Thursday 28 February 2013

Charge-sheet against TV Channels | A letter to the Press Council | Investigations are doomed to fail



On Wed, Feb 27, 2013 at 4:19 PM, Asif Khan <muhammed_asifkhan@hotmail.com> wrote:
 

Assalamuálaikum,


My personal charge-sheet against TV Channels


By Indscribe,
Less than 24 hrs after the blasts in Hyderabad, a landmine blast in Gaya in Bihar killed eight persons with Naxals as suspects in the incident.
Did you remember any channel showing 'Flash' or any reporter from Patna reporting it? I checked the channels' websites the next evening repeatedly but none of them had taken it on its front page.
Among national newspapers, except one, the remaining papers didn't take the news on its front page. Doesn't it show how blasts in India are treated differently.
Its not just about the toll. Two deaths or even none [but a few injured] in a City can lead to stoppage of all broadcast and live coverage of incident but 10-50 in Chhattisgarh [Jharkhand or other parts] may just be one of the headlines with no follow-up.
In fact, its not just about toll, the place where an incident and occurred and the possibility of the group involved in it, determines its seriousness. So here are a few points, my observations how the electronic media is dictating national agenda, politics and society's attitudes.
Ten points:
1. It is generally believed that terrorists want to scare us. In this job, Electronic media unfortunately seems to be playing the role of a facilitator. Why can't news of an explosion or blast be shown with restraint or just as news. Yes, it is important but is it so important that all other news and events are dumped. The channels quickly suspend all other programmes and show nonstop live coverage, with reporters and editors, guests and experts on panel.

2. This naturally creates a feeling of 'fear' among us, a feeling of siege. We get more scared than we should be and this is really a serious thing. We are made to feel insecure. Due to such coverage, everyone in cities is forced to see and talk about it. When they show nothing else, it is bound to dominate conversation. It is probably done because TRP is measured on the basis of viewership in Cities.
A blast in Gadchiroli or in Assam or in Bastar is not treated as seriously, perhaps, because in rural area people still watch our good old non-hysterical Doordarshan. An example is that when blast in Manipur killed three persons, there was no 'Terror' word but when one person was hurt in Pune, it was termed 'Terror'. Read it here.

3. Even if all the investigative agencies and their officers are mum and say that they have just begun investigation, the 'experts' begin mouthing names of bizarre sounding groups. The names will be taken for days. They will show even photo of man who was killed in a terror strike and defame him as a terrorist, as it happened with a slain politician from neighbouring country whose photo was shown by channels.

4. When last time Hyderabad was targeted, it was the group involving Lokesh Sharma and Devendra Gupta which had planted bomb. They are in jail. Why this possibility that their group could be linked, was not explored?
It is known that Malegaon and Hyderabad were on hitlist of right-wing fanatics, then why along with 'other suspected groups, names of these groups were not taken? Or is it that 'Arabic sounding names' with photos of 'bearded men' bring more TRP! An example to suggest 'what is not termed as Terror'.
5. If the police say they have no clue, the media houses can't accept it. The reason is that every journalist worth his salt probably gets worried that if he doesn't write something, the journalist in rival paper may come out with a strange theory and this guy's stature as 'seasoned journalist or crime reporter' would be affected.

No one cares about the old journalist rule to confirm, check, re-check before doing a story. So why not some wild suggestions or theories. You ask the investigators about names of particular groups. Even if they don't say 'Yes', you can always write "Cops haven't ruled out". That's enough to run the story. Voila. That's magical journalism. And that's how it works in Indian media.

6. With such one-sided coverage, many of these channels, inadvertently, spread communalism and hatred. With photographs of Muslims and their names constantly repeated, it defames an entire community. These channels ought to be retrained.

They have resisted control or censorship in the past, and said that they would do it voluntarily themselves. But they have not been able to do it. There is no self-governing mechanism or code of ethics. People are defamed, and when they get acquitted, their lives are spoiled. There are no apologies.

7. Can't TV channels let police and agencies do their work? With such pressure as created by the electronic media, even the toughest agencies would feel the pressure to somehow catch a few guys and announce a wrap-up ie claim the credit of solving the case so as to shut up these guys. Journalists in India have already lost their credibility to such an extent that they are termed as police stenographers. No wonder, they will write what is told. Arrest of real culprits may or may not take place.

8. If TV channels have understanding of each and every organisation and have dossiers about all the culprits, why these shadowy groups don't get busted once for all. After all, then police must be knowing much more. Then, why incidents keep happening and why so many cases are still lying unsolved.
Isn't there something seriously wrong? Just today a man who was earlier termed 'mastermind' has been acquitted in a case of Karnataka. Once again, there is silence and no apology for defaming the person and destroying his life in the past.

9. Just keep record of news published in prominent newspapers and then tally them when the judgments are delivered, you will realise how we are being fooled. The reports published in many of the papers and aired on electronic media, don't quote officers or even suggesting that which sources are being talked about.

Its simple. You want to name someone or write something weird which comes to your mind. Just write that and in the end add, 'Sources said'. That's how the big circus is going on. Its everywhere. In Hindi and in English, both. Time to call their bluff?

10. I seriously believe that Indian electronic media is practicing Yellow Journalism. In the past, certain evening newspapers or tabloids were known for practicing dirty journalism--writing anything just for selling copies. But now its happening on a far larger scale. Its far more institutionalised. It spread more prejudices and stereotypes.
A large section of citizens is fed up. It is time to control these people [shouldn't there be certain accountability or some limit to which an event can be shown at stretch] who for the sake of eyeballs and TRPs, are hurting our society. This is no journalism. Its simply hysteria that is sold to us, creating scare and terror, causing disharmony.
I wish Government takes note as to how certain TV channels & newspapers are injecting poison in the society. They must take action, restrain this unchecked spread of canards and falsehoods. Journalism was considered the fourth estate, a pillar of democracy. But this pillar has not just weakened, it is affecting our entire democratic edifice.
Kindly save the nation.
--
Indscribe is an Indian journalist who blogs at anindianmuslim.com

Source: TCN

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A letter to the Press Council of India on Hyderabad blasts coverage


To,
Hon'ble Justice Markandey Katju,
Chairman,
Press Council of India,
New Delhi.
Sir,
Sub: Hyderabad Bomb blasts - Issue direction to the Media houses to stop Media Investigation and Trial – To stop terrorizing Muslim community and hatred among people – Reg.
With the reference to the subject cited above in the evening of 21st February 2013 an unfortunate incident of bomb blast took place in Dilsukhnagar area of Hyderabad in which almost 16 people were killed and hundreds injured. The dead belonged to all the religions and sections.
Immediately after the blast, electronic media both regional (Telugu) and national (Hindi & English) reached the spot and started live coverage along with their expert comments. Telugu channels which telecast both Telugu and Urdu news bulletin are completely different. In the Telugu bulletins they spread hatred against Muslims where in Urdu bulletin they are very cautious in reporting such hatred. So, the Telugu and Urdu news bulletin are completely different from each other. When the whole city was under shock, media and people arising out of their caste & religion were enquiring the safety of each other. The common people came into immediate action and were trying to help injured and dead to shift to the nearby hospitals. The thought of who carried the blasts never came to the minds of the common people but they were very much concerned about saving the lives of the blast victims. But the media without showing any such concern was carrying out their own style of reporting.
At the same time, media was reporting live along with speculations which diverted towards one community and as usual that was nothing but towards Muslims. The media started investigation and jumped on the conclusions and media room trial started. By giving their own sources they named the organizations behind the blast and also the names of Muslim youths. They even said that the planning of these blasts took place in October itself. The media is diverting and linking these blasts to the revenge of Afzal Guru and Ajmal Kasab. The media also said that it is the revenge of Akbaruddin Owaisi's arrest.
Before the state investigating agencies and central investigating agencies reached the spot, the media and Hindutva elements gathered due to which the evidence of bomb blasts lost. Though the police personnel reached there but did not try to control the Hindutva elements and media mob. The Hindutva elements raised the slogans of anti-Muslim slogans.
The first thing which the media announced is that the actual target of bomb blast was not the present place but it was the Saibaba Mandir (how media got this report no one knows). Then the media started explaining how the preparations of bomb blast took place. They even said that two days before the blasts the bomb planters were roaming in that area. Media even declared the names of the persons involved in the blast. The number of channels, that number of investigation and trial was going on and all the channels had same conclusions. The target of all these channels was Muslims. The matter of concern is that the media houses do not have any evidence or any information of this incident but had only speculations. But with the type of their reporting it seemed that they knew everything in advance. The media is even showing an injured Muslim youth in the blast as main suspect and unfortunately this person named Mirza Abdul Wasey became the victim of bomb blast for the second time. He was injured even in the Makkah Masjid blast as well. A person injured two times in the blast i.e. in Makkah Masjid bomb blast and Dilsukhnagar bomb blast became a crime, only because he is a Muslim.
The common people wondered that if at all the media houses knew all the facts then why didn't they inform the police? And if they did not alert the police then it means that they have indirectly helped the terrorists. Without any evidence targeting of one particular community is to increase their TRP ratings then that is nothing but helping the terrorists. Because in this country where plural society exists, these type of incidents are carried out only to propagate the hatred and division among the people and in the society. Such type of reporting of media is making the plans of terrorists easier. This type of reporting is nothing but act of terror. Because of this type of reporting, one particular community is completely isolated, traumatised and terrorized.
This committee wants to draw your attention towards this type of reporting of media houses which is propagating hatred among the people and isolating the Muslim community. The majority community is seeing them with suspect in every walk of life. The attitude of media has become the biggest threat to Muslim community and their life and liberty is at stake.
Dear sir, we want to say clearly that at this time, Muslims are the victims of bomb terror, police terror, media terror and mob terror. This is the ground reality.
Therefore, we request you to issue the direction to the media houses to stop their own investigation and media room trial against the Muslim community which is aimed at targeting Muslim community.
We request you to collect all the reporting of the media both electronic and print and investigate the news on this issue by forming a team of experts. Take against those media houses that have not spared a single minute to show and target Muslim community as terrorists.
Dear Sir, you are the chairman of Press Council of India, on behalf of common Muslims of India I question you, don't Muslims have right to life with dignity which is guaranteed by the constitution and is it crime to live this country as Muslims with their identity.
At this high time, I want to ask you, the media houses telecasting such news just to increase their TRP ratings in not an act of terror? As far as we know there are some rules and regulations to be followed by Media in reporting the news. But that is not applied while reporting on terror issues.
Hope this will be taken seriously, positively. We request you to intervene and stop it immediately so that our plural society of India can exist without any threat.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
Lateef Mohammed Khan,
Gen. Secretary
Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee
Hyderabad
Source : TCN

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Why Hyderabad Investigations are doomed to fail


By Jamia Teachers' Solidarity Association
In a grotesque replay of every investigation that follows a bomb blast, prejudice, misinformation and media blitz rules the direction of Dilsukh Nagar bombings investigation too. The same suspects and shadowy organizations are being paraded as executors of the Hyderabad bombings.
But should we be surprised? A day after the Home Minister's humiliating capitulation to the RSS-BJP, virtually giving them and their affiliates a clean chit, the message to the investigating agencies must have been crystal clear. When the Home Minister himself discards the bulk of allegations and material pointing to the existence of Hindutva groups in planning and executing terror attacks, should we really expect the investigating agencies, whose past record inspires hardly any confidence, to sincerely pursue all possible angles and leads? This, when Messrs Aseemanand and company are being tried for the 2007 bombing of the Mecca Masjid. By asserting that Hyderabad bombing may have been a reaction to the execution of Kasab and Afzal Guru, the Home Minister himself foreclosed any possibility of unbiased investigation.
Hyderabad Police: Can we trust them with the investigations?
The same Hyderabad Police which had, in the aftermath of the Mecca Masjid, raided Muslim mohallas, rounded up scores of young men, tortured them at private farmhouses, alleged to have recovered RDX, arms and ammunition, jihadi literature, incriminating cellphone records and laptops, as well records of journey to foreign countries for terror-training by these young men – all proven to be false now – have been entrusted with the investigation of the Dilsukh Nagar blasts. Have we already forgotten that the additional metropolitan Sessions Judges in throwing out the two related cases of Mecca Masjid blast found the police unable to produce any evidence except for the confessional statements of the accused – statements which had obviously been extracted under harsh and brutal torture, as attested by the Advocate Ravi Chander report.
And sure enough, the various SITs formed by the Hyderabad Police have knocked on the same doors. Mohammed Rayeesuddin, Mohammed Azmath, Arshed Khan, Abdul Raheem, and Abdul Kareem were detained for questioning, while Dr. Ibrahim Ali Junaid was hounded over the phone. Not only were the same people targeted once again, the methods were no improvement over 2007: the same surreptitious whisking away without information to relatives, reviving the horrors of 2007.



Blast site at Dilsukhnagar. [TCN Photo]
Why have the police officers, who indulged in and who supervised the frame-ups in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blasts, not been punished? Indeed, Hyderabad investigations demand that the policemen who deliberately tried to fabricate and derail a genuine probe the last time, be first punished. What is the guarantee that they will not influence the course of investigation of the recent twin blasts as well? Is there any reason for us to believe that they will not avenge the humiliation of their 2007 fiasco by harassing their victims, many of whom have filed a civil suit seeking damages for their illegal detention and torture?
The detentions of Rayeesuddin and others have in fact again confirmed our fears of collusion and complicity between the Andhra and Gujarat Police over encounter killings and communal witch-hunts. Rayeesuddin is key witness to the cold-blooded murder of Mujahid Salim Islahi by the Gujarat encounter specialist Narendra Amin - currently in jail for Sohrabuddin fake encounter, another instance of the 'cooperation' between the police of the two states - at the Lakdi ka pul police station in Hyderabad in 2004. While the Hyderabad Police has shown no inclination to pursue the case against Amin, not even once seeking his custody, there is reason to believe that the cases against Rayeesuddin are a way to intimidate him into withdrawing his witness in the case. In fact, many of the terror accusations against Muslim youth in Hyderabad relate to this incident in 2004.
In sum, the Hyderabad police has shown itself to be thoroughly communal and corrupt, and should not be entrusted with the investigations of the Dilsukhnagar blasts.
Media Trial: Return of the Stenographers
Lack of journalistic skills and ethics, a perverse sense of 'national interest', the mad rush for TRPs has produced a lethal cocktail of 'breaking news', each more pernicious than the other. If nothing else, one has to admire the media's consistency: their refusal to learn from their past gaffes and their unrestrained urge to act as judge, jury and executioner. So what if they flash the photograph of the recently assassinated MQM leader Manzar Imam as one of the key accused? MQM-MIM-IM, all the same, as long as it's a bearded face and a name that fits.
Confessions and Interrogation reports are being dramatized on prime time. Hawala transactions via Dubai, and dark conspiracies are being breathlessly screamed about, slowly coagulating a narrative of guilt. One could have dismissed these televised kangaroo courts as mere rantings, if only they did not play a role in keeping accused in custody for long periods. While in many cases, this media trial may not affect the eventual outcome of the trial; it is enough to pressure the courts into denying the accused bail repeatedly, and even the accused from moving bail applications. Just six months ago, Muti Ur Rehman, a reporter with Deccan Herald, was touted as "the face of modern violent Islamic extremism". He was held up as an example of how "the profile of the various groups who come under the rubric of the 'Indian Mujahideen', can be from any segment of society."
(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2197303/Spectre-e...).
While the NIA has now failed to even file a charge sheet against Rehman and his two roommates, also falling in the educated Jihadi profile, the media's unrelenting mastermind hype ensured that he spent close to six months in jail.
In other cases, we know, that such biased reporting can manufacture a 'collective conscience' that demands retribution even where guilt is not established beyond reasonable doubt. It is this power that the media gloats over, and in its crazed delirium, forgets that it is human lives they destroy by uncritically relaying the deliberate leaks by agencies as scoops and investigations. If appeals for restraint and previous mistakes breed no introspection, then perhaps large-scale defamation suits would be the only deterrence.
So grave is the situation now that that the Chief Justice was forced to admit recently that (media trial) "can prejudice against an accused in a case."
As proof of IM's existence, security experts and agencies have cited the emails that the organisation purportedly sent after every blast they executed. Though no emails were forthcoming this time, the BJP Chief of Andhra Pradesh, G. Krishan Reddy, received by post (not known whether it was speed post favoured by the Home Ministry) a letter from LeT, claiming responsibility for the blasts.
While the investigating agencies see an IM module in every Muslim concentrated town and a sleeper cell in every madrasa, they must explain why those organisations currently being tried for exploding bombs in the same city in 2007 are not even being mentioned as potential suspects. While forensic evidence is still being collected and analyzed – much of it destroyed by the media trampling all over the site – agencies through trusted mouthpieces are chanting about the discovery of trademark IM bombs. What is the basis of this claim? Media reports suggest that Dilsukh Nagar bomb was an IED, as indeed was in the Mecca masjid blast. In December last year, not many months ago, the NIA arrested Tej Ram, which it accuses of planting an IED at Mecca Masjid, the one that did not explode. His alleged partner Rajender Choudhary, whose IED did go off, has been in NIA's custody for a while now. Given that Tej Ram was arrested only months ago, and given also that many of the key aides of Aseemanand and Purohit are still at large, why is there an absolute refusal to pursue that line of investigation?
Are we to forget the conversations between the retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay and the serving colonel in the Army, Purohit, which revealed not in their ability to procure explosives but also their international linkages and patronage? To quote:
Maj. (Retd.) Ramesh Upadhyay:"...for example what happened in Hyderabad Mosque or at other places was not done by anybody from ISI; it was done by our person. On the basis of my information, I can say that it was done by this particular person.[ …]
Lt. Col. Purohit:"...I have done two operations. They were successful Swamiji (Dayanand Pandey), I have the capacity to carry out operations. I have no dearth of equipment [explosives]. Once I decide I can procure the equipment..."
[…]
Lt. Col. Purohit: "...I am in contact with Israel. One of our captains has visited Israel. Very positive response from their side. They have said "You show us something on ground". [...] Secondly, they say they cannot support us in the international forum under the present circumstances for two years, till our movement does not gather some momentum. Political asylum any time; equipment and training once we show something on ground. I am trying to achieve that..."
What has happened to the full contents of the laptops recovered by the late Mr. Hemant Karkare? We fear that they may be destroyed to hide the names and details of Right wing terrorists. It is surprising that while one elite anti-terror agency has leaked the Interrogation Report of a suspect to the media, there has been a silencing and secreting of the contents of the two laptops.
The full contents of these laptops should be transcribed and placed in public domain with immediate effect. These transcripts are neither confessions, disclosures nor statements made in police custody – whose genuineness is vitiated by the fact that custodial confessions carry the threat of real or potential violence – these are recordings of their own conversations made by the men themselves under no duress or pressure.
And it might be in order to remember here too that Aseemanand's 'confession' was not made in police custody either, but to the Delhi Metropolitan Magistrate under section 164 CrPC, after he was given two days to reflect upon his decision, as is required to ascertain the voluntary nature of the confession. Those commentators and TV anchors who push the virtuous line that terror has no religion whenever Hindutva terror is as much as mentioned, would do well to reflect on this civilized adherence to procedure against the horrors of torture endured by the young men of Hyderabad in 2007 whose private parts were electrocuted to extract confessions from them.
While NIA teams raid villages and towns in Bihar, and interrogate 'IM terrorists' anew, a man whose name has consistently appeared in Ajmer blast chargesheet, in Purohit's interrogation and Aseemanand's confession, remains free. No raids at the home or office of Indresh Kumar, national executive member and the sahprachar pramukh in the RSS, who is said to have been present at a secret meeting to plan the Ajmer Sharif bombing, held in a Gujarati guesthouse in Jaipur on October 31, 2005, in which six other functionaries of the RSS were also present; and who is named by Aseemanand to have financed the now conveniently murdered Sunil Joshi's terror activities. Has a deal been struck to absolve Indresh of all allegations of involvement in terrorism?
Having just exorcised the ghosts of his Jaipur statement, the Home Minister would probably not want to be reminded of this: but the Nanded and Malegaon investigations pointed to arms trainings and camps at Bhonsale Military School in Nashik. But who dare raid Bhonsale Military School, set up by the ardent fascist B.S. Moonje, and at whose platinum jubilee celebrations almost exactly a year ago, Mohan Bhagwat was the main speaker? A madrasa in Hyderabad is easier to pull down and interrogation of a cleric – even one who has been in jail for a while – likely to fetch you more popularity. "Highly placed intelligence sources" are therefore letting it known through their friends in the media that they intend to question Abdul Nasir Madni, old, ailing and nearly blind.
What we are seeing is not simply a blatant and deep institutional prejudice playing out. It is as if our institutions are hell bent on ensuring that injustice is not only done, but also seen to be done. For all the inane and pious assertions of 'Let's not politicize terror', in fact terrorism has been the subject of the most cynical political competition. Vulnerable targets are being picked on. Hindutva terror is being denied under pressure from the RSS BJP combine and a rabble-rousing media. None – neither the UPA which hoped to add muscle to its anti-terror image by hanging Kasab and Afzal; nor the BJP, the original tough guys, nor the hawks who froth at the mouth demanding blood on TV, are concerned with the fact that the mastermind of the biggest terror attack is safely secreted in the US, having cut a deal with the US agencies, will never be tried for his crimes in India. The continuous cries of Lashkar by various investigative agencies in the aftermath of the Hyderabad blasts should surely fuel the demand for David Headley's extradition?
Only a genuine and unbiased probe will be a true homage to those who lost their lives in the utterly senseless violence of Dilsukh Nagar bombings. But sadly, that doesn't appear likely.
Released on 26th February 2013
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