Prior to Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's visit to India, the Chinese ambassador made some comments about the fragile nature of the India - China relationship being affected by comments appearing in the India media.India's Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao's pushed back saying our “Chinese friends” should get used to dealing with the “vibrant…noisy, nature of our democracy " . The New York Times in an article dated January 19th, on Manmohan Singh commented on India's " white noise of India’s raucous democracy". Sadly however the noise associated with our vibrant democracy exists only in the minds of the media or the mandarins of the Foreign Office.
The reality is that the voice of the population which represents the true voice of democracy is silent, as can been seen in the daily scandals in both the ruling party and the opposition ruled states with offenders going unpunished, and the average man or the aam admi on the street finding it increasingly difficult to deal with it on a day to day basis. The bureaucrats, the politicians, the enforcers, all participate in the smothering of the democracy. The government also plays down the frequent intrusions by our increasingly belligerent neighbors in the interest of maintaining long term relationships and which are generally perceived as a sign of weakness.
The media of late has been making more of an effort to highlight the misdeeds of the corrupt bureaucrats, politicians and business men. However its credibility has been hurt by the leak of the Radia tapes where taped conversations between a lobbyist and certain prominent media personalities have highlighted the nexus between politicians, media and business houses.
Also it appears that the media tends to focus more on urban crimes where the misdeeds are against the middle class or upper middle class. Massacres, killings, rapes, mistreatment of the rural poor are generally buried in small columns in the inside pages. In my opinion the media appears to have a short memory and feels that its job is done, once an investigation is started .The media needs to continue pursuing on the front page , major scandals and highlighting it if the perpetrators are let off, or where the various investigations fall asleep on their job or whitewash the results as is often the case.
The television debates trot out the same cast of characters including party hacks, retired bureaucrats, and others who are "specialists "in numerous fields . They argue vociferously and then having played their roles probably go out and have a drink together. Looking at the media's role you are reminded of the lines from Macbeth that their role appears to be that of " a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more " . It is " full of sound and fury signifying nothing " until the next scandal appears.
In the meantime the populace suffers in silence.
The reality is that the voice of the population which represents the true voice of democracy is silent, as can been seen in the daily scandals in both the ruling party and the opposition ruled states with offenders going unpunished, and the average man or the aam admi on the street finding it increasingly difficult to deal with it on a day to day basis. The bureaucrats, the politicians, the enforcers, all participate in the smothering of the democracy. The government also plays down the frequent intrusions by our increasingly belligerent neighbors in the interest of maintaining long term relationships and which are generally perceived as a sign of weakness.
The media of late has been making more of an effort to highlight the misdeeds of the corrupt bureaucrats, politicians and business men. However its credibility has been hurt by the leak of the Radia tapes where taped conversations between a lobbyist and certain prominent media personalities have highlighted the nexus between politicians, media and business houses.
Also it appears that the media tends to focus more on urban crimes where the misdeeds are against the middle class or upper middle class. Massacres, killings, rapes, mistreatment of the rural poor are generally buried in small columns in the inside pages. In my opinion the media appears to have a short memory and feels that its job is done, once an investigation is started .The media needs to continue pursuing on the front page , major scandals and highlighting it if the perpetrators are let off, or where the various investigations fall asleep on their job or whitewash the results as is often the case.
The television debates trot out the same cast of characters including party hacks, retired bureaucrats, and others who are "specialists "in numerous fields . They argue vociferously and then having played their roles probably go out and have a drink together. Looking at the media's role you are reminded of the lines from Macbeth that their role appears to be that of " a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more " . It is " full of sound and fury signifying nothing " until the next scandal appears.
In the meantime the populace suffers in silence.
No comments:
Post a Comment