Indian Media Loses Credibility

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> The description is graphic; the veracity of the incident taken almost

>for granted coming from a writer of Arundhati Roy's reputation. But,

>alas, that's where we make the mistake. Fame and honesty are not

>interlinked as the following paragraph clearly indicates

>Title: Lies, Lies And More Lies >Author: Vivek Gumaste >Publication:

Sulekha.com >URL: http://www.sulekha.com/articledesc.asp?cid=290065 > > >When I

read recent reports (fabricated, to say the least) of the IDRF >(India

Development Research Fund) being a conduit for the communal >violence in

Gujarat, I said to myself, "there we go again." There >just doesn't seem to be

an end to this litany of lies. A few years >ago there was a story circulating

in the Indian news media, about the >fleeing Hindu refugees from Kashmir. These

reports claimed that over >a quarter million Hindus had left their homes in

Kashmir, not out of >fear of Islamic militancy, but at the instigation of

Jagmohan, the >then Governor of Kashmir. It was and is still, a ridiculous

notion >without even an iota of truth; in other words, a blatant lie. But it

>didn't stop some of our intellectuals from propagating that >falsehood! > >

>Then did you hear that the 34 innocent Sikhs of Chatisinghpora, who >were

murdered in cold blood on the eve of Clinton's visit, were not >done in by

Islamic militants, but by agents of the Indian government >in order to

discredit the separatist movement? Another canard spread >not by Pakistan, but

our own so-called intellectuals. > > >This has been the pattern ever since the

BJP came to power in India >in March 1998. In fact there has been a relentless

witch-hunt, the >likes of which we have never seen before; a witch-hunt

orchestrated >by the major English newspapers in cahoots with the opposing

>political parties and so-called secular groups; a witch hunt that >knows no

logic and sees no reason; a witch hunt so consumed by a >blind hatred for the

BJP that fraud and deceit are considered >appropriate weapons in this mad orgy;

a witch hunt in which even >national interest is of no concern. > > >Beginning

in the late 90s, Indian newspapers reported on a rash of so- >called

anti-Christian incidents perpetrated supposedly by Hindu >extremists. Close

scrutiny, however, revealed that these incidents >were deliberate falsehoods

spread by vested interests to further >their political agenda. > > >Take for

example the incident in Jhabua, MP in which four nuns were >brutally raped.

Even before any details of this crime were available, >the major newspapers had

conducted a trial, established the criminal >guilt of the Hindu extremists and

communicated this message to the >country and the world at large by splashing

this news across their >front pages. > > >It was finally left up to Francois

Gautier, the correspondent in >South Asia for Le Figaro, France's largest

circulation newspaper, who >personally went to Jhabua, to unearth the truth.

This is what he >wrote in the Hindustan Times (Feb 1, 1999). "This massive

outcry on >the 'atrocities against the minorities' raises also doubts about the

>quality and integrity of Indian journalism. Take for instance, the >rape of the

four nuns in Jhabua. Today the Indian Press (and the >foreign correspondents --

witness Tony Clifton's piece in the last >issue of Newsweek) are still

reporting that it was a 'religious' >rape. Yet I went to Jhabua and met the

four adorable nuns, who >themselves admitted, along with their bishop George

Anatil, that it >had nothing to do with religion. It was the doing of a gang of

Bhil >tribals, known to perpetrate this kind of hateful acts on their own

>women. Yet today, the Indian Press, the Christian hierarchy and the

>politicians continue to include the Jhabua rape in the list of the >atrocities

against the Christians." > > >A few days later, the Home Minister released a

list of the criminals, >a list forwarded to him by the Congress (whose leader

incidentally >happens to be Christian) government of MP. Twelve of the accused

were >Christians. Christian groups initially questioned this finding but >when

confronted with irrefutable proof chose to ignore it. And the >newspapers? Yes,

they reported it in some hidden corner of their >paper. What about those things

called truth and honesty? Does it >matter? No. According to their warped sense

of values maligning the >Hindu groups is itself synonymous with truth. > >

>About another incident that occurred in Kerala, Francois Gautier >wrote. > >

>"In Wyanad in northern Kerala, it was reported that a priest and four >women

were beaten up and a Bible was stolen by 'fanatical' Hindus. An >FIR was

lodged, the communists took out processions all over Kerala >to protest against

the 'atrocities' and the Press went gaga. Yet as >an intrepid reporter from the

Calicut office of The Indian Express >found out, nobody was beaten up and the

Bible was safe. Too late: the >damage was done and it still is being made use

of by the enemies of >India." > > >More recently, the reporting of events about

Gujarat is another >example of hyperbole. But before elaborating on specific

instances of >deception, let me state that we cannot and should not condone the

>senseless violence that happened in Gujarat. By the same token we >cannot

accept the malicious dissemination of falsehoods. Writing >about the Gujarat

riots, Arundhati Roy had this to say (Outlook, May >6,2002). > > >"A mob

surrounded the house of ex-Congress MP Iqbal Ehsan Jaffri. His >phone calls to

the director-general of police, the police >commissioner, the chief secretary,

the additional chief secretary >(home) were ignored. The mobile police vans

around his house did not >intervene. The mob broke into the house. They

stripped his daughters >and burnt them alive. Then they beheaded Jaffri and

dismembered him." > > >The description is graphic; the veracity of the incident

taken almost >for granted coming from a writer of Arundhati Roy's reputation.

But, >alas, that's where we make the mistake. Fame and honesty are not

>interlinked as the following paragraph clearly indicates. > > >Jaffri was

killed in the riots but his daughters were >neither 'stripped' nor 'burnt

alive.' T.A. Jafri, his son, in a front- >page interview titled Nobody knew my

father's house was the target >(Asian Age, May 2, Delhi edition), says, "among

my brothers and >sisters, I am the only one living in India. And I am the

eldest in >the family. My sister and brother live in the US. I am 40 years old

>and I have been born and brought up in Ahmedabad." > > >So if Ehsan Jaffri had

only one daughter (singular) who was safe and >sound in the US, where did Roy

get her facts about not one, but >daughters (plural) being stripped and burnt?

Was it the fantasy of a >writer's mind? Or was it willful deceit aimed at

maligning her >ideological adversaries? > > >Arundhati Roy did apologise for

her mistake in a letter published in >Outlook May 27, 2002. Could this have

been a genuine mistake, one is >tempted to ask? But when such 'mistakes' occur

periodically, the >chances of them being accidental appear remote. They appear

to be in >fact calculated machinations aimed at achieving a specific goal as

>the following incident further proves. > > >In the same article, Roy claims. >

> >"Last night a friend from Baroda called. Weeping. It took her fifteen

>minutes to tell me what the matter was. It wasn't very complicated. >Only that

Sayeeda, a friend of hers, had been caught by a mob. Only >that her stomach had

been ripped open and stuffed with burning rags. >Only that after she died,

someone carved 'OM' on her forehead." >Disturbed by the thought of such a

ghastly act, Balbir Punj (a BJP >MP) had this matter investigated. In Outlook

(Jul 08, 2002) he wrote. > > >"Shocked by this despicable 'incident,' I got in

touch with the >Gujarat Government. The police investigations revealed that no

such >case, involving someone called Sayeeda, had been reported either in

>urban or rural Baroda. Subsequently, the police sought Roy's help to >identify

the victim and seek access to witnesses who could lead them >to those guilty of

this crime. But the police got no cooperation. >Instead, Roy, through her

lawyer, replied that the police had no >power to issue summons. Why is she

hedging behind technical excuses?" > > >So when asked to prove her allegations,

Arundhati Roy developed cold >feet; definitely not the attitude of a crusader

for truth. > > >Similarly you must have read some accounts of what preceded

Godhra. >There were wild accounts of an altercation between Ram sevaks and

>Muslim stall-owners, and of the abduction of a Muslim girl by Ram >sevaks. All

this emanated on the basis of a fictitious e-mail as >revealed by Prem Shankar

Jha (Outlook, March 25) > > >This also reminds me of another episode that

occurred a few years >ago. Filmmaker Pradip Kishen (who happens to be Arundhati

Roy's >husband and a part of the same ideological group) walked out in a >huff

from the National Film Awards jury accusing the board of >political motives. He

asserted that Raveena Tandon had been given the >best actress award for Daman

because she had campaigned for the BJP. >When an angry Raveena asked him to

prove his charges, he beat a hasty >retreat and submitted an unconditional

apology. This may not be an >item of grave national importance but serves to

confirm the fact that >certain groups repeatedly use devious methods to achieve

their >broader political aims. > > >Mr. Tunku Varadarajan is deputy editorial

features editor of The Wall >Street Journal. He also has had several

publications in the New York >Times. This is an excerpt from his article

titled, 'Deadly Zeal in >India' (NY Times, Jan 11, 1999). > > >"This happened a

month after a Roman Catholic priest was murdered and >religious fanatics vowed

to turn an entire district into a 'Christian- >free zone'. In keeping with this

promise, a chapel was set on fire. >Elsewhere, armed men broke into a Catholic

convent and assaulted two >nuns inside, and another Catholic priest was shot

dead." This report >appeared exactly 15 days before, I repeat 15 days before

Graham >Staines, the Australian missionary was killed in Orissa. Until then >no

Christian missionary had been killed in India as a result of >religious hatred,

yet Tunku Vardarajan's op-ed piece described >picturesquely how armed men broke

into a convent and shot dead a >Catholic priest. In deference to fair play and

before passing >judgment, I e-mailed the newspaper asking them for details that

I may >not have been aware of. I never received a reply. A week later, >however,

the NY Times reported that no lives had been lost in the so- >called

anti-Christian campaign. (This was before the Staines murder). >So this was

without a doubt an explicit lie with an ulterior motive. >Apart from being a

tall tale it was also a clever ploy: exaggerate >the crime, evoke greater

condemnation and thereby silence those who >do not agree with you. > > >What do

these incidents suggest? The so-called secular groups (or >more appropriately

labeled 'pseudo-secular') are willing to go to any >lengths to put across their

point of view, even if it involves >duplicity, spreading half-truths or

indulging in hyperbole. How can >we believe a people or the philosophy they

espouse when trickery is >an indispensable item in their mode of communication?

Or in other >words can an ideology that requires the crutches of deceit and

>distortion sustain itself? > > >What is even more disturbing is that many

eminent personalities >(Nobel laureates, software entrepreneurs and academics)

are using the >weight of their prestige to lend misplaced credibility to these

>untruths. But one must remember that shorn of the sophisticated >accents that

we speak in, shorn of the King's English that we pen, >shorn of the academic

degrees from Western Universities that we >flaunt, shorn of our status or fame

in society that we impose upon >others, what really matters is the truth and

honesty of the words >that we write or speak. When judged by this yardstick,

some of these >so-called intellectuals and eminent personalities fall way below

into >an abysmal pit of moral bankruptcy that is hard to fathom. > > >Blind

adherence to any ideology whether it is Hindutva or anti- >Hindutva will lead

us nowhere. Truth, honesty and justice must >surmount all ideology. Double

standards and hypocrisy especially the >type practiced by our so-called eminent

personalities will only >destroy our democracy and society. Truth must be the

basis of any >ideology. Truth and honesty must be the foundations of our

society. > > >So let us stop lying. Let us be fair and above all let us speak

the >truth. Then alone can we build a truly democratic and secular India. > >

>REFERENCES > > >1) Outlook India, May 06,2002 >2) Outlook India, May 27, 2002

article by Balbir Punj >3) Outlook India, Jul 08, 2002 article by Balbir Punj.

>4) Hindustan Times, Feb 1, 1999 >5) New York Times, Jan 11, 1999 MSN 8 helps

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