Whoosh! Phhatt! The newspaper fell with a thud in the stairway of my third floor flat. Rolled up tight, shaped like a baton, secured by a black elastic band, were two newspapers the Malalyala Manorama and the Times of India. I stooped down to pick the baton up, removing the band, I smoothened it flat.
Both papers had diferent headlines, whereas the Manorama carried a huge picture of the assassinated ex-PM Benazir Bhutto, the TOI chose to pay tribute to Dhirubhai Ambani, for reasons best known to them! Ofcourse Reliance must have bought the space, after all they have the money to buy this entire country if they like!!! Ambani smiled at me from the first page; but to stay politically correct, the newspaper placed its masthead on the first as well as the third page where original news began, in a feeble attempt to show parity.
It angered me to see that a newspaper of prominence should choose to relegate the news of the assassination of a great leader to the third page. Agreed, there could be justifications for placing the advert glorifying Ambani Sr, in fact, even I would have accepted it as front page news on any given day but not on a day when terrorism raising its ugly head chose to murder a symbol of democracy for a country that is experiencing the pain of trying to restore a just government. After all, she is our neighbour. This is the time to show solidarity. She needs us now!
Yesterday's assassination was proof enough of the fact that terrorists are fighting their own selfish war and not to emancipate any one community or trying to bring about justice for anyone. Their methods are gruesome, their acts ruthless, their purposes mindless.
And the media, the media that ought to wield its pen, supposedly mightier than the sword, to condemn this gruesome act in the strongest of words, chose to deal the blow softly. As a student of history, I recall what a mightly role the newspapers of the time played in igniting young minds to fight the Freedom Struggle for this country. But sadly today's newspaper, seeks to ignite young minds to believe that only Money can get you anywhere.
Aren't the first words of a baby's, the first rays of the winter sun, the cry of the rooster at the crack of dawn, the most memorable and impactful, heralding a message, a Truth? The truth of today's TOI edition was a huge disappointment.
The truth that Money is stronger than Ideals. That the same Money can be used to buy space in the newspaper and to buy the guns that killed Bhutto.
I wonder what happened to all the attempts to make peace with the Neighbour, the Samjhauta Express, the ' friendly ' cricket matches, Pakistani bands playing in India and gaining both acceptance and popularity. The assassination of Benazir Bhutto is an attack on their democracy, on justice at large. it should create a fear in our minds that soon Freedom may be a distant dream, that this is an assassination of our own dreams, ideals and free opinions. And therefore we must speak out. Our headlines should scream contempt towards such dastardly acts. And the Media should responsibly create that empathy, that passion, that conviction instead of falling prey to economic strength...Jai Hind!!
Corrigendum: This may not be a well-written piece..but it sure is heartfelt...dear readers, we all need to use our minds and hearts to understand the Cause for which we stand...Let us stand for Something or we will fall for Anything.
No comments:
Post a Comment