The comments below this tweet are instructive. One suggests that those who threaten to cut India into a thousand pieces need to be afraid. So — a small rant follows:
The videos that purportedly showed Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid etc shouting those “tukde tukde” slogans were proved to be falsified. The police have no case: indiatoday.in/india/story/ja… and the courts freed them of charges. Yet…+
Every other day, two English channels purporting to purvey news use “tukde tukde gang” as hashtag to demonise the JNU students, and increasingly, by extension, anyone who questions the actions of the government. Every day, they trot out a conspiracy theory. And +
And through the alchemical process of repetition, they have converted a lie into a truth. Lies — when amplified by unscrupulous media — have consequences. Today’s attack on Umar Khalid is one such.
There have been others — the prime suspect arrested in the killing of Gauri Lankesh reportedly told the police that he had been “told” that she was an enemy of Hindutva, and that was enough to take gun in hand and kill her. +
There will be more such incidents, as this campaign of spreading poison reaches fever pitch the closer we get to the next election and the higher the stakes mount. And that is why it is time to call out the people and organisations responsible +
They are responsible for today’s attack — as much as the person who actually committed the act of violence. They are responsible for the increasing vitiation of the atmosphere in this country. And sooner than later, their irresponsibility will end in someone being killed. +
In sum — Arnab Goswami, Rahul Shivshankar, Navika Kumar, and their fellow travellers on Hindi channels with a similar bent of mind and style, are a disgrace.
Just what is the price of your soul, guys? It used to be 30 pieces of silver — what is it today, given GST and all?
Just what is the price of your soul, guys? It used to be 30 pieces of silver — what is it today, given GST and all?
In passiing — many media houses have questioned @Republic and @TimesNow ’s patently false, deliberately misleading use of the hashtag, of a term “spokespersons” such as Sambit Patra have been only too willing to latch on to. Here is one such: theprint.in/opinion/tukde-…
In passing, I am done debating with apologists with eggs for faces and alphabet soup for names, who don’t even have the courage to post under their own names. I’m blocking you — this just FYI.
This on Republic yesterday:
If this is true, Rahul Gandhi is guilty of treasonous activities and the government should be taking action. If the govt isn’t doing that, it is incompetent.
If it is false, it is libellous and actionable.
Which is it?
If this is true, Rahul Gandhi is guilty of treasonous activities and the government should be taking action. If the govt isn’t doing that, it is incompetent.
If it is false, it is libellous and actionable.
Which is it?
Making outrageous accusations and then putting a question mark at the end does not absolve a media house of responsibility for the statement. Pity that today’s media superstars need basic lessons in ethics. And law, come to think of it.
Someone said of a baby that it is just a loud noise at one end and no responsibility at the other. Channels such as these are even worse — loud noise and no sense of responsibility, at both ends.
A phone conversation, a DM chat on all of this just now, so a thought: Stop waiting for someone to come solve things for you. Media houses should be responsible to you — it is your time and attention that they convert into revenue. Therefore +
Pro tip: If you see something, say something. If a story seems faked, call it out. If something is incendiary, cite it and condemn it. If something crosses the limits of fairness, question it.
Do this loud, do this often.
Do this loud, do this often.
I’m a bit bored with folks quoting a purported eyewitness to question the incident. Go tell the cops this. Better still, ask the eyewitness to testify to the cops that no such thing happened. Cos it is the cops saying there was an attack.
thehindu.com/news/cities/De…
thehindu.com/news/cities/De…
Oh btw - this happened with Arnab and the fake video. Remember? google.co.in/amp/s/www.then…
“The aim was to absolve himself of any legal or moral responsibility for having aired the forged clip, and treating it as fact in the questions he asked his studio guests.” thewire.in/media/times-no…
