Its a nice pleasantly cold morning. I have freshly landed in India to chirping sounds and freshly brewed tea on the roadside stalls. Vegetable and newspaper vendors make an early appearance signalling their arrival.
A couple of days ago, I came across two pieces of news headlines. Both were in relation to men hailing from the same "religious sect". The fact that they were Indians failed to grab our attention. Why?!
Coming back to the two men who made news :
One was a man who was hailed as the "Missile Man of India"- an incredible scientist, one of the sharpest brains of India, extremely industrious ( that would actually be an understatement) - the kinds that Indian parents ask their children to follow the example of, a teacher who took pride in being one, a visionary in the truest sense of the word- a person who envisioned India as a stalwart in the area of space research and science. I can go on and on about how great he was and how there wasn't a single corrupt bone in his body and that I can say without doubt that he earned the respect of every single citizen of the country. In case you haven't figured it out yet, it was Mr.APJ Abdul Kalam.
Coming back to the second one : Honestly speaking I don't know much about this man. Maybe because my memory as a child had no place saved for politics, riots or violence. And that's exactly what this man arrested for. Maybe not as a direct perpetrator of the bloody riots that rocked Maharashtra in the early 90's which witnessed hate killings of the worst kind atleast for that era; an age when terrorism wasn't a regular word. By virtue of his association to someone as notorious as the mastermind of the attacks he definitely is a criminal. To what degree that is unknown. That definitely doesn't make him a National Hero. At least that can be said with confidence. The name of that man glorified by the Indian Media : Yakub Memon.
I have always been an ardent reader and an advocate of the Journalism of Courage that The Indian Express has always displayed time and again. But even a newspaper which I thought held a great caliber fell short of expectations when it decided to go with the intention of maximizing its numbers by shoving Mr. Kalam's funeral in a corner of the front page whereas Yakub hogged the limelight in all his glory.
I am no judge to the character of Yakub but definitely thought that a President who was respected even by another country (whose flag flew at half mast to mourn his death) deserved a HERO's farewell. He atleast deserved a full front page covering his funeral and his last journey. To top it all crowds (read: media) thronged to his burial and his last rites.
Maybe he didn't have a few scandals and scams attached to his name,
He didn't have extra marital affairs (or affairs as he was single till he died)
He didn't make flashy and fiery speeches
He advocated the importance of a simple and hardworking life
Maybe that's why his final journey wasn't as important as was that of an inmate on death row.
Maybe the incarcerated person who jeopardized thousands of lives by keeping mum on his brother's whereabouts gathered more heads in front of the TV set.
If that's what the media are going to be standing for than I guess we are better off without watching and reading the "news".
Where "news" and "viral" are associated with "fifteen minutes of trash"
It may manage to capture attention but will definitely drop the respect we have for journalists who are "making" news rather than REPORTING FACTS.
And add to that self reporters (read: celebrities on Twitter) who can't even tweet correctly the name of Mr. Kalam.
And the same continues even today where most media are chasing down Indrani Mukherjee's husbands all over the country...
Journalism! RIP...
