Did the media let off Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi too easy over his comments linking FDI in the retail sector to the Kargil conflict?

Mental meanderings on Rahul Gandhi, Media, Kargil & Obscurantism

“That purr in the ear isn’t the music of your back being scratched, darling; it’s the crackle of your slim wallet being emptied of ethics” – M.J.Akbar on journalists.

The script, by now, is getting so repetitive that it borders on the boring. Drafted by those ostensibly under the scanner, obligingly played out by large sections of the mainstream media, it involves double standards, highfalutin content, some stunning hypocrisy and distressingly large dollops of obfuscation and obscurantism.

“Obscurantism and tyranny go together”, noted Prof Berger Evans. Methinks he had a point.

Examples abound. One just has to switch on the TV or glance through the broadsheets…..

Exhibit A:

Shashi. Narendra. Sunanda. 50 crore. Girlfriend. Wife.Priceless. Lout. Media purrs. Dignity. TV cameras. Interview. Fluttering eyelashes. Cub-reporter. Fawn. Gush. Kill core issues.

Core issues being (a) the alleged sweat equity deal and (b) If Shashi Tharoor was stripped off his ministerial berth then, why was he re-inducted now – in the season of internal inquiries and clean chits scribbled down with sufficient haste, some by Finance Ministers and others by “one of the leading Chartered Accountants of India”, was there one issued to Shashi Tharoor? When? By which exalted body or individual? Should we just drop all pretence and do away with the over-worked judiciary altogether when it comes to elected representatives and the media’s darlings?

The purring….

Exhibit B:

Nitin char-kaam Gadkari. Swami. Dawood. IQ. Admittedly a dim-witted attempt to elucidate the point that intellect can be used for things both good as well as evil. And yet, what followed was a lot of brouhaha: OMG how dare he “compare”, vile vile being, shame on you, what is your IQ, one a great man, the other a criminal and a terrorist.

Core issue: NONE. All noise, no signal. What, pray may I ask, was the purpose of that triple-distilled brouhaha? Simply to divert focus from Purti, Coalgate, Sancheti, drivers, nay Directors and a million other more important things? Fondly gazing at freshly mined naval fluff? What?

Dangerous purring that…..



Exhibit C [my favourite]:

Rahul System Gandhi. System? Change? Yadda yadda yappity yap. Copycat. Doing a Kejriwal. Ha ha ha. Has he lost his mind. Hidden somewhere in the speech was the most revolting part, which got edged out by all the white noise.

Core issue: Kargil. The sacrifice of honourable men to protect our borders and dignity. The indisputable fact that some things, some sacrifices, are far too sacred to be profaned by political grandstanding. How dare Rahul Gandhi, or anyone else, reduce the sacrifice of over 500 Indian soldiers in the Kargil war to a brainless exercise in scoring political brownie points? And the media? Purr! Like a cream-filled cat lazing in the warm winter sun. Those 500 soldiers lost their lives for this? FOR THIS? Good lord in heaven!

But I don’t want to purr. Mainstream media’s attempts to play court chroniclers to the dynasty – yet again - notwithstanding.

Who is Rahul Gandhi? What are his credentials? What has he done for the country? What are his contributions, even in Amethi? Why is the media silent on that statement of his which showed how little, how precious little, is his ability to exercise good judgment? Has he apologised to the Armed Forces yet? Has the thought even crossed his mind?

If he had any sense, he should be doing the rounds, standing at the door of one of those 500-odd homes even as you are reading this, hands folded, head bowed, asking for forgiveness and telling the widows and the children and the parents how deeply sorry he is for having insulted the sacrifices of those who died defending the borders and the honour of this country.

The man's sense bothers me. Because he may be the PM of this country depending on how 2013 or 2014 pans out. This man, who does not know the difference between Kargil and FDI in retail. This man who thinks the Congress did the country a favour by not indulging in obstructionism as regards NDA and Kargil.

The media, in the mean time, is more bothered about his dimples!

[shining.path.notperu@gmail.com]