The untold stories

The untold stories

India has been known and respected as the land of mythological mysteries and adventures. It is a known fact that India was considered the country of serpents, for almost decades from our freedom. Today however, India has an immense respect and authority all over the world and we are a proud nation with the achievements like cheapest Mars Mission and the successful nuclear tests in our kitty.

This transition from the land of serpents to the land of technology and to the tag of budding superpower of the world has been possible owing to some good governance and a great dedication towards the country. However, the Indian media and journalism’s contribution to this transition cannot be neglected.

Journalism, for ages has been regarded as the profession of sacrifice, undying patriotism and the search of truth and justice, even at the risk of life. Media or journalism is believed to be the backbone of any successful transition in any country and we associate media with justice, unbiased and fearless journalism, revolution and what not! But are these adjectives suitable to the Indian media anymore? Are sacrifice and unbiased journalism still a part of Indian media? These are some of the questions that doubt the integrity of the Indian media today. Have a look:

 A screenshot from a renowned news channel report

Take for instance, the year 1984. What do we associate the year 1984, which left intangible scars on the nation with? The year 1984 saw 2 major scenarios:1) The assassination of the then Prime minister, Smt. Indira Gandhi and 2) The riots that soon followed after the first tragic incident. We, however for years have only remembered the tragic death of the then prime minister on 31^stOctober, 1984. Every year, on 31^stOctober, the media all over India had been flooded with the various reports featuring the assassination of the PM and the speeches, rallies of the PM before her tragic death. And the scenario has been the same for over years now.

But the year 2014 has been different. This year, we remembered the date 31^stOctober as Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel’s Jayenti. Whoops! How did this happen? I mean, the date was meant to mourn the death anniversary of our honorable former PM, right? And not only did the entire media remembered Sardar Patel, but the media was also flooded with the clips from the 1984 riots and the plea of the riots’ victims, the clips hardly seen for years now. Whoa! How did that happen? May be the situation in the country is such that the media won’t benefit with the assassination clippings. May be the media wants to cash on the 1984 riots’ victims now and may be media wants more TRPs. Take for instance:

Useless article on a popular news channel’s fb page, to garner TRPs

Yeah, TRPs. TRPs have been the only sole target of media functioning now, I guess. This might be the biggest allegation ever, but this is the stark reality. I mean, what will you call the sudden arrival of news coverage, media clippings, and victim interviews of the 1984 riots? It is a possibility that the media was bereft of any material about the sufferings of the 1984 riots (though this is hardly digestible). But then why didn’t the media personnel try to get the materials years ago? Why did they get the material only when the atmosphere of the country favored them? Also, there is another possibility that the media already had the material with them since 1984 itself. Okay, then why was the media silent for these many years? Why did the media have to show the things when the circumstances of the country demands it? Either media is afraid of the so called superpowers in the country or is biased towards the TRPs; both however, don’t go with the definition of the media. One more proof:

A stupid article again

Taking further plunge into the media’s eccentric behavior over the years, we come upon the two biggest death mysteries till death: 1) The sudden death of the great Indian leader, Subhash Chandra Bose and 2) The mysterious death of the India’s first ‘homeless home minister’ as he was popularly called, Sh. Lal Bahadur Shastri. Speculations have always been rife about the cause of the sudden and mysterious death of both the legends, but media hasn’t come forward with any of the strong research reports as yet. With this, I don’t intend to blame media for being unsuccessful in solving the biggest death mysteries of the world yet. I just condemn media’s sudden dedication for a topic, when the market favours it. I remember the media telecasting the special programmes on the tragic and mysterious death of Sh. Subhash Chandra Bose, when someone came up with a book based on his life journey and his mysterious death.

So guess what? Media again bothered to plunge into this subject only when the atmosphere was set for the news. Other than that, every year, media remembers the great mysteries behind these tragic deaths, either on the birth/death anniversaries of the legends or when somebody files an RTI application or comes up with the subject about the death.

Getting deeper into discussion, let’s remember Dr. Rajeev Dixit. But before that, how many of us actually know who this man Rajeev Dixit was? May be just a few of us, right? Dr. Rajeev Dixit, the man who pioneered the Swadesi Movement and Azadi Bachao Andolan in India, was an Indian social activist. Dr. Dixit single handedly took it upon himself to free the country from the foreign goods and insisted on the use of Swadesi (that is made in the country itself) goods instead. He was the sole target of many foreign brands and some superpowers in India as he degraded their business, by exposing the horrendous quality of their products.

Dr Dixit was found dead on 30^th November’ 2013, while he was away for a lecture on his movement in Bhilai, India. If sources are to be believed, his body had clear marks of poisoning, with the lips having turned dark blue and the body turning pale green. Still, without a postmortem, he was declared dead due to heart attack. This was a clear case of murder and still media didn’t telecast any of the above things on their news channels or the news papers. Some channels and news papers though tried to lift the case, but they too were shut down with the pressure from the so called superpowers in India. Again, this is a case which dispels media’s association with the fearless journalism.

Now, how many of us actually knew about this man- Dr. Rajeev Dixit before this article? I don’t need to guess the numbers, right? Many of us have heard the name for the first time, right? Now how many of us know KRK aka Kamaal Rashid Khan, the epitome of nonsense in India? Surely more people than the ones who knew Dr. Rajeev Dixit, right? So, we don’t know the guy who died for the country and we have a fair idea about a guy spreading nonsense! Whose fault is it by the way? Do I need to say more?

There are other cases that are again shameful and question the integrity of the Indian media. In one such case, even when one of the MIG planes of the Indian air force crashed during a test drill, killing nearly 5 air force pilots, the media was busy covering the wedding ceremonies of a renowned bollywood actress (read Kareena Kapoor). All the topics from the designer lehenga to the esteemed list of guests were the hot discussion and hardly a piece of news covering the tragic incident of the airplane crash was visible in the media circle. There have been cases when some of the reporters who uncovered the famous scams were found missing but still there were no signs of tensions in the media, whatsoever. This is the same media who even went to an extent to discover Anna Hazare’s diet plan when he was on his peak but the same media is not seen interviewing him anymore.

In just a recent case, Mr. Robert Vadra was in news for his alleged fraud in the land deals in Haryana, in 2008. Wow! 6 years later, the media has the senses to go back and fetch out the balance sheets, agreement papers and the other material from the fraud scheme, even when the case has been in news ever since the national Aam Aadmi of India, Sh. Kejriwaalji, spoke about it! Now how of a sudden the media is after Mr. Vadra, is a question worth pondering. Let me remind you of an incidence now. Recently Mr. Vadra had behaved roughly with one of the journalists. Whoa! Sounds interesting, doesn’t it? May be the kick on media’s self esteem is the reason behind this new found objective of the Indian media.

Now the commendable work by the media cannot be neglected and we all agree with that. Media had and will always have an important role in the growth and development of the country, agreed. The only thing that we fear is the sick attitude in some parts of media. Other than that, media is great and all my respects to media for that as well.

What else will come from media is stored in the secret chamber of future. But where is our journalism going and what have become the major objectives of the media, are the major concerns to ponder about. Media has always been and will always be the backbone of the nation, no doubts on that. But this transition from the dedicated and unbiased journalism to the suppressed and yellow journalism is a mark of tension for all of us. Wishing for the change and revolution in the media, much like the nation, let’s wish luck for all of us.

Jai Hind! Jai Bharat!