Cover for bed-fellows (Niira Radia tape controversy)

The Hindu, the most respected and reputed newspaper in India (to this author), willy-nilly engaged in an act of providing cover to those editor-cum-shop owners (Barkha Dutt, Group Editor NDTV; Vir Sanghvi Editorial Director, Hindustan Times etc.) of Niira Radia tape controversy. Its editorial (Wednesday, Nov 24, 2010, See at: http://bit.ly/fRywtq)) re-dressed the disgraced media persons in the Niira Radia tape controversy just as “power players” and provided them safe escape at least in the real estate of The Hindu editorial! (See for example an excerpt from the editorial. “……The recent publication of officially intercepted phone conversations between a corporate lobbyist and a raft of politicians and power players in Delhi suggests…”) The editorial should have said that the officially intercepted phone conversations were between a corporate lobbyist and a raft of politicians, senior media persons and power players in Delhi.

The editor has every right to express whatever opinion he has but has no right at all to hide facts. It hid the fact that the conversations indeed included senior media persons. After, the media persons included in the conversation were re-dressed and categorized as just power players. Still, he can hide facts since he has the freedom to do that. But then it cannot be argued that he is fulfilling journalist duties and exercising rights of media. That editor who ever he may be, must be reminded that he is also engaging in a ‘lobbying’ of sorts, an activity he vehemently lashed through out in the editorial.

At the same time The Hindu needs to be congratulated for publishing the article of Priscilla Jebaraj, “The spotlight is on the media now” (See at: http://bit.ly/e7jIwH) in the same page where it published the editorial under scrutiny.

So there is a conflicting behavior. In the editorial, disgraced media persons were given a cover, but in the leader page article they were stripped off!

At the end of the day, the curiosity is to know what is the real opinion of The Hindu. Did it want to take a soft approach to their colleagues in other firms and at the very same time want to relay the strong message that they do not want to give a cover for those ‘editor-cum-shop owners’? But please, The Hindu, always remember that the editorial has more gravity!

The full text of the editorial is given below:

No reason to fear JPC

So enormous is the scale of the 2G spectrum scandal and so widely dispersed and influential are the dramatis personae that ordinary instruments of investigation may not be enough to get to the bottom of the affair. The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has come up with three key findings. First, that the Telecom Ministry under A. Raja deliberately ignored suggestions from other branches of government on the manner in which spectrum was to be allocated to new players in the 2G space. Second, that as a result the exchequer suffered a presumptive loss of anywhere between Rs.60,000 crore and Rs.179,000 crore. And third, that more than the factum or quantum of loss, the real scandal lies in the manner in which the first-come-first-served rules were re-jigged in order to cherry pick some companies for allocation. The recent publication of officially intercepted phone conversations between a corporate lobbyist and a raft of politicians and power players in Delhi suggests that the role of a number of industrialists and others also needs investigation. The CBI's handling of the case thus far does not inspire confidence, even if the Supreme Court were to monitor the progress of its investigations more closely. And, although Parliament's Public Accounts Committee normally reviews CAG reports, the sheer complexity of the 2G scandal and the number of official and unofficial players means a more comprehensive examination of the kind a Joint Parliamentary Committee could conduct is warranted.

Given the public's sense of disgust with the scale and extent of corruption, the Congress ought to realise that its objection to a JPC is being seen as a tacit admission of guilt or, at best, a certain unwillingness to allow the guilty to be exposed. The longer the stalemate continues, the more this perception will gain ground. That is why it is essential that the Opposition demand be conceded forthwith so that the probe can begin and Parliament can start functioning again. For over a fortnight now, no legislative business has been conducted in either House, thanks to the JPC gridlock. Disruptions and adjournments in the monsoon session cost over 45 hours of legislative business in the Lok Sabha and as many as eight question hours in the Rajya Sabha. The 15th Lok Sabha had started on a propitious note with the Speaker and the political parties agreeing to work extended hours and also to restore bipartisanship and credibility to an institution increasingly paralysed by political conflict. The United Progressive Alliance government with its stubborn refusal to yield on the JPC must take a larger share of the blame for breaking that consensus.

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