Why Aam Aadmi Party’s allegations against Kiran Bedi do not hold ground

I today distinctly remember Mr. Arun Jaitley’s phrase, which he used against the Aam Aadmi Party stating that “AAP is a party of pathological liars.”  This is relevant today as well, especially after AAP leveled allegations against Kiran Bedi that she was a mole of BJP during Anna Movement.

It seems that AAP leaders including Arvind Kejriwal lose track of what they were stating earlier and what they want to say now.  First it is clear that AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal had offered Ms. Kiran Bedi, post of chief minister to suave her to join AAP.  Now, they are saying that she was a BJP mole.  If they knew that she was a BJP mole, why they offered her the post of chief minister.

Secondly, they question her earlier tweets about BJP when she was with them and ask her what her views are now post her joining the BJP, so this too holds against their claim.  If she was a BJP mole, why would she tweet anything against the BJP.

Thirdly,their member, Ashish Khaitan claimed that Arvind Kejriwal could be murdered.  Now, this kind of sensationalism, is clearly a desperate measure to garner sympathy of voters and does not sound of a winning party.  I used to hold him in high regard, but now he lost my trust .  It seems all his exposes as a journalist, especially against Mr. Modi were a bunch of lies and mere sensationalism and nothing more than that.

Recently, AAP’s founder member and patriarch, Shanti Bhushan questioned Arvind Kejriwal’s leadership qualities and party’s  recent moves.  Arvind Kejriwal recently instigated voters to take money from other political parties.  A party whose main flank was corruption, is today asking its voters to take bribe.  It is pretty evident that AAP is a confused unit and does not have a clear ideology.

Is “Free” Indian Media Free of Unethical Practices?

 Is "Free" Indian Media Free of Unethical Practices?

Reading famous English daily or watching your favorite news channel while drinking tea or coffee after a nice healthy morning walk is a routine most of us love to have.  We normally believe in what's said in the newspaper or what's shown on the television. We do not question the sanctity or righteousness of the news, and implicitly, start believing what is presented to us.  We never doubt the author’s intent behind the story; never check the editor or owner’s dubious associations, if any.

Two recent events not just questioned media’s credibility, but its behavior as a responsible constituent of our democratic structure.  Without substantiating the facts, two news items were published.  First was the CAG report on coal blocks, and the second was the porn-gate in Gujarat.  Either it was over enthusiasm or deliberate attempt to mislead the facts.  In both the possibilities, media displayed lack of professionalism.

This has once again brought to the forefront the issues raised by Justice Katju a couple of months ago.    There are several other issues that have come to light with regards to the media's conduct such as ownership of media houses, blackmail, sensationalizing the story, intentional breach of ethics, paid news, etc.  Clearly, the self-regulation is failing to regulate the media.

Today many journalists lack professional skills, commitment to the profession, and do not feel the need to take time to collect all the facts and to cross check them before publishing the story.  Therefore, the stories that come out of their fold are of very poor quality.  Although journalists are not liable to any poor reporting, certainly, they are responsible for what they write and hence can lose credibility and a faithful reader.

Deliberate breach of ethics due to ownership or otherwise is an issue that has got more prominence than before.  Today, headlines are twisted and turned so that a win can look like a loss and a loss can look like a win. Today, most media houses have political affiliations and hence their intent of airing the news is very controversial.  No wonder we see friendly media jumping to defend their respective political parties more vehemently than even the party spokespersons in a television debate.   Deception is the order of the day.

Nira Radia tapes have shown how the media can go overboard and start power broking instead of doing their duty of honestly putting facts in public domain and let the people judge them.

Here are few lines quoted by someone on media’s unethical behavior: The media is but a tool in the pockets of the corporate, political, and financial establishments that seeks to mold and even manipulate public opinion in the favor of those who have vested interests in various channels around the globe. What is needed today is discretion, critical thought, and the ability to read between the lines, gauge the information being churned out, and accordingly judge whether the source is indeed being unbiased or not. The answer will be no in almost all cases, and if you look carefully, you will see that each media conglomerate has a leaning, inclination, or affiliation with a certain party, group or organization that seems very subtle at first, but is actually extremely pronounced through the method of reporting and presenting information – (Unconfirmed source).
 
The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum – even encourage the more critical and dissident views. That gives people the sense that there’s free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of the debate. - Noam Chomsky
 
After taking all these things into consideration, one should be aware of the possibility of the fact that the news may not be true at all or there could be a deception in what is presented to us. Facts could be entirely different. There could be vested interests in what we are reading, seeing or hearing.  Therefore keep your eyes, ears and above all, you mind open in a true sense.

Indian National Congress, its heir apparent, and Indian politics

 Indian National Congress, Its Heir Apparent, and Indian Politics


Congress party’s debacle in the recently concluded state elections was on expected lines for many independent observers like me who watch politics from a distance.  The party, which governed India, like always, baring few aberrations here and there, is today struggling to survive.

To begin with, during post-independence era, Congress ruled the country without a hitch because of lack of credible opposition.  The sympathy wave post deaths of its leaders too brought it back to power twice.  It faced real opposition only in the late 70s. Then, the only instance when the opposition was able to complete its full term was from 1998 to 2004 when Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the prime minister and completed its full term.  Therefore, by and large, Congress really had its way when it came to ruling the country.

The Nehru-Gandhi family has had always been the glue of the party, and things have always revolved around it.  This has encouraged sycophancy, which in turn has made the party vulnerable to management problems like poor decision making.

Some musty decisions taken in the near past have cost the party heavily.  This took away all the goodwill it enjoyed during UPA1.  The staleness was evident when Congress party announced quota for Muslims of UP.  Muslims understood their fallacious intent and completely shunned the Congress party.  Nevertheless, UP campaign of the party was very aggressive, but without genuineness and was always viewed with a doubt by the UP voter.  Instead an honest appeal to the voters without any political posturing could have garnered them more votes.  In fact, Mr. Rahul Gandhi would have done much better without Digvijay Singh and Salman Khurshid in UP. 

Sycophants usually lack talent and leadership qualities.  Look around any Gandhi and you will see people with zero mass appeal. This style of functioning has created a void between its voters and central leadership. The void became so deep and wide that The Gandhis couldn’t save their own turf.

Another issue Congress has is lethargy.  They take ages to take decisions.  UPA-1 in its common minimum program promised to spent 6% on education and 2-3% on healthcare.  Other issues like administrative reforms, judicial reforms, panchayati raj, women reservation, separate Telangana state have been in limbo, even after eight long years.

Dynastic politics, due to its very existence at the top, is something that Congress has not been able to discourage in the party. This has also alienated the voters.  Goa is a classic example of this with 11 out of 40 seats went to few families of Congress members.  This made voters angry, and they aggressively voted against the party.

Congress party’s heir apparent, Mr. Rahul Gandhi, should start doing things on his own and stop taking advice from others.  After all, he is in his 40s and can understand good versus evil.  He should take control, come out in the open, deal with the issues head on, make some mistakes, and learn from them.  He should brew his own ideas instead of following others.  He should think and should act like a leader if he wishes to be one.

Congress might face tough times going forward.  BJP, on the other hand, doesn’t look very strong and therefore we may not see coalition politics ending very soon, ahh!  What a pity?