As we inch closer to 2019 General Elections, the stakes are getting higher. Before Bihar elections in 2015, intolerance was rising in India. The democracy and the secular fabric of the nation was under threat in India. Now, with 2019 election, it is more personal. The cry is now about their own life is under threat. We had reported how senior journalist and champion of free speech, Ravish Kumar, who was allegedly caught on camera breaking traffic rules, cried that he and his family was under surveillance. Taking a cue from Ravish, former NDTV journalist Barkha Dutt today took to Twitter to express her fears. She claimed that she was under surveillance too.
Received chilling veiled threats and “messages” from powerful people in the Establishment today that my family and I are under surveillance – and that I will be smeared & maligned to stop me from starting any new projects. Was advised to get my house debugged. Is this my country?
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) June 7, 2018
Since the advent of social media, the propaganda masqueraded as one way communication through news channels and newspapers is being regularly busted. OpIndia has time and again busted propaganda of media as well as those endorsed by media under the garb of ‘comedy’. Many have come to the sad realisation that the ones most of us grew up watching on TV as ‘neutral’ and ‘fierce’ journalists, were probably just pushing agenda of those they were fans of. Or those who favoured them, in most cases. Of course, those who call out the propaganda are called ‘abusive trolls’ because hardly anyone finds the truth comforting. With the Internet being accessible to people far and wide, the ‘media’ is losing its mafia-like hold on the narrative, which is forcing them to play the victim card.
People could see through the propaganda by the likes of Dutt, especially since she has been discredited after the release of Radia tapes back in 2010 when the Home Ministry under the UPA allegedly tapped phone lines of Niira Radia. The released tapes include Radia’s alleged conversation with senior journalists like Barkha herself. Clearly, no one cried ‘surveillance’ back then. In fact, she even took to social media to talk about how NDTV didn’t come to her rescue when she was covered in Radia tape controversies, perhaps because NDTV had allegedly received funding with help of Niira Radia. Clearly, she had no issues with the ‘Establishment’ back then.
So, when the current Establishment can’t even ban NDTV, which is more acidic than she is, for a day, Barkha’s claim sound just too megalomaniac. Even wannabe Barkha, Faye D’souza, is allowed to run Mirror Now, why would the Establishment not allow Barkha, who has an ‘illustrious‘ career behind her?
And because Arnab Goswami could launch a TV channel, giving everyone a run for their money in the short time it has been around, here stands Barkha, dumped by Shekhar Gupta, it is understandable that she is frustrated. But she should not worry. I’m pretty sure she has her own loyal fan following who’d be glued to her TV channel.
People often dramatize situations to either protect themselves in genuine situations where they are under threat or by those in the dock want to get out of it by crying wolf.
So, please! Spare us the drama, really.
