Why has the CNN Bias column been so successful?

[Guest guest]

>"Ashwini Kumar"

>Fwd: Why has the CNN Bias column been so successful? >Fri, 08

Feb 2002 23:11:55 -0500 > > > > >>"Rajiv Malhotra" > >>This refers to the

Sulekha.com column titled, CNN's Pakistan Bias", >>posted >>at:

>>http://www.sulekha.com/column.asp?cid=163061 >> >>Given the enormous

magnitude of response (both quantitatively and >>qualitatively measured), I

wish to explain that I haven't "done" >>anything to >>bring this about. Rather,

this response is indicative of the >>pre-existing >>sentiments and beliefs of

the vast majority of thinking people. My >>column >>was merely a case of

touching the right buttons, and the feelings >>buried in >>the public's

subconscious came pouring out from all sides. >> >>As any management consultant

knows, often the job to be done is >>merely to >>listen to what the client

organization's own staff has to say, and >>to >>synthesize it coherently. Much

of the time, the answers and ideas >>already >>exist, but have not been heard,

and have not been coherently >>organized for >>presentation. >> >>Another

real-world example of this was the massive success of the >>TV >>Ramayana

series in the 1980s. The sentiments were already there >>amongst the

>>populace. They had been repressed by the Marxist ideology, that >>tradition

>>was a scourge to be eradicated in order to bring about modernity, >>and to

>>thereby get out of the colonial burden. The past was seen as evil, >>or at

>>least primitive, and had no merit whatsoever. One should eradicate >>the past

>>from history, except for explaining all its negative points, and >>move on in

>>the name of progress. There were two things wrong with this >>ideology of

>>repression. >> >>First: They were throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

Much >>ancient >>science, technology and culture turns out to have enormous

value, >>and is now >>being claimed by Western re-discoverers who spend their

lives >>researching >>Indic civilizations. >> >>Second: Traditional sentiments

are deep rooted in Indian soil. >>Neither the >>Muslim destruction since 7th to

18th centuries, nor the European >>colonialism, were successful in eradicating

traditions from Indian >>soil, >>unlike the way such traditions got eradicated

from most other parts >>of the >>world. >> >>Hence, it was an act of supreme

arrogance on the part of the >>post-colonial >>Marxists, Subalternists,

Indologists, Hinduism Scholars, >>Indianists, South >>Asianists, and other

alphabet soup-ists, to imagine that they could >>deal a >>death blow to the

tradition of the people. (Ironically, it was >>being >>attempted in the name of

saving the people from their own >>backwardness.) >> >>After the collapse of the

Soviet Union, one of the most powerful >>resurgences >>in the former Warsaw Pact

countries has been of religion, and of >>everything >>else that was denied by

the top-down authoritarians, who felt that >>they had >>the license to decide

what was right for al. >> >>Hence, the euphoric success of the TV Ramayana,

followed by TV >>Mahabharata, >>and many other Indic stories. The elite

intellectuals, being >>dumbfounded and >>highly embarrassed, came up with

theories that somehow credited >>BJP's rise >>with this sentiment of tradition.

But their chronology is >>backwards: Years >>before the BJP came to power, TV

Ramayana had already brought out >>the >>people's sentiments into public

euphoria. BJP's rise was the result >>and not >>the cause of this grass-roots

reawakening. >> >>A better but more sobering analysis would have been to

acknowledge >>that >>separating the people from the traditions of their soil

was a bad >>strategy >>to begin with, rather than to locate the "fault" in some

top-down >>political >>shift. >> >>Likewise, a better interpretation of the

success of this column's >>thesis is >>that it merely reflects the beliefs of

the thinking public, which >>the media >>has kept repressed. SAJA has been an

accomplice. Indian Government >>has been >>complacent and incompetent. NRI

leaders have been too selfish to >>bother. The >>media have been manipulated by

well organized and funded Pakistani >>PR. >> >>But, clearly, the public knows.

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