Award,Debate and Chattisgarh's that report

Dear Friends,
Two years old report is for you this time. I have got Ramnath Goenka Excellence award of Hindi print for this report. Just read this report, I will disucss about all it's aspects in next post. This report had been published in magazine called Pratham Pravakta.

Innumerable Encounters: Doomed Tribals
It is a story of police brutality where incidents of tribal women being raped do not stir the psyche, also by blaming then of helping the Naxalites, they enjoy the opportunity of killing these poor folks randomly. The state government has accepted that the violence thrust upon this area as what police calls encounter has taken the lives of two thousand tribal people in one year. Fifty tribal people were killed only in Chhattisgarh last year by security forces. Twenty-one tribal women suffered the trauma of gang rape. Six among them were killed after rape. It was demonic as two of then was pregnant. On the one hand when the fake encounters in Cujarat are hitting the national headlines, the horrendous treatment the Chhattisgarh people are going through are tost without any footage and do not rouse us.

State governments are busy in sorting out specific developmental sectors; hut areas like Chhattisgarh have become hellish for its own inhabitants. The contrast between the lush dreams of development and the dingy state of common farmers is quite scary. The mad rush of industrialization over here has not only destroyed its ecology, but also divested the tribal life. Their agricultural land is ruined. They are migrated to big cities and are working as laborers for multistory buildings. It is a harsh truth that it all the projects start working, the farmers here will be destined to lose sixty percent of their fields, and will be left with no choice hut to work as labourers. The exploitation and suffering of these tribals fail to grab the attention of even the local newspapers. These poor people have no bread to eat but the gunshots.

If original inhabitants of our country, the tribals, do not have food to satiate their hunger; if tribal women are fated to sexual assault anytime at the hands of police administration and killed, or sometimes left alive by some casual mercy; if witnessing these horrible things builds a volcano inside some adolescents, though they are also destined to be shot dead; if no cases reach the threshold of our so called judicial temple, which assured justice to all; if no MR is registered in police stations, supposedly established to help everyone not the influential ones only one wonders if this is happening in India, the World's biggest democracy? Yes! Thousand kilometers away from Delhi, many areas of Chhattisgarh witnessed this horrifying truth. But in the state government's opinion this land is breeding terror and by making a mockery of parliamentary politics, is hindering the pace of development. People here target police administration with their bloody and subversive activities; they destroy government properties and steak about alternatives. It seems that they support the Naxal ideology; hence the state cannot tolerate it. But let us move ahead of the stale and Naxal theory and we have something hairy to observe. The way the government and the police administration attribute to these tribals, living here from generations, the tag of "naxalites" on account of internal security is quite and sordid,
Just one year back. Surgooja district police of Chhattisgarh arrested a tribal woman Ledha as supposed to be Seema. The police accused her as the main culprit behind March 2006 bomb blast in which three Central Security Force men lost their lives. Seema was pregnant when she was picked up by the cops in April 2006. Seema's husband Ramesh Nageshia had a link with Maoists. The court sentenced Seema for one end half year of imprisonment. Seema gave birth to a very weak baby in the jail. Later, court acquitted Seema on the basis of weak circumstances and facts. Now Seema as Ledha was free from the slur of being a Naxalite. But the police started pressuring Ledha It convince her husband to surrender. They allured her by promising job and money. Ledha persuaded her husband for the sake of their son to surrender so that they could enjoy a normal life. Ultimately Ramcsh got ready for it. It was decided that Ramcsh would come to surrender at the house of the secretary Civildah Gram Panchayat, on March 28, 2006.
The superintendent of police of Surgooja C.R.P. Kalauri reached Civildah with Ledha. Also, an additional force from kusumi came with him. As soon as the police reached there, they started threshing Ramesh who was waiting there. He was beaten so brutally that his body turned blue and then suddenly the Assistant Platoon Commander of the Armed Forces put the pistol on his temple and shot him. Ramesh died on the spot. Ledha was so shocked that she could not even scream out her grief. She was just shivering. Then she was brought to Shankargarh police station and was threatened not to tell anything about the incident otherwise she would face the some fate. Ledha kept quit. But after three months on Dushera the police again picked up Ledha with her old father and brought them to the police station, where she was stripped off in the presence of S.P. Kallauri and raped in front of her father. For the next ten days she was kept in the lock up and was repeatedly put to Sexual assaults by the cops. During this her old father was kept in another chamber. But her weak son. who was unable to speak, was with her and witnessed every suffering her mother went thorough. Despite all these Ledha did not die. She is still alive and has reached the Chhattigarh High Court with her case. On January 2007, Vilaspur High Court filed the case. In the first hearing the public prosecutor argued that Ledha was lying.
Ledha, her parents and the villagers are waiting for the second hearing with a hope in their heart that the court may decide in their favor, so that no police men could kill poor villagers in the name of naxalites or rape their women. They desperately wish a positive judgment because this is the first case which ultimately has reached the courtroom. There are many other tribal women who have faced even more monstrosities in the last year than Ledha. Though Ledha is alive, many other have lost their lives. There arc six cases which came into focus as they got registered in the police station. In which women were killed after being gangraped. Medium Sukki and Kursum Lakke of Peddakorma village, Vedinje Mulli and Vedinje Naggi of Mookavalli village. Boogam Somvari of Kotaloo and Midkaam Sunny of Etepad village were first raped and then murdered.

Mudkaam Sunny and Vedinje Naggi were pregnant. This is not enough, though. Incidents of women being gangraped arc not limited to one village, there are dozens of other villages abounding such stories. Madavi Budhari, Somali and Minni of kondurn village, kadati Munni and Kurasa Santo of Phoolgulta village, Boggam sampo and Modium Seemo of Karrcbodhali village, Oyam bali of pallcwala village, kadati jayamali and Tallam Jamali of karremurka village, Korasa Munni, Kalamu Jayyu and Korasa Butaki of Jangla village, Rookani, Madavi Kope and kadavi Paravati of Karre Pondum village arc the twenty three women who have been raped in different police stations. Two among them were pregnant. Both gave birth to stillborn babies. The saddest part is that Boggum Googe of Neelam village can never bear a child.

It is not merely the question of the tragic conditions of women or the safety concerns of girl-woman in the tribal surroundings; in fact these women are just pawns at the hands of tenduleaves contractors and serve as informers throughout the area. As these contractors make big money by selling the tenduleaves, they provide channel to inform the security personnel about the naxal operations. Information of there activities becomes an achievement for the security personnel of that area. It becomes a way of establishing their abilities and opens for then the doors of promotions. Hence tenduleaves contractors play a very important role here. Not only they provide six months employment to the tirbals, but also they aptly perform their part as police informers. In most cases when these contractors feel that the tribal labourers are asking for more money for collecting tenduleaves, they tell the police secretly that some of these tribal women arc connected with naxalitcs. Though it happens to be a complete fabrication, it culminates into a cruel reality of these poor souls being brutalised and slaughtered. After this, the contractor regains his autonomy over these down trodden people. Tenduleaves symbolize tribal exploitation and profiteering of contractor-increase as the undivided Madhya Pradesh government had decided to nationalise or to make cooperative enterprise for tenduleaves. Government official misappropriate lakhs of rupees in the district in lieu of bonus, which never reaches to the tribals. Apart from that these simple villagers suffer the pangs of low wages, too. In Maharashtra, a pack of seventy tenduleaves offer a wage of one rupee fifty paise, but in Chhattisgarh it is worth forty five paise merely.

In some villages the contractor gives even lesser amount, down to twenty five paise per pack. If any one dares to raise his or her voice, he or she gets entangled in a false link with the naxals fabricated by the contractor and thus states a horrendous series of murder, loot and rapes.
This is still happening, as we have witnessed that from July to October last year, more than fifty tribal people were killed by the security forces. Dozens of tribal women were raped, villages were put to flame. Cattle were slaughtered. It seemed to be a conspiracy of ripping off the whole area. At one end is the contractor who strategically throws tribal people towards the security force and at the other end is held by the government whose developmental rush is devouring the lands of tribal inhabitants hence they arc losing their natural assets.

Moreover, there are central security forces, at one level, encountering the naxals, and at the other end has state police. To grab their land the local police administration even went to the extreme of banning the daily tribal market.

From July to October 2006, this was the area where fifty four tribal people were shot by police - the maximum, thirty one, were killed in the month of September only. Sixteen among them had got their name registered in the Rojgaar Guarantee Yojna, their names are still there. Apart from this Kotarapal, Mankewal Munder, Alboor, Polttayam, Mazzimedari, Pullum and Chinnakorama are few villages where more then two hundred and fifty tribal people are missing. Names of 128 villagers among them are still enlisted in the different government welfare projects. The allotted money is reaching their home on paper, surprisingly duly signed by them. But where they really are, nobody knows. Cops holding gun stoically state that their duty is to maintain law and order not to search the lost ones.

But the way they maintain law and order is nothing but ironical.
July 21, houses of two farmers were burnt down in Pondum village; Pallewala village was looted and vandalized. Ten persons including three tribal women were arrested.
July 22, police cast a hellish spell on Munder village. Gallic were slaughtered or taken away by policemen; ten houses were put to flames. The villagers left this village and took shelter in the neighbouring village phoolgutta.

July 25, Phoolgutta became the target. Fifty tribals were taken to the police station.
July 29, they hit Karrebodhali village and people were thrashed down out there. Fifteen tribals were arrested. Mazzimendari village became prey to police men's savage whims in the first week of August. Pigsty and poultry farms were burnt off. About dozens villagers were taken to the police station and tortured for many days. In the same week many tribals of Karremarka village (including women) were arrested and misbehaved. August 11, police opened fire at Kotrapal village. Three farmers, including Atma Bodi and Rudhram were killed. Police ascertained them as naxalites and declared the reason of their death as encounter.

August 12, two farmers of katloor village were trapped at Kutaroo market. Later on their cases were also filed up as encounters.
August 15, houses of five farmers at Jangla village were razed down by lire by tenduleaf contractor a complaint was made against the contractor, but ironically, he was sheltered in the police station only. It means no FIR was done. What got registered there was a fake story that villagers of Jangla had a link with the naxalites.

In the last week of August, Dolul, Akwa, Jojer villages were hit. A farmer, Sukku of Ireel village, was brutally killed. His head was found hanging from a tree next day. The tribal people were so frightened that they did not go to their fields for many days. There was no FIR of this incident.
September 25, in Mankel village of Beejapur Tahseel dozens of tribal-farmers houses were put to tlamcs. Five tribal women and two children were picked up by the police. There is no information about them. In the last \\eek of September four dead bodies were found in the Indrawati River. The police had no answer as to who killed them and when their bodies were thrown into the River. According to the villagers these men were among those tribals who were taken by the police on the day of haat- bazar.

October 5, two women of Mukkavalli village. Vedinje Naggi and Vedinje malli were shot dead by the police. In the first week of October in Rajim village of Jegurgonda, live women were gangraped. A farmer, picked up with them, died after two days. But no case was registered. Amid these incidents, a case of children being shot by the police did get registered in three police stations but this was a matter directly linked with those police men who were posted to confront the naxals. hence the station officers took no time to close it.

September 2, 2006, 12 year old kadati Kummal of Adiyal village was shot dead by Nagga police.
October 3, 2006, 14 year old Raju was killed at l.owa by the Police.

October 5, 2006, even a one and half year old kid lost life to police men's gunshot.
October 10, 2006, 14 year old boy Barba Sonu was killed by police in Paraal village, there are innumerable incidents which did reach the police stations, but with no positive result.
The naked paradox of police administration can surface quite transparently if we go ahead to analyses it in the name of modernisation to improve the so called law and order during the last year. For example, seven hundred crore was allotted in the name of vehicles and weapons. Twelve hundred crore was set aside to construct a good stretches of roads in this area. To build strong walls at police station and to construct police guest houses the government has agreed to give one hundred and fifty crore. On the other hand to provide the minimum food grains to every tribal folk the government has aptly calculated the required amount as hundred crore, which can solve all the problems. But it is possible only if police administration, gram Panchayat, MLAs, MPs could spare this amount and let it flow in the need direction. However, the one thousand crore rupees sent here in the name of police, roads, buildings etc. can not be shown in the form of work done in this area, nothing even worth hundred crore has been done.
Besides the home state police, there are six other slate security forces stationed here. This area happens to be the third among the most sensitive areas after Kashmir and Nagaland. Therefore, the daily cost of this arrangement is far ahead than the yearly income of the tribals of this state. They are the country's poorest tribals. And what a paradox! Their area boasts of the costliest security arrangements. The every day expenditure is round about seven to nine crores.
It is simply not the matter of costly security arrangement and deprived and sordid state of tribals. The significant feature is that Chhatigarh is quite rich with natural resources. 90% of India's tin are is here, 16% coal, 19% iron ores, 50% diamonds of our country are found here. Total 28% precious minerals are present here. Moreover. 46, 600 cubic meter water reservoir is also here. Also, the state provides the cheapest human labour resource.

During the last five years (first congress and then BJP) under the initiative of the state government, six reports had been presented in which it was directly agreed upon that to resolve all the problems of the tribal life, the entire fundamental framework of their existence should be attached with mineral resources of the slate. But for the tribal folk natural resources and forest have got no meaning, because the basic design crated on account of development stands more for dollars than rupees. At the security arrangement front, it is observed that maximum police officials have their families living in other region. So they have got a habit of making money for the luxuries of their homes out there from here. Thus they do not connect with this land.

Therefore, if there is no social concern between one organization and another or between security personnel and local folks, and the state government depends more on outer capital-produce than on its own fund, then this land has nobody to took up to as its savior but just unconcerned people from different regions playing the role of salesmen or mediators and reaping their own profits. From central security forces to police stations, collector to MLAs, everybody is lustily devouring money which has been allotted for a different cause. Crore of rupees are consumed up in a blink of time but the poor hungry children of lesser gods not get even a bite of bread and stay in sorrowful conditions, as they are destined to.

This can easily be understood by looking at the profile of the projects of national or foreign companies. The state government has signed on a Memorandum of understanding to start a plant to produce one thousand megawatt electricity by American Company Texas Power Generation. This means that the state will get twenty lakh dollars. Another American company One Incorporate has finalised a deal to open a medicine factory worth fifty crore rupees. Chhattisgarh Electricity Board has made a deal with IFCO (Indian Farmers Cooperative Limited) to establish a plant worth five crores to establish a plant to produce one thousand megawatt electricity at Surgooja. In this deal the state has got 26% of the shares and the other 74% will go to IFCO. At this point of time when everybody is talking about the privatisation of electricity, plants like these may be sold to some multinational companies for ten thousand crores. Tata company is going to establish a steel plant in Bastar at the cost of seven thousand crore with the aid from the World Bank ESSAR Company has also agreed to fund a caustic power plant worth four thousand crores. Prakash Sponge Iron Limited is interested in coal mines. It has chosen a land at korba. Apart from this, there are dozens of multinational companies which arc interested in harnessing the hugely rich natural resources of this land and do not hesitate in spending fifty thousand crore rupees here. In this process five hundred crore have been manipulated at the stale of paper work by high officials.

How big deals are finalised for meager amount can easily be seen in the case of Bailadila. The iron which is taken out from Bailadila mines is sold to Japan at Rs 160/ ton (16 p/kilo). The same iron is sold to other companies for the industries in Mumbai at Rs 450/lon and to the industrialists of Chhattisgarh at Rs. 1600/ton. The presence of Nagamar Steel Plant, Tisco, ESSAR Pipeline project (to send iron-powder to Japan from Bailadila through water) will cast what kind of effect to the existing water resource of Bastar has already given us a premonition. Farmers do not have enough water to irrigate their land. Fields and crops are ruined. Farmers are committing suicide or leaving behind their natural habitat, they are forced to migrate to cities and work as daily labourers at the construction sites of skyscrapers, or as Chhattisgarh baking their labour very cheap in the brick-kilns and living a miserable life.

The hard reality of these aspects unfolds a horrible probability that if the government allows all the projects to work in this area, then 60% agricultural land will be lost out from the farmers. It means that without special economic zone, (SEZ) fifty thousand acres of land will go to the control of multinational companies. About the lakh tribal farmers will lose their fields and be depending on industries.
During this phase the central government has called in three meetings to analyse the status of this tribal populated area, most of the discussions are diverted to the internal security matter as this 'land' is naxal affected. The meetings have been attended by Chief Ministers of other naxalite states. Home Secretary, senior police officers, who discussed the matter with the officials of Home Ministry and the Prime Minister also. In all the three levels of the meetings the focal concern happened to provide the security force, posted there, with more modern weapons and mechanises. As all the naxal inflicted areas of nine slates lie below poverty line and are undeveloped, so the stress was on building a basic infrastructure. The Chief Minister of every state raised the question of development and mentioned about the difficulties the multinational companies were facing in commuting and sought help from the centre. In every level it is unanimously agreed that there will be no compromise at the point of development and establishing industries.
Obviously, there will be beautiful roads, lighted areas, so that companies carrying huge money to fund these areas can be lured to it.

There was not a single mention of Ledha like hundred tribal, women who were raped and killed brutally. At no level did anyone ask who was at a shooting spree in the tribal populated land. Why the earth is bleeding there. Nobody bothered to point out to listen to the voice of countless tribal folks. Who had been suffering atrocities and were killed every day. Everybody was busy in boasting off the number of naxilites he killed and how successfully he handled the situations. The Chhattisgarh government also mentioned these data so that they could recognise the bravery of their police officers. Right from the secretary level officers to the Home Minister, they could not pay heed to the fact why the produced data did not carry any names. They did not talk about the cases registered in police stations. They were least concerned to know whether the people killed in the name of naxalites were real culprits or the tribal folks.
Nobody took the pain of raising a question if it was some fabricated stories running around and the horrendous reality was lying underneath. They did not confirm whether the police administration in these states was killing innocent people in the name of fake encounters. It did not strike to them that if the police was confronting tribals in their forest village, then why the villages were killed only, though knowing the area quite properly, they would have fled away quite easily, because they must be quite capable of handling situations around their own locality. What do hundreds of fake encounter symbolise? In fact the government is not supposed to answer each and every question put before it. But if it defends itself by saying that it did not know about police created terror and tries to assert a clean face, then it is a dangerous symptom, which is not merely a matter of killing tribal people in fake encounters or strengthening the internal security on account of naxalite activities, but it is alarming for our democracy which is used as a disguise by the administration to create terror of another kind.

Congress’ tactic: Kalawati

Congress can only protect the dying farmers. Only Rahul Gandhi can. Only Congress can replace poison from their food and give a new life to the suicidal peasants. Only Rahul Gandhi can. Ministers are responsible for their present sorry state. The Prime Minister can also be, but not Congress and definitely not Rahul Gandhi. Probably this is what Kalawati would say to the farmers of Vidarbh.

The ministers aspire to become the Prime Minister. Sharad Pawar in spite of throwing farmers to suicide wants to become the next PM and Manmohan Singh, whose policies drove farmers to death, aspires to become the Prime Ministers again.

“It has only been possible due to Rahul Gandhi that people now know about Amravati, Yawatmal, Akola, Buldhana and Chandrapur. The leaders of India only came to know about Vardha because of Mahatma Gandhi but because of Rahul Gandhi people now know about us. They have been acquainted with our villages. If Rahul Gandhi would have not been there no minister would have come. If Congress comes to power this time, Rahul only will lead the nation and the voices of us farmers will be heard.” This is something that possibly Kalawati would want to say.

This is Kalawati’s saga whose pain was felt by Rahul Gandhi. The time when the Parliament was busy debating the nuke deal, Rahul Gandhi brought Vidarbh’s Kalawati and farmers into light and now it seems that she is being trained for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections. This is an effort of the Congressmen in Vidarbh who think the farmers are enraged with them and can go against them while voting. In this light, some petty politicians reckon that it would be better to publicize UPA sans Congress’ policies.

Sharad Pawar is also a target. Farmers are being acquainted with the fact that each department is headed by a minister. Had it been just about Congress, Rahul Gandhi would have managed it, but actually it’s about various parties who have claimed departments in the Centre and Sharad Pawar is one of them heading agriculture. Pawar promised Gandhi that he would ensure wellness of farmers. However, to defame Congress, he did nothing substantial for the farmers. The local Congressmen not only targeted Sharad Pawar but also Praful Patel, who himself belongs to Vidarbh. The so-called antagonism between NCP and farmers is visible in the speeches given by NCP.

The lands of farmers were snatched away by the government on the name of development and subsequently permission was granted by the Centre to construct buildings. To build an international cargo, 20,000 farmers were rendered jobless. In the last 5 yrs, more than 20.000 farmers have killed themselves. This is the result of the unfulfilled promises made by ministers. The same Praful Patel that initially talked about water and roads, now talks about air planes and cargos. The same Praful Patel who once did his business from Nagpur and travelled in his car now flies abroad for expanding his business to America and London. Now it’s for the farmers to decide whether they want their daily bread or build castles in air.

The Vidarbh farmers are furious over Manmohan Singh too as no promised aids reached them. Both, loans by banks and by lenders are being recovered still. The tedious policies of banks to maintain transparency on the contrary have become a headache to the farmers, jeopardizing even their money safety. No issue came up in open. Names of around 2 lakh farmers from Akola and Amravati are registered in the banks. They were supposed to get a sum of amount ranging between 20,000 and 1.5 lakh till 2008 but unfortunately they haven’t received a single penny. However, as claimed by the government a total of ten crore approximately has been already given.
After the declaration of PM’s relief the rate of suicides among farmers increased by a 20%. Earlier the average of deaths per month was between 50 and 57 % but after the package it increased to 65 - 70%. After the budget was made on the 16th February 2009, 27 farmers committed suicide in Vidarbh in a matter of 20 days. Congress as an escapist subscribes to the fact that Manmohan Singh doesn’t belong to Congress but UPA, like Sharad Pawar.

Kishore Tiwari, who works for the farmers, thinks that promises of ministers’ makes farmer hopeful for development. Afterwards the same farmer heads towards Delhi or Mumbai for earning livelihood. The farming stops and they don’t even intend to work under employment guarantee schemes and in the end commit suicide.

Before the 2004 Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha Elections, Sonia Gandhi went to meet a farmer’s widow in Vardha. That visit had some political influence. Shiv Sena took the same path and sent Uddhav Thackeray to similar visits. Similarly, L.K Advani also visited Vidarbh thrice disillusioning RSS and the farmers justifying his presence. BJP Chairperson Rajnath Singh started his journey from Vidarbh. PM Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi paid two-two visits each to Vidarbh. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar went there twice in his whole term and if we calculate the total number of visits by ministers and other government officials it comes out to be over a thousand.

According to NREGA, Vidarbh is the region where least or no work has happened. Promises over giving relief packages have been numerous that now no farmer wants to leave his field for even a day to do any other work for a hundred rupees. Even the NREGA officials don’t want them to do any such work as this would start a new saga of joblessness among the farmers which would for sure go against the government. Congress firmly believes that if farmers stand by them nothing can stop them from winning.

In 1997, when congress lost the whole nation, Vidarbh was the only region where it won 11 seats. This time however, there seems no scope; the public has become more important than a minister. In this light it seems a good proposition for Congress to find a Kalawati in every region to ensure its success.

Government feeble over terrorism

Sri Lanka is recognized by cricket and Jayasuriya. Differently, Sri Lanka is also identified by LTTE and Prabhakaran. Both confronted in Lahore. Presently LTTE is going through an existential crisis in Sri Lanka because of the prevalent armed force action. At this time, attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team can be taken as a great opportunity by LTTE to negotiate with the Lankan Govt. The whole attack was allegedly conspired by Harkat-ul-Mujahideen creating favourable conditions for LTTE. Fortunately, they did not succeed in captivating the cricket team.

Consequentially this unfortunate incident has raised numerous questions allover. For instance, what should be a democracy’s ideal way to deal with terrorism? Amid dividing societies, section centric power-mongering governments, violence as the only effective tool for negotiation; what significance does the ‘civil society’ hold? If the Govt. monopoly is killing people through its policies on the name of Democracy, what becomes a difference between the so-called Democracy and simply gunning down people for no reason? These questions become even more important as LTTE and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen share a good rapport from the times when Harkat-ul-Mujahideen was called Harkat-ul-Ansar. Harkat-ul-Mujahdeen was a member of the International Islamic Organisation then and also was a key player of Al-Qaeda known for smuggling drugs and weapons between other Islamic organizations.

It was in 1993 that the Indian Navy got to know about a ship that was carrying arms. The ship was going to Sri Lanka from Karachi with LTTE leader Kittu on voyage. LTTE comprehension about Indian Navy led to burning of the whole ship in the sea itself. Also, it was revealed that the Pakistani terrorist organizations took LTTE’s regular assistance for smuggling heroin between Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were also supported by ISI and Navaz Sharif openly. During that time Harkat-ul-Ansar was responsible for smuggling weapons to Palestine. LTTE was an active support all through because of its nautical strength.

In the 90s, LTTE was the only powerful organisation known for shipping arms and weapons of destruction. Between 1995 and 1998, ISI provided LTTE with anti-aircraft weapons and missiles. This action was however opposed by the Lankan Govt. and as an afterthought, pressure was created on Pakistan. This wasn’t the end of their age long relationship. Post 9/11, when Pakistan and Afghanistan faced deployment of US Army, smuggling weapons to Palestine happened via Myanmar and southern Thailand. Had LTTE become weak during all these events, it wouldn’t have used cricketers as bait for negotiation like it did now.

The present unfortunate incident has reminisced of the 37 year old Munich Olympic in which 11 Israeli athletes and the coach was held captive by a Yasser Arafat backed terrorist organisation called ‘Black September’ demanding release of 234 Palestinians. Jayasuriya was born two years after that incident and he definitely must not have gauged the possibility of an almost similar incident that happened some days back.

This episode has raised many questions before India. Is Pakistan ready for a democracy? Can America’s pseudo military and civil aid promoting terrorism and hampering Pakistan’s growth, justified and legitimate? And in the course of such happenings there is a starry world of cricket on one hand and on the other stands the enticement for Democracy through elections. Can they co-exist? We have more Muslims than Pakistan has, but divisive politics is prominent. India has more poverty than America’s combined population. In this light how can economic development be envisaged? Is all this a conspiracy to beat power and politics? Questions are many but the solution lies only in uniting the Nation. Calling off IPL is easy, building trust in the Nation is not.

Media can fight guns not capital

A gun could be retorted by a pen. This is not just a slogan, but the reality of Pakistan’s media. Journalist Musa Khankhel of Geo TV was shot 35 bullets and beheaded thereafter.

28 year old Musa Khankhel went to Swat to cover Taliban’s winning rally. This was a celebration of Pakistan succumbing to their pressure. A braving journalist who belongs to a country whose Govt. has given up an unconceivable thought for an Indian. Pakistan has always been an army of fundamentalists for Indians. Moreover, after the 26/11 attacks, Pakistani media is being perceived to have been colored in Pakistani colours.

Post- Musa Khankhel’s murder, the fearlessness that Pakistani journalists have shown has given Indian media and journalists, goosebumps. Indian media has always shown Pakistani media as a replication of the mullas. But when they themselves are fighting for Democracy, it’s time for Indian media to look within.

After Mumbai attacks no journalist had the courage to pronounce that the Pakistani attackers were given help in India. On top of it, IB’s report that stated the failure of Navy’s and Coastal guard’s shortcomings, was immediately dumped. The fire of patriotism burned inside the Indian media which when clubbed with State’s untold curb resulted into an unsaid harmony between the two. It was only when L.K. Advani in the Parliament negated the possibility of attacks without indigenous help, that the issue was addressed.

Most of the media houses in India are owned by people who have served as journalists. If we look at the leading news channels, all the proprietors have been journalist by profession. And that’s the reason why media is always mentioned as the fourth pillar of democracy; well proved during emergency. The tag seems to have rusted in the past 34 years now. Also, it has been heavily capitalized which has totally led to profit and wagging tails in front of the Govt. This is when the difference between the struggle of Pakistani media and the great tragedy of Indian media becomes clear.

General Parvez Musharraf was the one who gave a green signal to the broadcast of news channels in Pakistan. Geo News channel was started after this. When in 2001 Agra Summit he met Atal ji, he realised the power of media. I still remember how Musharraf invited all the journalists for breakfast and allowed NDTV to cover it live. Things that Vajpayee couldn’t speak openly and Musharraf wanted to, were finally said in open through media. That was the day when Musharraf and NDTV were most talked about. Immediately after returning to Islamabad he allowed private news channels in Pakistan.

The whole of Geo news channel was trained by the same set of people who trained Aajtak before its launch. I was a part of the team of Aajtak when the training was being given so I had a long association with them. In fact, when the same team was training Geo TV, they used Aajtak training tapes for the same. The tapes had everything form Aajtak’s then popularity to the journalists work after training.

I remember that just before Musharraf’s visit to India, I went to Pakistan where I met Hamid Mir. He was the owner and editor of a newspaper then. This helped me get information from the Pakistan’s side. Also, I called him for interviews, thrice. Hamid Mir said then, if the power of Indian media comes into Pakistan, the Pakistani Govt. would not act autocratic.

After the murder of Musa Khankhel in the Swat valley when Hamid Mir claimed to confront guns with pen. I reminisce the 2001 interview with LET Chief Md. Hafiz Sayeed. I was immensely praised by Arun Puri, owner Aajtak. During that time, the Vajpayee Govt. hinted not to air that interview on the grounds that it would invigorate the already existing terrorism. Arun Puri decided to not only broadcast it, but also released in papera saying- “Aajtak catches Lashkar Chief”.

Times have changed now. The Govt. is hiding its shortcomings and preaching media what to do and what not to. And the media apparently is very eager to learn it from the Govt. This eagerness is a result of the share in Govt. profits. Geo news proved Kasab a Pakistani when the Pakistani Govt. negated the very fact. Geo TV also showed the premise where the whole conspiracy of Mumbai attacks was framed whereas Pakistani Govt. calls it a mere part of the whole massacre.

On the other hand, in India, no news channel has the courage to stand and speak against ministers and put reality in perspective. From bombblasts in Mumbai to the Delhi blasts; Batla House encounter and information regarding people in remand, nothing was looked upon. Only if the Indian media had seen the issues superficially, it would have made a significance difference. But no news channel had the audacity to accuse its own support system, like Pakistan.

The state of Indian media can be well understood by the film “Delhi-6”. The script itself questions the very trustfulness of news channels. In the film, a news channel with its logo, anchor and reporter takes the story forward, which in the end portrays this thinking as a black spot on the society.

In the end of the film, the director has intelligently placed a mirror which reflects all the characters of the film. It signifies that real thief in inside you. Every character looks his/her reflection in the mirror, but here also the news reporter doesn’t turn up to look his reflection. Coincidentally, this particular channel also belongs to a journalist and the employees are also journalists.

In the Indian context, these reporters can walk with a puffed chest and consider Pakistani media as a fledgling. The present day reality of the two media is that, in Pakistan they have to fight guns and face tragedies like that of Musa Khankhel. Whereas in India, they befriend Govt. for profits, sideline the core news and claim their so-called professionalism. It’s interesting to note that in this period of recession when people are losing jobs, media should act responsible but it seems too engrossed in philosophy of cinema and minting money.

Politics won’t let live and Democracy won’t let die

Living with a tag of the World’s largest Democracy is not an easy task. Not at least when the Democracy is dependent on politics and the whole nation is being taught Democracy. Meaning of Democracy is imparting equal rights and opportunity to people to contribute in mainstream politics. To sustain Democracy is a responsibility of the Parliament, MLAs and MPs. Representatives of people chosen by the people themselves does not even formulate 0.0001% of the total population of our country.

The extension of this Democracy are the elected representatives at Panchayats, Villages and District level. However, even this collectively doesn’t make 1% of the total population. But this is where the tag of Democracy outshines. The moment these representatives reach this sphere, law and order differentiates for them and they enjoy special rights. No one can separate himself from the aura of Democracy and politics, ones reached. Hence it’s said that anyone, a Doctor, an engineer, a businessman, an unemployed, an illiterate and a dalit can become a politician. But ones an insider, no one can do anything else, but politics.

This is where the first lesson of Democracy begins. It points towards preserving a legacy and assuring security inside ones household. This practice negates the fact that power signifies 100 crore population of India. Out of the total 545 present members of Lok Sabha, around 15 % of them are in someway or the other related to big names in politics. The families which are taking the legacy forward are the ones who have actually made their way to the Parliament with hard work, by understanding true India, its villages and have actually felt for the nation.

When kids of big politicians entered politics, a new trend emerged altogether. The understanding was nothing but selfish instincts. Legacy can be seen as- Rahul Gandhi from Gandhi-Nehru family, Umar Abdullah from Abdullah family, Sukhbir Badal from Akali Dal’s Badal family and Supriya Sule, daughter of Sharad Pawar. Stalin and Kanimozhi, son and daughter respectively of Karunanidhi and Pankaj Singh, son of BJP chairperson Rajnath Singh are also the examples. Kalyan Singh- Rajbir Singh, Lalu Yadav- Rabri Devi; Meera Kumar, daughter of Babu Jagjeevan Ram; Reeta Bahuguna, daughter of Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna; Jaswant Singh, Murli Deoda, Pilot, Scindhia, Hudda, Sheila Dikshit etc…there is a long list of politicians who have made way for their children. Bala Saheb Thackeray’s political experiments though emerged like an alternative to legacy phenomenon. But even he succumbed to politics and had to pass on his legacy to his son, Uddhav Thackeray.

Democracy gets confined to a particular section as it reaches the village level too. This is evident from the fact that since last two decades around 20 lakh families have been solely holding power as a legacy. In the three tier system in villages around 38, 00,700 representatives are elected. Superficially, this seems alright where everyone has a right to stand for elections and even the politicians’ kids are elected by masses voting. The path to Parliament and Legislative Assembly is not that easy as it seems. It becomes very important to understand the complete reality and nuances of politics in Democracy.

Opting ticket from a political party is an enticing proposition because political parties have an organization of people who can work during the poll day. On a Lok Sabha seat there should be a cadre of at least 4- 5 thousand people. With this cadre, on the polling day, an opportunity to negotiate with other political party becomes easy. A youth willing to enter politics will take around 10 years to get associated with the influential class in politics. People will first elect them one after the other and later would consider them allies. But even this is not the solution.

In the present scenario of market and profit, Govt. has ignored people and corporate help can be seen everywhere on the field. The political parties declare names of candidate even before announcing the dates for election. This is done to ensure hassle free flow of money from corporate and others. The parties then involve themselves completely in formulating suitable policies. The influx of election fund from corporate and spending it on common voters is continuous. Presently, it has already started. The proposed candidates start benefitting from this as the code of ethics for elections is enforced upon the candidates only after the date of elections is announced. A vicious web of victory is designed and implemented before that. If common people are against the ruling power; the opposition benefits. They are loaded with all sorts of monetary help from the corporate. All the efforts are made in order to retain power in any case. This is an important lesson of Democracy and it goes through the path of market and profit. Profit and political awareness has lead to the consciousness of Democracy. It was said that earlier the villagers were unaware of whom to vote and hence sold their votes. But in the new era, Govt. and power sells itself and not the votes.

Specific policies benefitting a specific corporate house initiated the whole understanding. This has initiated a big game of business in which selling a vote one time doesn’t work, it is persistently carried out for 5 years. It is like a blank cheque of profit for some in power. Agreement or disagreement doesn’t count in the game of election politics. For every pillar to stand in power, it is important to state ones needs. Failing policies and breach in security has made the State and politics confront people. The judiciary and media became the stimulators. Media tried to control anger by broadcasting programs of felicitating the families of martyrs. And the corporate left no stones unturned to make it successful. There were advertisement and sponsors.

People lost their jobs due to failing policies but the executive and legislature with the help of Judiciary framed bail-out plans for companies facing losses. This was done to show that everything is fine even if it's not. Calling the whole crisis a global economic recession is a well played theory amidst total unemployment among people. If one pillar succumbs, other three supports the one and this is how the game of democracy works. This is not a common playground for everyone though. Democracy stands for equality but doesn’t implement it.

Democracy can well dream of Obama but can never permit him to break the vicious circle of Indian politics. Obama largely signifies youth which rests at Rahul-Priyanka and Modi-Mayawati. Before becoming the President of America, Obama couldn’t even pay his dues he took for studies. He faced all sorts of trouble one has to face in order to survive. And when the superpower was troubled, they saw Obama’s struggle as their victory. Politics in India still declares itself as the World’s largest Democracy but it's against politics and power that is camouflaged in Democracy.

Terrorism camouflaged in Nationalism

If I can terrorize you, then not terrorizing you according to my will would be called Democracy. You may differ. If you can terrorize me then all your initiatives will be like Democracy, where I would believe that only you can provide me a shelter. The terror of market economy is somewhat similar. Almost 70 crore people have become helpless in front of this vicious market. The Govt. has bowed down and has made the citizens consumers. Mumbai attacks have however made it clear that only Terrorism can confront the brute of market.

So should that mean our Judiciary is based on terror? The more the terror, bigger is the power, vaster is the Democracy and huge is the profiteer. The new face of Democracy is recognition against societal terror. Some six years back Atal Bihari Vajpayee preached Narendra Modi the nuances of National responsibilities. From a common man to a corporate and industrialist alleged Modi’s politics as divisive in nature. Modi was hailed as a black spot on the fabric of Indian Democracy by these businessmen.

From all that has changed in these six years one thing can be learned that Tata, Ambani, Mittal and likes want Modi as the Prime Minister of India. The question however isn’t that Modi has transformed himself or is rigidly against terrorism. Nor the question ever proves that the corporate and industrialists feel safe under Modi’s reign. The question straightly is that terror has replaced Democracy in true terms of its definition. The Indian constitution has imparted equal rights to every citizen, so does it not matter? Our Nation and Democracy is under threat.

Post Mumbai attacks the whole nation is raging against the Govt. which is a fact. The working and lifestyle approach of these leaders has filled masses with anger. The politicians are playing with their lives and no Govt. has been successful in curbing terrorism. Organizations responsible for dealing with terrorism are themselves caught up. In this whole game of power and Democracy, all the Govt. organizations are doing what they desire. No policy or plan lies in front of the people that could ensure the very existence of a leader or a govt. for that matter. Masses are infuriated over the death toll and this seems a valid reason as people have united themselves against terrorism now. There is a consensus over the frivolity of caste and religion based politics and a sense of unity among the masses to stand together for national interest. Many questions have come up in this context which point towards a simple reality that had not terrorism grip the nation; there wouldn’t have been this consciousness. Or is it the terrorism itself that can stimulate the nation?

If we see India as a terror struck nation from the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts and also keep in perspective the present day socio-political-economic conditions, both the above mentioned questions could be well touched upon. Fifteen years back, the Kandahar plane hijack was one such incident that shook the roots of the whole nation. Post that, till date our nation has faced more than 200 forms of terror attacks including the present Taj-Nariman killing. This dreadful trend was started with a blast in the Srinagar Vidhansabha premise where more than three dozen people were killed.

In the last one and a half decade, more than sixteen thousand people have been killed in various types of terror violence and more than 90000 crore rupees have been lost. The nation has also witnessed a clash between the political parties in efforts to curb terrorism. Demanding firm laws, the prevalent limitations of the Home Ministry and breach into the Security agencies are the issues being raised every now and then. This has highly infuriated the masses. Contemporary to that definition the present society has witnessed plethora of communal violence and regional conflicts.

No political party ever promoted implementation of any policy or laws against terrorism. On the contrary they have been playing a blame game all through. Everything of this sort began 15 years back. Babri masjid wasn’t just a demolition, but divided the whole society by drawing a line instead of erasing it. The political scene has darkened this line though. During this time, not only UP, Maharashtra, Orissa, Karnataka, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, Assam but also 16 other states faced communal riots. Not considering 5 lakh in Gujarat, more than 70 lakh families have suffered atrocities of communal violence. More than 50,000 crore have been lost and all the ruling Govt. are blaming each other. The Central Govt. wouldn’t interfere in the working of State Govt. and all communal violence has a political genesis. The power politics has always justified its presence claiming its importance in the society using it as a base of the four pillars of the Constitution.

Regionalism has given this violence a new canvas based on caste and religion. People have been affected in Mumbai and Assam equally and more than fifty lakh families have been threatened of their livelihood. The outsiders are being blamed for snatching away the jobs of the so called resident insiders. This politics can be called Constitutional or unlawful but none of the Govts. have had the courage to stand against this ugly practice.

Supreme Court’s judgment also seemed like a whisper in front of this blatant parliamentary debate. It was time when the nation was being prepared to develop. The Govt. policies framed during 1991 did more bad than good in the form of Babri Masjid riots in 1992 and Mumbai serial blasts in 1993. It led to big time violence and killings and affected the prosperity of nation. A web of economic policies negated the struggle for freedom and redefined development in such way that India emerged as an army of consumers. The Govt. that is supposedly a well wisher of a 100 crore population was the one who framed the policies considering a country of 25 crore consumers above 8 developed nations. The remaining 80 crore who couldn’t come in the frame of eligible consumers were forced to become one owing to the policies framed by the leaders. The new economic policies were considered holy and became larger than the masses. The executives of these policies only cared about legitimacy on paper and needs of the public were presented distorted.

Everyone from the Finance Minister to the officials of planning commission, the officers of Zila Parishad, Panchayati Samiti etc saw economic development as a result of these economic policies where the purchasing power parity dethrone powers and the Constitution seems insignificant. Not only this but the market and capital become standards of Democracy. The terror of this market economics has defined security standards and the politics hence.

The impact of economic policies can not just be defined in terms of 60,000 farmer suicides. More than 2 crore people lost support and more than 1 crore lost their homes as a result of these development plans. The traditional means of livelihood have supported crore of families throughout. It has been linked with the profiteers and is recognized by the Govt. The land which even without an infrastructure fills the stomachs of crores, is being snatched away now.
Taking the banking sector into market economy, the Indian constitution has snatched away people’s right to equality and assurance to the weaker sections thereby. Bank is now synonymous to a newer understanding of development. During the period, the income per person became Rs. 2500 but also 50 crore people couldn’t earn more than 1000 annually. India became richer in terms of Millionaires and the aspirations to conquer the whole world neglected basics like water, health and education. The amount of money spent by ten crore people on water, health and educating their children to become a Doctor, Engineer, MBA degree holder in one year is an amount that 50 crore of population don’t even earn in a lifetime. In a society like India where the society moves from one household to another without any walls, this game of 10 crore Vs 50 crore runs very smoothly.

The failure of states and dominance of capital over Democracy dictated security and other nuances and this pushed people to the market they never belonged to. There was a sharp increase of 5-20% in suicides, murders and violence during this period alone. Tension, aggression, political violence and irresponsible behaviour inside Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha increased in the society during this time. This is where the politics lost itself as a New Economy in 1991, Ayodhya Riots in 1992; serial Mumbai blasts in 1993 drew a new line in the political power after the first Lok Sabha elections in 1996. The masses lost all the faith in the political parties and their politics.

Coalition may have seemingly supported Democracy but in circumstances of no choice the politics chose market of consumerist nature. The skill of production of goods was replaced by marketing strategies and likewise dollars replaced rupee. The responsibility of State shifted from a majority to a few hands and promoted privatization. The theory of profit became powerful and this power brought politics under profit. The parliamentary understanding of Democracy became a business more or less.

Keeping in light the development other than the cultural one, what will happen to the generations who have been attached to a land now being sold off? This is where the right and wrong directions of terror begin. All the terror violence that happened pre-26 November Mumbai attacks have shattered people’s trust over politics and society. The 26 November attacks shattered the very consumerist nature of this nation to which even the politics bowed down. For the first time it was not about a particular section but the whole nation. This raised an important argument, would India wake up only by instigating terror? India has taken various measures against terrorism but the inside system is moving on the same pace, as provided by Pakistan. Decentralization of power in the society has been that anyone can get into politics by means of terror.

Politics is posing itself as terror camouflaged in Democracy where election is the biggest weapon. You may choose between variants of ghettos and types of terror. Now, only a cross border terror can awaken the masses by creating incidents like Taj and Nariman, else the people won’t wake up. And if this holds true, then, is terrorism a new tool for Nationalism?

Censor’s joust: PM and editors in high spirits

A group of editors of various news channels were high in spirits after they met PM Manmohan Singh on 16th January. The PM approved to do away with the strict laws made to tighten the noose on the news channels. However, an official of PMO has stated that the PM was very happy after meeting the editors. The official though didn’t elaborate much. Various officials have given hints that somewhat match the prevalent political notions of our country.

Almost all the leaders remember the first week of December. Post-Mumbai attacks the news coverage of rallies across Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Hyderabad by channels reached the television sets of millions rising against the politicians and their politics. Throughout December, politicians and Govt. were busy pleading as to how the entire politics can be negated because of a few politicians. The first ever comment that came from Omar Abdullah after becoming the CM of Jammu and Kashmir was that all the politicians shouldn’t be labeled as that of the same category.

At that time, our leaders almost begged the news channels not to flow with the tide of the ideology denying Democracy. However, the issue concerned millions and their emotions, which then, was impossible to ignore. Journalistic ethics and business TRPs for the first time recognized the masses that earlier fell for superstition, a car sans driver, monkeys-bears, Rakhi Sawant and Raju Shrivastav. It was the same public that once wanted to close all these news channels. The news channels cashed on the emotions of people during and after the Mumbai terror attacks. This goes away from the present political system. In reality, the business of politics and that of the news channels is almost the same. If the people’s emotions are with the Govt., it stands fearless and if the viewers like watching a particular news channel and see it as their form of expression; the news channels remain fearless.

The time when news channels went astray, even the Govt. was lost. The Govt. policies were laden with economic concerns negating the common man aspect of it. The news channels, at this time were busy with comedy and humor with people equally involved in watching. Apparently enough, the Govt. generally focuses on a certain section and the news channels have become habitual of showing news wrapped with an illusion of entertainment. The channels are denying the role of media which is to raise public interest stories and demanding a fair implementation of Govt. policies for public welfare. Hence, when the whole question of censoring the news channels came up, the channels suddenly realized their role of the ‘fourth state’.

Nowhere has the Govt. mentioned its action plan when a news channel shows dance-music shows, reconstruction of crime sequences and sci-fi entertainment instead of news. The censor carries facts which no longer exist in the media. For an instance, riots in Gohana and Gujarat cannot be aired according to the Govt.’s censor. Bribery, doctor’s racket indulged in selling medicines in the open market etc cannot be shown. Misuse of farmer’s land on the name of SEZ cannot be broadcast. Neither the atrocities of police on people can be shown nor the encounters carried out to do away with the criminals of society. No sting operation can be carried out or aired keeping in mind the public interest. This would mean that the whole KPS Gill instance which consequentially improved the condition of the Hockey Federation could not be aired. It would also mean that before broadcasting Achyutanandan’s remarks against martyr Unnikrishnan’s father, permission from the Govt. would be required. So, if the Govt. is leftist, no permission would be granted. However, if any regional party has a support in the Centre, the issue can be made as big as concerning the national interest. So largely, not showing such news means always asking the Govt. for permission. Concerns of national interest would be decided by a bureaucrat and actions against a journalist would be taken by someone who negates even a mere possibility of affecting Nation’s dignity.

Long back, some 13-14 years ago, Doordarshan and metro aired a 20 min Aajtak, a half an hour “The World This Week” and a 45 min program called “The First Edition”. Every news and footage was monitored and was only aired after getting an NOC. Though there has been a clear difference as compared to the then scenario in terms that presently the Govt. keeps an eye on the news with views. This happens to make sure that the news is not moulded to subscribe to a certain set of views. Also, to know if any political party is being aided through the channel or if something is happening against the Govt. to malign its image.

When KPS Gill became the CEO, Prasar Bharti, in a meeting he asked as to how to define if he is more patriotic than the founder of Aajtak, Arun Puri. He said, “Who am I to question his nationalism?” That was the day when the NOC system ended. Doordarshan sold time then and the producers of news programs earned through the advertisements. The Govt. had an eye over the makers of programs and the media noticed if the Govt. demanded more.

But when the economic development made profit the core motive of policies, then what are the news channels supposed to show? There’s no monitoring as the State itself has adopted policies promoting accumulation of wealth. And the only responsibility State took up for the benefit of people was providing food to the needy and ration card-tax card and visa. Also, the Govt. has given education, health, safe drinking water, employment, housing and security in the private hands, getting rid of its own responsibilities. Hence the public started lacking interest in the Govt. and its leaders. This soft corner was caught up by the politicians. For the sake of business only the most demanded was shown. In reality, news comes with responsibility. But if the State itself indulges in getting rid of its responsibilities then it’s obvious for a news channel to become latent towards its duty which is ‘Mission Journalism’.

In this light one more thing comes up. If at all the censor comes into function, then topics ranging from astrology to supernatural elements will be shown profusely on TV. Programs of a dog-cat relation, a decade old underworld tape, a sensational crime report or a reconstruction of some romantic sequence would be shown on the name of ‘news’. And this wouldn’t need Govt. permission as this isn’t against national interest.

A question that comes to everyone’s mind at this point is that if the censor doesn’t control such situations, why are the news channels worried? The censor isn’t imposing the broadcast of news only. The first answer is, the way all the politicians cannot be categorized into a single category, so are the news channels. Not all the news channels can be viewed in a single way. And the second contention is, the politics has already lost itself in the economic development strategy and has lost faith of a majority section. Similarly, in the game of money making, media may lose its role of the fourth estate and the editors may have to confront the public on this.
If the public distrusts media, how will the politics call itself the most powerful weapon of Democracy? The reason of editors’ happiness and PM’s elatedness was that both the editors and the PM realized that they are journalists and politician respectively and this raised their spirits altogether.

From Slumdog Millionaire to Marketdog Millionaire

The Indian cinema audiences got an opportunity to watch the film Slumdog Millionaire when the actual ‘Marketdog Millionaire’ is off to jail. The game of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ seems a cakewalk on TV but in Slumdog Millionaire this is a game of winning and losing a moment in life. This has taken a blatant face of reality that sometimes it feels like a shame to declare oneself as a part of this society. The reality of ‘Marketdog Millionaire’ is confronting the truth which is selling the Nation and society to achieve everything; that which can be lost in the glitter and become a Marketdog under state politics.

The game of Slumdog Millionaire starts from ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ where coincidentally a chaiwallah of Mumbai takes the hot seat to become a millionaire. Anil Kapoor explains him rules of the game before starting the game. Every question takes the 18 year old boy to his past from where he gets the answers to all his questions. But he has to answer his success to the policeman under a third degree treatment to make sure of his capabilities to win 2 crores without hassles.

But before understanding the film, we need to know about the ‘Marketdog Millionaire’, meaning the former Satyam Chairman Ramlinga Raju. Satyam’s downfall and Ramlinga Raju’s ploy is a reflection of the market economy. In the 70s and 80s, when Naxalism was grounding itself in Andhra Pradesh, Raju’s father earned his living by farming in a small village at the banks of Godavari in Andhra. For the Naxalites, Raju’s family was a Zamindar. The naxalites were indulged in money snatching for the nearby farmers.

Raju has emerged from these circumstances and that’s the reason he left his village and farming completely. When Raju decided to live an urban life, farming was never a viable option economically and politically. After his father’s death he erected a statue in the village and sold the entire land to have a stand in the market. However, the villagers tell this antagonistically. They say that the statue got erected only after Raju made his mark in the market. He did everything from tractor dealing to event planning, but nothing worked. Even the recognition that farming gave to Raju’s family, didn’t work.

In the political scene of Andhra Pradesh, when N.T.Ramarao addressed the active naxalites in Telangana by the name Anna, fortunately the eastern- Godavari and Kareemnagar were places largely affected. Kareemnagar is the home town of former Prime Minister PV Narsimharao. This was when Raju got disconnected from his village or more so understood the nuances of politics. This understanding polished his political skills and from hereon the whole game of 'Marketdog Millionaire' began.

In the film Slumdog Millionaire, the story starts with Jamal, the resident of a slum next to Chhatrapati International Airport in Mumbai. He plays cricket on the airport premises. Living this life, Jamal and his brother Salim face troubles of lifetime at an age of 4. From considering basic minimum to building dreams, Jamal and Salim lose their mother in riots and face hardships. They face severe hardships ranging from an encounter with the eye mafia to earning meager Rs. 2-4 daily. Life turns when Salim kills the eye mafia and saves Jamal and his childhood friend from the yoke of the eye mafia. This is how a Slumdog Millionaire takes birth as now he is recognized among the mafias. And Salim very well understands the game of mafia which drives him further.

The ‘Marketdog Millionaire’ Ramlinga Raju started his software company in 1987 by the name Satyam Computers and that’s when he first encountered politics. In the same year the naxalites kidnapped seven ministers from Andhra and strengthened their hold. Among those kidnapped, there was one who belonged to eastern Godavari area. Ramlinga Raju gained a consignment to serve the Indian Govt. for the first time. And coincidentally, P.V. Narsimharao became the PM after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.

Economic development initiated in the country and a new era hence started for the new so called business. Technology and computers knocked the Indian market and the American market opened up for Satyam on the name of providing service. Satyam got its wings when through Track I and Track II, the Central Govt. recognized it and Hyderabad became the IT hub with the help of a tech-savvy Chandrababu Naidu.

Raju proved to be a true pedestrian of the path. He shared stages with Bill Gates in Hyderabad after becoming Naidu’s only close professional. In the wake of a proliferating career Raju dealt with the lands. The dealings were accelerated by politics. It was the time when Hyderabad was valued like never before. The profit was shared with the CM and politics on land got started by Naidu continuing even after the new Govt came into power. YSR Reddy’s administration did not entertain Naidu’s counterparts; however, its doors remained open for Raju. Raju’s barter for YSR’s favour is still a mystery in the politics of Andhra.

That was when Satyam’s Raju was considered as the Kohinoor of corporate world. From 2002 to 2008, Raju’s development company Maytes owned the largest land share in the state and Satyam was awarded all the glory of the corporate world. On other hand in the film Slumdog Millionaire Salim made a mark for himself amid the mafias clam. In the film, he owns crores whereas his brother Jamal separates from him and remains a tea seller to the BPO workers. Coincidentally, one day a telephone operator of the BPO leaves his desk and asks Jamal to be there for sometime. That’s when Jamal finds his brother on phone and fortunately his line gets connected to the Millionaire show and he eventually makes it to the hot seat.

The tables turned here. Jamal, heads to the mafias with Latika in his heart whereas Raju’s hunger to acquire everything buys him tenders to Metro Project in Hyderabad. But because of the whole fuss and controversy behind the Metro Project, the chief Shridharan refuses to take it up. For ‘Marketdog Millionaire’ Raju, this proves a big shock. On one hand there’s money stuck in the land, whereas on the other the hung up Metro Project. This is when America blacklists Satyam. In Slumdog Millionaire this is when Salim helps Jamal, rescues Latika and send her to Jamal. Latika stays with two of them. They are aware of the three musketeers. Jamal had read the story of Three Musketeers and when coincidentally Anil Kapoor asks him the ultimate question on Three Musketeers, he smirks and knows that he has become the Slumdog Millionaire.

He chooses to use his lifeline ‘phone a friend’ to talk to his brother. His brother Salim, who is already a Slumdog Millionaire due to his mafia connection, ends his life over money. He gets murdered by his fellow mafias. And coincidentally the Marketdog Millionaire’s end happens because of his self declaration of being a fraud. This is a new beginning for the 'Marketdog Millionaire' Raju, as he is a symbol of the State’s system.

It’s the Govt. that in order to hide its own shortcomings has sent Raju behind bars. And the same Govt. is making efforts to get Raju out of all this now. The film Slumdog Millionaire is a hit. It has been awarded with four Golden Globe Awards and is running for an Oscar now. The film is based on a novel by a Mumbai based diplomat whereas 'Marketdog Millionaire' is Manmohan Singh’s stamp on the American market. The game of 'Marketdog Millionaire' is on because it’s not a film but truth. Now it’s you who’ll decide whether to watch Slumdog Millionaire or become a 'Marketdog Millionaire'.