MEDIAS� (ir)RESPONSIBILITY

[Vedavati Jogi]

MEDIAS’ RESPONSIBILITY
Where should it be?


Date: Jan 12, 2007 11:39 PM

By the time you guys read these news excerpts, the body of Major Manish 
Pitambare, who was shot dead at Anantnag, would have been cremated with full 
military honors.

On Tuesday, this news swept across all the news channels 'Sanjay Dutt 
relieved by court'. 'Sirf Munna not a bhai' '13 saal ka vanvaas khatam' 
'although found guilty for possession of armory, Sanjay can breath sigh of 
relief as all the TADA charges against him are withdrawn'. Then many 
personalities like Salman Khan said 'He is a good person. We knew he will 
come out clean'. Mr. Big B said, "Dutt's family and our family have 
relations for years he's a good kid. He is like elder brother to Abhishek". 
His sister Priya Dutt said "we can sleep well tonight. It's a great relief"

In other news, Parliament was mad at Indian team for performing bad; Greg 
Chappell said something; Shah Rukh Khan replaces Amitabh in KBC and other 
such stuff. But most of the emphasis was given on Sanjay Dutt's "phoenix 
like" comeback from the ashes of terrorist charges. Surfing through the 
channels, one news item on BBC startled me. It read, "Hisbul Mujahidin's 
most wanted terrorist Sohel Faisal killed in Anantnag, India. Indian Major 
leading the operation lost his life in the process. Four others are injured.

It was past midnight, I started visiting the stupid Indian channels, but 
Sanjay Dutt was still ruling. They were telling how Sanjay pleaded to the 
court saying 'I'm the sole bread earner for my family', 'I have a daughter 
who is studying in US' and so on. Then they showed how Sanjay was not 
wearing his lucky blue shirt while he was hearing the verdict and also how 
he went to every temple and prayed for the last few months. A suspect in 
Mumbai bomb blasts, convicted under armory act...was being transformed into 
a hero.

Sure Sanjay Dutt has a daughter; sure he did not do any terrorist activity. 
Possessing an AK47 is considered too elementary in terrorist community and 
also one who possesses an AK47 has a right to possess a pistol so that again 
is not such a big crime; Sure Sanjay Dutt went to all the temples; sure he 
did a lot of Gandhigiri but then...........

Major Manish H Pitambare got the information from his sources about the 
terrorists' whereabouts. Wasting no time he attacked the camp, killed Hisbul 
Mujahidin's supremo and in the process lost his life to the bullets fired 
from an AK47. He is survived by a wife and daughter (just like Sanjay Dutt 
has) who's only 18 months old.

Major Manish never said 'I have a daughter' before he took the decision to 
attack the terrorists in the darkest of nights. He never thought about 
having a family and he being the bread earner. No news channel covered this 
since they were too busy hyping a former drug addict; a suspect who's linked 
to bomb blasts which killed hundreds. Their aim was to show how he defied 
the TADA charges and they were so successful that his conviction in 
possession of armory had no meaning. They also concluded that his parents in 
heaven must be happy and proud of him.

Parents of Major Manish are still living and they have to live rest of their 
lives without their beloved son. His daughter won't ever see her daddy 
again. Finally Major Manish, to my generation is a greater hero, someone who 
laid his life in the name of this great nation.

So guys, please forward this message around so that the media knows which 
news to give importance, as it is a shame for us since this Army Major's 
death news was given by a foreign TV channel!!!

Yet the smallest of aberrations in a 1.5 million strong Army is hyped up and 
pasted on the front-page news, without so much as a confirmation. Our media 
men are defence analysts, strategists, lawmakers and judges – all rolled 
into one BUT are they patriots?

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