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A confident Prime Minister Ghastly terror A matter of shame |
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National media policy a must
In search of a real cop!
DOCUMENT Chatterati
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A confident Prime Minister BY the very act of agreeing to address an open Press conference – the first by a Prime Minister in more than a decade — Dr Manmohan Singh sent out a clear message that he was very much in the driver’s seat. In his own words, he was throwing the pigeon among the cats. But in actual performance he came out more as an eagle: sharp, articulate and bold. He did not duck any uncomfortable question. Nor did he give any ambiguous reply. The overall conclusion that emerged from the media interaction was that he was his own man. In good measure, he also underlined that, one, he was not going to throw in the towel and was there for the full term and, two, Mrs Sonia Gandhi was not some kind of a super Prime Minister. The projection of this kind of confidence was necessary because a country cannot progress if the Prime Minister is seen as a lame-duck entity. It was also imperative to keep the world on notice about the strength of India’s backbone at a time when it is quickly trying to climb the stairs of the global stage. In his own polite but firm way, the Prime Minister managed to put forth the point that the Opposition was hampering the smooth functioning of democracy, in which the winner has the right to govern. A new government is normally granted a “honeymoon period” of settling down to work. “Unfortunately, I have not been granted that indulgence and we have had to hit the ground running,” he pointed out. This was not a commiseration but a statement of fact, which seemed to find resonance among the public. To his credit, Dr Manmohan Singh gave clear and forthright answers even on controversial issues. Anybody who thought that he would respond like a rubberstamp must have been surprised by his plainspeak on ticklish matters like tainted ministers, the role of Savarkar and “detoxification” of textbooks. Why, he did not hesitate to call a spade a spade in the rivers water muddle precipitated by Capt Amarinder Singh. The economist has proved that he is learning his political ropes fast. Through the Press conference he managed to open a useful channel of communication. Perhaps he should hold more such interactions to let the world know his mettle. |
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Ghastly terror THE grisly pictures of naked children with blood oozing out from their tender bodies are going to haunt the victims and survivors of Russia’s hostage crisis and the conscience of the world for all times to come. How could anyone be so cold-blooded as to use and abuse children so brazenly for whatever cause? One’s heart goes out to the families of those who had to suffer this nightmare. At an age when these children should have been exposed only to fairytales and toys, they have had a brush with inhuman conduct causing blood and gore. Given the scale of the tragedy, the ire of some may even fall on the government for the “botched” operation, but what should not be lost sight of is the fact that the security forces had not launched any half-baked rescue mission. The captors had started killing the hostages and it was necessary to save others from these maniacs. Even otherwise, there was need for sending a clear message to the bloodhounds that they could not hold humanity to ransom by hitting at soft targets. Had the kidnappers succeeded in their plan, many other schools would have become easy prey. At least now the potential kidnappers know that their madness would not further their nefarious designs and instead, they may have to pay with their lives. Any appeasement of killers only encourages others to follow suit. India has had a first-hand experience of this bitter truth. The abject surrender in the Rubaiya Sayeed kidnapping and the Kandahar plane hijacking cases gave a boost to such incidents. The tag of soft state the country has earned in the bargain will have to be shed through resolute action if we have to nip the evil. The menace of kidnappings can be curbed only if the entire world cooperates whole-heartedly in every such incident. The message should go out loud and clear to every potential killer that he was not fighting a particular person or country but the entire world and that mankind would strike back with all the force at its command in response to their madness. |
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A matter of shame THE Lucknow episode has once again highlighted the irresponsible behaviour of protectors and enforcers of the law. The disturbing television shots of lawyers hurling stones at policemen and they in turn acting in a highly vengeful manner should be studied carefully. Evidently, by the time the television channels got wind of the clash the lawyers were literally at the receiving end of the policemen's stick. The footage will prove useful in identifying the policemen who were seen behaving like hoodlums rather than members of a force charged with the responsibility of restoring public order. On Saturday the agitating lawyers got into a confrontation with transport workers. At least one bullet was fired that hit a lawyer. Who fired the shot is not clear. The agitation may spread to other parts of Uttar Pradesh on Monday. It is unbelievable that a minor accident involving the car of a former president of the Avadh Bar Association and an Army truck provided the spark for the clash in which nearly 50 lawyers and some policemen were injured. However, there is no smoke without fire. The enquiry by a retired Supreme Court Judge should be able to get at the bottom of incident. It is without doubt another black mark against the lawyers and the policemen. Not surprisingly, various Bar associations across the country went on strike — an inappropriate word to use for lawyers — to protest against the beating up of their colleagues in Lucknow. What purpose such acts serve in improving the image of the Bar is not clear. They only act as a further source of harassment for the litigants. A point that should not be ignored is the difference between the educational profile of the lawyers and the average policemen and the nature of their duties. All lawyers, senior or junior, whether practising in the districts or the Supreme Court, are recognised as officers of the court and as such are expected to follow and protect the due judicial process. Do they always follow this inviolable rule for enhancing the image of their profession and that of the judiciary? |
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Happiness is not an ideal of reason but of imagination. — Immanuel Kant |
National media policy a must THE Minister for Information and Broadcasting announced recently in Parliament that Doordarshan was going ahead with its Direct-to-Home (DTH) service. The reasons given for this launch include that an amount of Rs 160 crore was already spent on the project and that it would help easy and free access to DD channels for the poor, particularly in the North-East, Himachal and Kashmir. Earlier, Prasar Bharati had announced that 15000 dishes and set-top-boxes (STBs) required to receive DTH would be distributed to community centres. Since Dish DTH (by Zee TV) has already been a reality in the country for the last eight months. Doordarshan would be a second player. And a third player (Star TV) is knocking at the door. Perhaps, that is why the minister said: “More the merrier.” There is some innocence and misleading belief about these announcements and assumptions. Firstly, DTH, being primarily a hardware effort, involves not Rs 160 crore but much more than Rs 500 crore of investment. Secondly, to receive a DTH service, including DD’s, one needs to have a small dish and an STB costing more than Rs 3000. Thirdly, as of now, each DTH service requires a separate dish and a separate STB. Fourthly, DTH implies promoting “Pay TV” and “encrypted channels” even though some channels on it may be free and thus involves heavy on-going costs at both ends, the broadcaster and the receiver, if it has to remain in service. Fifthly, DTH is a centralised operation with many channels from all over, of all origins, and they could be on any subject. Sixthly, DTH service gets interrupted wherever and whenever there is rain and clouds at lower altitude (as in the North-East and Himachal) for that period. Seventhly, the viability of a DTH service, in whichever country it exists, is more by going for porno channels and the like. And, lastly, DTH allows targeted messages to targeted subscribers without being amenable for any interruption. Neither of these facts were brought to the knowledge of Parliament. DTH has not replaced cable TV anywhere nor has cable TV become absolute anywhere and vice versa. Both will coexist in India very much. With the convergence of technologies, DTH in its present form is not the end or the ultimate. We can expect a newer communication technology which would be cheaper, easier, more relevant, a lot more personalised and interactive in the coming decade, making DTH not absolute but as yet another option like the cable TV today. What one needs to look into are cost-benefit aspects of the cable TV, terrestrial TV, DTH, etc, in the context of the kind of contradictions and diversities we have. It is rather a compulsion for DTH to aim at rich households and those who are already reached practically by every other media of communication and entertainment. It has good potential to reach the so far unreached in far flung and hilly pockets of the country but on other than rainy and cloudy days. The I&B Ministry has been for some years on a reactive mode in an ad hoc way instead of coming up first with a national media policy or at least with a policy for broadcasting. The urgency for such a national policy is much more today as there are many options with merits, demerits and appropriateness with regard to India’s unique communication needs and challenges. Then there are issues like the cross-media pattern and monopolies which need to be addressed to in a national policy, not by way of administrative guidelines in each case. The media scene cannot be free for all. No country is without restrictions, obligations and regulations. Decisions taken without a broader view and approach, as in the case of DTH, add to the complexity of the issues and, in fact, take the country on a misleading course. What India needs is a more decentralised media where participation is local and from wider sections and does not further divide the country into “DTH-rich” and “DTH-poor”. One of the objectives that the government should be concerned about is to bring about one-third of the country’s population into the fold of easy media access. The Prasar Bharati proposal to provide dish and STBs freely or on a subsidised basis to community centres and the like to enable them to receive DD’s DTH is an innocent idea. For, it does not draw upon our earlier experience with “community TV” when channel options were not there. The community TV approach no longer works with more TV households even in remote areas and with the option of many channels. Doordarshan’s DTH would end up “introducing” and delivering foreign and private channels more than increasing the viewership for DD channels. The push and pull factor in such viewing situations tends to be in favour of the channels which are not meant to be viewed locally. The “community radio” scheme should have been revamped first as a priority item as it is far more relevant than DTH, including in remote corners. DD had spent Rs 28 crore during the last couple of years for Digital Territorial Transmission (DTT) in four metros with the potential to expand TV horizontally and vertically. But so far this facility has not even been launched for whatever reasons. DD-DTH is likely to be a bigger setback for DD than is the case with DTT — at the cost of a few hundred crores of tax payers money. In any case, DD’s DTH will never be a viable proposition nor would it amount to fulfilling Prasar Bharati’s obligations as a “public service broadcaster”. The Ministry of I&B would be performing its responsibilities in a far better manner if it could facilitate and support local terrestrial television stations which are more cost-effective than DTH. This costly mistake of going for DTH could have been avoided in the first instance had there been a national media policy. The government already made a mistake of licensing Dish DTH of Zee. If the ministry had a national media policy it would not have licensed any private player for DTH and DD should have been the first to come up with DTH. Having more players does not mean better for any such media as the experience of other countries indicates. Studies even on market opportunities in India indicate the same situation. Instead of such an “exploratory enterprise” of going for DD-DTH, the ministry should first do something with regard to the following: (1) One dish and one STB should be good enough for all DTH services unlike now. (2) All channels, particularly news and current affairs channels, should be made obligatory to be carried on all DTH platforms unlike. (3) More specifically, it should be mandatory for all DTH platforms beaming into India to carry all DD channels, national and regional. This would be far more cost-effective than going in for DD’s own DTH platform. It should concentrate on making more relevant and more appealing programmes so that its channels stand out in the new and competitive media scenario. The writer is Chairman, Centre for Media Studies, New Delhi. |
In search of a real cop! WHEN I was a little boy growing up in a small North Indian town, I did not know any cops. There were none in my family. My father, my uncles, and all other men in our family were farmers or academicians. My mother, my grandmother, my aunts and all other women in our family were full-time mommies and housewives though nowhere close to “Tulsi” (of Kyunki Saas bhi kabhi Bahu thi). And none of the other aunties and uncles in our neighbourhood were cops. Although there were no cops in my family or in the neighbourhood, I did know two cops whom I never met. The first was tall, dark and handsome, young Police Inspector Vijay played by Amitabh Bachchan. He came into my life when I was five years old and appeared in eastman colour on this huge cinema screen not far from our home. As a boy growing up in the mixed economy era of the mid-seventies I was in awe of this man. Indeed, I wanted to grow up to be just like him. Inspector Vijay was a phenomenal cop who had two incredible attributes. First, he always stood for the downtrodden. Second, he always won. He always found the real killer and brought him to justice. Vijay did not believe in stupid lengthy investigations. He, as a rule, always exposed the real villain in the courtroom during the trial. That’s because for reasons I still can’t figure out, whenever Vijay investigated a case the real killer attended the trial and would be sitting in the audience in the courtroom. Now if I ever murdered someone — and this is a hypothetical case I am dealing with — and someone else was accused of the crime, I guarantee you that the last place I would show up would be the trial. The second cop I got to know as a little boy was a man called Jagdish Raj. You would probably remember him as the person whose name figures in the Limca Book of Records for having played one character in a record number of movies. The man who always played a cop. Inspector Jagdish Raj worked from modest police station buildings, lived in the police lines, rode a rickety police jeep and led a simple ordinary life. He always wore his khaki uniform, spoke only when spoken to and rarely pulled out his gun. He did not look like a Greek god. He had a big belly and, of course, he was no Romeo. Now when I was a little boy, I wanted more than anything else to grow up to be a flashy cop just like Vijay. I wanted to have fun, a good lifestyle and a desire to catch powerful criminals in courtrooms. But now that I have been a cop for over a decade, I can tell you folks: Vijay is no longer my hero. My hero, indeed my role model, as a cop is Jagdish Raj. So why, you ask, has Inspector Raj become my hero? Simple because as an ordinary cop he showed more character and certainly appeared more real. It was awfully easy for Vijay to be a cop. He never patrolled the streets. Neither did he spend sleepless nights reading case diaries in poorly-lit police stations. Instead, he spent more time singing songs and running around trees after pretty girls. He attended official meetings in civvies when others were trussed up like turkeys. His superiors listened to him with rapt attention when he discussed crime; he was never questioned for his lavish and flashy cars. He was never at fault. Inspector Raj on the other hand was never spared for lapses, he was the last one to reach the scene of crime, his gun was snatched a number of times, he was roughed up by goons, yet he always managed to take away the criminal finally. All so real. Think of the character, the sheer tenacity and the Churchillian spirit (“Never give in”) that his character possessed. Movie after movie Raj continued to play a cop — an ordinary individual in pursuit of justice against all odds. An ordinary man who never had it easy. Yet he continued doing his job. Vijay was great entertainment. But the older I get, the more I admire the potbellied Inspector Jagdish Raj. It is the likes of him that make you and me feel safe in this world.
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DOCUMENT Friends, The past three months have been rather unusual. A new government is normally granted what you in the media call a “honeymoon period” of settling down to work. Unfortunately, I have not been granted that indulgence and we have had to hit the ground running. As I look back on these three months I can confidently say that despite this rough start, our government has started translating the mandate and the message of the 2004 elections into policies and programmes. Our government’s objective is clear. The country must forge ahead with a higher rate of economic growth, but that growth process must generate more employment, must be equitable, socially just and humane. Agriculture and our farmers must receive more focused attention. India must shine for the poor, it must shine for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, other backward classes and minorities. India must shine in the cities and the villages. We want India to shine, and shine for all. Inflation has caused some concern. But, I assure you that despite increasing world oil prices, a delayed arrival of the monsoon and avoidable disruptions caused by such actions as the truckers’ strike we shall be able to control inflationary pressures. We shall take firm measures to check inflation without hurting the growth process. The security situation in the country has been a cause for concern for some time now. Our government is committed to dealing effectively with the internal security challenges. We would, however, do so in a humane and compassionate manner and in keeping with democratic traditions. We will not compromise with militancy and violence, but we are ready to talk to any and all disaffected groups, whether in Jammu and Kashmir, in the North-Eastern States, or elsewhere. We are not laying down any pre-conditions, but expect that those who resort to militancy should eschew the path of violence, and stop the killing of innocent citizens. I will be visiting Jammu & Kashmir shortly. Our government is alive to the sentiments and concerns of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East and will do the utmost to guarantee a life of dignity and self-respect of every citizen. We will take measures to accelerate the tempo of development. Vis-à-vis Pakistan, we have consistently declared our commitment to the peace process and to carrying forward the dialogue process. Our approach to talks will be based on realism and the belief that the people of South Asia are bound together by a shared destiny. It is not in my nature to promise a false dawn but I do believe in the ancient saying that ‘a road is made by walking’, step by step. We will continue to strengthen strategic and political equations with the United States and Russian Federation. We shall move forward on resolving the boundary issue with China and fashion a stable cooperative relationship with that country. I have repeatedly emphasised the importance of reforming government and improving governance in the country. This is not a partisan or a party political agenda. I have sought a national consensus on a code of conduct, a code of ethics and a code of best practices in government. This is in the national interest. Whether in accelerating the rate of economic growth or dealing with law and order and the internal security challenge, the real task at hand is to reform the three arms of governance — the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. Major political parties are today in government in one state or another. Whatever our political differences, all of us have a shared interest and a joint stake in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of government. We will convene an all-party conference on electoral reform to forge a consensus on all aspects of electoral reform, including criminalisation of political processes. This malady must be nipped in the bud, at the electoral stage, if we seriously wish to deal with its consequences for governance. Friends, I have only one sincere request to make of you. While pursuing your desire to grab headlines and seek sound bytes, under the pressure of professional and commercial competition and in the daily race for racy news, please keep the national interest uppermost in your mind. We are in a race against time to improve the quality of life of a billion people, to regain for our ancient land its rightful glory. This national endeavour should not be hurt by petty and divisive politics. Elections are the correct instruments for change of governments in a democracy. Once an election is over and the results are in, a government is formed. The parties in power and those in opposition must then work for the welfare of the people. The Opposition political parties are adversaries in polls, but partners in progress. In fact, today the same party is in power in one state and in opposition in another. This must make all of us more responsible, not more contentious. Every political party has a right to seek power, but once the people’s verdict is in, the winner must govern. This is the sacred responsibility the electorate has given us, and we will fulfil it. |
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Chatterati Wednesday shows The Capital has new bars and lounges for the rich and famous. The food may often be nothing much to write home about, but the ambience is designed to be out of this world. Situated in an old haveli near the Qutab Minar is one such run by AD Singh, a restaurateur from Mumbai. Well, as the ambience at Olive is good and now that he has the licence for liquor too, he tries new concepts that make sure you party hard on every Wednesday too. In the last one month he has had fashion shows of Ritu Kumar based on a European theme. Instead of her traditional trademark Indian outfits, she had young NIFT students model her western outfits. Then we had Aparna Chandra’s fashion show of funky outfits. Last Wednesday, A.D. Singh had the articulate and multi-faceted Rahul Bose and senior journo Tarun Tejpal hoping to initiate an interesting discussion. After screening of clippings from Bose’s films on a giant screen Tejpal grabbed the microphone to dispense a question to Bose. Bose animatedly appeared to speak from the heart but not a word was to be heard. Barkha Dutt kept trying to ask the crowds to keep quiet in her “we-the-people” style but with limited success. Well, that’s typical Delhi. That same evening at Olive was also for designer Rana Gills fashion show thrown into the pot. The theme here was Moroccan. A free perfect ambience of flaring drinks, flavoured hookas and swaying drapes witnesses the best of page 3 here. I do not know how long these Wednesday tamashas will last for our youngsters to let their hair down.
Importance of being Lalu There is no denying that Lalu Prasad Yadav is alone in a class of his own creation. His unmistakable charm is undeniably and undoubted. Here we are not talking about Delhi or Bihar but far away Cape Town. When a film unit led by Mahesh Manjerekar reached Cape Town, the immigration authorities stopped them to check their stuff as usual. But when they answered the obvious question as to why they were there, the officials immediately had an instant glow of recognition on their faces as soon as they heard the name of the movie, the crew had to shoot. The title was of course based on Lalu. Who, across the world doesn’t know Laluji? And the unit even got royal treatment and their formalities were cleared immediately. Wonder if any of them have relatives in Patna — and if they did, whether they would let the real Lalu in!
An evening of Sufi music On a cool monsoon evening good Sufi music does make one feel nostalgic at times. Though rain is usually associated with raag Mekhamalhaar, Rekha Surya’s Sufi strains with a mix of classical music were a change. Rekha has recently sung at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. and Museum of Modern Art in New York City. She is one of the last few purists, of the semi-classical tradition, which includes kajri, thumri, dadra and gazhal. Here in Delhi’s Ashoka she sang to a hall full of celebrities and V.I.Ps. Mrs. Manmohan Singh, who is rarely seen in the evenings, was present here along with Soli Sorabjee, Rani Jethamalani and Zehnab
Chauhan. They all thoroughly enjoyed Rekha’s rendition of Sufi music. Rekha has been trained in the tradition of greats like Begum Akhtar and Girija Devi. So she is often more at home with thumri and dadra as opposed to quawwali, which is often a preferred medium for the Sufis. This evening was special for Rekha as this Sufi evening was also a curtain-raiser for her coming album “Shades of Sufi poetry”. |
Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. — Mahatma Gandhi
My doctrine is pure. It makes no discrimination between noble and ignoble, rich and poor. — The Buddha The new-born calf feels unsteady and tumbles down scores of times before it learns to stand steady. So in the path of devotion slips are many and frequent until success is finally achieved. — Sri Ramakrishna I spoke only when You, O God, inspired me to speak. Guru Nanak Things are not bettered, but we are bettered, by making changes in them. — Swami Vivekananda |
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The following are the excerpts from the opening statement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his first Press conference in New Delhi on Saturday (September 4):