The world of politics is governed and run by the cooperation of
the three estates of power. The legislature frames the laws of the land, the
executive makes sure they are followed and the judiciary looks into grievances.
All three of them acts alone, in cooperation and in occasion as antagonists to
each other. They are vested with limited power and with an ability to act as a
check to each other if the need arises. Then we have the fourth estate, the
news media or the press.
Traditionally the fourth estate included all means of mass
communication including but not limited to visual, literature, radio, computer
aided news distribution etc. Even though not formally recognized as a part of
the political order, the fourth estate holds much influence over the society
and in occasions determine the direction of the general thinking as a
whole. With the advent of social media, a part of the fourth estate including
blogging, Facebook, Twitter feeds etc have been further moved to the fifth
estate which is still very much linked with the mainstream media as the public
generally considers them one and the same. In my narrative, when I mention
media it will be the mainstream including print, visual or auditory. It can
also include the online editions of the mainstream newspapers, but not the ones
run by a group or an individual from his bedroom; those will be called as
social media.
Story No 1
In 1994, an eminent rocket scientist was named in a spy scandal. It was said that he along with a
colleague leaked sensitive data to a couple of ladies from Maldives who in turn
passed on the information to our arch rival's guard dog the ISI. The scandal
rocked the state of Kerala and captured the imagination the people. There were
stories of sex and spy, of Russian and US involvements, sabotage and so forth.
The scientist in the eye of the storm was the one who lead the team pioneering
on the works of cryogenic rocket engine which as I understand uses liquid fuel
for flight. These liquid fuel engines are necessary for longer duration of
flights with heavy loads while the solid propeller ones headed by the great APJ
Abdul Kalam found its principal application in our military arsenal. In that
time only the superpowers had such a technology and ISRO was on route to
develop it. Then the spy scandal happened, the scientist was arrested,
allegedly tortured, humiliated and the entire work went down the drain. The
scandal eventually snowballed to the the resignation of the then chief minister
K Karunakaran.
By 1996, the CBI team came to the conclusion that there was no
evidence of any malicious activity by the above said scientist and in 1998 the
court quashed all cased on him. The technology he helped to develop powered our
satellites to the Moon and then to the Mars and very soon will help the first
Indian to reach space in an India made rocket. The poor man was insulted,
isolated and shunned by the society. He lost the prime of his life
for the crime he did not commit.
Story No 2
On the fine morning of May 20th this year Kerala woke up with
the story of how a brave young girl, a law
student defended herself and her honor against a self styled Godman who tried
to rape her. The general conscience of the story says that the Swami who was
the spiritual guide of the girls family misused his position of power and
influence to sexually exploit the girl since her teens. He hid behind his aura
of spirituality while he drained the family of their finances. Finally on the
faithful day the swami ordered the girl to his room and in the darkness tried
to assault her. She with defiance grabbed hold of the fruit knife and swing at
his mid region and chopped off his manhood. Not completely but 90%. I am not
making this up, I have read the same words in a news paper. She then rushed
out, ran to a senior lady police officer who was her neighbor and called up the
police helpline. They rushed pronto, put the swami under arrest and rushed him
to the hospital where they sewed up his injured part. They media space
exploded. There were screaming news headlines, shattering break news, flashing
scrolls. The TV set was set alight with the vocal bombardment of the four
column debate thing, feminist, men-nist and all their ilk screamed for the
swamis blood. The collective of Kerala from the Chief Minister to the crook in
unison congratulated the girl and vowed swift and apt punishment to the
attacker. The media frenzy galvanized the population of not just the state but
of the nation, it was glorious.
On 16th June, a news article much smaller in pomp and fond
appeared in the third, fourth or the middle pages of few of the local dailies.
The girl it seems have made a big 'U' turn. She have given in writing that
none of the charges accused on the swami was true and he was as his attire
projects, a saint. I don't know if money, threat or pure repentance have made
this possible but it was a news worthy change. Yet there was no channel
debates, no screaming headlines or breaking news and definitely no voice from
the hordes which brayed for blood of the accused. To expect
an apology for the tarnishing of the name will be too much even for the swami
to expect but does he not deserve the decency from our media to telecast/print
this development as they have done the first?
Story No 3
February 20 of this year was celebrated as never before by the
media with a headline of 'Popular actress kidnapped, molested and photographed'. It was the
development of a story that would keep the TRP among the stars and be a cash
cow for a long time. First came the manhunt for the prime accused and his
henchmen and once he was apprehended came the speculation of the director of
this operations. Since the day the identity of the actress was known, there was
suggestions of the name of one of the most popular actor in Malayalam who might
be the hidden hand. The initial frenzy continued almost until the case of the
swami and the girl with the knife came up which then took up the mediasphere.
But this story could not just simply die, for it was perfect. It had sex,
popular names, a thick plot of conspiracy and lots of money to be made.
What is a swami and some unknown girl when
compared to this?
 |
| Probably not what was offered at the jail. Upuma & Banana |
The case developed over the months, a letter of questionable
integrity was found implicating the actor and the police which was recently
been rubbed to the dirt over a few issues badly needed a morale boost. The
actor was arrested, and once again the carrion crows descended into our living
rooms. We were privy to what the actor had for breakfast (it was
uppuma and banana if you were wondering) which he didn't eat; his
alleged role for almost all the crimes which happened in Kerala that may have
the vaguest connection to movie industry. We even had people coming up claiming
of their inside knowledge of the despicable acts the actor and his cronies
perpetuated. All these were brought to us live, dead and decayed by the
warriors in the TV set and the papers. The story continue to develop as I write
this.
Meanwhile the nurses who went on hunger strike on the streets for minimum wages neither received the wages nor a spot in the media carnival for it was full of other sensational stuff.
I don't know if either the scientist, the swami or the actor is
guilty. But in a land were the law rules, the scientist who has been absolved
of all charges by the court must be treated in all means as innocent, though
that will not alter the horrible timeline he suffered. The swami and the actor
are still in the processing stage and their fate will be determined by the
various courts of the law in due time as it must be in a civilized society. Our
legislature have framed rules against the crimes they have or have not
committed, the executive have caught them up and is in the process of
collecting evidence against them and finally when the time comes the judiciary
will assess the evidences, ponder over the arguments for and against and deem
them guilty or not and punish them as seemed fit.
The Fourth Estate have absolutely no role in the process other
than to inform the people of the developments. They are not the judge, jury or
the executioner. The trial by media on every days debate hour is nothing but a
lynching.
Like the crows that covers the carcass that floats down the river, we have a bunch of 'unprincipled showmen masquerading as journalists'. I don't mind the feeding of the crows but they disturb my peace and pollute my surroundings. They from being a nuisance have now developed into a kangaroo court of sorts.
A name that must have been said along with the ex president is now a name connected with a traitorous scandal, a person who may be in truth an actual spiritual person is a molesting monster and an actor who have entertained us for the last two decades a criminal who must be hanged, drawn and quartered.
 |
| A bunch of OB vans. Representative image |
Not always the police is to be blamed for wrong arrests,
falsification or evidence or so but almost always the quest for sensationalist
news and mindless race to out do the other OB van results in breaking the
cardinal law by which man need to be governed.
Pssssss......
1) During the ISRO spy case, the visual media was not developed as it is today. My memories are vague of how the public reaction was but on inquiring to the elders they say the papers and periodicals were full on in lynch mode.
2) I have selected these three cases to cite as they have captured our imagination like no other. I know there are thousands of other cases, but I had to limit to three.
No comments:
Post a Comment