"Two Dalits hacked to death in Tamil Nadu." Even though incidents like these are not uncommon in Tamil Nadu (or other parts of India for that matter), this is probably the first reported incident of this kind since the Law college 'beating'. I'm not sure if as many from the bourgeoisie will react to this as they did for the former. But I reckon this will be talked over for days in Tamil TV channels and written about in all major news papers in length. Editors of these media houses would do that much to save their faces.
Well, who am I kidding?
Well, who am I kidding?
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15 comments:
what do u mean by "Well, who am I kidding?".
Do you mean the media may not report this widely?
What are you suggesting? That any such reporting by journalists is bad or good or plain useless?
If you say it's the last, you must be a cynic who complaints when journos don't report properly and also complain when they do!
Durga,
Yeah, I don't think they would. It is very likely it will be another "thundu bit" news in some corner. This disparity is what many (leftist bloggers) wanted to point when all the middle class naatamais couldn't tolerate the "mindless violence" perpetrated against the "helpless" Thevar boy last November.
Suresh,
I realised this when I spoke to a Haryanvi friend couple of days back. He was middle class and was insistent that 'individuals are responsible for their misfortune' and that India was fine the way it is. I really wanted to punch him in the face.
Middle class Indians are so smug about their achievements, that its irritating. But I am still not taking your route..
I think of North Eastern part of the country and its scary. wonder how most of the people there go about their life.
Actually, The Times of India mentioned it in a rather biggish fashion on Sunday as did The Hindu. The Hindu, I think, actually gave it front-page coverage. I'm unsure about the channels though as I haven't watched much TV in recent times. But knowing how desperate they are for news in general, it probably got some 'decent' coverage.
Hmm, maybe all is not lost yet.
Subhash,
People like Rakesh Omprakash Mehra (I watched Delhi 6 yesterday) are the ones who feed thismiddle class smugness. They do it even more than truly right wing fanatics. You can add Ashutosh Gowariker to the list too. I'll write briefly about the movie in my next post.
Sudhir,
Of course, they'll "write" about it. I didn't read TOI's news item, I read The Hindu's. It's the typical apathetic "4 people died in an accident" kind of report. The only context you'll see is what led to the accident -- if the driver was drunk; if the headlight was too bright etc. It's the same here. The incident is depoliticized as much as possible. It suggests as if everything was just fine until some "external elements" muddled up the "peace." That there is inter caste oppression and such incidents are an outcome of a historically unresolved socio-political imbalance is not even briefly mentioned. Why? Because it's just too common. They don't have to state what's "understood."
Fine, this is just a report. Let's see if they write an editorial on it someday. After all, it's the space where you state an opinion, isn't it?
What's interesting to note is that the articles I skimmed through -- on the Law college incident -- weren't all that different. While they outnumber this one, the nature of the content is the same. It's reported as one set of unruly students unleashing "inhumane" violence on the other. Just vandalizing as they always do! You almost wonder why other law colleges all over TN were shut down (because the reports don't seem to say why). I was not able find the word Dalit or Thevar in any of the articles I’ve added below. ennada mayiru report eludhureenga?
The Hindu = elitist garbage run by you-know-who
Anyway, just on general observation you’d know how many are ‘talking’ now, and then.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/14/23hdline.htm
http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/14/stories/2008111454210400.htm
http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/14/stories/2008111454830500.htm
http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/14/stories/2008111461520800.htm
http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/14/stories/2008111461390800.htm
http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/14/stories/2008111458880100.htm
http://www.hindu.com/2009/03/08/23hdline.htm
I liked your latest video...it was shot well! Looking forward to seeing more videos from you..keep them coming!
Totally unrelated to this post. But I just started listening to your podcast on Mahabharatham and I like your analysis and I am looking forward to listening to the rest. I am in the Second episode now. I know Mahabharatham story but I have forgotten many parts and its good to listen to them again. But from the looks of it, it seems like you discontinued the podcast at some stage. If yes, then its really a shame. Cos as of now I don't find any such podcast or audio book available for free. When you have made the podcast you didn't except any feedback but you have still asked for comments or mails with suggestions. But after such a long time it might be encouraging for you to know that there are people like me who are listening to it. May be this comment in your blog might enthuse you enough to continue the Mahabharatham podcast.
- Suchithra
This is related to this post. I primarily came here to know your email ID, but anyways about this post. I can sense your apathy towards newspapers and media in general. But if you observe the way they are run today its more like an enterprise or a business. Profit making is on top of their minds. If that is the goal then they are probably doing all the right things.
If you want to read some articles on ground realities and the real situation in rural India I can make a few suggestions:
-P.Sainath's articles in Hindu opinion columns. Although lately he has been writing a lot on the economic woes and recession in US
-www.downtoearth.org
-www.indiatogether.org
-www.frontlineonnet.com - though this is from the publishers of Hindu, this is definitely worth checking out for some of the editorials and cover page stories.
Some of the above are reader funded journalism and India together republishes all the articles of P.Sainath here.
- Suchithra
Suchithra,
Thanks. I know who Sainath is.
PS. I'm not "apathetic" to the news papers I mentioned. Indignant is a better word.
why dont you like n.ram ? :)
ennadh suresh has a mahabharatham podcastaa? link pliss?
Bharath,
I might sound disrespectul to those who 'like' it but I think my podcast on Mahabaratham was a total piece of crap. Not just from an ideological stand point, but my Tamil (at least in the first 3, 4 epsiodes), the things I was talking about -- ayyaho! It's the kind of stuff that will make you rethink if I shouldn't apologize for things I've said in the past. (Especially episodes 1 through 8 and the intro.)
I'm surprised you didn't know about it. Not because it was "patti, thottiyellam popular," but because it's been mentioned several times in this blog (including the posts you've commented on), even though I sidelined the 'program' myself. It's also incomplete.
Anyway, I'll talk about it length some other time. Here's the link: Mahabaratham Pesukiradhu
"ennada mayiru report eludhureenga?" Ha ha.
As for The Hindu being garbage, we're all, more or less, trained to believe that, in my company. :P And yes, we'll know in a few weeks time if somebody considers it important enough to write an editorial about it.
As for not mentioning caste (which obviously was the primary reason in both cases), I could be wrong but I think newspapers want to play safe and save their skins. Just in case. Either that, or the idea that somebody who provides them with a lot of advertisements may be hard done by it.
I just thought of one more 'or'. Plain-fucking-apathy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7XUYcGmjzw
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