This is because media is controlled by people who are biased and
value money , trp and glamour more than common man's suffering .
Unless we contribute and start a common man's channel this will not
end.
--- In [email protected], kaza rajasekhar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
>
>
> Dear Mr.Gnani Sankaran,
> Â
> I can't find words to describe your write up. It was simply great.
I loved every word of it. I am forwarding it to as many people as
possible. You really hit the nail on the head by exposing the
attitude of the news channels. Hats off to you.
> Â
> As you mentioned, every five minutes i could hear barkha dutt
screaming that this was exclusive to her channel. These people are
after journalism awards, medals and hounours. Her going inside the
Taj, supposedly "braving" the guards, was purely an attempt to try
some journalist award. The same with all other "brave" journalists.
> Â
> As you said, what about the lives of those who were killed at the
CST terminus? Nobody bothered.
> Â
> This is a horrible country with a dismal future.
> Â
> Rajasekhar
>
>
> Kaza raja
>
> --- On Mon, 1/12/08, rti advice <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> From: rti advice <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: [rti_india] Re: MUMBAI Situation
> To: [email protected]
> Date: Monday, 1 December, 2008, 9:12 AM
>
>
>
>
>
>
> * Hotel Taj: Icon of whose India? *
>
> by Gnani Sankaran-
>
> Watching at least four English news channels surfing from one
another
> during the last 60 hours of terror strike made me feel a terror of
another
> kind. The terror of assaulting one's mind and sensitivity with
cameras,
> sound bites and non-stop blabbers. All these channels have been
trying to
> manufacture my consent for a big lie called - Hotel Taj the icon of
India.
> Whose India, Whose Icon ?
>
> It is a matter of great shame that these channels simply did not
bother
> about the other icon that faced the first attack from terrorists -
the
> Chatrapathi Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station. CST is the true
icon of
> Mumbai. It is through this railway station hundreds of Indians from
Uttar
> Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Tamilnadu have poured
into
> Mumbaiover the years, transforming themselves into Mumbaikars and
> built the Mumbai
> of today along with the Marathis and Kolis
>
> But the channels would not recognise this. Nor would they recognise
the
> thirty odd dead bodies strewn all over the platform of CST. No
Barkha
> duttwent there to tell us who they were. But she was at Taj to show
us
> the
> damaged furniture and reception lobby braving the guards. And the
TV cameras
> did not go to the government run JJ hospital to find out who those
26
> unidentified bodies were. Instead they were again invading the
battered Taj
> to try in vain for a scoop shot of the dead bodies of the page 3
> celebrities.
>
> In all probability, the unidentified bodies could be those of
workers from
> Bihar and Uttar Pradesh migrating to Mumbai, arriving by train at
CST
> without cell phones and pan cards to identify them. Even after 60
hours
> after the CST massacre, no channel has bothered to cover in detail
what
> transpired there.
>
> The channels conveniently failed to acknowledge that the Aam Aadmis
of India
> surviving in Mumbai were not affected by Taj, Oberoi and Trident
closing
> down for a couple of weeks or months. What mattered to them was the
stoppage
> of BEST buses and suburban trains even for one hour. But the
channels were
> not covering that aspect of the terror attack. Such information at
best
> merited a scroll line, while the cameras have to be dedicated for
real time
> thriller unfolding at Taj or Nariman bhavan.
>
> The so called justification for the hype the channels built around
heritage
> site Taj falling down (CST is also a heritage site), is that Hotel
Taj is
> where the rich and the powerful of India and the globe congregate.
It is a
> symbol or icon of power of money and politics, not India. It is the
icon of
> the financiers and swindlers of India. The Mumbai and India were
built by
> the Aam Aadmis who passed through CST and Taj was the oasis of
peace and
> privacy for those who wielded power over these mass of labouring
classes.
> Leopold club and Taj were the haunts of rich spoilt kids who would
drive
> their vehicles over sleeping Aam Aadmis on the pavement, the
Mafiosi of
> Mumbai forever financing the glitterati of Bollywood (and also the
> terrorists) , Political brokers and industrialists.
>
> It is precisely because Taj is the icon of power and not people,
that the
> terrorists chose to strike.
>
> The terrorists have understood after several efforts that the Aam
Aadmi will
> never break down even if you bomb her markets and trains. He/she was
> resilient because that is the only way he/she can even survive.
>
> Resilience was another word that annoyed the pundits of news
channels and
> their patrons this time. What resilience, enough is enough, said
Pranoy
> Roy's channel on the left side of the channel spectrum. Same
sentiments were
> echoed by Arnab Goswami representing the right wing of the
broadcast media
> whose time is now. Can Rajdeep be far behind in this game of one
upmanship
> over TRPs ? They all attacked resilience this time. They wanted
firm action
> from the government in tackling terror.
>
> The same channels celebrated resilience when bombs went off in
trains and
> markets killing and maiming the Aam Aadmis. The resilience of the
ordinary
> worker suited the rich business class of Mumbai since work or
manufacture or
> film shooting did not stop. When it came to them, the rich
shamelessly
> exhibited their lack of nerves and refused to be resilient
themselves. They
> cry for government intervention now to protect their private spas
and
> swimming pools and bars and restaurants, similar to the way in which
> Citibank, General Motors and the ilk cry for government money when
their
> coffers are emptied by their own ideologies.
>
> The terrorists have learnt that the ordinary Indian is unperturbed
by
> terror. For one whose daily existence itself is a terror of
government
> sponsored inflation and market sponsored exclusion, pain is
something he has
> learnt to live with. The rich of Mumbai and India Inc are facing
the pain
> for the first time and learning about it just as the middle classes
of India
> learnt about violation of human rights only during emergency, a
cool 28
> years after independence.
>
> And human rights were another favourite issue for the channels to
whip at
> times of terrorism.
>
> Arnab Goswami in an animated voice wondered where were those
champions of
> human rights now, not to be seen applauding the brave and selfless
police
> officers who gave up their life in fighting terorism. Well, the
counter
> question would be where were you when such officers were violating
the human
> rights of Aam Aadmis. Has there ever been any 24 hour non stop
coverage of
> violence against dalits and adivasis of this country?
>
> This definitely was not the time to manufacture consent for the
extra legal
> and third degree methods of interrogation of police and army but
Arnabs
> don't miss a single opportunity to serve their class masters, this
time the
> jingoistic patriotism came in handy to whitewash the entire
uniformed
> services.
>
> The sacrifice of the commandos or the police officers who went down
dying at
> the hands of ruthless terrorists is no doubt heart rending but in
vain in a
> situation which needed not just bran but also brain. Israel has a
point when
> it says the operations were misplanned resulting in the death of its
> nationals here.
>
> Khakares and Salaskars would not be dead if they did not commit the
mistake
> of traveling by the same vehicle. It is a basic lesson in
management that
> the top brass should never t ravel together in crisis. The
terrorists, if
> only they had watched the channels, would have laughed their hearts
out when
> the Chief of the Marine commandos, an elite force, masking his face
so
> unprofessionally in a see-through cloth, told the media that the
commandos
> had no idea about the structure of the Hotel Taj which they were
trying to
> liberate. But the terrorists knew the place thoroughly, he
acknowledged.
>
> Is it so difficult to obtain a ground plan of Hotel Taj and discuss
> operation strategy thoroughly for at least one hour before
entering? This is
> something even an event manager would first ask for, if he had to
fix 25
> audio systems and 50 CCtvs for a cultural event in a hotel. Would
not Ratan
> Tata have provided a plan of his ancestral hotel to the commandos
within one
> hour considering the mighty apparatus at his and government's
disposal? Are
> satelite pictures only available for terrorists and not the
government
> agencies ? In an operation known to consume time, one more hour for
> preparation would have only improved the efficiency of execution.
>
> Sacrifices become doubly tragic in unprofessional circumstances.
But the Aam
> Aadmis always believe that terror-shooters do better planning than
> terrorists. And the gullible media in a jingoistic mood would not
raise any
> question about any of these issues.
>
> They after all have their favourite whipping boy - the politician
the
> eternal entertainer for the non-voting rich classes of India.
>
> Arnabs and Rajdeeps would wax eloquent on Nanmohan Singh and Advani
visiting
> Mumbai separately and not together showing solidarity even at this
hour of
> national crisis. What a farce? Why can't these channels pool
together all
> their camera crew and reporters at this time of national calamity
and share
> the sound and visual bites which could mean a wider and deeper
coverage of
> events with such a huge human resource to command? Why should Arnab
and
> Rajdeep and Barkha keep harping every five minutes that this piece
of
> information was exclusive to their channel, at the time of such a
national
> crisis? Is this the time to promote the channel? If that is valid,
the
> politician promoting his own political constituency is equally
valid. And
> the duty of the politican is to do politics, his politics. It is
for the
> people to evaluate that politics.
> And terrorism is not above politics. It is politics by other means.
>
> To come to grips with it and to eventually eliminate it, the
practice of
> politics by proper means needs constant fine tuning and improvement.
> Decrying all politics and politicians, only helps terrorists and
dictators
> who are the two sides of the same coin. And the rich and powerful
always
> prefer terrorists and dictators to do business with.
>
> Those caught in this crossfire are always the Aam Aadmis whose
deaths are
> not even mourned - the taxi driver who lost the entire family at
CST firing,
> the numerous waiters and stewards who lost their lives working in
Taj for a
> monthly salary that would be one time bill for their masters.
>
> Postscript: In a fit of anger and depression, I sent a message to
all the
> channels, 30 hours through the coverage. After all they have been
constantly
> asking the viewers to message them for anything and everything. My
message
> read: I send this with lots of pain. All channels, including yours,
must
> apologise for not covering the victims of CST massacre, the real
mumbaikars
> and aam aadmis of India. Your obsession with five star elite is
disgusting.
> Learn from the print media please. No channel bothered. Only
srinivasan Jain
> replied: you are right. We are trying to redress balance today.
Well,
> nothing happened till the time of writing this 66 hours after the
terror
> attack.
>
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>
> Connect with friends all over the world. Get Yahoo! India
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