[Reader-list] ‘As Hindus, We Were Expected To Further The Cause With Our Stories’

[Aditya Raj Kaul]

True. Not that I adore Indian Express. But there are other ways to counter
personal ego. She has mocked herself writing in a different publication an
outburst. She lacks Journalistic traits.

On Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 5:41 PM, Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi <
rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com> wrote:

> Simple is simply frustrated because her imagination and reportage did not
> get the award.?
>
> On Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 11:52 AM, Sanjay Kak <kaksanjay at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > As an 'insider' account of the workings of India's mainstream press,
> > and its professionalism and politics, this is a most valuable account.
> > Best
> > Sanjay Kak
> >
> >
> > From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 22, Dated Jun 06, 2009
> > CULTURE & SOCIETY
> > personal histories
> >
> > ‘As Hindus, We Were Expected To Further The Cause With Our Stories’
> >
> > Simple M Pani
> > Is 32. She is a journalist based in New Delhi
> >
> > Illustration: UZMA MOHSIN
> >
> > EVERY YEAR, I look starry-eyed at the awardees of the Ramnath Goenka
> > Excellence in Journalism Awards and at the stalwarts handing over the
> > honours. For grit, hard work, tenacity and honesty to the trade,
> > without a care for reward, getting richly rewarded. But this year, I
> > couldn’t quell a queasy feeling in my stomach when the virtues of fair
> > reporting were spoken about at the event. This has been happening
> > since the Amarnath land agitation, when I was reporting for the Jammu
> > bureau of a leading national daily. It visited Jammu like a gale,
> > sweeping away in gusts the sense of fair play and discrimination of
> > many scribes. In our morning meetings, it was assumed as a given that
> > being Hindus, we (reporters, photojournalists and other staff)
> > supported the agitation for restoration of land to the Amarnath Shrine
> > Board. Not only were we expected to support it whole-heartedly but it
> > was considered our ‘moral’ duty to further its cause through our
> > stories. It was routine for our editor to ask, “So how is the
> > agitation faring in xyz place?” and an over-zealous colleague to
> > answer passionately, “Excellent. It’s got a tremendous response there”
> > and for the editor to rub his chin and say, “But find out what
> > challenges they are facing in abc place and how it could be
> > strengthened there.” If you were in Jammu, you had to sing paeans to
> > the agitators. What smacked of fascism was that no other line of
> > thinking, let alone criticism of any sort, was brooked. The few media
> > houses that did judge it critically, were a woeful minority.
> >
> > Two quixotic features of the agitation stood out. First, to refuse to
> > recognise the real. To pretend not to see something as stark as an
> > economic blockade of the Valley, imposed by the stone-pelting
> > agitators by attacking and burning Valley-bound trucks. (I’ve seen
> > trucks burnt to rubble by agitators, on the Jammu-Pathankote National
> > Highway, but naturally, it wasn’t considered newsworthy in several
> > publications because the Jammu media had decided there was no
> > blockade. This assumption ruled out any question of trucks being
> > attacked.) This kind of dangerous, deductive logic crafting an
> > alternative reality was rampant at the time. The storyline would be
> > decided in the office and reporters would be asked to select data from
> > the field to support it. For instance, to prove the nonexistence of a
> > blockade, we would be asked to report that medicines were available in
> > plenty in Jammu. If there were a blockade, then Jammu would be equally
> > hit, ran the specious logic. In reality, Jammu faced a severe shortage
> > of medicines!
> >
> > Second, to fancy the unreal as real, by drawing parallels between
> > itself and the India’s Freedom Movement. Like praising the Emperor’s
> > new clothes, which despite any empirical reality, were extolled to the
> > skies. Eulogies of “those brave, nationalist, heroes,” the agitators,
> > who went about uprooting railway tracks, smashing windows of public
> > transport that dared to ply on the roads in defiance of the bandh
> > call, and violently attacking trucks entering the state, filled reams
> > of newsprint every day. Strangely, the mute common man of Jammu, the
> > poor news vendor and hawker on the streets seemed to be more
> > discerning than the city’s intelligentsia. They knew that there was
> > much more to nationalism than flag-waving xenophobia. That sporting a
> > ‘Bhagat Singh moustache’ wasn’t enough to equate one with the martyr.
> > They knew that vandalism couldn’t pass for bravery and that they would
> > have to repay the loss caused to the state from their pockets; all of
> > which the intelligentsia missed, in a misplaced fervour.
> >
> > Despite the claim that the struggle was solely for the restoration of
> > land to the Amarnath Shrine Board, the fact is it did degenerate into
> > hate for the ‘other.’ Gujjars’ kullas were burnt in hundreds. The word
> > “Kashmir” was knocked off from the Kashmir Square Mall, a Delhi-style
> > mall in town, and was rechristened ‘City Square Mall.’ Such sentiments
> > are dangerous for any civilised society, more so when the media, the
> > supposed watchdog of liberal values, is gung-ho about it.
> >
> > From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 22, Dated Jun 06, 2009
> > _________________________________________
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>
>
> --
> Rajen.
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