Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Why Julian Assange is TSI’s man of the year! A Feed back to the Editorial
By. ARINDAM CHAUDHURI, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THE SUNDAY INDIAN | January 9, 2011 11:15
I am sure you all must be wondering what’s new or great about this – the entire world already is talking about it! Well, I promise I won’t write about Assange at all. Yet, I hope by the end of this article, you will realize what’s the big deal about this heading. After the overwhelming response to my previous to last editorial on media and lobbying, and combining it with my previous edit on democracy, I thought I should further my views – this time on media and democracy put together. When I had written elaborately on lobbying in my above mentioned editorial, I had only touched upon the perspective of the extent to which nations go to maintain their image. I had taken examples of how the History Channel, akin to slavish propagators of the capitalist dictate, distorted and promoted the image of the biggest global revolutionary icon, Che Guevara, as a global terrorist. I had also quoted how Michael Moore’s film Sicko was edited by an American channel and given a conclusion other than the one he had originally made (Moore had concluded that the Cuban health system was the best, while the channel in question – after doing a series on it without knowing the ending, and subsequently realising that the conclusion could be bad for America’s PR – changed the ending with a voiceover saying that the Canadian health system was the best). So, in any case, when the truth is not being crushed by the American government like in the case of Julian Assange, it is crushed by the media themselves. The problem is as much the media as the government.Read More Here
MY RESPONSE TO THE EDITORIAL
It’s really unfortunate to note that you have selected a person who stand in front for cheating and wickedness, Whatever reason to compromise/support Assanage’s action, its very unfortunate that you selected such a person as your Person of the Year, As someone said “wiki leak is a wicked leak,” yes I fully agree with that statement.
No, doubt the print media is the most benefited one because of this leaking process LOL people like you should appreciate wiki’s wicked deeds, since the print media benefited much out of it. Everyday they (Print/Visual media) create a kind of sensational news with different political and social individuals as well as nations and its rulers and leaders.
I had a high esteem to you and your publications but by this all fell apart, Sorry for saying this, investigative journalism is good to discover the truth, but that should not be with a cheating mind. You and your paper did many such wonderful stories systematically and truthfully, I appreciate you for that, but such actions should not be with cheap mentality, Of course freedom of press/media cannot be misused for personal gain or to black mail people.
But here wiki leak created utter chaos and it created a kind of hatredness among people and nations. And you supported such a personality to create tension and chaos among people. This is not expected of such a reputed publication like yours, For this the reason you mentioned is not reasonable at all.
Sorry to say this
With kind regards
P V Ariel
Secunderabad
Some of my Write-up Published and unpublished Part IX
(Letters to the Editor posted to different publications)
Some of my write-ups posted to different newspapers and weeklies (published and unpublished)
Contents
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| TSI's Cover Page |
I fully agree with the views raised in the editorial, “It is indeed commendable that we have successfully hit space; but then, there is a lot that needs to be done on the ground!!! “ (TSI 2 November 2008). Of course we have achieved a great land mark in the field of space research. No doubt we have to stand strong against our neighboring countries like China etc…but at the present juncture it will be a far cry to compete with countries like China. Yes, we need to be equipped to face the rebel, but not be at the cost of common man. At a time as such, a major portion of India’s population is below poverty line and many are unable to meet even the regular needs, apart from the medical needs, will it be justifiable to spent colossal amount on moon projects like this? As Arindam Chaudhuri said, it looks like mere tokenism, and shallow prestige with less achievement. We need to think twice before spending such a lot of energy and money on such missions. Instead think of it to divert at least a part of that huge amount for the welfare of the common man.
Khaki (Uniform of Policemen) devils in God's own COUNTRY
In the recent times many fake swamis—sanyasis (Godmen) are under the police net in connection with the cheatings, distortion and amassing of unaccountable wealth. These people are taking advantage of the gullible believer's ignorance. The superstitions among the people are forcing them to follow such fake godmen and women.
In the recent incident one Mr. Santosh Sivan (a so called swami) got arrested on many serious offense, further investigations brought out unbelievable activities of this man including rape and custody of minor girls etc.. After his arrest many such fake godmen's and women's are arrested in Kerala for illegal activities in the name of religion and belief. And many others are in fear for their so called spiritual activities in the name of god. The most shocking thing is that in the santosh sivan's case some top police officials and even some politicians are in support to this so called swami's activities.
This is was shocking news to the general public. Police force is for the protection of the fellow citizens, but in many cases our police forces are found the opposite and far from efficient. They are regarded corrupt and oppressive and have utterly failed to secure the confidence and co-operation of the general public. We blame the British for whatever they had bequeathed to us—be it the railways or the police force. Even after many years of Independence our protective force is still behaving like primitive people. It is more shocking that such news came out from a highly literate state! What then is the condition of the less literate states in India?
Police force is meant for protecting the interest of the general public, but it is a sorry state that they are giving a big helping hand to the culprits and antisocial elements who attack and even kill the public for their selfish interest.
A report says, out of the 50,000 police force 850 are facing criminal charges and only a meager number of 19 are removed from service so far. This still shows the pathetic condition of our administrative system. Why such delay in taking action against these corrupt policemen/women, (Note, that the figure relate to the period between 2000 and 2006), may be the question arises is "Who will bell the cat?" How can a reputed judicial system can close their eyes on such atrocities by the police force.
A few years back in South Korea a lock up death of a student forced the cabinet to resign and a new cabinet assumed power. The time is up, for the need of a total and drastic change in the present functioning of the police system for the betterment of the police as well as the country.
'Aarushi: How not to investigate murder'
Apropos the write-up of Joginder Singh, 'Aarushi: How not to investigate murder' (June 26) brought out some more facts about our protecting force. Police force is for the protection of the fellow citizens, but in many cases our police forces are found the opposite and far from efficient. They are regarded corrupt and oppressive and have utterly failed to secure the confidence and co-operation of the general public. We blame the British for whatever they had bequeathed to us—be it the railways or the police force. Even after many years of Independence our protective force is still behaving like primitive people. The recent incidents in Kerala and other places are still shocking; the police officials are hand in glow with the fake swamis for their unsocial activities like rape and extortion of money.
Police force is meant for protecting the interest of the general public, but it is a sorry state that they are giving a helping hand to the criminals to cheat and amass unaccountable wealth.
A report says, out of the 50,000 police force 850 are facing criminal charges and only a meager number of 19 are removed from service so far. This still shows the pathetic condition of our administrative system. Why such delay in taking action against these corrupt policemen. (Note, that the figure relate to the period between 2000 and 2006), may be the question arises is "Who will bell the cat?" How can a reputed judicial system can close their eyes on such atrocities by the police force.
A few years back in South Korea a lock up death of a student forced the cabinet to resign and a new cabinet assumed power. The time is up, for the need of a total and drastic change in the present functioning of the police system for the betterment of the police as well as the country.
‘Private Police’ The Need of the Hour
Apropos the ‘Musings’ “Private Police*Read full text below this write up. (TSI 12 October 2008) made a serious reading. As Mr. Prasoon S Majumdar said, no doubt, the private police force can not only ease the pressure of the present police force but also by the co-operation of the existing force much can be done. But will that be acceptable to the present police departments –Center and State—? Unfortunately the sad part or the major setback in our police dept. is that they treat the common man as thief or criminal. If a person visits a police station to file a complaint, they look at him as a culprit. This is the general practice in most of the police stations in India. Vice verse it creates a kind of fear and the people look them as some terror figures. In many cases the common man or the poor will always suffer under their hands. This is against the basic principles of the police ethics or theory. This trend should go. The present system needs a tremendous change. Though the British wrote the Police Act in 1861 there were some commissions and proposals came up for reform, but nothing much has happened because of the negligence of our political leaders. They are least bothered since they always get VIP treatments here. The common man is always the victim to this system and politicians and rich always escape because of their money and power. The private police force with the co-operation of center and state forces can solve many problems India now facing. This will work only when all the three should have a mutual understanding and co-operation in tackling the problems irrespective of the political influences. The present ego of center state police and no political interference should be allowed. Will this happen in India is a BIG question to be answered.
A Few Good Words For Bush
Apropos Arindam Choudhury’s edit “Finally for a change—a few good words for Bush.” Made an interesting reading. I really got surprised to see the great turnaround in editor’s opinion, otherwise a usual Bush bashing through his columns. I fully agree with some of the points like his unrelenting supports and recognition towards outsourcing and nuclear energy pact even in spite of the strong opposition within the country. As the edit said it’s really appreciable for the stand he has shown towards Russia and some other African countries. Though his major activities in his tenure was not much appreciable, as Arindam said, “The world, would always remember Bush for his humility. The edit really was a fitting tribute to an outgoing President of a big nation.
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