[Assam] Hotel Taj: Icon of whose India?

[mc mahant]

  Thanks Dr. BARUAH  for the sensitive   and sensible piece.
Just an hour back I saw PART OF  an interview by CNN-IBN Team at near Taj Hotel(Icon??) taking opinions from passers by.
One seventyish well spoken gentleman asked for 2 minutes. He was given the time. He spelt out who the Terrorists in this wretched country really are:
"POLITICIANS - they have siphoned off 2Bn$ worth from India's  futureless Billion-- without anybody to account to. 
Like we have a Weekly DRY DAY-- let us give all politicians in Delhi and everywhere  a weekly NO SECURITY-NO FREE RIDE day'. The so-called terrorists will take care of the REAL ONES"
Imagine that
MM
> Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2008 06:21:41 -0500> From: baruah at bard.edu> To: assam at assamnet.org> Subject: [Assam] Hotel Taj: Icon of whose India?> > ---------- Forwarded message ----------> From: girish karnawat <girishkarnawat at gmail.com>> Date: 2 Dec 2008 15:44> Subject: Hotel Taj: Icon of whose India?> > Hotel Taj: Icon of whose India?> > Gnani Sankaran- Tamil writer, Chennai.> > Watching at least four English news channels, surfing from one > another during the last 60 hours of terror strike made me feel a > terror of another kind, the terror of assaulting one's mind and > sensitivity with cameras, sound bites and non-stop blabbers. All these > channels have been trying to manufacture my consent for a big lie > called - Hotel Taj the icon of India> > Whose India, Whose Icon?> > It is a matter of great shame that these channels simply did not > bother about the other icon that faced the first attack from > terrorists - the Chatrapathi Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station. > CST is the true icon of Mumbai. It is through this railway station > hundreds of Indians from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal > and Tamilnadu have poured into Mumbai over the years, transforming > themselves into Mumbaikars and built the Mumbai of today along with > the Marathis and Kolis> > But the channels would not recognise this. Nor would they recognise > the thirty odd dead bodies strewn all over the platform of CST. No > Barkha Dutt went there to tell us who they were. But she was at Taj to > show us the damaged furniture and reception lobby braving the guards. > And the TV cameras did not go to the government run JJ hospital to > find out who those 26 unidentified bodies were. Instead they were > again invading the battered Taj to try in vain for a scoop shot of the > dead bodies of the page 3 celebrities.> > In all probability, the unidentified bodies could be those of > workers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh migrating to Mumbai, arriving by > train at CST without cell phones and pan cards to identify them. Even > after 60 hours after the CST massacre, no channel has bothered to > cover in detail what transpired there.> > The channels conveniently failed to acknowledge that the Aam Aadmis > of India surviving in Mumbai were not affected by Taj, Oberoi and > Trident closing down for a couple of weeks or months. What mattered > to them was the stoppage of BEST buses and suburban trains even for > one hour. But the channels were not covering that aspect of the terror > attack. Such information at best merited a scroll line, while the > cameras have to be dedicated for real time thriller unfolding at Taj > or Nariman Bhavan.> > The so called justification for the hype the channels built around > heritage site Taj falling down (CST is also a heritage site), is that > Hotel Taj is where the rich and the powerful of India and the globe > congregate. It is a symbol or icon of power of money and politics, not > India. It is the icon of the financiers and swindlers of India. The > Mumbai and India were built by the Aam Aadmis who passed through CST > and Taj was the oasis of peace and privacy for those who wielded power > over these mass of labouring classes. Leopold club and Taj were the > haunts of rich spoilt kids who would drive their vehicles over > sleeping Aam Aadmis on the pavement, the Mafiosi of Mumbai forever > financing the glitterati of Bollywood (and also the terrorists) , > Political brokers and industrialists> > It is precisely because Taj is the icon of power and not people that > the terrorists chose to strike.> The terrorists have understood after several efforts that the Aam > Aadmi will never break down even if you bomb her markets and trains. > He/she was resilient because that is the only way he/she can even > survive.> > Resilience was another word that annoyed the pundits of news > channels and their patrons this time. What resilience, enough is > enough, said Pranoy Roy's channel on the left side of the channel > spectrum. Same sentiments were echoed by Arnab Goswami representing > the right wing of the broadcast media whose time is now. Can Rajdeep > be far behind in this game of one-upmanship over TRPs ? They all > attacked resilience this time. They wanted firm action from the > government in tackling terror> > The same channels celebrated resilience when bombs went off in > trains and markets killing and maiming the Aam Aadmis. The resilience > of the ordinary worker suited the rich business class of Mumbai since > work or manufacture or film shooting did not stop. When it came to > them, the rich shamelessly exhibited their lack of nerves and refused > to be resilient themselves. They cry for government intervention now > to protect their private spas and swimming pools and bars and > restaurants, similar to the way in which Citibank, General Motors and > the ilk cry for government money when their coffers are emptied by > their own ideologies> > The terrorists have learnt that the ordinary Indian is unperturbed by > terror. For one whose daily existence itself is a terror of government > sponsored inflation and market sponsored exclusion, pain is something > he has learnt to live with. The rich of Mumbai and India Inc are > facing the pain for the first time and learning about it just as the > middle classes of India learnt about violation of human rights only > during emergency, a cool 28 years after independence.> > And human rights were another favourite issue for the channels to > whip at times of terrorism.> Arnab Goswami in an animated voice wondered where were those champions > of human rights now, not to be seen applauding the brave and selfless > police officers who gave up their life in fighting terrorism. Well, > the counter question would be where were you when such officers were > violating the human rights of Aam Aadmis. Has there ever been any 24 > hour non stop coverage of violence against dalits and adivasis of this > country?> > This definitely was not the time to manufacture consent for the > extra legal and third degree methods of interrogation of police and > army but Arnabs don't miss a single opportunity to serve their class > masters, this time the jingoistic patriotism came in handy to > whitewash the entire uniformed services.> > The sacrifice of the commandos or the police officers who went down > dying at the hands of ruthless terrorists is no doubt heart rending > but in vain in a situation which needed not just bran but also brain. > Israel has a point when it says the operations were misplanned > resulting in the death of its nationals here.> > Kakares and Salaskars would not be dead if they did not commit the > mistake of travelling by the same vehicle. It is a basic lesson in > management that the top brass should never travel together in crisis. > The terrorists, if only they had watched the channels, would have > laughed their hearts out when the Chief of the Marine commandos, an > elite force, masking his face so unprofessionally in a see-through > cloth, told the media that the commandos had no idea about the > structure of the Hotel Taj which they were trying to liberate. But the > terrorists knew the place thoroughly, he acknowledged.> > Is it so difficult to obtain a ground plan of Hotel Taj and discuss > operation strategy thoroughly for at least one hour before entering? > This is something even an event manager would first ask for, if he had > to fix 25 audio systems and 50 CCtvs for a cultural event in a hotel. > Would not Ratan Tata have provided a plan of his ancestral hotel to > the commandos within one hour considering the mighty apparatus at his > and government's disposal? Are satellite pictures only available for > terrorists and not the government agencies? In an operation known to > consume time, one more hour for preparation would have only improved > the efficiency of execution.> > Sacrifices become doubly tragic in unprofessional circumstances. But > the Aam Aadmis always believe that terror-shooters do better planning > than terrorists. And the gullible media in a jingoistic mood would not > raise any question about any of these issues. They after all have > their favourite whipping boy ? the politician the eternal entertainer > for the non-voting rich classes of India.> > Arnabs and Rajdeeps would wax eloquent on Manmohan Singh and Advani > visiting Mumbai separately and not together showing solidarity even at > this hour of national crisis. What a farce? Why can't these channels > pool together all their camera crew and reporters at this time of > national calamity and share the sound and visual bites which could > mean a wider and deeper coverage of events with such a huge> human resource to command? Why should Arnab and Rajdeep and Barkha > keep harping every five minutes that this piece of information was > exclusive to their channel, at the time of such a national crisis? Is > this the time to promote the channel? If that is valid, the politician > promoting his own political constituency is equally valid. And the > duty of the politician is to do politics, his politics. It is for the > people to evaluate that politics> > And terrorism is not above politics. It is politics by other means. > To come to grips with it and to eventually eliminate it, the practice > of politics by proper means needs constant fine tuning and > improvement. Decrying all politics and politicians, only helps > terrorists and dictators who are the two sides of the same coin. And > the rich and powerful always prefer terrorists and dictators to do > business with.> > Those caught in this crossfire are always the Aam Aadmis whose deaths > are not even mourned - the taxi driver who lost the entire family at > CST firing, the numerous waiters and stewards who lost their lives > working in Taj for a monthly salary that would be one time bill for > their masters.> > Postscript: In a fit of anger and depression, I sent a message to all > the channels, 30 hours through the coverage. After all they have been > constantly asking the viewers to message them for anything and > everything. My message read: I send this with lots of pain. All > channels, including yours, must apologise for not covering the victims > of CST massacre, the real mumbaikars and aam aadmis of India. Your > obsession with five star elite is disgusting. Learn from the print > media please. No channel bothered. Only srinivasan Jain replied: you > are right. We are trying to redress balance today. Well, nothing > happened till the time of writing this 66 hours after the terror attack.> > > > -- > Girish Dariyav Karnawat> > -- > Groupe SCE India Pvt ltd> Bangalore> Karnataka> INDIA> > > -- > Arpita Das> Co-founder and Publisher> YODA PRESS> Editorial address: 9519, c9, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 110 070> Permanent mailing address: 268 Sector A, Pocket C, Vasant Kunj, New > Delhi 110 070> Tel.: 91-11-41787201> e-mail: arpita at yodapress.com, arpitadasribeiro at gmail.com> > > _______________________________________________> assam mailing list> assam at assamnet.org> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
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