SHAME ON INDIAN MEDIA OR SHAME ON THEIR AUDIENCES ???

I got a mail a few days back abt how, in Nov 2006, media completely neglected the ultimate sacrifice of Major Manish Pitambre - who became a martyr in an Anantnag (Kashmir) encounter with Suhail Afzal, divisional commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, who topped the list of most wanted terrorists at that time - while highlighting (or rather celebrating) the release of Sanjay Dutt in the TADA case where he was found guilty of possession of armoury. (The entire mail could be found on the following blog: http://satyameva-jayate.org/2006/12/09/munnabhai-vs-manish-pitambare/; plz go thru it atleast once if u hvn't already read it). The incident mail referred to was long back (it occured in Nov 2006) but i forwarded it to many in my contact list and even had some kind of discussion on it ... The subject of the mail was "SHAME ON INDIAN MEDIA"; however after having the discussion, I m not sure is it the fault of Indian media or is it WE, the people, who shud be blamed ...
i mean, lets accept the fact that media has become a business today and it shows what it's able to sell...what else can u expect when we hv so many 24X7 News Channels running, all claiming to be "India's No 1" or "Sabse Tez" etc ... there is indeed a lot of fight amongst them for the so called "loyal" audience ... and in such a scenario, they just can't show news which doesn't sell ...
and isn't it true that the "loyal' audiences of media would rather listen to some news on Indian cricket eg, who hit how many sixes in a match b/w India and XYZ or some b'wood gossip rather than read abt the hardships which our army officers and jawans face almost daily ? after all, what effect does it hv on us if chinese armies incur into our territories and loot the bordering villages, or an Indian technology is being patented by some foreigner, and other such issues ?? these are meant only for some half-an-hour discussion on some national news channel, isn't it ?? and how many of us would prefer a magazine that mentions the gallantry award recipients of the country, and the heroic deeds for which they got it, to some bollywood masala magazine which details out when and where a 'couple' were last seen together ??

Time for SACH KA SAAMNA (with yourself, ofcourse) , r v ready ???

INDIA'S BIGGEST EVER SEARCH ??

Billed as "India's Biggest ever search" with 5000 jawans, an ISRO remote sensing aircraft, a Sukhoi, 14 search & rescue choppers, the forest department police, paramilitary forces & Chenchu tribal guides mobilized within 3 hours of late Mr. YSR, the ex CM of AP, going missing...being the CM of a state, he prob deserved all that (and i m not being sarcastic here) ... but then, did Mumbai not deserve a better response during those dreaded 60 hrs @ the time of 26/11 attack ?? y is it that we have to follow so many protocols even in situations of national crisis like Mumbai attack and not when something happens to a VVIP ?? couldn't NSG have got the clearance it needed faster and thus reached mumbai b4 those crucial 19 hrs when everything in case of Mr YSR was done within 3 hrs of him gng missing?? i m not against him given such a treatment; but yes, if the govt could do this much for a missing CM, surely it could have done much more for the worst terror attack on the financial capital of the country...

HINDI CHINI BYE BYE

i m writing this post after listening to a debate abt "Chinese incursions in India" on CNN-IBN where diplomat Mr. G Parthasarthi, CPI(M) leader Nilotpal Basu and Defence Analyst and Rear Admiral (retd) Raja Menon, were invited....well, its really sad to hear the views of CPI(M) member abt this latest buzz...just like Mr. Tony Blair was referred to as American Foreign Minister during Iraq war, similarly these communists are proving themselves to be nothing but sycophants of Communist China...on the issue of the article, published on the website of China International Institute for Strategic Studies (CIISS) (it's an influential think tank that advices Beijing on global and strategic issues), wherein a chinese strategist Zhan Lue urges Beijing to take some action to "break down India into 20-30 independent states with the help of friendly countries like Pakistan, Bhutan, etc and to support military outfits like ULFA etc", CPI(M) member suggested it to be the work of some maniac and completely rules out any threat to Indian security and integrity @ chinese hands (i dont know how cn a maniac publish an article on the site of CIISS; when even a comment that u post on some news article in TOI website is reviewed by the editor b4 it is published)....
on the contrary, according to Mr Parthasarthi, China is a country that would respect us only when we show it our hard power i.e. not just militarily but economically ("show them growth rate of 10% for next 10 consecutive years" is what he said) as well...chinese know abt our soft power (i.e. our educational institutes, English speaking population, and a democratic setup) and they acknowledge it as well.. but that is not enough as without our hard military power, we just dont matter to them... we prob believe that force and such extreme measures shud be used only when all diplomatic measures and negotiations have failed; however chinese hv time and again proven that using force is a part of their negotiation efforts...

i agree that China is our neighbour and there are issues where India and China can (and should) co-opearte for the betterment of both and also the region; but gone are the days when "HINDI CHINI BHAI BHAI" was the slogan ... we have already experienced the bitter truth in 1962 war when China occupied Indian terrirtory; and as if that were not enough, we have had China opposing a ban on LeT in UN (God knows y ?), making life difficult for India during Nuclear Deal with US; and laying claims to Arunachal Pradesh....besides, its support to Pakistan, both politically and militarily, is well known....now, the time has come to realize that India-China hv to move forward, but not with one (read China) dictating its terms and conditions to other...so, lets not repeat the mistake that our first PM Mr. Nehru did: pretending a problem does not exist when actually, it does...

the entire discussion, and especially the views of Shri Parthsarthi and Mr Menon, reminded me of a Hindi poem, शक्ति और क्षमा, that i read some time back...following is an excerpt from it:


क्षमा शोभती उस भुजंग को
जिसके पास गरल हो
उसको क्या जो दंतहीन
विषरहित, विनीत, सरल हो ।
.
.

सच पूछो , तो शर में ही
बसती है दीप्ति विनय की
सन्धि-वचन संपूज्य उसी का
जिसमें शक्ति विजय की ।

सहनशीलता, क्षमा, दया को
तभी पूजता जग है
बल का दर्प चमकता उसके
पीछे जब जगमग है।



P.S. The entire debate can be found at:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/ftn-china-a-bigger-threat-than-pakistan-for-india/100882-3-p0.html