Had a chance to go through some of the news coverage websites & TV channels lately, most of them focusing on Maharashtra assembly elections.
It’s not surprising that Raj Thackeray was the biggest villain for almost all of the Indian ‘national’ media, most of them stayed focused on the Thackerays & hardly anything was noticed against a poor performing Congress government.
The Congress party has once again utilized the media very smartly to their advantage, which in fact, is quite a good political quality.
However, what I saw in the media under ‘Reactions against Raj’ was appalling & disappointing to say the least.
Some people called him Jinnah, some called Maharashtra a new Pakistan (WTF, WT big F)! Many of the online readers comfortably used the F*** word against him, there was no dearth of online abuse for MNS & no level of decency while using this ‘freedom of expression’.
Even more shocking is that none of the ‘national’ media houses bothered to stop this cheap level of anger-venting.
And not for just supporting what I like, but honestly, all the MNS fans (at least in my view) have maintained that decency and honored the ‘right’ expressions, which is heartening to see.
Has Indian media divided us? Aren’t they biased?
I say again & again that Raj Thackeray has been misinterpreted. He’s the only politician I have ever listened to or read who has the balls to talk against SLUMS.
I dare any of India’s national parties talk against hazards and threats from Slums, can you guys come forward and speak?
Anyway, let me not further get into MNS, their agenda & Mumbai-Maharashtra’s problem.
Indian media comfortably influences the literate of India, it has made pseudo-intellectuals borne everywhere.
Most of Indian internet users are literate, since India’s not so much used to the internet yet.
Look what ‘most educated’ people talk? Doesn’t that sound as a ‘verbal abuse’?
Consistently failing to play any constructive role over the time, Indian media has developed itself into a hypocrite phenomenon.
Is Indian media a new religion in India?
Why blame extremists, look at Indian Media … they have made the most educated group go crazy!
Literate (let me just use the term ‘India literates’ henceforth) people follow blindly what’s presented to them through this media (you can’t blame them … sorry, you can’t blame us … for that).
We’re driven by media conclusions so much that we don’t wanna verify anything for ourselves.
We very well know the rule: once a Madness/Religion is followed by many, it multiplies rapidly.
Isn’t this the same media that projected Narendra Modi as modern day Jinnah few years ago? (who, IMO, is now the best Chief minister in India)
Isn’t this the same media that caused a major embarrassment to India, reporting false against China? (and later, not disclose it). It went on to be labeled India’s fear.
I came across some videos claiming tampering with Varun Gandhi’s remarks too (not very sure on that, though)
These guys are the first to report ‘famous’ side of the story and suppress the other.
Same happened to MNS protests, same happened to doctors & pilots on strike, students from AIIMS-Delhi protesting against reservations.
I wonder why don’t we ever listen to what our Congress government is up to? (not that am against or for them)
Or a recent one, projecting the India-born Nobel prize laureate so much that he was irritated by Indians.
On the issue of staying fair and notwithstanding other aspects of media, let’s just hope we become a better media, rather than an emotional & igniting one.
Week after the blasts, after hundreds of coverage and analysis shows, thousands of blogs I could not help but agree with all of those. Almost everyone/everything had a point of view towards the blasts. Indeed, a time of grief and mourning …
Few are disappointed they have lost their acquaintances / family friends
Some are shattered by dilapidated Taj structure
Some want Manmohan Singh to step down at any cost
Few went to silly extents of challenging Raj Thackeray to fight the terrorists with a gun in his hand
All colors of a single protest, just that personal concerns tend to overshadow our protests, regularly !
I …..
I don’t belong any one of the above categories
I am not Hindu / Muslim / Jew / Christian
I am not a regular at Taj / Oberoi
I do not travel by local trains
I stay in Pune and visit Mumbai once every around two months
I have been to the Gateway of India 3-4 times in my life
None of my friends/relatives staying suffered directly from these blasts
Still an attack on Mumbai is an attack on my home, in all the ways ….
Yet, I can’t help but confess that I was devastated mentally on 11/26, I feel numb and helpless just like many around me do
I don’t have a good leader around, someone who can protect me from terror attacks …. The politicians are too busy carving out election agendas out of terror attacks
I don’t have a coordinated security / well-equipped police to protect me …. they are themselves helpless
I don’t have a mature media to speak out through ….. they’re busy trying strategies for better TRPs or revealing out Indian forces’ ‘internal’ plots in open
And then, I don’t have sensible people around me ….. they are too busy with their work and personal growths or too busy to undergo security checks or to caste their votes or raise voices against terror / government
I felt embarrassing when my nation’s stock market was closed for an entire day
I felt insulted we had to lose billion of rupees and dollars due to attack on our own country
I felt dejected when best of Indian security forces could not fight 10 odd militants
It was personal when people (oops, another mistake …. They’re not people, they’re politicians) like Narendra Modi, K Achutanandan, R R Patil, Abbas Naqvi passed on their utterly silly comments
Well, I am not going to take things lying down ….. happily, this time, its not ‘I’ but ‘We’ …. There’s an awakening around ….. Congrats Mumbai !
We won’t let even outside areas for planning and commissioning terror on our soil, beware Pakistan
We won’t let anyone insult our martyrs
We will put all the make-up, lip-sticks and come out to protest, lets see who stops us
It will be OUR decision, if at all, not to vote for existing government, others need not advise us
If someone thinks these incidents are not very big, we’ll show them what price they have to pay for it
We are not going to be soft targets anymore and will start changing from ourselves, undergoing security checks and we’ll be casting our votes regularly
We will start practicing caution in crowded as well as lonely surroundings
We will be careful towards abandoned goods around us
We’ll carry our identity cards everywhere we go and fully cooperate in facilitating the security process
Keep looking on, we are moving forward !
Mumbai is ready to fight
Maharashtra is ready to fight
India is ready to fight
When I visit Mumbai next (very soon at that) I wanna go and visit Taj …. Oops sorry, I wanna visit ‘The Taj’, I wanna board train from CST next time …. I will walk Colaba streets for sure …. Let’s see who can stop me
