Media and the CWG

The recent uproar over corruption issues and organizational failures of the Commonwealth Games, Delhi brings out the self-denigrating mindset of Indians who seem to take a certain pride in looking down on themselves in a social arena.It is true that there has been financial irregularities[as there always has been here] as well as poor planning execution at the very highest level.It also cannot be denied that we needed more proffesionalism and stringence in conduction the preparations for such a mega event.
But the shrieking of the media [both print and visual] and its screaming headlines and breaking news over the matter raises several questions..
Firstly, the CWG is an issue of national pride.whether we belong to the govt. or the planning commitees , the public or the media,,we are Indians first..is it not our responsibility to ensure that out image is not tarnished in the eyes of the world or is it so important to keep throwing shoes at each others while the world makes a mockery of us.
Secondly, keepng in mind the magnitude of the event ..would it not have been more prudent to postpone the blame game and brickbat throwing after the Games..that would have ensured more efficinet functioning and less hassles to the curent team working over time to get the house in order..
Thirdly has the media fulfilled its role in projecting the heriocs of our particiapants who have braved so many odds of lack of infrastructural support to reach world standards..have they; while shouting hoarse over doping issues taken even one step to salute those who represent our country and have positively excelled in recent international events like never before in history .our standards in badminton,snooker,atheletics,tennis and swimming are at an unprecedented high..no longer do we come back lagging at the bottom of medal charts in most global stages..
Fourthly..why precisely do we posess this self blame culture.In the US you will never find this mindless media-shrieking at their own faults..instead there will be a upright pride in all sectors of the society as a common consciousness for an event with a little space for constructive criticism.
I think its time we imbibbe the spirit of nationalism in our country..shedding this mindset which is the legacy of the British..thats how they left us..thats how they wanted us to be..wake up guys..lets say cheers to a successful CWG and give our country a chance..

Media and Right wing Organizations

It is sad that extremist right wing organizations like the Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal has played a poignant role in portraying the Hindu religion in poor light.To state that this has lead to a misunderstanding of Hindu rights and feelings , would be an understatement.The fact that their activities are a reaction of fifty years of organized bias against the majority community, can in no way justify the extremism and sense of intolerance in their action, as it goes against the basic tenets of Hinduism, which stands for tolerance and respect to other faiths.This has given a scoring point for the secularists and intelligentsia of our country to denounce right wing activity in every form and actually benefited the appeasement machinery of the Government.
At the same time there is definitely an exaggeration by the part of the media in its portrayal of such activities. They have more than often presented to the public a blatantly one sided view of the whole picture. A classic example of that was the murder of Graham Steins , a Christian missionary in Orissa vis a vis Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati , a Hindu monk.The murder of Steins, no doubt a horrifying one, was reported as an attack on humanity , a stain on the Indian culture,and what not .Steins was repeatedly in controversy for his alleged role in conversion en-masse in the tribal belt.In fact ,the whole history of subversive conversion in orissa and the untold sufferings it has brought to those who resisted , is itself very eye-opening.
Swami Laxmanananda , on the other hand was a monk who, along with organizing enormous social relif work amongst the poor in Orissa, resisted the conversion activities of the evangelists.He was brutally murdered in broad daylight; yet the whole incident was passed off as a solitary Naxalite encounter, despite the glaring proofs that there was a deeper nexus and foul play at large.The media, not only overlooked the incident , but shockingly went on to continue its biased reporting on Sena and Dal atrocities on Christian converts , in retaliation for the murder.
There has been a number of inquiry commissions set up by none other by our "secular" Central govt., and all of them have uni vocally accepted the role of missionaries in promoting conversion and resulting violence in nexus with naxalism in tribal Orissa.
What i mean to say, is that, it is not that there are no violent and extremist elements in Hindu organizations. They need to be denounced and reined in , just as any other fundamentalist organizations. but their role has been blatantly overplayed by our secular media, even going on to branding it as "Saffron Terror"
Orissa is not the only case.. Sadhvi Pragya,Batla house encounter,Godhra incident,etc etc,..there are countless cases of such biased reporting...
will get back with more of that on the role of the Indian media..

a new beggining

A day will come when the indian media and its bag of tricks will stand naked before us..its shrewd understanding of the indian psyche and its subtle manipulation to create a reckless and self-destructive society.. a day when we will realise our monumental errors in electing and selecting pseudo-secularists at the helm..of letting Italian women and evangelists dictate our national policies .. of systemitically denigrating and demonising people who love our country and stand to do somehing for it..
i see it everywhere..screaming out of our popular dailies..breaking news in bright-blood -red out of our news channels...in editorial columns of our intelleuals..everyday hacking and digging away at our edifices of nationalism and culture...whether it is a thousand replays of aVarun Gandhi speech video..or a deliberate judicial effort to rake up the post Godhra riots and vilify Modi..and the story goes on..and on..
for a start ..i wish each one of us..as responsible citizens read the other side of the story fed to us by the Indian media..and then understand its implications..how serious and threatening the consequences can be if we let things run as they are..lets take it issue by issue..person by person ..so that when we look back ..we can be proud of having played a role in restoring our dharma,our culture and our nation , its pride and heritage...