Indian media has been pathetic, trying to sensationalise everything that comes their way.
The Chief Minister of a state, who had gone to pay respect to the departed soldier and his family, were abused by the soldier’s father (a retired central government employee). When the CM was asked about the abuse, he responded with a very colloquial Malayalam phrase, “not even a dog would have glanced that way,” if not for the dead soldier.
The chief minister did not abuse anyone. The man went all the way to Bangalore. Had he made statement in Trivandrum, refusing to go to Bangalore, then it is abuse.
We need to put things in some perspective here. Let not media show one side of the story and try to make us buy their ‘neo-imperial jelabis.’
Just because a soldier gets killed, a soldier’s parents cannot ask for special treatment. A soldier knows too well what happens in combat, it’s a choice he made – by picking that profession.
Many Indian soldiers get killed every year. How come the Indian media has never found it reasonable to report on that?
The media mongrels of India have been barking for quite a while now.
Achuthanandan made a BIG mistake. He shouldn’t have gone to Bangalore. (He should also stop talking to these Media Mongrels.)
That he went to Bangalore, got abused by the father of the killed soldier, and had to deal with a hawkish media – says a lot about our nation’s priorities and decency.
Kerala Govt has declared a 1.5 million Rupees solatium to Sandeep’s family. Would Unnikrishnan accept the money?
Why did Unnikrishnan feel “his expectations from the Kerala government” were let down? Just because the Chief Minister and others didn’t show up two days earlier?
What did the Kerala government or the people of Kerala do to Unnikrishnan for him to shower such abuse on a Chief Minister who went to Bangalore representing the entire state. Mind you, the CM didn’t go there in personal capacity. By abusing the CM, Unnikrishnan was abusing the entire state – even if is a dead soldier’s father’s anguish.
Anguish? My foot! Unnikrishnan is guilty of the very things he is accusing the Chief Minister of. Unnikrishnan wanted to create a spectacle in front of so many people.
He is not the first father to have lost a son in active duty. During the Kargil war, we lost 1000s of good brave soldiers; did their parents make a petty scene like what the indecent man did?
There is something called Athithi Maryaada; to treat a visitor with dignity and respect. Unnikrishnan shamed the entire country. Later on, he blamed it on his anguish.
Of all the politicians in India, the media is trying to make a bad example of, Achuthanandan should be the last. The man has earned his respect for his brave struggles for the people of his state. He seriously doesn’t need approval or acceptance of an “Anguished-Foul-words-spewing-Unnikrishnan.”
What was the need for the pathetic Prakash Karat to feel so guilty? Why did he have to apologise?
The CM didn’t say anything wrong at all. Let’s not make a superhero of a soldier.
The state always plays up these heroes, for they need more youngsters to join the armed forces, ready to kill and die. More on that in the next post.
Pronnoy Roy, the head honcho at NDTV is quite some man.
His wife, Radhika, is Brinda Karat’s sister.
Brinda is Prakash Karat’s (CPM Supremo) wife.
Pronnoy is the famous Arundhati Roy’s uncle.
Quite a circle of relatives there!
I like Brinda Karat; the others are all living in a bubble of their own making – too far away from the real world.
Arundhati wants Kashmir to become an independent state. “India needs azadi from Kashmir as much as Kashmir needs azadi from India.” [Times of India] [Guardian] [Watch it]
I’ll respond to Arundhati’s article in a couple of days. She has completely lost the plot. She was one who won a booker prize by writing a fiction on something almost real; now she wishes fiction is real. Sorry Ms. Roy, I liked your writing for many years. You are past your own rhetoric now.
Back to the media mongrels. The Winner by a massive margin is Barkha Dutt (NDTV). She managed to hurt Sabina Sehgal Saikia’s husband so much that the man broke down… he was waiting to hear some news about his wife… (Ms. Saikia was killed). So much for ‘responsible journalism’!
Bishaka writes about the TV coverage during the Mumbai Siege:
Theatrical. There was enough drama there; we didn’t need faux drama on top of that. Barkha Dutt’s coverage of the ground floor of the Taj is a case in point. “Shattered glass!! shattered glass!!” she hyper-ventilated in a broken voice. What did she expect to find? A rare orchid?
The next two posts will be on (1) Soldiers (2) Kashmir
