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All is not too well in the state(s) of India. At least that is what Home Minister P. Chidambaram would have us believe after providing us ringside seats as to what is wrong. Suddenly after Shashi Tharoor, the twitter-prone Minister of State for External Affairs, the home minister has become the most visible politician on our small screens. In exclusive one-on-ones with leading channels, the home minister has been mainly outlining the dangers posed by the insurgency that is engulfing nearly one-third of India. In early September he spoke to NDTV 24x7; mid-September he was on Times Now, billed by the channel as the first interview given by the home minister after his US visit; and on Monday it was CNN-IBN. With the interviews being so closely placed together, you have to wonder whether this is a strategically planned design on the part of the minister to use the media to air the enormous challenges he is facing. The minister’s latest was a one-hour interaction with CNN-IBN’s Rajdeep Sardesai.
Having said that, you have to feel sorry for the man. Dealing with this pan-India turbulence can’t be easy. No wonder he said, almost longingly, that if given a choice, he would opt for the Ministry of Forests and Environment, spending his days reading books in some forest lodge. Clearly, Naxalism and its impact thereof, seems to be the flavour of the season. Just look how the channels covered the arrest of Kobad Ghandy, a prize Naxalite catch, in Delhi. The fact he was a former Doon school student, with a supposedly rich background, added to the hyperventilation in the channels. Leading the pack, as usual, was Times Now. Anchor Arnab Goswami read out a litany of Ghandy’s vices. It sounded almost like a chargesheet. Jyoti Punwani, a journalist and a friend of Ghandy’s, was a panelist on NDTV, and tried to give in her interpretation of the Naxalite’s convictions, but somehow her narrative got lost in the din. Times Now aired yet another exclusive this week. Well, sort of. In his weekly Frankly Speaking programme, Goswami, on the eve of the Assembly elections in Maharashtra, interviewed Raj Thackeray. The irony is while Goswami questioned Thackeray in English, all the replies were in Marathi. Clearly, Thackeray speaks and understands English well enough but he preferred to speak in Marathi, which dovetails into his political agenda — which is pushing for Maharashtra for Maharashtrians. Of course, there have been occasions when people being interviewed prefer not to answer in English, a language they are not comfortable with. But somehow I don’t think this was the case with Thackeray. I am surprised that the channel agreed to this format. The interview was publicised as Thackeray’s "first interview to a national channel". The thing to watch out for is that now other politicians — trying to reach out to their constituencies — will insist on speaking in their regional languages, and networks, instead of bending, will crawl to do their bidding. Sounds familiar? And now for some mindless entertainment, switch onto NDTV Imagine. After giving us Rakhi ka Swayamvar and on the cusp of giving us Rahul Mahajan ka Swayamvar, the channel has started another reality show, Pati, Patni aur Woh. The woh in this case is a child. Five couples, including B-grade celebs like Rakhi and new beau Elesh, and Apoorav (remember him from Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin?) and wife Shilpa are going to look after children. From toddlers to adolescents, for one month, these couples, some married, others not, are going to be pursued by cameras 24x7 as they rock babies, clean them up and discipline them. A charming, funny or entertaining idea? I am not so sure. |
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Chidambaram,
looking a little pasty, answered questions a tad wearily. He didn’t
even perk up when sharp queries came in from active viewers. Sample
(paraphrased): Is the Naxalite problem more acute than the militancy in
Kashmir? The minister dodged this missile, saying that the Kashmir issue
was over a decade old, whereas Naxalism was a new phenomenon.