India - Media reporting and repercussions

There are two distinct parts of India as we see today -

one that dreams of becoming a superpower some day, one where the daughter of an auto rickshaw driver secures first rank in one of the most coveted exams, that of the CA, one where we proudly see some sort of slow and staggered development, one where analysts still maintain that we have a chance of surpassing many of the biggest economies of the world by 2050....

And there is another part of India that consists of separatists, losers, sex maniacs who are hellbent on deriving the pleasures of the moment with no regard whatsoever for the dignity of individuals or unity and integrity of the nation. UNFORTUNATELY, not many people know the name of the girl who topped the CA exams, but ask anyone - "Who raped the girl in Delhi?"... everyone knows!

THIS IS THE PROBLEM we have! We are making our villains famous and forgetting our heroes! When the US gun fire incidents occurred recently, Morgan Freeman had an interesting take. He said that we are making a sad nobody famous by flashing his names everywhere. Not many people know the name of the teacher who hid her students and saved them from the gunman! But everyone knows that gunman! Same with our media. They are hellbent on sensationalizing news and deriving more viewership. A news on rape probably grabs eyeballs right away, but a news on a patented invention by a certain IITian may be ignored by an average reader. At least that's what our media houses think!

That is something that even APJ Abdul Kalam mentioned in one of his speeches. This is what he said -

Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why? We are the first in milk production. We are number one in Remote sensing satellites. We are the second largest producer of wheat. We are the second largest producer of rice. Look at Dr. Sudarshan , he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.

And we are also falling into the same trap someway or the other. Negativity has its own blunt force, a ripple effect. It brings out more negativity. The Delhi rape and all repurcussions after it - candle light vigils, protests unfortunately did nothing to stop the brutal acts. WHY? Because, people who actually did it felt immortalized! People who have no potential of becoming heroes would rather become villains and be famous nationwide than live their whole lives like a loser and die like a sad "no body"! I do not say that is what they think before committing crimes, but that, definitely is one of the driving factors.

How about this?

Let our media report all incidents, but not flash the name of the criminal. Let the victim only be immortalized and the names of the criminals as well as all details about them be hidden, made classified information. If a Times of India article prints 3 bad news articles on the front page, let it also print 5 good news articles on the front page itself and not move to page 5 or 6. 

We do need positive vibes!

And friends... lets not feel ashamed of being an Indian due to all of these saddistic incidents.

We do have a collective responsibilty to rectify the situation! 

Let me become an audiophile for a moment and do some filtering on the "sound"... amplify the "purest of notes" and minimize the "noise." Keep doing it, till the "noise" causing elements feel demotivated and stop creating "noise" altogether! 

No, we do need all criminals to be punished, but lets not give them any sort of limelight and media attention. Trust me, they do not deserve it!

My email to Justice Verma

From: Chiranjib Mazumdar
Date: Mon, Dec 31, 2012 at 12:40 PM
Subject: Reference to public notice - suggestions on amendments to criminal laws relating to safety and security of women
To: justice.verma@nic.in


Dear sir

This is with reference to the public notice given by you on Indian newspapers "inviting suggestions on amendments to criminal laws relating to safety and security of women".

Please note that I am a simple citizen of this nation and am shocked beyond words seeing the brutal nature of the crime and the horrific after-effects. No wonder it has generated the attention, it has.

Please find below my suggestions -
1. Rape cases need to be solved decisively within a month. If needed fast track courts should be established with eminent judges and jury as panel members. Women representation is a must in the panel.
2. Simple imprisonment and fine for the culprits who are proven guilty, is not enough, simply because in India, there is a social stigma attached to a person who undergoes such trauma. Punishment should be exemplary so that it serves as a deterrent and makes prospective criminals think a thousand times before committing such crimes.
3. While I think death sentence should be the minimum punishment awarded, chemical castration may be a more apt form of punishment that would remind the criminal of the guilt for the rest of his life.
4. There should be adequate provisions to ensure that any changes in existing law are not misused and innocents do not get trapped.

5. In case of the victim's death, death penalty should be made mandatory for the culprits.

6. If juveniles are involved in the crime, they should still be treated as adults.

7. The victim's family should be provided with all support and protection as needed, to prevent them from being harassed and blackmailed.

As I mentioned earlier, I am a member of the civil society and bear no connections whatsoever to the Lawyers' association, so my suggestions may be perceived as crude, but I hope I do echo the voices of millions of Indian citizens who are equally shocked as I am, with the recent incident.

It is high time that a strong stand is taken to prevent such incidents, because, for all you know, this has brought down the reputation of India in front of the whole world. I see tourism industry clearly getting affected with the negative publicity this incident has generated.

I sincerely hope that among the millions of emails you might receive, this email does get 2 seconds of attention.


--
Best regards,
Chiranjib Mazumdar

Rants - useless? :-)

In case if you are wondering why I do not post much these days. Well, the reason is - most of the thoughts are too personal and fit for my diary...

Sometimes, it is good to stay in a dormant state. When I started blogging, there was a time, when I would write upto 4 posts in a single day!!! Can you imagine? ;-) And nowadays, I pick up the pen (read cursor), may be once in a few months.

Thoughts fail me... nothing really to write about.

For the reader, if you think there should be something for me to write on, do let me know!

Lol..

Has it ever happened to you, when it seems as if life came to a standstill.

Imagine yourself as standing neck deep in a pond filled with cold water... surrounded by mountains all around. Not a soul around. Fall has long gone.. The trees are barren.. The sun prepares to set behind the mountain range close-by. The sky displays an amazing aura befit only for a painter's imagination. There is beauty all around... a fiery beauty... a beauty that does entice you, but does not necessarily make you happy.

In spite, you are standing neck deep in the pond.... and then you close your eyes...

Nothing to worry about.... its so peaceful out here.... so so peaceful....

It almost reminds me of my favorite tune from Enigma - Mea Culpa -
"Take a deep breath, close your eyes..."