two recent articles on the subject in two publications, The Citizen and Outlook. The article in the former, headlined “Alleged victim’s testimony in the Tarun Tejpal case at variance with CCTV footage” which originally appeared under the byline of senior journalist Seema Mustafa, was later credited, on 31 March evening, to ‘Citizen Bureau’. [This piece has by now been removed altogether]. The article in the latter, headlined “What the elevator saw” is by senior journalist Manu Joseph.

While ostensibly seeking to set the record straight, both articles are clearly biased in favour of the accused and seem to be a deliberate attempt to adversely influence public opinion against the complainant. Indeed, these articles appear to follow the familiar Standard Operating Procedure to silence women in cases of sexual violence, and bolster the impunity of perpetrators. Continue reading Letter to Press Council re Tehelka case from Network of Women in Media →

Bad ideas, Media politics

Let’s be fair to Tarun Tejpal. Let us listen to his side of the story

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A number of people are saying that Tarun Tejpal has been held guilty and convicted by a media trial. They are saying that the media and public have both chosen to not hear “the other side of the story”.

That claim, put simply, is incorrect. From day one of the story, “the other side” was heard. We read Tejpal’s emails and those of his lieutenant Shoma Choudhary. We heard Choudhury speak and defend herself endlessly on TV. On news channels, in print and on the web, we’ve heard a long list of luminaries defend Tejpal: Sanjoy Roy, Alyque Padamsee, Namita Devidayal, Dilip Tahil, Rahul Singh, Prem Shankar Jha, Roger Cohen, Anusha Rizvi, Manisha Sethi, Palash Krishna Mehrotra, Charu Nivedita, BG Verghese, Bina Ramani, Nirupama Sekhri, Madhu Trehan, Rahul Da Cunha and then some. Latest additions to the list are Seema Mustafa, Manu Joseph and Anurag Kashyap.

All of these people tell us the other side of the story, which is incoherent and constantly changing. Let’s be fair to them. Let’s listen to what Tarun Tejpal has to say. Continue reading Let’s be fair to Tarun Tejpal. Let us listen to his side of the story →

Culture, Everyday Life, Government, Identities, Right watch

गोधरा भूल भी जाएँ पर इन आंकड़ो को कैसे भूलें, मोदी जी? : संजीव कुमार

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Guest post by SANJEEV KUMAR

अगर हम 2002 के गोधरा के जनसंहार को भूल भी जाये तो भी आतंकवाद के दमन के नाम पर सिलसिलेवार ढंग से हो रही फर्जी मूठभेड़ो में मुसलमानों की हत्या को हम कैसे भुला पाएंगे। कुछ देर के लिए अगर हम इन क़ानूनी हत्यारों को भी भूल जाएँ और प्रदेश में पिछले 10 वर्षों के दौरान मुसलमानों की आर्थिक और शैक्षणिक विकास पर नजर दौड़ाए तो पता चलेगा की मोदी सरकार ने गुजरात के मुसलमानों के साथ किस प्रकार की भेदभाव की नीति को सुविचारित ढंग से आपनाया है।
गुजरात में मुसलमानों की जनसंख्या गुजरात की कुल जनसंख्या का 9.7% है पर वर्तमान सरकार द्वारा पिछले एक दशक में चलाये गए SJSRY (स्वर्ण जयंती शहरी रोज़गार योजना)  और NSAP (नैशनल सोशल असिस्टेंस प्रोग्राम)  योजना को छोड़कर ज्यादातर योजनाओं में मुसलमानों की भागीदारी उनके जनसंख्या के अनुपात से कम ही है (सच्चर समिति रिपोर्ट, पृ.स. 178)। उदहारण के तौर पर कृषि बीमा योजना में मुसलमानों की भागीदारी मात्र 3.5% है, जबकि पॉवर टिलर आवंटन के मामले में मुसलमानों की भागीदारी मात्र 1.4% और ट्रेक्टर के मामले में 4.1% है। गुजरात में मोदी के शासन काल में सहकारी बैंक या ग्रामीण विकास बैंक से वहां के मुसलमानों को किसी प्रकार का कोई कर्ज नहीं मिला है (सच्चर समिति रिपोर्ट, पृ.स. 373-75)। Continue reading गोधरा भूल भी जाएँ पर इन आंकड़ो को कैसे भूलें, मोदी जी? : संजीव कुमार →

Genders, Sex, Violence/Conflict

Bourgeois Imagination and Freedom from Gender Crimes – Limits of a Social Category: Sanjay Kumar

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This is a guest post by SANJAY KUMAR

(This is an expanded version of the article that has appeared in Stree Mukti, January, 2014)

There is a reason crime fiction is one of the most popular genres in bourgeois societies. Nowhere else, except in the equally fictitious assumptions of the Neo-Classical economic theory, is a human being  made to appear an isolated individual in her motives and abilities, as completely as in crime fiction. Borrowing from a famous Ibsen play, in crime fiction, ‘a criminal stands most alone at the moment of crime’. Only her/his motives and acts determine the crime. Bourgeois law also assumes the same about criminal guilt, though punishment is often given under the light of ‘mitigating circumstances’, which mostly is a back door for all kinds of class and social prejudices. Among the ideologies that inhabit a society’s discursive world there often is a dominant ideology which mainly reflects imperatives of the prevailing economic and political order. The feudal ideological world is dominated by notions of  loyalty, honour, and community, all of which are the essential ideological glue, as well the felt reality of the hierarchical web of a feudal society. Bourgeois society is founded upon private property. Even though their consciousness is socially formed, its members see themselves as formed and ready prior to their social engagements. Their attributes appear to them as their own, inherent qualities. This gives a moral boost to the enjoyment of fruits of private property; that is the charm of bourgeois consciousness. In crime fiction, criminals as sole proprietors of their motives and abilities thrust themselves against social prohibitions in diabolically creative ways. That is its (hidden) charm.

Continue reading Bourgeois Imagination and Freedom from Gender Crimes – Limits of a Social Category: Sanjay Kumar →

Bad ideas, Images, Media politics, Politics, Right watch

56 इंच का सीना और बोलती बंद?

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सरकती जाए है रुख़ से नक़ाब, अहिस्ता, अहिस्ता….

इसे कहते हैं ५६ इंच की छाती
इसे कहते हैं ५६ इंच की छाती

बहुत दहाड़ते हैं फेकू महाराज. गुजरात के शेर. 56 इंच के सीने वाले. यकीन न हो तो यह देख लीजिये बाएँ बाज़ू पर छपी तस्वीर. गरजते हुए शेर के कम लग रहे हैं? ऐसा दहाड़ना, ऐसा गरजना की अच्छे अच्छों की रूह कांप जाए. और क्यों न हो? कौन भूल सकता वो दिन – जिसे आज मीडिया की धुआंदार बमबारी भुला देने पर अमादा है. अंग्रेजी में एक शब्द है इस तरह की बमबारी के लिए – carpet bombing, यानि कालीन कि माफ़िक बम से ज़मीन को ढक देना. पिछले कुछ वक़्त से हमारी इन्द्रियों पर जो हमला हो रहा, कुछ इसी किस्म का है. मगर वो लाख चाहे कि इन महाशय की सारी करतूतें भुला दी जाएँ, ऐसा कैसे हो सकता है? जब जब यह शक्ल सामने आती है तब तब नाखूनों में खून दिखाई दे जाता है. वैसे भूलने भुलाने वाले भी अजीब मिट्टी के बने होते हैं. अब देखिये न जी, हिन्दुओं से कहते हैं की चार सौ साल पुरानी मस्जिद भी मत भूलना – बाबर का बदला लेना है और मुसलमानों से कहते हैं इतनी पुरानी बात – 2002 का रोना अब भी रोये जा रहे हो? इसे कहते हैं “चित भी मेरी, पट भी मेरी – और अंटा मेरे बाप का”. खैर जिन्हें बदला लेना था उन्होंने ले लिया. किस का बदला किससे – कौन जाने? क्या फ़र्क पड़ता है आखिर? वैसे गनीमत है कि पब्लिक सब जानती है – इसलिए ज्यादातर हिन्दू भी इनकी नहीं सुनते. इसी लिए इन्हें हर चुनाव से पहले आग लगानी होती है. खैर, ये तो ठहरे मर्जी के बादशाह – मगर उन मीडिया वालों की क्या कहिये, या उन नए नवेले भक्तों और भक्तिनों की जो सब जान कर अनजान बने हैं?

मज़े की बात यह है कि जैसे की यह शेर अकेले में धर लिया जाता है – जहाँ खुले मैदान में दहाड़ना क़ाफ़ी नहीं, जहाँ सवाल का जवाब देना ही होता है, जहाँ चालाकी से किसी को भी “पाकिस्तानी एजेंट” वगैरह कहा नहीं जा सकता है – वहीँ फेकूराम बगलें झाँकने लगते हैं. घूँट भरते हैं, पानी मांगते हैं और फिर मौन व्रत. एक बार तो स्टूडियो से ही उठ कर चल दिए थे. अभी हाल में हेलिकोप्टर में फँस ही गए तो चेहरा फीका पड़ गया (देखिये नीचे दूसरा वीडियो).

Continue reading 56 इंच का सीना और बोलती बंद? →

Bad ideas

आओ हम ढोएं हिन्दुत्व की पालकी

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अस्सी के दशक में उत्तर भारत के कुछ शहरों में एक पोस्टर देखने को मिलता था। 

रामबिलास पासवान के तस्वीर वाले उस पोस्टर के नीचे एक नारा लिखा रहता था ‘मैं उस घर में दिया जलाने चला हूं, जिस घर में अंधेरा है।’ उस वक्त़ यह गुमान किसे हो सकता था कि अपनी राजनीतिक यात्रा में वह दो दफा राष्ट्रीय स्वयंसेवक संघ के आनुषंगिक संगठन भारतीय जनता पार्टी का चिराग़ रौशन करने पहुंच जाएंगे। 2002 में गुजरात जनसंहार को लेकर मंत्रिमंडल से दिए अपने इस्तीफे की ‘गलति’ को ठीक बारह साल बाद ठीक करेंगे, और जिस शख्स द्वारा ‘राजधर्म’ के निर्वाहन न करने के चलते हजारों निरपराधों को अपनी जान से हाथ धोना पड़ा, उसी शख्स को मुल्क की बागडोर सम्भालने के लिए चल रही मुहिम मंे जुट जाएंगे।

मालूम हो कि अपने आप को दलितों के अग्रणी के तौर पर प्रस्तुत करनेवाले नेताओं की कतार में रामबिलास पासवान अकेले नहीं हैं, जिन्होंने भाजपा का हाथ थामने का निर्णय लिया है। Continue reading आओ हम ढोएं हिन्दुत्व की पालकी →

Bad ideas

Condemn the Vengeful Actions of the Gujarat Government – A Statement In Solidarity with Teesta Setalvad and her Comrades

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The following is a statement issued by activists and intellectuals in solidarity with Teesta Setalvad and her comrades

We, the undersigned express our deep shock at the rejection of the anticipatory bail application of Teesta Setalvad and four others in what is being called the Gulberg Embezzlement Case, by the City sessions court of Ahmedabad. From its beginning, the so-called embezzlement has been the concoction of elements instigated by the state government of Gujarat, including the Gujarat Crime Branch. In January 2014, an FIR was registered against the five accused for defrauding the members of the Gulberg Society of funds meant for the building of the Gulberg Memorial commemorating the state sponsored carnage.

It may be in order to recall the facts of the case, especially, since a section of the media is spreading canards that the funds thus raised were used for buying jewellery, wine and such like, and gloating over the possibility of the arrest of Teesta Setalvad and others.

Continue reading Condemn the Vengeful Actions of the Gujarat Government – A Statement In Solidarity with Teesta Setalvad and her Comrades →

Government, Law, Politics, Right watch, Violence/Conflict

Revenge is the Only Motive of the Vindictive Modi government – A Statement in Support of Teesta and Others

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The following is a Statement issued by SAHMAT in Support of Teesta Setalvad and others

We are shocked and outraged by the continuing attempt of the highly vindictive Modi government and the Gujarat police to somehow implicate activists Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand, along with three victim-survivors of the state-sponsored Gujarat carnage in 2002 on patently trumped-up charges.

This is nothing but a desperate bid to delay or derail the justice process, in particular Zakia Jafri’s appeal which is now before the Gujarat High Court. Mrs. Jafri has accused Gujarat chief minister and home minister, Narendra Modi along with 59 other top politicians, police officers and civil servants of conspiracy for mass murder and other serious criminal offences.

It is significant that the Supreme Court appointed amicus curiae in the case, Mr. Raju Ramachandran, has told the apex court there was enough prima facie evidence to prosecute Modi. Continue reading Revenge is the Only Motive of the Vindictive Modi government – A Statement in Support of Teesta and Others →

Bad ideas, Culture, Language, Mirror Worlds, Right watch

फेकू की भजन मंडली उर्फ़ खिसियानी बिल्ली खम्बा नोचे

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फेकूराम की भजन मंडली का ‘नमो नमो’ मन्त्र तो एक लम्बे अरसे से चल ही आ रहा था, मगर भक्तों में होड़ लगी तो कुछ को लगा की अब शिवजी की जगह इन्हीं को बैठा दिया जाए – सो ‘हर हर महादेव’  भी हड़प लिया गया. भला हो शिव भक्तों का कि उन्होंने यह दांव चलने नहीं दिया. और फिर खुद शंकराचार्य ने इस पर एतराज़ कर दिया. खैर, यह तो रहा परिवार के भीतर का झगडा. सुलट जायेगा.

मगर इसी बीच एक मोर्चा बनारस में खुल गया. फेकूराम के बैंड बजे तो दिल्ली तक में हमारी नींद उड़ाये हुए थे ही मगर अचानक एक अदना सा आम आदमी जा कर उसे ललकार आया. भक्तों ने अंडे फेंके, स्याही फेंकी – हर जतन कर के देख लिया. मगर आख़िरकार उसने पोल खोल ही दी. कहने लगे कभी इन्होने कांग्रेसियों को या कांग्रेसियों ने इन्हें काले झंडे दिखाए? अंडे फेंके? तो ये बौखलाहट किस लिए है जी? आप दोनों की नूरा कुश्ती चलती रहती और सब आपस में बाँट कर लूट लेते – जैसे करते आये हैं – तो कोई परेशानी नहीं होती. आप की बौखलाहट से हे तो कई राज़ एक साथ खुलने लगे हैं.

तभी एक भक्तिन को लगा की उनकी भारत माता के साथ ‘गैंगरेप’ हो रहा है. देखिये नीचे इन भक्तन की ट्वीट. जैसे उन्हें मजबूर किया जा रहा है की वे अपनी माँ का सामूहिक बलात्कार देखें. अब तक तो अम्बानी, मनमोहन, चिदम्बरम, सिबल और फेकूराम की फ़ौज भारत माँ की आरती उतार रही थी – कहाँ से चले आये ये बलात्कारी! आरती उतर रहे थे वो विहिपई और बजरंगी सेनानी जो प्रेमी युगलों को सरे बाज़ार बेआबरू कर रहे थे. पबों से निकाल निकाल कल निर्वस्त्र कर रहे थे. आरती उतार रहा था राज ठाकरे. किसी ने इन भक्तिन के उद्गार उस वक़्त देखे?

 
Photo: The shamelessness of Madhu Kishwar... Her employer CSDS as well as her political mentor Mr Narendra Modi must clear their stand on this...
भारत माता की 1984 में आरती उतारी गयी, 1992 में बाबरी मस्जिद का ध्वंस करके आरती उतारी गयी और फिर 2002 में गुजरात में उतारी गयी.

Continue reading फेकू की भजन मंडली उर्फ़ खिसियानी बिल्ली खम्बा नोचे →

Bad ideas, Education, Identities, Media politics

Dalit Students and Journalists – from Classroom to Newsroom: Shivnarayan Rajpurohit

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This is a guest post by SHIVNARAYAN RAJPUROHIT

The conscious or unconscious exclusion of Dalits (SC/ST) from the Indian mediascape has given way to a lopsided public sphere which hardly manages to generate comprehensive debates. Corporate interests have aggravated this malaise, given the indifference of the corporate sector towards fomenting a diverse media, cutting across caste, religious and class lines. The following paper looks at the absence of Dalit journalists and students from English press and journalism schools. The primary conclusion of my research is that English-language media as an institution has been undemocratic because it draws its workforce from a homogenous set of people, overlooking the urgent need for diversity. In that sense it is hostile to opposing viewpoints and diversity of arguments. The paper is primarily divided into five parts: counting Dalit journalists, reason for exclusion, classroom to newsroom, need for Dalits in media and Blacks in USA.

Continue reading Dalit Students and Journalists – from Classroom to Newsroom: Shivnarayan Rajpurohit →

Bad ideas, Politics, Right watch

Narendra Modi’s Plans for India if He Becomes PM!

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Narendra Modi’s Plans for India
For a detailed explanation of how Mr. Narendra Modi plans to run the country if elected Prime Minister, Click here.
Capitalism, Government, Media politics, Politics, Scams

A Corruption Scandal in Turkey: Tamer Söyler

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Guest post by TAMER SӦYLER 

A corruption Scandal in Turkey first broke on December, 17th last year. Under instructions by the public prosecutor Celal Kara, the financial police took into custody several suspects comprising famous businessmen (Ali Agaoğlu and Reza Zarrab), family members of three ministers from the cabinet (sons of ministers Muammer Güler, Zafer Çaglayan and Erdoğan Bayraktar) and high level bureaucrats. Main suspects were immediately arrested by the court.
Prime Minister Erdoğan declared that this was a fabricated investigation to humiliate his government on the eve of coming elections. The Prime Minister accused Fethullah Gülen, the founder of the Gülen Movement, living in a self-imposed exile in the US for the last 15 years, for placing a plot to overthrow his government.

Continue reading A Corruption Scandal in Turkey: Tamer Söyler →

Culture, Ecology/Environment, Images

चायवाला: गौहर रज़ा

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Guest post – a poem by GAUHAR RAZA

चायवाला

बहुत फ़र्क़ है यह चायवाला
उन से
जो अपनी ज़िंदगी
दूसरों को चाय पिलाते गुज़ार देते हैं
बहुत फ़र्क़ है यह चायवाला
रामदीन, मैकल या ज्ञानी जी से
जो भूखे पेट रहते हैं दिन भर
और टूटे छप्पर, या पेड़ की जड़ के सहारे
चाय के एक प्याले से किसी के माथे की
थकन मिटाते हैं
फ़ैक्टरी के गेट के बाहर,
उस नौजवान का ग़म दूर करते हैं
जिसे अभी अभी नौकरी से निकाला गया है
या किसी राहगीर को सही रास्ता बताते हैं
बहुत फ़र्क़ है यह चाएवाला
उन से जो
देर गए, रात को अपने घर लौटते हैं
चंद सिक्के समेटे, उन गुंडों की गालियों के साथ,
जो रोज़ ज़बरदस्ती चाए पीते हैं,
और बदले में धमकियाँ देते हैं Continue reading चायवाला: गौहर रज़ा →

Culture, Language, Politics, Right watch

डेमॉगॉग का वक्त

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कुछ महीने पहले प्रतापभानु मेहता ने पूछा,’डेमॉगॉग को हिंदी में क्या कहेंगे?’ इतनी बार इस शब्द का प्रयोग किया है लेकिन इसका हिंदी प्रतिरूप खोजना सूझा नहीं। डेमॉगॉग कौन है बताया जा सकता है लेकिन क्या है,बताना इतना सरल नहीं।  तुरत दिमाग में लफ्फाज कौंधा लेकिन उसका रिश्ता वाचालता से अधिक है। फिर एक और शब्द की ओर ध्यान दिलाया मित्र  अरशद अजमल ने,शोलाबयानी। लगा कि यह अंगेज़ी के ‘रैबल राउज़र’ के काम के लिए अधिक उपयुक्त प्रतिरूप  है। फादर कामिल बुल्के के  और दूसरे शब्दकोशों में देखा तो पाया कि यह शब्द है ही नहीं। तो क्या फादर का कभी किसी डेमॉगॉग से पाला नहीं पड़ा था? Continue reading डेमॉगॉग का वक्त →

Bad ideas

नरेंद्र भाई मोदी के करियर में एक और मील का पत्थर, चुटकुलों की किताब में होंगे शामिल

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GUEST POST BY PANINI ANAND
● मोदी मानव इतिहास का सबसे विकसित रूप है, 50 हजार साल बाद हर इंसान मोदी जैसा दिखेगा
● मोदी के गुजरात में भ्रष्टाचार रोकने के लिए कंप्यूटर का भी इंटरव्यू लिया जाता है
● एक बार मोदी नशे में लड़खड़ाए तो गुजरातियों ने डांडिया का स्टेप बना लिया
● महमूद गजनवी तभी भारत पर हमला करता था जब मोदी गुजरात से बाहर रहते थे Continue reading नरेंद्र भाई मोदी के करियर में एक और मील का पत्थर, चुटकुलों की किताब में होंगे शामिल →

Debates, Media politics, Politics, Right watch, Scams

Naked Bias Threatens Media’s Credibility – A Statement by Some Mediapersons

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An Appeal to Indian Journalist Fraternity by a Group of Media persons, released in Chandigarh, 16 March, 2014

In a terse comment, Aam Aadami Party leader Arvind Kejriwal said that a part of the media, particularly some TV channels “sold itself to Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and is indulging in running a propaganda spree in favor of BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi”. As has happened earlier in many cases relating to deprived and unprivileged sections of the Indian society, that section of media took an undue offence to the comment that was completely out of proportion, and it launched a virulent campaign against AAP. This section of media is peeved at Arvind Kerjriwal’s remarks that if his party came to power, a punitive action would be taken against those media outlets which have been biased in their news coverage and suppressed the anti Modi news stories projecting his false claim to an ‘unparalleled development of Gujarat’.

During his field tour to Gujarat, Kejriwal started taking on Modi , attempting to expose the chinks in ‘Gujarat Vikas’, which according to him, is a ‘hollow projection’ made with ‘active support’ of a section of media. In what could be called an overreaction, a naked anti-Kejriwal slant became a routine affair in the coverage of some media outlets. It is not difficult to smell from the reports and debates of these media outlets that their journalists (by order from above or own their own) have shamelessly started walking in the footsteps of Hitler’s notorious spin doctor Joseph Goebbels, who also did a stint in journalism. Continue reading Naked Bias Threatens Media’s Credibility – A Statement by Some Mediapersons →

Bad ideas

Cricket and Communal Identities in South Asia: Raoof Mir

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Guest post by RAOOF MIR

In the Hindi movie Bheja Fry (2007), there is an archetypal abominably portrayed Muslim Character, Asif Merchant, the caricatured Indian Muslim who supports the Pakistan cricket team over the Indian cricket team. Asif Merchant is shown as a comical, hideous, perfidious character with loyalties to Pakistan despite living in India – taunted with Yahan ke khaate ho, aur wahan ke Gaate Ho (You eat here but sing their praises). It is a well established fact that Muslims in India have from time to time been subjected to periodic tests of loyalty.  There is a rich history of sectarian violence between Hindus and Muslim in independent India, in which it is mostly Muslims who have suffered. However, these tensions are exacerbated whenever there is a cricket match between India and Pakistan. Continue reading Cricket and Communal Identities in South Asia: Raoof Mir →

Bad ideas, Identities, Language, Politics, Right watch

Jamaate-E-Islami’s Tryst With Politics – Tilting at the Electoral Windmills: Fahad Hashmi

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Guest Post by FAHAD HASHMI

‘It was all very well to say “Drink me”, but the wise little Alice was not going to do that in a hurry. “No, I’ll look first,” she said, “and see whether it’s marked ‘poison’ or not”; for she had read several nice little stories about children who had got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts, and other unpleasant things, all because they would not remember the simple rules their friends had taught them: such as, that a red-hot poker will burn you if you hold it too long; and that, if you cut your finger very deeply with a knife, it usually bleeds; and she had never forgotten that, if you drink much from a bottle marked “poison,” it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.’

(Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland)

Continue reading Jamaate-E-Islami’s Tryst With Politics – Tilting at the Electoral Windmills: Fahad Hashmi →

Capitalism, Culture, Media politics, Politics, Scams

Time For a Code of Conduct for Media

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Let us make no mistake, the Big Media in India does not merely report; it is a player in Indian politics in general and elections in particular.

Now that the debate is out in public it is time to insist on a code of conduct for the media as well. After Arvind Kejriwal’s recent allegations against four television channels that have been blown out of proportion and misrepresented, there has been an uproar. A burst of righteous anger, not only from those accused by Kejriwal of having been bought out by a particular party, but also by professional bodies like the News Broadcasters Association (NBA), the Editor’s Guild, the Broadcast Editors Association (BEA) and other senior journalists.

The NBA, which is a private association, threatened to black out Kejriwal and AAP news and then went on to assert its objectivity and fairness against the “unsubstantiated and unverified allegations” against the news channels.

The BEA said in its statement:

“BEA condemns Arvind Kejriwal’s irresponsible statement on media. BEA believes that electronic media is discharging its responsibility in a fair and objective manner. It is wrong to say that TV channels are pursuing a biased agenda in favour of any person or party. BEA believes that such statements are a conspiracy to dilute the credibility of media. We have strong faith in the self regulatory institutions that electronic media has developed…”

Let us concede for the sake of argument that Arvind Kejriwal went overboard and his statement about ‘jailing mediapersons’ was uncalled for. But does the claim of the BEA, NBA and other bodies really stand up to scrutiny? Is the electronic media really dïscharging its  responsibility in a fair and objective manner”? What precisely, may we ask, are the “self regulatory institutions that electronic media has developed” and what have they done by way of reigning in the Indian media that have sunk to new lows in recent years with “paid news”and “advertorials” – not to mention private treaties with big corporations ? We ask the BEA and the NBA and 0ther defenders of the media, is this the ethical behavior they talk of? Is this self-regulation? Maybe Kejriwal’s allegations are “unsubstantiated” in the sense that there is no “proof”, but there is little doubt from the instructions that journalists have been receiving from their bosses, that a lot more than mere reporting is at stake. And just for the record, the the Chairman of one of media houses accused by Kejriwal, Subhash Chandra of Zee News, is currently facing a case of extortion – using his channel’s news-gathering for blackmail. We would love to hear how this qualifies as ‘fair and objective’in the eyes of the BEA and other luminaries. Continue reading Time For a Code of Conduct for Media →

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