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Patna,(BiharTimes): What happened in the Wheeler Senate Hall of Patna University on Friday morning only confirmed how intolerant those close to powers that be in Bihar are.
That the Principal of one of the most premier colleges of the state, which entered its 150th year only last month behaved like this before an esteemed chief guest just because he is the husband of a ruling Janata Dal (United) MLA only speaks how bad the situation is in Bihar.
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Though Justice Katju repeatedly said that what he is saying is based on what he had heard here, yet the way the Principal of Patna College, Lal Keshwar Prasad Singh, started shouting only speaks volume about the real picture in the state.
BiharTimes, and a couple of other mediahouses––none from print media––have been highlighting these facts since long. BiharTimes, in an exclusive report last year exposed how over Rs 28 crores was spent on advertisements to the print media in one year. What is strange is that a large amount of that money went to many vernacular dailies, which only exist on paper.
As the Chairman of the Press Council of India, Justice (Retired) Markanda Katju, has every right to speak. Prof Lal Keshwar Singh could have raised his points after his speech was over. But he chose to shout down the renowned jurist who hit back by stating that “you can not cow me down. If you have your point come out logically and explain it. You can not ask anyone to stop speaking.”
But the state government machinery seems to have learnt no lesson. A local Hindi channel on Friday evening invited a senior journalist to come over to speak in a panel discussion on the issue at 9:00 PM on Friday programme. Suddenly a phone call came late in the evening to that particular journalist informing him that the programme had been cancelled. What actually transpired in between could only be guessed.
Though some electronic media did highlight Justice Katju’s speech and the drama which followed it is to be seen how the print media publish the news. Only last month when the Assistant Editor of The Pioneer, Amarnath Tewary, was assaulted by a woman BJP leader and her son but the local media virtually blacked out the news though some national dailies and BBC extensively covered the incident.
comments...
Nitish Kumar stirs strong feelings, both for and against, especially among the Biharis. The ranks of the latter- the Niteesh baiters , of course in a minority, are gradually swelling due to defectors from the camp of erstwhile supporters. The reason for “disillusionment” may be many. Alok Kumar Singh has pointed out a few of them. I am not an old reader of Bihar Times, so I do not have the benefit of historical perspective but it appears to be an honest news portal at least on this isuue, the proof of which lies in the prompt publication of Mr. Singh’s letter while the issue is still red hot. It is ready to be judged for what it is worth!
My own take on the issue is slightly different. No one can accuse Mr. Katju of being excessively tactful or judicious in his remark. His asperity- even at times cynical asperity - is by now universally recognized. He has spared none. That he is a Congress agent is a fact that has not found as wide a currency .But can anyone deny him his right to speak his mind on the performance of the media? As the chairman of the press council, the official watchdog body –this is what he is paid to do! That he tends to overstate the case may be another issue.
Mr. Katju, as I understand, was no gatecrasher. He was there on a specific invitation of the vice chancellor of the university. So he was there in double trust –as a guest of the university and a person whose views on media deserved to be heard. The mere mention of media brings to mind democracy and the democratic norms .One can never forget that famous quip by Voltaire “I disagree with what you say but I shall defend till my death your right to say it.” It is quite natural that the remark about a supplicating, pliant media may have hurt the sentiments of the “ruling party MLA Pati” Lalkaleshwar Singh. But he was there in his official capacity as the principal of Patna College and it was only expected that he should curb his personal sentiments. As a Principal he owed it to his students to conduct himself in a dignified manner. The lumpenised Principal had to be “escorted” out, booed by his students will go down as a memorable occasion in the history of infamy. If Mr. Principal had valid reasons or he was sure of his debating skills he could have shamed Mr. Katju to the roots of his intelligence. And in any case whose brief was he holding any way – the brief of the media, who were represented in strength or that of the government?
We will not discuss the veracity of Mr. Katju’s remark on media. Those who attended the seminar on media in the Bihar Times convention will remember the way members of the media indulged in self flagellation and outdid each other in heaping abuses on themselves . The word “Kutta”was an epithet chosen for itself by the media itself.
How did the media cover the particular event? The electronic media went to town with this incident as the lead story and it was repeated several times. The response of the print media ranged from the indifferent to mildly interested. For the The Telegraph Mr. Katju may not have come to Patna at all. The Times Of India did notice that he had come but the sweeping remark based on “hearsay “the sensational protest and the shameful eviction seemed to be of no interest to it. It published something which nobody seems to have read. Umbeto Ecco , the famous semiologist speaks of how the daily newspaper is losing its relevance and appeal because all that is worth reporting has already appeared on the telly . The readers have already a brief outline of what to expect and the dailies have to keep in mind the events reported . TOI came absolutely a cropper. The Hindustan Times did a fair bit of reporting, but the news was tucked on the inside page, with which one cannot quarrel.
In the end does the divergence in priority and content have any relation to the fact that the electronic media is not so much beholden to the government advertisements as the print media is? Better informed people may have a view on it
Ravi .
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Katju's Condemnation : No breaking News
As I have written earlier controlling the press is one of the most basic tenet of an authoritarian regime. Nitish government follows " The protocols of the elders of Zion" with religious sincerity where PRESS must be used as a tool to protect the vicious agenda of the regime. Katju's "press censorship etc." is an outdated remark coming from his position of unique ignorance about the current form of governance in Bihar.The people of Bihar under the prowess of corporate media are kept stunned by the accomplished facts of the Nitishocracy .By publishing the growth graph of the state ,the progress report cards every now and then, and the sporadic inaugurations of never-to-be-completed bridges and universities people only recognize once and for all that the government is so strong, so inexpugnable, so super-abundantly filled with power, that in no case shall people take any account of them and their corruption factories and so far from paying any attention to their own opinions or wishes. The regime however ,is ready and able to crush with irresistible power all expression or manifestation thereof at every moment and in every corner of Bihar.Did't you see the despotic retaliation of one of the crony of Nitish Kumar , the so called principal Mr.Lal Keshwar prasad singh who could not but show his real color of wolf forgetting the academic gathering around him.This is what happens when anyone wishes to express his opinion or even the fact in Nitish's Bihar.Every public agency is manned by the regime's thug and exercising any democratic right may prove fetal for the citizens. If you do not believe try and go to PMCH and ask for a pace maker and you will see the robbers of the regime in their original form.The murderers masquerading doctors will threaten you in the name of either the ministers or the IAS officers to soften your stance and cough up all your savings in the name of medical treatment. The public opinion is categorically silenced as all those who could listen and voice for you are almost bought out for the sake of muck.
Arshad Mohsin
Kuwait
Katju stand on Bihar Media was confirmed when most of the newspapers blacked out this news. Any one can understand the pressure on media in the state and helplessness of journalists working there. People in govt. should know there is no single window of information now a days. Media and govt. both loosing there credibility.
Rajeev
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Only God knows what's happening at the center and other richer states!!
You are trying to make Justice Katju a God but people who know him, know very well that he is a congress (so called 'secular') stooge. Perhaps, he was missing the famous ‘Chalisa’ so commonly sung on the street of Patna in that ‘Golden period of Press Freedom’.
Agreed, Nitish and his Govt. may not be an angel but your attack on him and his government is almost personal. e.g. You highlighted only the negatives, carping and cribbing part of the recently held Bihar Global Meet ( I went through full part of Mr. Gopal Krishna Gandhi and Mr Sen's remark). You pick only the part you liked and 'gagged' others just like your bugbear Nitish J.
So, your crowing about Govt's 'media gag' and media's honesty seems like a crocodile's tear.
I don't know what 'radical' change happened after 2007-08 that, before you were singing paeans to the same ‘crafty’ Nitish and his ‘draconian’ Govt, and all of a sudden after 2007-08 you changed gear and started nitpicking as per your convenience. Wasn’t Nitish the same person before 2007-2008 or you only discovered him after 2007-2008?
I am not saying that you sing ‘bhajans’ or ‘chalisa’ of the yore but your reader deserve a better reading then getting personal opinion packaged as a News. A ‘cut’ here and a ‘twist’ there.
Everyone needs favor (both due and undue) from the government. If they are favoring you, you return their favor by making public opinion. If they don’t you pick and choose your news and present them as a universal truth (thinking that your readers are all morons).
This has been proved by recent Radia tapes. So stop this larger than life, holier than thou image of ‘the fourth estate’ (and of course yourself). You journo’s are as honest (or corrupt) as any other part of the society.
Journalists of today want to have their share of the feudalistic power pie. Writing “Press” just like “Police” (or for that matter “Mukhiya”) on vehicles is a symbol of that power, or perhaps a ploy to bend the system. When there is a conflict between a journo and ‘others’. It’s the ‘other’ who is always on fault. Journalists are the holy cow of today’s India. They are always ‘wronged’, ‘gagged’ or ‘muzzled’ but they can do no wrong.
At least people can throw these politicians after 5 years but what about you guys?
Now, with all your honesty you will publish this comment after good 7-8 days when this news itself becomes irrelevant or better instead just trash it in the dustbin as a personal a diatribe. But, I always love to remind someone who love to point their fingers on others but forget that at least 3 fingers are pointing towards them.
Its better to be a Chandan Mitra (we know his affiliations) than Shekhar Gupta and Vinod Dua surreptitiosly working as a Congress agent.
Alok Kumar Singh
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