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‘Lazy Journalism’ vs ‘Why blame Journalists’: Jay Panda, Prabhu Chawla spar over incorrect report

OpIndia Staff
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‘Lazy Journalism’ vs ‘Why blame Journalists’: Jay Panda, Prabhu Chawla spar over incorrect report

That Indian media has very little credibility is a known fact. Month after month, we have been exposing how Indian media has got its facts completely wrong, sometimes due to incompetence, sometimes out of malice. Today, again another of media’s goof-ups came to the fore on Twitter, when BJD MP Baijayant “Jay” Panda took on some malicious reporting.

According to Panda, it all started a few days ago when a well known Odia newspaper (which he refuses to name) published a report about alleged poor utilisation of MPLAD funds by him, thereby making adverse comments on his performance. He further says that he had refuted this on his Facebook page on the very same day. One can indeed find posts relating to utilisation of MPLAD funds, on his Facebook page. He further says he even sent a rejoinder to the concerned newspaper, but it was not published by them.

Yesterday, he says, another Odia newspaper, carried the same news, without following “the basic journalistic practice of cross-checking information by contacting the ‘accused’ person”. He again took to social media to clarify and stated that there was a delay in the Government website which was hence citing outdated MPLAD- utilisation figures, which the media was blindly reporting. Hence, today he put out the latest Utilisation certificate which was issued to him, showing more than 99.5% utilisation of funds:


For some reason, Senior Editor Prabhu Chawla jumped in to defend his fraternity, giving some rather odd logic. This was what transpired between the two:


If one goes by Prabhu Chawla’s logic, media must be given all data on a platter, which they are then to simply report, thus eliminating the need for media to do any work verifying the data. If Chawla feels it is too much to ask of journalists to verify data that they are using, and cross-checking with the person concerned, then it certainly is a new form of journalism.

The people maintaining the Government site should also be held accountable for the delay in updating the data, but this by no means exonerates journalists who are using the data.

What is even notable is that as Jay Panda alleges, the concerned newspaper did not even bother to publish the rebuttal sent to it by the MP, leave alone issue a correction. If the media house had made a genuine mistake, it should not have had any objection to publishing Panda’s rebuttal.

On a side note, if any of our readers from Odisha can tell us the names of the newspapers, it would be of great help!

Truth about “Chandigarh bans miniskirts in Discos” story reported by the media

Editorial Desk
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Truth about “Chandigarh bans miniskirts in Discos” story reported by the media

A news report was circulating online, which was in all probability broken first by Times of India, saying: “Chandigarh set to ban short skirts in discotheques“. The story was consequently picked up by almost every media outlet and given its own fresh twist:

Zee News: Chandigarh all set to ban ‘scantily dressed’ women from discotheques

News X: #SanskariBullying: No short skirts in Chandigarh discos: ‘Ban skirts or face shut down’ says, administration.

Catch News: Chandigarh discos ban entry for ‘seditious’, ‘scantily clad women’.

HuffpostIndia: Chandigarh to ban short skirts in discos because it’s breeding ‘anti-national’ elements

All the reports are based on what has been nicknamed Chandigarh’s “Disco Policy”, officially called: “Controlling Places of Public Amusement 2016“, to “maintain law and order situation”. So does the policy really “ban short skirts in discos because they breed anti-national” sentiments? Lets have a look at the part which talks about this aspect:

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The policy says, permission may be cancelled if “it”, that is the public place, is considered to violate any of the laid down norms. A few of the norms are:

  1. To be indecent or of a scurrilous character;
  2. To be seditious or to be likely to excite political discontent;
  3. Any exhibition or advertisement whether by way of posters or in the newspapers, photographs of scantily dressed women;

Point number 3 above talks only of “exhibition or advertisement whether by way of posters or in the newspapers“, of scantily clad women, and not of scantily clad women themselves. Can Indian media not understand the difference between ads of scantily clad women and scantily clad women?

Further, from where did media infer that “scantily clad women” = “women wearing short skirts”? Are skirts the only medium of being “scantily clad”? What is the genesis of this word “skirts”? In fact, this conclusion betrays their own small mindset.

Point number 2 above talks about carrying out seditious activities. There has been a lot of debate on this and even without this “Disco Policy”, there are enough sections in the Indian Penal Code to take care of seditious activities, so what this law proposes may not be something brand new.

Point number 1, talks about “indecent” character.

These are three different, independent violations which have been listed out. But as usual Indian media has made a hash of the matter, either out of sheer incompetence, or deliberately. They have deliberately combined all the three points, added some imaginative bits about “short-skirts” specifically, and manufactured outrage-worthy headlines. This is nothing but lying.

Indian media could have raised many important issues about this “Disco Policy”, like:

  1. What is the need of a “Disco Policy”
  2. Is this a matter of priority?
  3. Why ambiguous terms such as “indecency” and “scantily clad women” have been used in the policy? These are extremely subjective terms and can vary according to the moral bent of each person.

But our media, out of sheer incompetency or malafide intent, has managed to completely misreport a story. There is almost no chance any of these outlets will publish even a shred of an apology or clarification, and none of them will be taken to task either.

Dear Mr Kejriwal – Spare the Startups!

Farhan Shaikh
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Dear Mr Kejriwal – Spare the Startups!

Once upon a time in India it was very difficult to catch hold of an auto or taxi (Kaali Peeli). With growing clout of unions the situation worsened. Even if you managed to get a Kaali Peeli they would not agree with the destination, throw tantrums and in some cases, even over charge you. Government couldn’t take action against them because of strong unions which would blackmail the government with threats of going on mass strike and disrupting the city transportation. The government couldn’t cancel their permits (which are a must for all Kaali Peeli) as they were limited in number and the shortage of such vehicles was already looming large, with respect to the growing population. Just to give a perspective, there are 32,000 taxis on road in Mumbai, for a population of more than 20 million.

Basically Kaali Peelis, with their permits and highly political unions started calling the shots – one strike and they could manage increase in fares.

The issue of shortage of taxis was present across the globe and all the regulatory bodies were facing similar problem for which they had no solution.

Then Uber happened and it changed the way we (mainly urban population) travel. Indian companies, lead by Ola, copied the same model (ok, more or less similar) here and it was an instant hit. Kaali Peelis had become such a pain for customers that they took to these new age startups as fish to water. Many clones came in the market, backed by investor’s money they provided steep discounts and mobility experience improved. Even Uber started it India operations and since then it has been no looking back for the industry. Most of the companies have launched affordable versions of their service and some have extended the platform to include autos with valid permits to join the community. The discounts have stopped or reduced but that smooth (not very smooth, still 10X better than Kaali Peelis) experience has stayed.

The most important thing about these new services – ride sharing, car pooling and e-hailing – was they were not dependant on the number of permits issued by the regulatory bodies for functioning as Kaali Peelis. These were all tourist permit vehicles which were allowed to do intra-city operations. In fact, India was one of the first few countries to come up with guidelines for such startups, working in the local public transport domain.

So as to summarize:

There was a problem – Acute shortage of Kaali Peelis and there was a demand from over growing population for local transport options

For which government had no solution – Simply because government cannot keep up on releasing permits to fulfill this demand for various reasons

And startups provided the much needed respite – By leveraging the tourist permit vehicles, creating a technology platform for connecting the drivers with the customers, investing in infrastructure for cashless transactions, accurate location services and uniform experience

Basically, the startups filled the gap and provided host of other services as well (breakfast on board, internet connected taxis, etc).

And government had no business in this. The vehicles servicing the customers here were not the regular Kaali Peelis, which are a function of local government controlled public transport. Perhaps, this is the reason why government didn’t think of interfering when the new companies were providing steep discounts (Ola still serving at 6/KM) at almost half the standard rate. Almost all the startups came in with free rides (one or even more), referral programs and such other offers which kept increasing the competition and even made few companies to bow out of the race (TaxiForSure got acquired by Ola). But the customers never complained – in a highly competitive market, they were the king and they never complained.

That is, till surge pricing came in!

Surge pricing is when customers are informed in advance that they would be charged at twice or thrice or much more than that for the ride they are about to book. The 2X, 3X or even the lately observed 6X surge is shown to the customer. These startups do not own the vehicle and are dependent on the drivers or the vehicle owners to provide the service. They claim that the prices are surged to attract drivers in a particular area to provide services, especially when the demand exceeds the supply. So if the number of taxis available in a particular area is less, than these startups will activate surge pricing which might attract the drivers to start providing services that particular location. Uber clarified on Twitter that the increased revenue from surge pricing is passed on to the drivers.

Morally, surge pricing might sound like a bad idea. But in reality, it isn’t.

No one is getting robbed here. Customers who are willing to pay for these services are free to do so and those who are not can either look at what competitors are offering or may even use the good old Kaali Peelis. The increased fares are shown to the customers in advance and there are no hidden costs. If the surge prices are not justified, soon, some other solution provider will rule the market – just like these startups have displaced Kaali Peelis from the market.

And these startups are not alone. We pay for the increased flight rates across the airline industry. Not many tickets are sold at the same price and the cost varies a lot. Similarly, we are fine with paying extra charges for the Tatkal Railway tickets –same seats, but extra cost for ensuring a seat late in the day. Historically, we have been paying almost 2X the price for late night movie tickets as compared to early morning shows. All of them follow the same supply–demand principle.

First Bangalore and now the Delhi government have tried to interfere by bringing a ban on surge pricing. This is wrong precedent, which might get some votes from the lower middle class but can prove detrimental for the society in the long run. The drivers attracted by surge pricing might not provide services at that moment when someone needs it – rendering Kaali Peeli as the last option, which ideally, many would like to avoid – hence the protest against surge pricing instead of the boycott. People want these services to continue, though few would continue to complain about the surge prices. The only solution which government can provide is increasing the number of Kaali Peelis by releasing more permits or by improving the government owned buses, trains and metros.

More tourist taxis than local taxis
Tourist Taxis, which are used by companies like Ola and Uber have four times the presence than local taxis

Source – Business Standard & Delhi Government Website

It’s not that Arvind Kejriwal doesn’t understand this basic economics – it’s just that the votes and claps matter to him more than the business sanity. I hope other states do not imitate this step and make it difficult for the mobility startups to do their business. Imagine the populations being served by this startups coming back to using the old public transport system, do you think the system will be able to take that load? These startups are providing an interim solution to the crippling infrastructure and can be the torch bearers for our aim to reduce the pollution. On the contrary, by promoting their services government can keep a check on vehicle ownership and limit the investments in public transportation. A city in Florida has started subsidizing Uber rides and is focusing on building infrastructure rather than providing bus services.

While such a public-private-partnership looks like a far-fetched dream for India, the least we can do is keeping such services free from government regulation!

Why Arvind Kejriwal’s surge against Ola and Uber is cheap populism

Editorial Desk
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Why Arvind Kejriwal’s surge against Ola and Uber is cheap populism

Part two of the odd-even traffic plan in Delhi has seen a new enemy emerging for the AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal – mobile app based taxi aggregator companies like Ola and Uber. Kejriwal has found out that the “surge pricing” technique adopted by these companies is nothing but “robbery”.

If you have used Ola or Uber, many of you might be inclined to believe that this surge pricing – charging more than the normal rate during hours when the demand is high – is indeed robbery. Because who doesn’t love things at a cheaper price?

During the odd-even plan in Delhi, the demand automatically goes up as on certain days, some cars can’t ply on roads based on the last digit of their registration number. This causes surge pricing to become more frequent, making you feel that you’re being fleeced.

People would have tried to convince you that this is exactly how the markets work – price goes up when demand goes up – but then you think this all talk about “free markets” is just textbook arguments. It can’t work in India as we are not a capitalist economy.

Public transport is a public good and thus a government – especially in a country like India that follows mixed economy – has all the rights to bring regulations in this sector. After all why should you be paying high to access a service that is one of the basic needs of the modern citizen – transport?

And earlier today, Kejriwal hinted that he may force Ola and Uber to drop surge pricing permanently:


So is this “regulation” by Kejriwal in line with market principles of a mixed economy?

No.

While this is totally in line with the kind of populism we have seen in our country in name of socialism (even by the so-called center-right parties) and public good, such interference in business models of private companies is not in line with any economic principle.

First of all, surge pricing for transportation is not a new concept brought in by likes of Ola and Uber. It is basically a variant of dynamic pricing, and of late, even government enterprises like the Indian Railways have employed dynamic pricing to rationalize demands and revenues. And it is reported to be a hit.

Then you have airline ticket pricing, which is all about dynamic pricing – sometimes you end up paying almost 5 times more than normal fare if you don’t book in advance. Even the national carrier Air India employs this dynamic pricing.

You might argue that road travel is a daily need and thus should be treated differently from air and rail travel, and you’re right. And that’s why regulations already exist in this sector.

The kaali-peeli taxis or the CNG autos get licenses and they have to stick to a predetermined fare. Apart from that, there are government owned and private operated buses for public transport, and their fares too are regulated.

So your daily need of commuting by road was and is already regulated. Ola and Uber are services that are different from this existing public transport system.

Those are innovations by private enterprises, and you can’t force them to be a part of the existing regulated public transport system. People need choices.

Before Ola and Uber came, remember you were already paying too high for private AC cabs. Their innovation brought down the rates, and then no one was complaining. If they charge too high, they will lose the customers, but you can’t force them to be losers, which is what Arvind Kejriwal is doing.

You might argue – what would happen if all taxi drivers join Ola and Uber and junk the public transport system? Basically you’re talking about monopoly. And the government has all the rights to interfere where there is a risk of monopoly.

But do we have any data to back this claim? Is anything like this happening? Are drivers giving up their kaali-peeli taxi licences to join Ola and Uber? And even if it may happen, the ideal government response should be to bring in rules that incentivizes being part of the public transport.

Say, it would be perfectly alright to have two different rates of challans for those who are part of the regulated public transport system and those are part of the private operations. Or something like giving benefits like insurance and free medical checkups to drivers who are part of public transport system. That’s how it should be in a mixed economy.

That’s how you strengthen the public transport system, by helping those who are part of it, not by threatening and weakening the private ones. You hold hands, not twist arms. Arm twisting is part of a totalitarian communist economy, not mixed economy.

What the Delhi Chief Minister is doing may make him popular among certain sections that are are fan of government control and are not willing to analyze things from the above perspective, but this is not good for innovation and private businesses.

And currently it is not turning out to be good even for public convenience. A lot many people complained that cabs were not available on Ola and Uber as they had to remove the surge pricing. As feared, they couldn’t match the supply with increased demand. People had to wait for too long or take auto in the heat, and then they were charged higher by the autorickshaw drivers!

AAP Government to Journalists: My way or get lost you Sanghi Bhakt

OpIndia Staff
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AAP Government to Journalists: My way or get lost you Sanghi Bhakt

AAP and Arvind Kejriwal have had a love-hate relationship with media. On odd days, Kejriwal threatens to jail journalists, on even days he piggy backs on their over-the-board coverage. On odd days Kejriwal questions Arnab’s salary, and on even days he splashes full page ads across all editions of Times of India, thereby indirectly funding Times group.

In his latest such stunt, the Delhi CM was seen retweeting tweets from journalists, which appreciated his Odd-Even scheme:

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And if, as a journalist you tweeted against Odd-Even, then the Delhi CM wasted no time in attacking your integrity and neutrality:

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Of course, the said journalist was then subjected to choicest abuses by AAP social media supporters, some even going ahead and threatening him:

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In a further show of Intolerance, AAP is said to have taken vindictive action on 6 journalists who refused to tow the party’s line. It all started with a journalist publishing a blog, which accused the Delhi Government and AAP of avoiding questions and being the sole proprietor of honesty and neutrality.

Next, an ABP News journalist shared the said blog on Facebook, and before he knew it, he was kicked out of Delhi Government’s Media Cell Whatsapp group. Yes, sharing anything questioning AAP is now an offence punishable with ostracization, as per Delhi Government. And yes, the party with a difference also maintains a Whatsapp group of journalists, to coordinate media coverage.

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From the screenshot provided by the journalist one can see that another Dainik Jagran journalist was also thrown out of the group. Was this retribution for the Dainik Jagran editor’s “irreverent” tweet earlier, which was singled out by AAP supremo Kejriwal?

Soon it emerged, at least 6 journalists had borne the brunt of the AAP regime:


It remains to be seen whether such acts constitute “rising intolerance”, “attack on freedom of press” and an “undeclared emergency” in Delhi.

Is a scam unfolding in Delhi’s Odd-Even part 2?

OpIndia Staff
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Is a scam unfolding in Delhi’s Odd-Even part 2?

Odd Even Part 2 has begun in Delhi. As was the case last time, there are mixed reports even now. While reports on 17th April said that pollution was up during the Odd-Even scheme, Delhi CM Kejriwal was busy retweeting tweets claiming odd even had improved air quality, although the reports within the tweets did not say so. The rest of the time was spent discussing how traffic had reduced considerably, on the first few days of Odd-Even, which also happened to be public holidays.

Moving away from Odd-Even for a bit, the Delhi CM has recently been attacked by miscreants. In January this year, when Kejriwal was hosting a “thanks-giving” rally for the first phase of Odd-Even, he had to face an “ink-attack”. Bhavna Arora, who is said to be the Punjab in-charge of Aam Aadmi Sena, a dissident faction of former workers of Aam Aadmi Party, threw ink on Arvind Kejriwal as he was delivering his speech.

More recently, in April 2016,  a man who was identified as Ved Prakash, belonging again to the Aam Aadmi Sena, hurled a shoe at Kejriwal when he was addressing a press conference on the second odd-even plan in the city.

Two attacks by Aam Aadmi Sena members on Kejriwal just after and before the Odd-Even scheme. The discussions around these attacks were limited to the usual angles such as: “Aam Aadmi Sena is backed by BJP”, “Such use of violence should be condemned” and some even claiming that it might be a publicity stunt by Kejriwal.

One important common point of both the attacks which was glossed over by most was the fact that both the attackers claimed to have a CD which pointed to an alleged CNG scam. Ved Prakash claimed that the CD contained a sting operation, which exposes alleged sale of fake CNG stickers in Delhi ahead of the Odd-Even vehicular scheme. Bhavna Arora too made similar allegations against AAP government over the sale of more than 1 lakh CNG stickers to non-CNG cars. She also said she will present the proof to court, but we haven’t heard anything about this angle from the media yet.

Until now, these were just allegations, which could well have been politically motivated. But today, Journalist Rahul Kanwal tweeted an interesting observation:



So in January and early April, 2 people attack Arvind Kejriwal alleging a scam that CNG stickers have been sold to non-CNG vehicles, and as Odd-Even part 2 begins, a journalist makes observations which point in the same direction.

At this stage it is extremely early to conclude whether indeed such a scam has taken place. No evidence has been placed on record. But circumstantial data demands that the media should at least pursue this matter so that at least an enquiry is set up to arrive at a conclusion. Since Rahul Kanwal has sort of discovered the anomaly, and his channel India Today, (which also has AAP sympathiser Rajdeep Sardesai), has the resources to investigate this matter, one would ordinarily hope that India Today would follow up on this issue.

Emaar MGF, Gandhis, Tea Estates, Dehradun and a sweet deal gone sour

Ashutosh Muglikar
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Emaar MGF, Gandhis, Tea Estates, Dehradun and a sweet deal gone sour

In March 2006 a Company called Logical Buildwell Private Limited (LBPL) was formed. Within months, in 2 separate transactions, LBPL bought a stake of 73.38% in a company called Dehradun Tea Co. Ltd (DTC) by taking over its shares at a total price of around Rs 115 Crores.

DTC was a 150-year-old listed company on the defunct Calcutta Stock Exchange. So what did LBPL see in DTC, for which it was ready to pay such a huge amount? DTC owned “1,127.48 acres of under tea gardens, factory, coolie lines, self-cultivation and fruit orchard, aromatic grasses and under roads”

Coming back to LBPL, how did they fund this acquisition? Within days of its formation, LBPL received an unsecured loan, officially classified as “advance against land”, from Emaar MGF in the form of an unsecured loan. According to its balance sheet for the year ended March 31, 2006, the company owed Rs 76 crore to Emaar MGF.

So who owned LBPL? On May 31, 2006, the shares in LBPL were transferred to Emaar MGF Group Financial Controller Vijay Sajjanhar and Assistant General Manager (finance) Gautam Kalani, and they took charge as directors of the company. Further, the shareholding also changed significantly days before the public announcement of the deal was made on July 13, 2006. On July 1, Logical received an investment from two companies, Amardeep Properties and Compact Properties in the form of subscription to preference shares.

And both these companies were rather generous to LBPL too. Firstly, they bought Rs 10 redeemable preference shares of two-month-old LBPL, which carried a meagre 0.1% as Interest, at a premium of Rs 110 per share. Additionally, they also bought 4 million shares each, thereby giving Rs 96 crore to the company.

And who are the promoters of Amardeep Properties and Compact Properties? They are Surender Verma and Chintan Dewan, the same Emaar MGF employees who floated LBPL in the first place.

So to summarize, a company (LBPL) floated by Emaar MGF employees, got transferred to 2 other Emaar MGF employees, and got an unsecured loan from Emaar MGF, and got cheap share capital from 2 companies again owned by Emaar MGF employees.

This LBPL bought a 73% stake in defunct company (DTC) for Rs 115 crores odd. The only thing worth value in DTC was the land it owned. Further as per the DRHP filed by Emaar (Page 67 Here), Emaar claims to own 1129 Acres of land in Dehradun. 1129 odd acres of land in Dehradun owned officially by LBPL and 1129 odd acres claimed to be owned by Emaar MGF in a separate document.

Going ahead, LBPL changed its name to Loam Realtors Private Limited (LRPL). Amardeep Properties becomes Alcove Realtors and Compact Properties becomes Cameo Realtors.

Circa 2015 the ownership of Alcove and Cameo changed hands from employees of Emaar MGF to Shilpa Gupta wife of Shravan Gupta the Managing Director of Emaar MGF.

Now the story progresses. The 1128 Acres of land owned by DTC was intended to be sold off to Uttarakhand Government for a price of Rs 1728 Crores for the Smart City project. Remember, the price paid by LBPL to DTC (which owns the land) to acquire a controlling stake was Rs 115 Crores.

Further in Uttarakhand the land ceiling laws do not allow such a large holding of land, so was this web of companies created to circumvent these rules? Also, the Tea Board manual requires that prior permission must be taken to admit a “partner”. Was this done? If yes, on what basis did the UPA Government give permission to take over tea estate gardens to a real estate Company?

A detailed study into ownership and management pattern of Emaar MGF reveals the following facts about the group:

 

  1. The common Director in Emaar MGF and DTC holding entities is one Mr. Rakshit Jain who was the General Manager Finance at State Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand (SIDCUL).
  2. Shilpa Gupta is the wife of Shravan Gupta who own the MGF group of Cos
  3. MGF Group was set up by V.P. Gupta. VP Gupta is the grandfather of Shravan Gupta and Kanishka Singh
  4. Kanishka Singh, is often described as a long-time close “aide” of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. MGF though has denied links with Kanishka Singh.   

Further the Dehradun Tea Co was fighting a court case against the state of Uttarakhand since decades which was allegedly hastened and judgment was delivered just a few months ago. As per the judgment, DTC won the case and the State Government did not even appeal in the higher courts

After protests by environmental groups and other citizens on social media the state government decided to take an online “poll” to highlight concerns relating to the project. This poll had its own concerns with many users calling it “farce” and “tedious”.

As of today the State Government seems to be dropping the idea of takeover of the tea gardens after a lot of pressure from social groups both online and offline. While most of the protesters were up in arms against the fact that the environment would be damaged, one wonders whether any of them knew about the games behind the curtains.

Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau does his own “Krantikari” interview

OpIndia Staff
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Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau does his own “Krantikari” interview

We in India have been now accustomed to see “Krantikaari” interviews, where some leftist poster boys ask interviewers to play up certain portions and avoid some questions:

Or agree to answer some questions on camera, while speaking casually off camera:

And now it seems, even the leftist poster boys from abroad, like Canadian PM Justin Trudeau are using the same tactics. Today, we saw massive reporting from press that Justin Trudeau just stunned everyone with his “impromptu” answer on what Quantum Computing was:

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Indian media too gushed over this new found PM who also is his forties, is also good-looking and is also a part of a political dynasty:

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Unfortunately, this media bubble was burst when a a writer on Twitter, revealed that it was in fact a well-planned stunt from the Canadian PM:

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The same information was published in a Canadian newspaper of repute, “The Globe and Mail”, which is said to be one of the largest in terms of circulation:

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So what was spun by media as an “impromptu” answer to an “impromptu” question, was in all probability a nicely set up question and the Canadian PM might well have been well prepared to answer the same. In fact, David Rankin, the writer claims that this could might have been a ploy to deflect from other much tougher questions:

canadian-pm

But some would say, maybe Trudeau knew the answer all along, maybe he really is a geek. Sure he could be. Trudeau is a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Education and also an Engineering drop-out. Guess his tremendous knowledge and geeky interest in Quantum Computing did not serve him well in in his Engineering course, which forced him to drop out and start another MA program (which again, he did not complete).

Kancha Ilaiah and his gems on ‘Nationalism’

Hariharan
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Kancha Ilaiah and his gems on ‘Nationalism’

Kancha Ilaiah

Imagine for a moment a Sakshi Maharaj or aYogi Adityanath saying, ‘Vegetarianism is anti-nationalism,’ or ‘West Indies won the match against India because they eat meat.’ MSM journalists would have had a field day. Thought provoking op-eds would have filled the newspapers. Snide remarks, to derisive comments would have flooded twitter.

What happens if these words of wisdom come from Kancha Ilaiah instead of from Sakshi Maharaj and Yogi Adityanath?

Stunning silence. Not just that. He passes off as intellectual. And if you think sanity is an essential requirement of an intellectual, you must be one of those ‘old types’, out of sync with the current secular thinking. Otherwise, how do you explain Sagarika Ghose lauding him as an ‘Earthy Pundit’ and sensing the ‘gaiety of robust combat’ in his ‘intellectual adventurousness’ a few years ago? Even the interviewer at Firstpost to whom he gave the secret behind West Indies’ victory uses a mild tone of appreciation for Ilaiah.

Anyone who has been observing Kancha Ilaiah since the publication of his book ‘Why I am not a Hindu’ in mid nineties would not have missed the singular aspect of his personality.

Obsession.

He is obsessed with Brahmins and meat.

Brahmins

For him only Brahmins are Hindus. He tells Sagarika, ‘Capture Hindu temples by expelling Brahmins from them.’ Off and on, he tags Baniyas along with Brahmins in his book ‘Why I am not a Hindu.’ He is unable to accept the fact that many other castes consider themselves as Hindus. He sees Brahmin-Baniya conspiracy in this—a conspiracy aimed at maintaining the hegemony of Brahmins by co-opting upper caste Sudras so that they can keep Dalitbahujans under check. He calls them neo-Kshatriyas (pages 37 and 38 of Why I am not a Hindu).

He hates Brahma. Why? Because he is a ‘light brown skinned Aryan’ (page 74). What about Vishnu who is a ‘blue-skinned God’? He still does not like because Vishnu, he is convinced, must have been created by Brahmins as a compromise when Kshatriyas revolted against them. And who are Kshatriyas according to Ilaiah? ‘A hybrid caste that might have perhaps emerged in cross-breeding between white-skinned Aryans and dark-skinned Dravidian Dalitbahujans’ (pages 76-77)!

Then Ilaiah must be liking Shiva, you would think; after all, Shiva is ‘dark-skinned and dressed like a tribal.’ No, Ilaiah will not fall so easily for the Brahmin conspiracy. Shiva, he opines, ‘plays a subordinate role’ to Brahma and Vishnu and was created to establish a ‘consent base among the tribals.’ Ilaiah is not content with slighting male Gods. Saraswati was created by Brahmins to deny education to Dalit-bahujans while Lakshmi would deprive them of wealth.

So, what is Ilaiah’s thought process about Hindu Gods? If the God is fair-skinned, He must be shunned because he represents Brahmins and does not look like Dalitbahujans. And if the God is dark-skinned and looked like Dalit-bahujans, still He must be shunned because it is a Brahmin conspiracy to mollify Dalit-bahujans.

Meat

Meat and beef, instead of being just matters of choice, are an obsession with him. In fact, he is ready to accept a God only if He makes meat permissible to him. According to this report in the blog Scroll, which translates and summarises one of his controversial articles in Telugu, Ilaiah feels that Bible and Koran have created democratic Gods. Who is a democratic God? One who places humans ‘superior to all animals (including cow)’ and defines that nature and its creatures are meant for food.

Yes, that’s democratic! Doesn’t matter if the same God wants those who don’t believe in him (not ‘her’) to be tortured and burnt alive in hell. Doesn’t matter if the same God wants to control every aspect of your life and punishes you for not surrendering to his wishes. That’s not undemocratic, because that God allows you to eat meat!

‘Hindus, including Brahmin priests, have historically eaten beef in India,’ he declared in Times Lit Fest. ‘Those who believe that the cow is sacred and should not be eaten should not call it Hinduism. They should call it the cow religion.’ If you feel like asking why he hates Hinduism if it permits meat, read again the 3rd paragraph above: Sanity is not a virtue of secular intellectuals.

Ilaiah declares that ‘he is not very tall and strong, but his brain is working because he ate lot of goat brain in his childhood.’ While he is happy that Narendra Modi is learning English, he still has an advice for him: Eat non-veg because with vegetarian food you don’t learn fast.

What is the proof or evidence he has for his views on Hindu Gods and the efficacy of meat?

Zilch.

Kancha Ilaiah’s CV says he was a professor of political science at Osmania University for many years. Currently he is a director of the Centre for Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy at Maulana Azad National Urdu University. It is not clear whether this role entails interactions with students. If it does, one wonders how many young minds he would have corrupted over the years with his perverted views.

At a time when Hinduism is trying to rise above the caste system, why are these elements bent on perpetuating it by corrupting the minds of OBCs and Dalits? Whose agenda are the likes of Ilaiah serving?

Top Media Lies of March 2016

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Top Media Lies of March 2016

Big Lies:

1. Multiple media houses: Madrassa students beaten up for not saying “Bharat Mata ki Jai”

Numerous media houses reported that in Delhi, 3 students were beaten up for not saying Bharat Mata ki Jai. This was splashed across TV screens and newspapers alike, and made the new issue to be debated. This news however was based only on the version of the “victims” and paid no attention to what the cops had to say. The police claimed that the attack took place during a cricket game between two groups on Saturday evening but the madrassa students claimed they do not know their attackers and they were picked on when they were passing by a park. The police further said the students had said in their complaint that they were asked to chant “Jai Mata di” but later changed their version and claimed that they were asked to shout “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”. A story in NewsX also confirmed the cricket angle. Eventually the boys withdrew their police complaint and said they did not want to pursue the matter. Deputy commissioner of police (Outer) Vikramjit Singh said, “Dilkash’s allegations were not supported by his two friends Ajmaal and Naeem. The two said that the five boys were playing cricket and the ball hit one of them after which they got into a scuffle.

2. Multiple media houses: Drunk Delhi cop in Metro

This video, showing a “drunk” cop in an inebriated state in a Delhi metro was splashed all over TV channels last year. The cop, later identified as Salim PK was suspended after media and social media outrage. It is only now that the truth has come out. Salim, was in fact not drunk but having serious health issues. He had suffered a major stroke three years ago. There was a block in his brain leading to brain hemorrhage that left him with a paralysed left side, a contorted face along with memory loss, body weakness and difficulty in normal communication. He was repeatedly hospitalised and suffered occasional seizures. He was on medication with regular medical checkups. On the fateful evening of the video, he suffered a fresh bout of blackout and felt so dizzy that he had difficulty in even locating the doors of the train.

3. Janata Ka Reporter: Journalists harassed as right-wing group posts phone numbers of Rajdeep Sardesai, Anjana Om Kashyap on Facebook

Janata Ka Reporter claimed that a person called Chandan Pratihast, from a Right Wing Group, put up the contact numbers of above persons on Facebook, leading to their harassment. Janata Ka Reporter also said that although the man claimed to be President of Kota unit of AAP student body CYSS, it was a fake claim since the CYSS said that “they had no unit in Kota or anywhere in Rajasthan and the person is a Sangh member masquerading as AAP supporter”. But an investigation revealed that not only did CYSS Kota accounts exist on social media, but were also followed by prominent AAP followers. Further, a look at the social media posts of Chandan revealed that he was nowhere close to being a Right Wing group member, but was a hardcore AAP fan. Later, Janata ka Reporter back-tracked and claimed that AAP had now expelled Chandan from the party, and Chandan put up an excuse that his account was hacked. If he indeed was a “right wing” member, how was he part of AAP, from which he was expelled?

4. ABP News & PTI: 2 out of 7 videos from JNU found doctored

ABP News published a report, with PTI inputs which said that a Delhi Government instituted forensic probe had found that 2 videos were manipulated. The fact is, as per the fact finding report of the District Magistrate, 3 videos were found to be “doctored”.

5. India Today: Delhi Govt fact report on JNU incident gives a clean chit to Kanhaiya Kumar & Umar Khalid

The Delhi Govt report had in fact never given a clean chit to Umar Khalid. In fact the very first page of the report clearly said that”

Umar Khalid was visible in many videos. His support for the role of Kashmir and Afzal Guru is known and he was the organiser of the event. His role needs to be further investigated.

6. Janata Ka Reporter: Angry Smriti Irani ‘threatened’ to close down AMU, asked VC ‘who pays your salary’

Janata ka Reporter, based on a “to be published” piece in Milli Gazette, A fortnightly English language newspaper in India, aimed at a Muslim audience claimed the above, as from a “reliable source”. The “source” eventually turned out to be as unreliable as Janata Ka Reporter as the VC himself said he was not even present at the meeting where he was supposedly misbehaved with. Even as he said this, he did not mince words in his criticism of the HRD minister.

7. Reuters: BJP vows to strip Muslim immigrants of vote in Assam

In the above headline, and the accompanying piece, Reuters omitted just one word, but it changes the meaning of the entire sentence and the story. BJP, via its President Amit Shah had only said that they would take action against illegal infiltration and illegal Bangladesh migrants. This was echoed by BJP’s CM candidate in Assam as well.

8. Milli Gazette, later picked by all media: “We don’t recruit Muslims”: Modi govt’s Ayush Ministry

Firstly the headline is grossly misleading since it claims that the Ayush Ministry doesn’t recruit muslims,whereas on the site of the ministry itself one could see a number of muslim employees. Secondly, the AYUSH ministry denied the entire report and claimed that the part of the RTI reply, on which the entire report was based, was fake and “fabricated”, which was never issued by the ministry. The ministry also put out the actual RTI replies and filed a case against the RTI activist and journalist who had filed the report.

9. All media: Caught on camera – BJP MLA breaks leg of horse

We had written a separate report on this issue. While multiple media reports claimed that a BJP MLA had broken the horse’s leg, the truth was clear from the videos. The video based on which all media reports were framed showed the BJP MLA swinging a lathi in front of the horse. It was impossible to say whether the lathi hit the horse or not, but the sound suggested that the lathi was hitting the ground, which could have been done to scare away the horse. So how did a BJP MLA swinging a lathi infront of the horse manage to injure it on its hind legs? Further, the horse collapses much after the alleged hitting of the stick. A video from a different angle shows that, one of the protesters pulls something off a policeman riding the horse and in the commotion, the horse which was back-tracking trips over what seems to be a step and falls, while getting its leg stuck in a metal railing. This was confirmed later by multiple media reports.

 

Miscellaenous Lies

1. Newslaundry: Congress, AGP and AIUDF have not released a manifesto for Assam elections

We had a separate post on this. Te ill-informed post on newslaundry.com somehow completely ignored glaring facts that Congress and AGP had released their manifestos, which were available online and were widely covered by the press.

2. The Statesman: Interview with Anil Kumble

The Statesman claimed to have interviewed Anil Kumble, but Kumble took to twitter to flatly deny this:


3. The Guardian: TERI was founded by Rajendra K Pachauri

In their article which tried to whitewash Pachauri’s alleged sexual misdemeanours, The Guardian claimed that he had founded TERI. In fact, TERI was founded by one Darbari Seth, and this information is freely available, including on TERI’s site.

4. Milli Gazette: Sharing fake doctored video which claimed ABVP had shouted “Pakistan Zindabad” slogans

The fake video which was edited to appear as if ABVP students were shouting “Pakistan Zindabad” slogans, was shared by many AAP politicians including Kejriwal and also by many media persons. Milli Gazette had also shared the video from their official handle. We had written a separate report on how the video was proved to be fake.

5. All media: Bengal village teen bags top Nasa scholarship

After initially going gaga over this story where an girl from a village in Bengal was said to have won a Nasa scholarship for her views on something called the “Black Hole Theory”, media back-pedalled and revealed that in fact the entire story was fake and a hoax.

6. The Hindu: SBI sees decline in Jan Dhan accounts

The Hindu’s business section published a story with the above headline. There was also a tweet with the same caption which was later deleted. The story itself contradicted the headline. The first line of the article it self made it clear that in fact SBI had noticed a decline in zero balance Jan Dhan accounts, and not in Jan Dhan accounts as a whole.

7. Multiple media: SC Boy hacked to death by Girl’s upper caste Thevar community

Although the Thevar community has been classified under the “Most Backward Class” category, media chose to highlight it as an upper caste.

8. The Economic Times: NITI Aayog recommends extension of RTE to pre-primary level

While an ET article claimed the above, as explained here, Niti Aayog Member, Shri Bibek Debroy rubbished the news and suggested not to believe on everything one read in MSM

 

January 2016: 20 lies

February 2016: 22 Lies

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