Views On News 07 March 2016

JNU IMBROGLIO
VIEWSONNEWSMARCH 07, 2016 `50
THE CRITICAL EYE
www.viewsonnewsonline.com
Ode to Urdu
Jashn-e-Rekhta showed
its universal appeal 38
Education
Girls first in Bihar 50
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Flop script
of film
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TMM SPECIAL
Negative
news on TV
channels
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Why the arrest of a student leader has created a vertical divide in the nation’s
politics and media Ajith Pillai 12
SPOTLIGHT
How print
covers
farmers’
distress 24
Governance
Kanhaiya Kumar
after his arrest

I HAVE BEEN watching with helpless horror, mingled
with deep sadness, the events which have been so
rapidly unfolding since the arrest, on sedition char-
ges, of JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar after the
campus crackdown by Delhi police following a flurry
of what appear to be hate speeches against the unity
and integrity of the Indian nation.
Our cover story, written by veteran Ajith Pillai,
renowned for his balanced approach to news and
its ramifications, focuses on how and why this has
turned into a national politico-media event which has
also caught worldwide attention. The role of the me-
dia—particularly social media—becomes a vital el-
ement in this new saga of polarization of public
opinion. There is no need to recount here the events
described in our story or the vivid TV images of vi-
olence and unruly behavior by lawyers which was a
clear insult to the Indian judiciary. What is at the
heart of the matter—which
was missing as an impor-
tant analytical element in
the media coverage of this
story—is the idea and def-
inition of India and whether
the state should persecute
those who challenge tradi-
tional or politically-moti-
vated characterizations thr-
ough peaceful discourse.
In the chaos and hulla-
balloo that marked the
electronic media space, lit-
tle attention was paid to the
actual speech made by
Kanhaiya. The purpose of
this column is neither to
agree nor disagree with his
detractors or the state apparatus which swung into
action against him. Suffice it to say that the law of
the land will be breathing heavily down the necks of
all transgressors.
But Kanhaiya, the son of an anganwaadi worker,
did draw the ideological battle line against the ruling
party more clearly than most of its political oppo-
nents. He said: “We are of this country and love the
soil of India. We fight for 80 percent of the poor
of this country. For us this is desh bhakti …If any-
body lifts a finger against this country’s Constitu-
tion—the Sanghis or anyone else—we won’t
tolerate it. But we have no faith in the Constitution
that is taught at Jhandewalan and Nagpur. We have
no faith in Manusmriti.”
What the media has missed in its coverage of
the ugly episodes that have led to a conflagration
across the nation’s campuses and political parties
is a deeper analysis of the real constitutional issues
involved. What the student comrade was saying
needed calm-headed analysis rather than hot-
headed confrontation. Instead of manufacturing na-
tionalist outrage, perhaps the speech should have
prompted people to examine the elements that con-
stitute real love for the nation and its values rather
than take to the streets with jingoistic sloganeering
reinforced by paranoia.
This is not to suggest, as Kanhaiya does, that
the Hindutva concept of Sangh-inspired nationalism
based on ancient Indian philosophical concepts of
HOOLIGANISM IS
NOT NATIONALISM
EDITOR’SNOTE
Are Kanhaiya’s utterances truly
“seditious”? And what exactly does
that mean? The media should
educate viewers and readers on
these finer points of discussion.
4 VIEWS ON NEWS March 7, 2016

dharma shastras and sutras, and the Nehru-Ambed-
kar European liberal concepts embedded in the con-
stitution are irreconcilable. Perhaps they are, and
that’s worthy of discussion.
But given the media’s penchant for chasing high-
decibel, provocative visuals, there is little or no
space for this discussion even though it is clear that
the political battle now being waged in the country
is more ideologically delineated than ever before.
Are Kanhaiya’s utterances truly “seditious”? And
what exactly does that mean? These are the finer
points of discussion towards which the media
should guide and educate viewers and readers
rather than focusing on confrontation—the outer
manifestation of the clash of deeply held philosoph-
ical beliefs and biases.
True, Section 124A of the IPC is a strongly
worded law against sedition. But as Fali Nariman
points out, it is tempered by Article 19(1)(a) of the
constitution which guarantees freedom of expres-
sion. Also, as Nariman notes, in Article 19(2) which
decrees that free speech is not absolute, “sedition
has been designedly excluded by the framers of the
Constitution only because the founding fathers had
said ‘sedition is not made an offence in order to min-
ister to the wounded vanity of governments’”.
These issues are worthy of public discussion.
Did the JNU student leader attack the nation or the
government, and to what extent and degree, if not
conducive and followed by violence, are such at-
tacks tolerable?
While all this is subject to debate and discussion,
one thing is not: Hooliganism is not Nationalism.
RALLYING AROUND
(Left) Kanhaiya Kumar has drawn the ideological battle against the
ruling party; (Above) A protest rally by JNU students, teachers and
others in Delhi against the JNU student leader’s arrest
Anil Shakya
5VIEWS ON NEWS March 7, 2016

C O NLEDE
Media and Nationalism
The coverage of the JNU row has split the media.While some are on the side of
the government, others have raised uncomfortable questions. AJITH PILLAI
Editor
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Managing Editor
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12
Misguided Forces
Driven by the need to appear revolutionary, JNU's student leaders have, in
the past, been using rhetoric and baseless arguments to mislead followers.
TANU PATNI MORDIA
18
Anil Shakya

Governance
T E N T S
R E G U L A R S
Edit..................................................04
Grapevine.......................................08
Quotes....................................10
Media-Go-Round...........................11
As the World Turns.........................21
TMM Research..............................22
Web-Crawler....................................37
Breaking News...............................46
Design Review................................48
Vonderful English............................54
Conspiracy of
Silence 34
TheTERI case explains why women em-
ployees often delay filing sexual harass-
ment complaints. APARNA JAIN
Jashn-e-Rekhta was an
attempt to stem the
declining popularity of
Urdu in India and saw
intellectuals reveling in
its beauty. SHAILAJA
PARAMATHMA
FESTIVAL
38
30
News stories by the media on wildlife
killings and sightings have fueled
important research on solving the
man-animal conflict. DINESH C SHARMA
AWildSuccess
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EDITORS’ PICK
42
Cover design: Anthony Lawrence
Cover Photo: Getty Images
50
A unique program in this state called
Girls First is empowering and teaching
them the ills of child marriage and
other societal evils.
MURALI KRISHNAN
Please-All
Proposition
Have Bollywood award shows
ceased to acknowledge and honor
the best in the film industry?
SONAL GERA
Ode to
a Language
Bihar’sOwn
“Powerpuff”Girls
SMALL SCREEN
24
As farmers were beset by one misfortune
after another last year, the English media
displayed an unusual sensitivity to their
plight. VIVIANFERNANDES
Farmers’
Gloom&Doom
SPOTLIGHT

Grapevine
Spiritual leaders are
competing heavily on
the FMCG platform. First
Baba Ramdev took on
MNCs with Patanjali
noodles, toothpastes, oils,
honey, biscuits, henna and
all that could be infiltrated
as everyday items into our
homes. He was raking in
good moolah, so copycats
were bound to emerge.
The latest to join the
FMCG bandwagon is
Gurmeet Ram Rahim
Singh of MSG fame. He
has launched his brand
with about 150 products,
including rice, pickles,
honey, bottled water, and
noodles! However, we also
know at least one person
not too keen to taste the
MSG products, and that is
actor Kiku Sharda of the
Comedy Nights fame, who
was arrested for mimick-
ing the godman.
Competing
FMCGGurus
Prashant Kishore,
king maker, the man
behind the stupendous
success of Narendra
Modi and Nitish
Kumar’s poll campaigns,
has taken a break. He
has returned to home
state Bihar as advisor to
the CM in the rank of a
minister. This is a smart
move. Had the next
gamble in king making
failed, stocks would have
fallen. It is learnt that
Assam Chief Minister
Tarun Gogoi sought his
help, but Kishore’s
assessment was that the
Congress’s prospects
with Gogoi at the helm
looked bleak. So he
backed off, and landed in
greener pastures.
Karnataka politicians are
locked in a heated debate
over Chief Minister Siddarama-
iah’s diamond watch. A
guessing game is on regarding
the price of the watch. Former
chief minister
HD Kumaraswamy claims that
the pro-poor CM wears a watch
worth ` 50 lakh and sunglasses
worth ` 2 lakh, while the CM
has offered to “sell the watch to
anyone for `10 lakh”
including Kumaraswamy.
The latter says he does not
deal with second-hand goods.
It seems all this hullabaloo
now is for the upcoming bypolls
to three assembly segments, and
for the panchayat elections.
WaitandWatch
GreenerPastures

HeyRam!
AllforaLaugh
While many in AAP pro-
vide comic relief, the
party has three professional
comedians viz Gurpreet
Ghuggi and MPs Bhagwant
Mann and Javed Jaffrey. No
wonder AAP’s brand of humor
is on the rise.
Pehle AAP
As per the latest news, the
BJP and the Akali Dal
have once again joined hands
to contest the assembly polls.
This, it is understood, is the
best way they can counter the
strong AAP wave. The
prospect of victory of the pres-
ent incumbents look dreary
against a volatile AAP cam-
paign. The buzz is that the
muffler man might emerge as
the chief ministerial candidate
there too! Not that he will take
dual charge, but in the hope of
occupying the PM’s seat in
2019, the AAP leader is
grooming deputies to take
charge of states where AAP
emerges winner.
What did the vigilance officers
find when they examined an
Air India cabin crew’s suitcase? Milk
cartons, coffee pouches, juice
bottles, whiskey bottles, in-flight
meal packets—practically anything
she could lay her hands on! It seems
her household was running on Air
India leftovers. The case, however, is
not unique. It is learnt that Air India
has time and again informed parlia-
ment about such pilferages.
Somehow, the highest number of
such incidents happen on VVIP
flights which are extremely well
stocked.
APakistani lawyer, Jawaid Iqbal
Jafree, has filed a petition seek-
ing the return of the Kohinoor from
the queen to Pakistan. He says it
was stolen from King Duleep Singh,
of the erstwhile Punjab province,
part of which is in present-day Pak-
istan. The Kohinoor which has been
casting its shadow over Indo-British
relations for the last 150 years, is
now set to cast its spell over Pak-
istan too. Who said that a diamond
is only a girl’s best friend?! The
Kohinoor, according to Jafree Saab,
“was a cultural heritage of Punjab
province and its citizen owned it
in fact”.
—Illustrations: UdayShankar
—Compiled by Roshni Seth
AirIndia’s
IncredibleMess
Acomplaint has been filed by a
lawyer against Lord Ram for
banishing his wife Sita to the jun-
gles without a suitable justification
and for no fault of hers. The case
has been filed in the court of the
Chief Judicial Magistrate of Sita-
marhi in UP, and the CJM has
agreed to take up the matter for
hearing. Even gods cannot relax in
peace. They should think twice
before banishing others to
jungles now!
Whose Noor?

U O T E S
Suhasini Haidar,
diplomatic editor,
CNN-IBN
Amidst the chaos, name-calling
and citizenship certification,
leave it to the cartoonists to save
the day :)
Ramachandra Guha,
historian
Journalists attacked again by BJP
goons in a Delhi court today.
Doubtless Arnab Goswami will
say these“anti-nationals”
deserved it.
Rajdeep Sardesai,
consulting editor
India Today group
So 2 news channels boycott
protests by journalists against
attacks on fellow journalists.
Time to name/shame them?
Sonakshi Sinha,
actor
My respect for doodh and dab-
bawalas has gone up 10 fold
after cycling on the streets of
Mumbai this morning. Ouch.
Tavleen Singh,
columnist,
The Indian Express
The Home Minister's‘sedition’
stupidity has sadly shifted
attention away from the PM's
excellent Make In IndiaWeek.
Kiran Bedi, former
super-cop, BJP
leader
Excessively stretched Police
Services and over burdened
Courts has emboldened law
breakers and made it easy for
external saboteurs to enter.
India is blessed with three Ds:
Democracy, Demography and
Demand. To this we have
added another D-deregulation.
—PM Narendra Modi at the launch of
the Make In India Week in Mumbai
Everyone should be allowed to have an opinion
— whether it’s good, bad or ugly, especially in a
country like India. We are the world’s biggest
democracy and a secular nation.
—Actor Sonam Kapoor, on why she
comments on various issues like intolerance, Section 377,
etc, in Hindustan Times
Sedition charge is misused in our
country. Therefore our basic demand is
to scrap this clause. All kinds of protests
can be clamped down under this clause
and all freedoms can be curbed.This is
no longer JNU’s struggle alone, but a
wider struggle as all the rights given
under the constitution are
under attack ...
—CPM leader Prakash Karat, while addressing a
gathering of students in JNU
The problem is not that Indians have
turned intolerant. In fact, to the contrary,
we have been much too tolerant of
intolerance.
— Dr Amartya Sen, while delivering the Rajendra
Mathur Memorial Lecture organized by the
Editors Guild of India in New Delhi

EDIA-GO-ROUND
Agroup of students, allegedly affiliated with
the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad
(ABVP), staged a protest against film star Shah
Rukh Khan when he visited Hansraj College in
New Delhi to collect his graduation degree and
launch a song from his movie Fan on February
16. The students shouted slogans against him,
asking him to go back.
On February 14 too, members of the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) threw stones
at a parking lot of a luxury hotel in Ahmedabad
and damaged his car.
He wasn’t there at the time of the attack,
which was reportedly against his remarks on
intolerance.
In November 2015, Khan had sparked a
controversy, when during an interview he said
that there was “growing intolerance” in India.
Facebook India’s MD quits
Facebook India’s Managing Direc-
tor Kirthiga Reddy has quit to re-
locate to Facebook’s headquarters at
Menlo Park, California. “I have also
begun to explore new opportunities at
Facebook, back at Menlo Park,”
Reddy announced in a Facebook post
on February 12. She wrote that she
would be relocating to the United
States in the next 6-12 months.
Reddy joined Facebook in 2010 as
its first employee in India.
However, Facebook has said that
Reddy’s stepping down has nothing
to do with the Free Basics contro-
versy, which ended with the serv-
ice getting shut down in India
after TRAI ruled against it.
Kasturi and Sons, the parent
company of The Hindu
newspaper, has run into a
rough patch.
According to a report by
media watchdog website The
Hoot, while senior staff
turnover is at an all-time
high—the Delhi bureau has
seen an almost 90 percent
turnover of staff. The company
has ceased to be profitable as
per the 2014 financial year
records. These show that the
company incurred a loss of
more than `42 crore, thanks to
an over 24 percent increase in
wage bill and a rise in costs of
newsprint and overheads.
Between 2012 and 2013, the
circulation of The Hindu
declined by 10.7 percent.
British newspaper The In-
dependent will go back
to using Bombay rather than
Mumbai when referring to
India’s financial capital. Edi-
tor Amol Rajan said the
move was a stand against
what he said was the
closed-minded view of the
Hindu nationalists.
“If you call it what Hindu
nationalists want you to call
it, you essentially do their
work for them,” Rajan was
quoted as saying to
BBC Radio. The city
was officially renamed
Mumbai in 1995, a
change that was
forced through by the
Shiv Sena.
Police have arrested five peo-
ple in connection with the ab-
duction of 24-year-old Snapdeal
employee Dipti Sarna, who re-
turned unharmed after a massive
manhunt on social media.
“It is just like a case por-
trayed in Bollywood movie
Darr, where Shah Rukh Khan
was involved in a one-sided
affair. The prime accused
was like a psycho,” Ghazi-
abad senior superintendent
of police was quoted in Hin-
dustan Times. The accused,
Devender Singh, told the po-
lice that he fell in love with Dipti
when he first saw her, and
planned the abduction.Dipti re-
turned home 36 hours after
being allegedly abducted from an
auto in Ghaziabad.
The Independent
dares “Hindu nationalists”
Movie inspired
Snapdeal employee’s abduction
—Compiled by Sonal Gera
No respite for
Shah Rukh Khan
Hard times for
The Hindu

The coverage of the JNU row and “anti-national” speeches there has
splintered the media.While some were openly supportive of the
government, others raised uncomfortable questions
BY AJITH PILLAI
Lede JNU Imbroglio
Media Reaction

Split
Wide
OpenHEN the Jawaharlal Nehru
University (JNU) contro-
versy broke on February 9,
no one knew that a clash
between two student uni-
ons would prove to be a na-
tional issue and an imm-
ense challenge before the Indian media. A challenge which
would compel it to address issues related to freedom of
speech, India’s democratic traditions and the dangers of
overreach on the part of the government and the police
while interfering in campus politics. This has further
stirred dangerous communal passions and sowed the seeds
of discord.
The entire issue, which should have been sorted out in
the campus, was further complicated when new dimensions
were added along the way. On February 12, the police ar-
rested the president of the JNU Students Union (JNUSU),
Kanhaiya Kumar, on charges of sedition and criminal con-
spiracy. Soon, Union home minister Rajnath Singh
W
STRATEGIC MOVE?
(Left) Protestors
shouting slogans
against the alleged
anti-national activity
outside its campus
(Inset) The February 9
meeting was held to
mark the third
anniversary of the
execution of Afzal Guru

CHARGED FOR SEDITION
JNUSU president
Kanhaiya Kumar being
taken to the Patiala
House Courts
stepped in and linked an “anti-national” event on
the campus as having the backing of Hafiz Saeed,
the Pakistan-based terrorist who masterminded
the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai. The minister re-
portedly based his serious allegation on an al-
leged fake tweet sent by Saeed.
PARTISAN POLICE
Then, on February 15, journalists covering pro-
ceedings at Delhi’s Patiala House courts were at-
tacked by lawyers and others who accused the
press for being sympathetic towards “anti-nation-
als”. The police bore silent witness to the assaults
which were caught on video. Among the guilty
who were identified was Delhi BJP MLA OP
Sharma. Yet no action was taken.
Two days later, journalists and students were
attacked at the same venue by a mob led by a
lawyer involved in the earlier incident. Inciden-
tally, both took place ahead of Kanhaiya Kumar
being produced in court. On the second day,
Kumar was also assaulted despite being under po-
lice protection. The Supreme Court has taken
strong note of the incident as it had earlier pre-
scribed stepping up security at Patiala House to
prevent any violence. The police obviously failed
to implement its directive.
So what transpired at JNU that triggered a na-
tional furor?
On the surface, it looked like a simplistic story
with a familiar ring to it—a clash between stu-
dents of rivaling ideologies at the University. The
trigger was a protest meeting on February 9 to
mark the third anniversary of the execution of
Afzal Guru, one of those involved in the 2001
parliament attack.
The BJP’s student wing, the ABVP, had ob-
jected to the event and JNU authorities withdrew
permission for it at the last minute. The organiz-
ers—some students and former members of the
ultra-left Democratic Students’ Union—however
went ahead with the program, during which anti-
India slogans were allegedly shouted by some stu-
dents and outsiders. The ABVP protested and a
fight broke out between its activists and those
present at the meeting.
JNUSU as well as Left-backed student groups
like the All India Students Association (AISA),
the All India Students Federation (AISF) and the
Students Federation of India (SFI) distanced
themselves from those who indulged in “anti-na-
tional” sloganeering. They attacked the ABVP for
maligning the image of JNU and its democratic
traditions. At the same time, the government was
accused of hyping the incident and roping in sec-
tions of the media to milk political capital out
of it.
MANY QUESTIONS
Once the controversy acquired momentum, the
media was confronted by the following questions:
Was the incident as serious an issue as projected
by the government and the BJP?
Did sloganeering by a few among the partici-
pants amount to an act of sedition and high trea-
son? Would the case against Kanhaiya Kumar
stand up before a court of law? His speech was
critical of the RSS and the government but did
that amount to anti-national activity?
Lede JNU Imbroglio
Media Reaction

HYPED COVERAGE?
It is the over-the-top and hyper coverage of the
JNU row that has led media analyst Sevanti
Ninan to pen a column on Arnab Goswami
(Times Now) and the art of manufacturing na-
tional outrage. She has this telling observation:
“How seriously should one take the bluster? TV
news informs little, it could be ignored if it did
not influence. But his (Aranab’s) rants against free
speech advocates cheerfully distort facts, and who
is to protest? ...Tabloid television and nationalism
is a deadly combination. Who will counter it?”
Adds Abhinandan Sekri in the media watch
website Newslaundry: “The crazy frenzy with
which Times Now and NewsX drummed up hys-
teria (in the JNU controversy) would have
Must the media ignore attacks on journalists
and the labelling of some of them as anti-national
sympathizers?
Should the media toe the government/BJP/RSS
line and fan nationalistic passions as well as build
up a consensus against students who are anti-es-
tablishment?
The print media in the main chose to be ob-
jective and some were critical of the government’s
handling of the incident in the JNU campus. It
looked at the legal issues involved and the politics
being unleashed by vested interests. As for TV
channels, excluding Zee TV, Times Now and
NewsX which joined the government chorus, they
chose to show restraint. Some like India Today
TV (Karan Thapar and Rajdeep Sardesai) raised
particularly relevant and uncomfortable ques-
tions related to the arrest of the JNU student
union president.
That there was a move by the BJP/government
sympathizers to solicit media support has been
revealed by senior staffers in two media organi-
zations. A journalist in a leading TV channel told
VoN: “We were promised exclusive video footage
and full cooperation and told to play up a story
of great national interest and hold sensational de-
bates and discussions. We later discovered that
the exclusive material was sent to all channels.”
Threeoffice-bearersoftheABVPinJNU—
Pradeep,RahulYadavandAnkitHans—have
reportedlyresignedfromtheirpoststoprotest
overtheJNUcontroversy.Inanopenletteron
Facebook,theysaidthattheycannotbethe
“mouthpieceofagovernmentthathasunleashed
oppressiononthestudentcommunity”andhas
“legitimizedtheactionofrightwingfascistforces
eitherinPatialaHouseCourtsorinfrontofJNU
northgate.Everydayweseepeopleassembleat
thefrontgatewiththeIndianflagtobeatJNU
students...thisishooliganismnotnationalism,
youcan’tdoanythinginthenameofnation,
thereisadifferencebetweennationalismand
hooliganism”.
Theysaidtheywerealsoupsetbywhathap-
penedattheHyderabadCentralUniversitywhich
ledtothesuicideofRohithVemulaandadded
thatthetimehadcometosaveJNU.“Todayweall
muststandtogethertosaveJNUwhichhasgiven
usidentity,weneedtocomeacrosspartylinesto
savethereputationofthisinstitution,tosavethe
futureofJNUitesasmorethan80percentofstu-
dentsdon’tbelongtoanypoliticalpartysolet’s
unitetosavethisJNUculture,”theletterstated.
However,theycondemnedtheanti-national
slogansthatweremouthedbysomestudents.
“Anti-nationalslogansonFebruary9inuniversity
campuswereveryunfortunateandheart-break-
ing.Whosoeverisresponsibleforthatactmustbe
punishedasperthelawbutthewaytheNDA
governmentistacklingthewholeissue,theop-
pressiononprofessors,repeatedlawyerattacks
onmediaandKanhaiyaKumarincourtpremises
isunjustifiableandwethinkthereisadifference
betweeninterrogationandcrushingideologyand
brandingentireleftasanti-national.”
Atthetimeofgoingtothepress,theABVP
saiditwasyettoreceivetheresignationletter.
LAWYER OUTRAGE
Lawyers of Patiala House
Courts raising slogans
after a scuffle with JNU
students
Divided they stand

been unbelievable had I not seen it myself. I have
seen nothing as ridiculous as it, both in presen-
tation and in the confused point they were mak-
ing (or not making). It was the arms race of
the absurd.”
According to sources in the BJP, some in the
party saw the JNU issue as a nationalist one
which could be exploited to divert attention from
the looming economic crisis, the fall in the stock
markets, inflation and the agrarian crisis. It could
also be used to paint the Left in a poor light in the
assembly elections in West Bengal and Kerala.
One reading was that JNU is a much-disliked in-
stitution and that the middle class would applaud
any attack on that “Leftist bastion”.
That the university is much reviled by right-
wingers is well-known. As soon as the contro-
versy broke, social media went viral about JNU
being a colossal drain on the taxpayer’s money.
Questions have been raised in the past about gov-
ernment funding of JNU. However, equally sharp
views were never as forthcoming about the lakhs
spent on IIT students who end up marketing
soaps and shampoos which have nothing to
do with the engineering they have studied at pub-
lic expense.
DISTORTED INFORMATION
Thanks to ABP News we know that what was put
out on the largesse shown to JNU and widely cir-
culated in the public domain was disinformation.
We were told that JNU students pay hostel fees of
`11 per month; `219 as tuition fee and are fed
highly subsidized food at the mess. ABP News
found out that students at JNU pay `100 per
month for hostel and `2,000 as mess charges. This
compares with most other central universities. So
does the tuition fees charged.
But there were enough voices to run down
JNU. BJP Rajya Sabha MP Chandan Mitra has
this suggestion: “The self-destructive agitation at
JNU has given the government the best opportu-
nity to shut it down forever, cut its financial
BRAZENVIOLENCE
BJP MLA OP Sharma
(right) was caught on
camera beating a CPI
activist Ameeque
Jamai (left) at the
Patiala House court
complex
Lede JNU Imbroglio
Media Reaction
“I wonder who is funding you to de-
stroy the rich heritage of the real Left
movements of India….We in India
allow diverse views. We also have
been students but it is cowards who
promote separatism. You are the
greatest threat to the Left movement.
You are secessionists.”
“The tragedy in our country is a solder—Hanumanthappa—is
battling for his life. We are proud of him and we are ashamed of
these anti-national elements. You don’t have the decency to keep
quiet when I am talking about Hanumanthappa. I HAVE RUN
OUT OF PATIENCE WITH YOU (reaches a shrill). Don’t you dare
speak over me when I am speaking of Hanumanthappa. You take
the patience of the people of India for granted….You sit on the
JNU campus and you will work hard till you destroy India.”
—Arnab Goswami to JNU student leaders on Newshour

fence only if the words, spoken or written, are ac-
companied by disorder and violence and/or in-
citement to disorder and violence. Mere
hooliganism, disorder and other forms of vio-
lence, though punishable under other provisions
of the penal code and under other laws, are not
punishable under Section 124A of the penal code.
Likewise, mere expressions of hate, and even con-
tempt for one’s government, are not sedition.
When a person is dubbed ‘anti-Indian’, it is dis-
tasteful to India’s citizenry, but then to be ‘anti-
Indian’ is not a criminal offence, and it is
definitely not ‘sedition’.”
For those who wished to make capital of the
incident, Project JNU, have not quite achieved the
desired results. However, it has brewed tensions
in several university campuses across the country.
But it has also rallied considerable support for the
students of JNU because there is the realization
that it is not about them but about freedom of
speech and upholding democratic values.
The last word on this must certainly go to
economist Swaminathan Aiyar: “Patriotism is the
last refuge of the scoundrel. The current rant aga-
inst ‘anti-national’ slogans at Jawaharlal Nehru
University (JNU) highlights the abundance of
scoundrels among Indian politicians and televi-
sion anchors. The notion that there can be only
one concept of what constitutes a nation, and that
every other view is anti-national, is intellectually
empty at best and authoritarian at worst.”
losses, and get rid of a factory that produces only
spongers and malcontents.” Some in his party
would not quite agree with this radical view.
Communications and information technology
minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had this to say to
the media after a cabinet meeting on February 17:
“JNU is a very premier institution of India, widely
respected also. It has produced outstanding civil
servants, great academicians and also well-known
public figures. Its faculty and students also excel
well. We all think that there is also a very elo-
quent, powerful and constructive alternative
voice in JNU. The country is equally eager to hear
that voice.”
As for the attack on the media, there is all-
round condemnation. Finance minister Arun
Jaitley was in a placatory mood when he made
this point: “The media has an unhindered right
to report. The attack on mediapersons is highly
improper and condemnable.” Former Chief Jus-
tice of India VN Khare has been very critical of
lawyers involved in the attack: “Every institution
has its own people nowadays who think they own
the place. But these are all public institutions,
meant for the service of the common man. A
lawyer’s duty is to defend a person and serve the
public, not to create ruckus.”
Regarding the charges of sedition against Kan-
haiya Kumar, many experts believe that the police
has a rather weak case. In any case, news reports
seem to indicate that the police filed its complaint
based on an alleged morphed footage from a TV
channel as the police officer sent to JNU on the
day of the protest program on February 9 did not
report anything untoward. Kanhaiya Kumar’s
name only finds one mention in the FIR as lead-
ing a mob shouting anti-national slogans.
WHAT IS SEDITION?
This does not amount to sedition. As noted con-
stitutional jurist Fali Nariman explained in a
signed article in The Indian Express: “...sedition in
India is not unconstitutional, it remains an of-
WHIPPING UP PASSIONS?
(L-R) Home Minister Rajnath
Singh said that JNU event had
the backing of Hafiz Saeed
Karan Thapar of India Today
TV raised relevant questions
on the matter

quent and passionate speeches by student leaders
made our blood boil and the slogans raised by
union members were loud and forceful. The feeling
of being wronged was very strong.
CLUELESS LOT
I think we were all bound to each other less by be-
liefs and philosophy and more by a sense of belong-
ing to our university. We, along with hundreds
more, reached the barricaded venue, sat down and
started singing songs and shouting slogans. After
inciting us, the leaders and the teachers disap-
peared. And we were left alone with no clue about
what was happening. The police tried to stop us
with barriers and water cannons and even lathi-
charged us. In the evening, at Ganga Dhaba, the
student body gathered again. JNUSU members
showed their injuries and delivered speeches about
police atrocities.
t was a morning like any other in a
hosteller’s life. I picked up my bag
and ran down the steps for class. En
route, we were stopped by a group of
self-proclaimed leaders who derived
their authority from an elected union leader among
them. They appeared agitated and were asking
everyone to get inside buses. They did not feel the
need to take our consent. Our ever-readiness to ac-
cept all their requests and follow them during
protests was always taken for granted. We were a
group of freshers trying to understand all that was
going on around us and deciphering where we
stood in the Left-Centrist-Right continuum.
We all got into the buses parked near the hostel
bus stop and left for a demonstration near the
prime minister’s residence. Clad in khadi kurtas
and jeans and wearing the look of intellectuals, stu-
dents and teachers, all were present there. The elo-
I
Lede
My Space
CRY,
My
Beloved
In an anguished plea, a former JNU student
asks its leaders to give up their
vested interests and shepherd their
followers to the right path
BY TANU PATNI MORDIA
JNU!

This was way back in 1996. Twenty years later,
political activists who were student leaders then are
still taking an active interest in JNU politics. These
demagogues can be seen on television screens in-
citing students in every discussion, interview and
footage, emphasizing their right to free expression
and violating all the norms of language, loyalty and
commitment expected from an Indian citizen.
They are least bothered that law and order gets dis-
turbed due to their actions, the complications they
create for Indian diplomacy while shouting anti-
India slogans and the edge they give to neighboring
countries with conflicting interests. I wonder if this
is just a game for them or if they are actually playing
into the hands of anti-national groups. As I am an
old student of JNU, I think the former is more cor-
rect. And immature student leaders propose it in
order to appear different and novel. The remaining
students, in their zest and under peer pressure, sim-
ply follow him. It is fun and this is university life,
after all. They don’t possess enough maturity and
understanding about the ramifications of their
baselessargumentsinfavorof aproventerroristlike
Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhatt.
For alumni like me, the events of the past few
days and media coverage have hit hard. While it has
brought disrepute to JNU, for us, whose hearts and
minds are emotionally attached to the university
which molded and shaped us, it is a time of deep
anguish and hurt. We know that barring a few aber-
rations, most students do not carry even an iota of
anti-national feelings. Most are dumb and blind fol-
lowers without any opinion of their own.
WHERE IS PATRIOTISM?
Even a small child is full of idealism and stands up
when the National Anthem is being sung and takes
pride in being an Indian. He wants to do some-
For alumni like
me, the events
of the past few
days and media
coverage have
hit hard. While
it has brought
disrepute to
JNU, for us
whose hearts
and minds are
emotionally
attached to the
university
which molded
and shaped us,
it is a time of
deep anguish
and hurt.
SONG AND DANCE
Student leaders
at JNU have
evolved a culture
which prizes
pontification over
contribution
Photos:Anil Shakya

pus. But there have been exceptions. It is time the
students, irrespective of their political affiliations,
got together and helped the police throw out those
who support causes which are anti-national. The
Supreme Court is the highest court in our country.
Interviews of Afzal Guru also show him as guilty.
One may be a Leftist or a Rightist but one should
be a nationalist. How can we allow a few students
to rake up anti-national feelings for the sake of their
political agenda? Every individual whose involve-
ment in anti-national propaganda is verifiable
should be expelled from the university and the law
should take its course. We are here to support na-
tion-builders, not traitors. We need to remember
that at all costs.
LEADERS’CONTRIBUTION
I also want to make an appeal to all students of JNU.
The nine jawans who along with Lance Naik Hanu-
manthappa laid down their lives in Siachen under
the most difficult circumstances were not as privi-
leged as the students who got admission to this
prestigious university where fees and boarding are
subsidized by the government. The burden indi-
rectly comes on the Indian taxpayer. It is natural
that they will ask what contribution has been made
by these student leaders. Apart from writing or
making statements about so-called revolutionary
ideas, they seem to be living in an illusionary world.
They seem incapable of manual labor like our poor
farmers or contributing to the GDP through any
other means.
These student leaders have evolved a culture of
their own. Drinking numerous cups of tea, they
spend their time either criticizing, philosophizing
or sermonizing. They may take time to unlearn
their way of thinking and changing. But the stu-
dents who follow them blindly also need to have an
independent thinking of their own. Please don’t let
such petty politicians ruin the name of our es-
teemed university.
The writer is a media professional and a former
JNUSU office-bearer
thing for the nation. He is happy when India wins
a cricket match and there is an emotional cord that
binds him to the rest of the country. But in the case
of these particular student leaders, it appears that
they have become over critical and less patriotic.
Every successive degree and qualification seems to
change them. They call it being modern, rational
and reasonable. They love using terms against India
such as Brahmanical, feudal and oppressive state.
They use such derogatory and fanciful words while
criticizing India that one feels ashamed of studying
with them. Wearing intellectual expressions, they
seem to have crossed all limits. They have put to
shame the rest of us and aren’t
even capable of the same patri-
otic feelings as a child singing
Vande Mataram and holding
the National Flag with great
awe and respect.
If merely an admission
into JNU gets a student labeled
as an anti-national, then what is
the role of family, upbringing,
schooling and education? This
would also mean that an Arnab
Goswami, a Hanumanthappa or
the Delhi police commissioner would
automatically become anti-national if
they were JNU students. But that is not
true and as individuals are inher-
ently different, we cannot and
should not blame an entire uni-
versity for the unreasonable and
irrational actions of some of its
students.
Action should certainly
be taken against those in-
volved and found guilty and
JNU students should themselves
come out in the open against them in-
stead of supporting them. Over the
years, it has become an unwritten rule
that the police will not enter the cam-
IMAGINE
Utopian ideals and the
desire to be heard make
protests a frequent
phenomenon at JNU
Lede
My Space

S THE WORLD TURNS
—Compiled by Tithi Mukherjee
After the roaring success of the
Harry Potter franchise since
1997, writer JK Rowling has an-
nounced a grand, new venture
scheduled for the summer of 2016.
A play, Harry Potter and the Cursed
Child, the eighth instalment of the
series, is set to hit the Palace The-
atre in London’s West End, on July
30. Written by BAFTA award winner
Jack Thorne and directed by John
Tiffany, winner of the Tony and
Olivier awards, the play is in collabo-
ration with JK Rowling. She con-
firmed the news through the interac-
tive Pottermore website. The story
continues from the “Epilogue” in the
seventh book, Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows and explores the
lives of the three main characters,
Harry, Ron and Hermione, 19
years later. Rowling has also
confirmed the simultaneous release
of the play as a two-part book, pub-
lished by The Little Brown Book
Group, on July 31, 2016.
New Potterplay in July
In a historic statement, Ebgeny Lebe-
dev, owner of ESI media, proclaimed
the discontinuation of The Independent’s
print edition. One of Britain’s leading
newspapers since its inception in 1986,
The Independent’s last print edition is to
be published on Sunday, March 20,
2016. Lebedev confirmed the shutdown
along with the news of selling its briefing
daily i newspaper to Johnston Press for
£24 million. He has reported that the
shutdown stems from a decline in print
and print advertising revenue.
According to the BBC, Lebedev has
also hinted at possible lay-offs of
editorial employees.
Stars dazzle at the Grammys
The 58th annual Grammy awards saw a number of
tributes to artists like David Bowie and Lionel Richie.
Lady Gaga performed an elaborate set of Bowie’s
biggest hits including, “Let’s Dance” and “Heroes”. She
was seen with a Bowie like bolt of lightning splashed
across her face as a tribute to the recently deceased
artist. Lionel Richie was honored for his life’s works and
John Legend performed Richie’s song “Easy”. The
Album of the Year was won by Taylor Swift for her
album, “1989” whilst Ed Sheeran and Amy Wadge’s
“Thinking Out Loud” won Song of the Year.
The Independentto shut down
NewYorker takes a shot at Sanders
Bernie Sanders, the other Democrat
running for president of the United
States of America, has reportedly been
snubbed by the The New Yorker. In a
comment piece titled, “Should Millenni-
als Get Over Bernie Sanders?” Alexan-
dra Schwartz questions Sanders’
concern for economic reforms by alleg-
ing his political rhetoric to be “stirring
and necessary” but also “old even in
2012”. This attack by The New Yorker
adds to various other attacks on
Sanders on the basis of his polemical
questions on the distribution of wealth
and income. According to economist
Dean Baker, the rebuffs for Sanders
result from his being a “fringe candi-
date” as opposed to Hilary Clinton.

Media Monitoring
TMM Survey
The past month was marred by incidents of violence in Malda, communal
tension in Dhar, agitation by JNU students and their leader’s arrest and
debate on dissidence. A TMM survey on the coverage of these issues
JNU Hogs Negative
News on TV

.05%
Inflammatoryissuesthat
hoggedthelimelight
0.00%
.40%
Mediafootageofpoliticians
duringtheJNUagitation
Arvind Kejriwal
Rahul Gandhi
Rajnath Singh
OP Sharma
Smriti Irani
SAR Geelani
Other politicians
Azam Khan claiming the PM met Dawood in Lahore
Tension at Bhoj Shala in Dhar
Beef controversy (Anil Vij’s statement)
Malda riots
JNU agitation
Times Now India Today Zee News Aaj Tak
Whatpoliticianssaid
ontheJNUissue
Smriti Irani, HRD minister
“Nation won’t tolerate insults
to Mother India.”
Rahul Gandhi, vice-president, Congress
“The BJP and the RSS are following the
agenda of divide and hatred, as can be seen
from the recent developments in JNU.”
Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of Delhi
“Modiji wants to terrorize everyone through
police.”
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
.50%
.90%
7.20%
17.50%
.40%
7.20%
16.20%
.03%
.05%
.04%
9.40%
18.20%
.05%
.04%
.06%
6.20%
15.50%
.05%
Rajnath Singh, home minister
“I want to make it clear that JNU
has the support of LeT chief
Hafeez Saeed.”
16%
15%
17%
20%
6%
4%
22%

AST year was a particularly
bad year for agriculture. Th-
ankfully, farmers were not ig-
nored by the English media
based in metros. There is no-
thing like negative news to
grab the attention of readers and viewers and the
farming sector had more than its share of it as one
bad weather event followed another.
Hard-nosed journalists believe that if the news is
positive, it must be advertising. They tend to qualify
good news with caveats so as to not come across as
gushing. The negative tends to be regarded as objec-
tive. Besides, reporting rural distress is good for the
soul: it has the patina of care and earnestness. And to
amediasmartingatbeingbypassedbyagovernment
thatdirectly talks topeople, itprovides ananti-estab-
lishment stick to beat with. And deservedly so, be-
cause this government has been pre-occupied with
thepromotionofmanufacturingand“MakeinIndia”.
That could have happened on parallel tracks without
neglecting agriculture.
The year began with a slump in cotton prices as
Spotlight
Agriculture
Media Coverage
It is heartening that the
English media highlighted
the dire plight of farmers
last year as they were beset
by various misfortunes.
Nothing, it seems, succeeds
like bad news
BY VIVIAN FERNANDES
L
Bitter
Harvest

BAD NEWS SELLS
Rural distress as a result
of scanty rain made for a
good copy in media
China, which is India’s biggest buyer, not only stayed
away but liquidated its own stocks. The 21-year-
oldsonofafarmersethimselfablazeinacottonsub-
yard in Rajkot, Gujarat’s cotton hub, the previous
month and the media amplified the ripples which
continued into January as farmers pressed for relief
from the government.
Unseasonal and heavy rains in March across
north,centralandwesternIndiahitavarietyofcrops.
The onion harvest in Maharashtra, which accounts
for a third of the state’s annual production, was badly
affected. Varied headlines spoke of “`1,000-cr agri-
culturallossduetounseasonalrains”,thedestruction
of “10 lakh hectares of standing crop” resulting in a
likely increase in prices and “Nashik farmers being
worried”. The rains also damaged the mustard crop
in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
In Jalandhar, Agra and Banaskantha (in

Gujarat),rainsdamagedharvestedpotatoes.Farmers
stared at rotting spuds in the fields. About a tenth of
the vegetable had been affected, the headlines said,
but it had little impact on crashing prices because of
a glut. Farmers in West Bengal, Gujarat, Uttar
Pradesh and Punjab had rushed to tuber cultivation,
attracted by high prices the previous year.
Inagriculture,aboom-bustcycleoperates.Addi-
tional acreages brought under the crop had created
excess supply. Prices crashed from `8 a kg the previ-
ous year to less than `2. Kilometer-long queues of
trucks, tractors and trolleys outside cold storages in
West Bengal, a big producer of potatoes, were hard
to ignore. Headlines said it all: “Potato glut and price
slump drives eight farmers to suicide”, “Potato crisis
deepens in Bengal: state to seek centre’s help” and
“Spud is dud: glut, price slump hits potato farmers”.
Quite a dire picture, indeed.
BAD LUCK
Very soon, it was the turn of Mathura in Uttar
Pradeshtofacethefuryofnatureashailstonesrained,
damaging standing wheat crop ready for harvesting.
The event lasted less than an hour but left a trail of
destruction. There were reports of suicides among
farmers—rare in this irrigated region. For media
houses in Delhi, given to counting their newsgather-
ing pennies, this was an inexpensive sky-sent oppor-
tunity to flaunt their reporting credentials. Farmers
told a credulous media they were hit by rocks of ice
as heavy as “800 grams to one kilogram”, the size and
weight increasing with every re-telling. The damage
was real; the embellishment perhaps meant to move
a cold bureaucracy into generosity. The wall-to-wall
reportageofdistresshadthedesiredeffect:thecentral
government hiked calamity relief by 50 percent, the
state government hiked its contribution, and quality
norms were diluted so farmers could sell damaged
wheat to the government, which it admitted, was fit
only for cattle.
Heavy rainfall around March-end flattened the
pigeon-pea (arhar) crop in the Kanpur Dehat area,
whichhadenduredadownpourthepreviousAugust
followed by a long dry spell. Pigeon-pea prices
crossedlevelsneverbreachedbefore.Pricesofpulses
were the chief contributor to food inflation which
never went off the media’s radar. This was not only
because it deprived the poor of their daily katori of
waterydalbutalsobecauseitdissuadedtheReserve
Bank from cutting interest rates which the industry
and the finance ministry sought in order to stimu-
late economic growth. With retail prices of pigeon-
pea shooting past `200 a kg, stocking limits being
imposed, imports being eased and police action
againsthoarders,pulsesremainedonthefrontpages
of newspapers through the year.
Monsoonsareafixtureinthemediacalendar.In
anagriculturalcountry,deficiencyofrainfallhasim-
plications for the prices of commodities, equity
stocks and bonds. The Indian Met Department
(IMD) usually errs on the side of political caution.
But this time, it predicted the season’s precipitation
would be 93 percent of the long period average
(LPA). This was later revised to 88 percent of LPA.
The Met department got it bang on: the season’s
average was 86 percent of LPA. This was the second
year of deficient rainfall and even the previous year,
the Met department had got it right.
Excitement was provided by Skymet Weather
Services, established by Jatin Singh, a former jour-
Spotlight
Agriculture
Media Coverage
Ashok Gulati,
former
chairman,
Commission on
Agricultural
Costs and
Prices,
provided an
expert’s
insight in his
columns.

nalist of Aaj Tak and Sahara Samay, predicting nor-
malrainfallat102percentoftheLPA.Theinaccuracy
drew a public explanation from Singh, who wrote a
piece in The Indian Express in October on “Why
Skymet Went Wrong”. It was an admission of error
that companies rarely make voluntarily.
UNSEASONAL RAINFALL
But the deficiency was not as benign as the averages
conveyed. Eight districts of Marathwada, a dry and
rain-dependent area in Maharashtra, got 39 percent
less rainfall. There were a few days of intense rainfall,
and long, dry intervals, especially in the month of
July, which is crucial for crops. The
soybean crop withered away and the
cotton crop was stunted, triggering
mass migration of people to Mumbai
and western Maharashtra. Drinking
water had to be supplied in tankers to
many villages and there was an acute
shortage of fodder. An epidemic of
suicides followed.
A thousand people had killed
themselves, the government told the
Bombay High Court. The govern-
ment,seenasnotdoingenough,drew
censure from the media. Actors—
Nana Patekar and Akshay Kumar—reached out to
the bereaved families with cash. Celebrity attention
onruraldistresskepttheissueinthepublicglaretill
the sudden reappearance of rain in the second half
of August.
InPunjab,itwasthewhiteflyoutbreakoncotton
that grabbed eyeballs. A combination of factors was
responsible:latesowingowingtodelayedharvesting
of the wheat crop and late release of water in canals
in the belt adjoining the Pakistan border. Humid
weather in May and less-than-scorching summer
advanced the infestation of the sap-sucking pest by
two months. Add to this a government numbed
VICIOUS CIRCLE OF POVERTY
(Clockwise from left) Unseasonal and torrential rains destroyed crops across large
swathes of the country in March-April; desperation has driven thousands of farmers in
Vidarbha to suicide; actor Nana Patekar has provided cash relief to bereaved families

Despite receptivity to the plight of the farming
sector, there was little expert commentary from
those engaged in research and extension. Agricul-
tural scientists seem to be sworn to secrecy. There
are a few exceptions though like Ashok Gulati, for-
mer chairman of the Commission on Agricultural
Costs and Prices, who kept prodding the govern-
ment with his column.
We need more agricultural coverage in the
media. It should capture the vibrancy of the coun-
tryside created by enterprising farmers finding in-
novativewaystostayabovetheodds.Suchcoverage
is important as it galvanizes the administration into
saving the lives of those driven to despondency.
Good agricultural practices that have positive
implications for soil health, environment and pro-
ductivitydonotgetamplified.Fewpeopleknowthat
conservationagriculturebeingdemonstratedbythe
BorlaugInstituteforSouthAsiaatitsfieldstationin
Ludhianacanendpaddystrawburning,whichisal-
leged to be responsible for rising pollution levels in
Delhi and its neighborhood.
Genetic engineering technology, which has
tremendously boosted US farm productivity, is
much maligned in India’s media despite Bt technol-
ogy boosting India’s cotton productivity from the
annual average of 1.7 percent between 1980 and
2002 to 8.7 percent between 2003 and 2012.
Anyone who visits the countrywide will know
there is a shortage of agricultural labor because of
the bunching of demand during sowing and har-
vesting and consequent rise in wages which pushes
up the cost of cultivation. Farmers are demanding
weedicide-resistant varieties but in the absence of
media pressure, states like Maharashtra continue to
hold up field trials for ideological reasons. There is
littlefocusonthegovernmentprogramlaunchedin
2010 to bring Green Revolution to eastern India,
which if properly implemented, will shore-up the
country’s food security and bring prosperity to an
area bogged down by poverty.
—Vivian Fernandes is editor of
www.smartindianagriculture.in
by incompetence and corruption and all the ingre-
dients were in place for the disaster that happened.
FarmersintheentireMalwabeltnotonlylostthecot-
ton crop but also money which they had invested in
it.Thecountrysidewasinrageandonrailwaystracks,
blockingtraffictothestateonsixdays.Theblockade
got prime-time on TV and space in newspapers.
But there were other crises that did not get the
media attention they deserved. These included the
prolonged drought in Bundelkhand region running
into the fourth year and the rash of suicides among
cane farmers in Karnataka owing to delayed pay-
ments of cane arrears.
ECOLOGICAL LIMITATIONS
But most coverage was episodic, media attention
being focused on the crisis and not the underlying
causes. Marathwada, for instance, is no stranger to
drought but a shift to higher paying crops like soy-
bean which can withstand dry spells but are not as
resilient as traditionally grown millets oroilseeds ag-
gravated the impact. The message nature conveyed
was that economic aspirations could not run ahead
of ecological limitations. Meanwhile, in Punjab, the
emphasisonhorticulture(citrus)providedthewhite-
fly a leafy habitat to migrate to after feeding on the
cotton crop. Inadequate cold storage capacity and
policy uncertainty about contract farming arrange-
ments in West Bengal aggravated the price risk that
potato growers faced in the state.
Spotlight
Agriculture
Media Coverage
Media
attention was
focused on the
crisis and not
the underlying
causes. There
was also little
expert
commentary
from those
engaged in
research and
extension.
VAGARIES OF NATURE
The cotton crop of
Punjab was
ravaged due to
whitefly outbreak
Vivian Fernandes

A Year in
IMAGES
TheWorld Press Photo Foundation,
Amsterdam,announced theWorld Press
Photo Awards for 2016.The awards,in their
59th edition,saw 5,775 photographers from
128 countries participating. The winning
photographs were selected from 82,951
photos.The humanitarian crisis in Syria
dominated much of the subject matter.The
winners in some of the categories were:
NATURE,1stprize,singles:Asunbatherisobliviousto
theominousshelfcloudapproachingBondibeachon
November6,2015.Amassivecloudloomsover
Sydneyinaspectacularweathereventseenonlyafew
timesayear.Theenormouscloudrolledinfromthesea,
turningtheskyalmostblackandbringingviolent
thunderstormsinitswake
GENERALNEWS,1stprize,stories:Migrantsandrefugees
arrivebyboatinNovember2015nearthevillageofSkala
ontheGreekislandofLesbos.UnderEurope’ssystemof
openinternalborders,theisland’sthinlypatrolled,easily
accessiblecoastline,withinsightoftheTurkishcoast,
mightaswellbethefrontierofFrance,Germanyor
Sweden
SPOTNEWS,2ndprize,singles:Ademonstrationagainst
terrorisminParisonJanuary11,2015,afteraseriesofattacks
occurredacrosstheIle-de-Franceregion,beginningatthe
headquartersofsatiricalnewspaperCharlieHebdo
SPORTS,1stprize,singles:OndrejBankofCzechRepubliccrashes
duringthedownhillraceattheFISWorldChampionships2015inBeaver
CreekintheUSonFebruary8,2015
Photography
Courtesy http://www.worldpressphoto.org

T is an old saying that “journal-
ism is history in a hurry”.
Going by recent findings of
wildlife researchers from Kar-
nataka, it seems “journalism is
also wildlife research in a
hurry”. In a unique research effort, scientists have
used media reports as a major input to arrive at
some important findings about wildlife manage-
ment and human-animal conflict in India.
Man-animal “conflicts” in many states are on
the rise and are often reported in newspapers and
local television channels. Most of them involve
leopards and elephants who “stray” into human
habitats. Wildlife experts, however, say that these
are actually not cases of animals straying into fields
and villages but cases of wildlife corridors and habi-
tats being encroached upon by human habitations
and development projects like roads and factories.
This is also reflected in several studies about
man-animal conflict in some states. However, such
I
The recent citing of a leopard at a
Bengaluru school brought into focus the
issue of man-animal conflicts. News
stories on sightings of wild animals like
leopards in human habitats have helped
researchers arrive at important findings
on these conflicts. In Karnataka, the press
has played a key role in collating data
BY DINESH C SHARMA
Spotted in
the News
Ground Zero
Environment Reportage

information about wildlife presence in landscapes
being used by humans across a relatively large geo-
graphic area, where other conventional methods
such as camera-trap surveys are not feasible.
The content of media reports was further ana-
lyzed and segregated into direct sightings of leop-
ards, accidental leopard captures in snares, wells
and buildings, leopard mortalities (both natural
and human-induced), leopard attacks on livestock
and humans, leopard capture or removal by wildlife
managers for captivity or translocation. Informa-
tion such as names of reported village, sub-district
and district were plotted for each category.
Data points emerging from the detailed analysis
of the media reports were integrated with a statis-
tical “occupancy model” for mapping distribution
patterns of leopards and in identifying hotspots of
their interaction with livestock and humans.
This analysis has yielded some surprising find-
ings. Leopards occupy around 84,000 square kilo-
meter or 47 percent of Karnataka’s geographic area
outside designated national parks and wildlife sanc-
tuaries. This is a large area where there is wildlife
presence. The presence of leopards is facilitated by
extent of vegetative cover including irrigated
studies are often handicapped due to lack of proper
data about man-animal interface and resulting con-
flicts. Researchers at the Wildlife Conservation So-
ciety-India Program used a novel approach to
collect data about these conflicts. They used the
very newspaper reports about wild animals straying
into human habitat—which experts often complain
about—as a major source of collecting data.
Media reports about leopard sightings were col-
lected and analyzed covering a period of 14
months, from March 2013 to April 2014. Six Eng-
lish language and five Kannada newspapers were
identified based on their readership in the state
comprising 175 talukas.
A
nalysis of these reports showed that there
were 245 unique cases of human-leopard
interactions in the state during 14 mon-
ths. Multiple reports of the same incident were
combined and treated as one unique record. These
media reports gave an idea about where these inte-
ractions were taking place.
Since only reports of leopard-related incidents
outside national parks and wildlife sanctuaries were
included, this method helped researchers to obtain
English:TheHindu,
DeccanHerald,TheTimes
ofIndia,DeccanChronicle,
TheNewIndianExpress,
BangaloreMirror
Kannada:Kannada
Prabha,Vijayavani,
Prajavani,Udayavani
andVijayaKarnataka
Newspapers
covered

croplands and rocky escarpments, as well as a prey
base in the form of feral and free-ranging dogs. Sur-
prisingly, leopard presence is not so much linked
with livestock density as often believed.
Talukas along the Western Ghats, the south-
western and south-central regions of the state had
highest probabilities of leopard presence. The study
also showed presence of resident, breeding leopards
in areas used or occupied by humans. The presence
of leopard cubs indicated breeding.
T
he study results have been published in sci-
entific journal, PLoS One. The paper titled
“Spotted in the news: Using media reports
to examine leopard distribution, depredation, and
management practices outside protected areas in
southern India”, has been co-authored by Vidya R
Athreya, Arjun Srivathsa, Mahi Puri, Krithi Kar-
anth, Samba Kumar and Ullas Karanth.
During the 14-month survey, most reports of
leopard-human interactions, frequently referred to
as “conflicts” in media reports, involved livestock
depredation in as many as 83 percent cases. Of the
32 attacks on humans recorded during this period,
three led to human deaths. On the other hand, 34
cases of leopard deaths were reported. Of these, 26
percent was attributed to poaching, where leopard
carcasses had evident signs like snares or gunshot
wounds . There were an equal number of reports
(26 percent) in which cause of death could not be
determined reliably. Road accidents accounted for
24 percent of leopard deaths. (see the table below).
Wildlife authorities have little data about the
distribution of wild animals outside sanctuaries and
parks, and their management strategies for animals
found outside protected areas is often faulty,
researchers have pointed out. Capture and translo-
cation are often used to remove leopards. Of 56
cases of leopard removals reported, 91 percent did
not involve human attacks, but only livestock pre-
Media reports about leopard sightings
were collected and analyzed covering a
period of 14 months. Analysis of these
reports revealed 245 unique cases of
human-leopard interactions.
Ground Zero
Environment Reportage
26%24%
9%
6%
Causesofleoparddeaths
Poaching
Not determined
Road accidents
Other accidents
Physical capture by the
Forest Department
26%
Retaliatory killing by
local people
Natural deaths
6%
3%
Aleopardwhichstrayed
intoaBengaluruschool
(below)hitnationalhead-
linesthisFebruary.It
injuredfivepeople,includ-
ingacamera-person,
beforebeingtranquilized
andbeingputintheBan-
nerghattaZoologicalPark.
Strangely,thebigcates-
capedfromitscageand
hadnotbeentracedback
atthetimeofthisreport
beingfiled.
Lessons in
animal behavior

dation or just sighting of leopards.
“The lack of knowledge on leopard ecology
in human-use areas has resulted in unscientific
interventions, which could aggravate the problem
rather than mitigating it. Our results establish the
presence of resident, breeding leopards in human-
use areas. That’s why we suggest a shift in manage-
ment focus, from current reactive practices like
removal and translocation of leopards, to proactive
measures that ensure safety of human lives and
livelihoods,” summed up Vidya R Athreya, lead
author of the study.
“There are many wildlife species that occur out-
side Protected Areas as they do not follow or un-
derstand man-made boundaries. Because these
areas are also high human density areas, it is hard
to use traditional methods of assessment. The areas
are so large that we thought we could use occu-
pancy approach using media reports to understand
where leopards occur over a much larger wider
landscape. Reports on leopard occurrence (trap-
ping, presence, livestock loss etc.) are very common
in media reports.”
“We have not analyzed the quality of news re-
ports but it is generally seen that media heightens
the perception of fear by largely reporting negative
incidents (livestock loss etc) and rarely positive
incidents (such as “farmer saw the leopard and was
not disturbed by it”). This could have serious con-
servation implications for both wildlife and safety
of people as it pressurizes the forest department to
take unscientific steps such as capture of leopards.
This is a phenomenon generally seen across the
world,” Athreya adds.
While the study has important pointers for
wildlife managers in Karnataka as well as other
states where man-animal interface are on the rise,
media reporting of wildlife also needs to be more
informed and balanced. Often television channels
portray “straying” animals as predators, while being
silent on real reasons behind the rise of such inci-
dents. Media reports shape attitude of people
towards animals and even authorities. Informed
reporting can save both humans and animals.
—The writer is Fellow, Centre for
Media Studies
CROSSINGTHEIR
PATH
Road construction
and tourist traffic
often violate the
natural habitat of
animals
Researchers used the very newspaper
reports about wild animals straying into
human habitat, which experts often
complain about, as a major source of
collecting data.
Kalyan Verma

can’t remember the last time I was
so infuriated. I had just heard the
news of RK Pachauri being rein-
stated as executive vice chairman of
TERI by its governing council. He
has subsequently gone on indefinite leave. It was
even more galling because the message that was
being sent out to women in the corporate world
was this: No matter what an internal prevention
of sexual harassment committee finds, we will
protect the accused. The safety of women in the
corporate workplace is not a priority.
With this callous action, the governing coun-
cil of TERI has reinforced what most women in
Corporate India have been told for years: If you
want a decently remunerated career, you will have
to put up with whatever we dole out, everything
from bias to bullying to full-scale harassment.
I have spent the past 18 months interviewing
over 170 women for a book on the experiences of
women in the workplace in Corporate India
called Own It, and almost everyone had a story
to tell, relating to everything from discrimination
to verbal harassment and sexual transgressions.
And yet, despite the pervasive incidents, these
I
Editors’ Pick
Aparna Jain
WhyWomenDelay
HarassmentComplaints
VON brings in each issue
the best written commentary
on any subject.The following
write-up from Firstpost has
been picked by our team of
editors and reproduced for
our readers as the best in
the fortnight.
RK Pachauri’s reinstatement as TERI executive
vice-chairman sent out only one message to
corporate employees: Sexual violence
against women will be condoned
TOO LITTLETOO LATE
Under mounting
pressure, RK Pachauri
has been sent on
indefinite leave from TERI

stories were narrated under a shroud of silence,
with my firm reassurance that I would not
name them.
That in itself was telling.
Many women had complained — only to be
told to move departments where “things would
be easier” or that things would improve after a
“chat” with the offender. When I asked women
why they did not use the internal harassment
machinery and committees to complain, they
laughed, saying the committees were an eye-
wash, in existence only because of mandatory
laws. They served the interests of the company,
of the rainmakers, of the senior executives and
not of the complainants.
One woman was approached by a large MNC
to be on their internal committee as the external
person for a specific case. But she was groomed
and given a backstory about how the company
felt about it. In other words, she was being qui-
etly informed about how the complaint had to
go: Unsurprisingly, in favour of the senior
male leader.
Another woman was offered a large sum of
money to keep quiet and leave quietly. With EMIs
to pay and being clear that no resolution would
be reached internally, she took the money.
This is why I was so infuriated.
The governing council among which are stal-
warts like Naina Lal-Kidwai and Deepak Parekh
condoned Pachauri’s actions by reinstating him.
Why? Why have they not commented on what
made them take this action? What was their mo-
tivation? Why was the complainant not pro-
tected? Why did they choose to succumb to
external motivation and not adhere to the ruling
of the internal sexual harassment committee that
proclaimed Pachauri guilty?
I can only imagine the platitudes. A greater
good? Much more complex than what it seems?
Reputations and business? External pressure?
What’s more, for months, no one in the media has
asked tough questions of the governing council
members. The standard answer has been:
“No Comment”.
I know how dogged our media can be when
they want a story.
We have powerful editors who can pick up a
phone and speak to these council members to get
to the truth. These are important explanations
that need to be heard. But no one has done this,
as far as I know. The reasons are obvious. How
can editors afford to ruffle their feathers? What
will it mean for media organizations in terms of
corporate patronage? I was appalled when I
brought up this case with a well-reputed feminist
who dismissed this saying the case was just an
“old man thinking he was in love and getting car-
ried away”.
How quickly we make peace with those
old men.
The governing council which has stalwarts
like Naina Lal-Kidwai and Deepak Parekh
did not adhere to the ruling of the internal
complaints committee that proclaimed
Pachauri guilty.

Every second woman I know has a
story to tell about how they were touched
or harassed in their childhood or young
adulthood by a person of power: A parent,
a relative, a teacher, a neighbour. And what
were they taught? Keep quiet, because no
one will believe you. Or in many cases, the
perpetrator is said to be important and the
family needs to stay in his good books. So
child, hold on to your pain, hide it away
and move on. The shame hangs with you.
And the perpetrator carries on.
It is this very attitude that moves seam-
lessly into Corporate India. The shame is
for the complainant. Let us find ways to
brush damaging reports under the plush expen-
sive carpets that line our offices.
It takes conscious and committed leadership to
lead a company that is not influenced by norms
that exist in our society as a whole and to create
more gentle productive work spaces — for all. I
haven’t seen a single instance of it yet. I hope work-
places have the gumption to tear up their plush
carpets and to confront whatever is hidden there.
And for every person who passes judgement
on women who keep quiet, remember the
Pachauri case.
For everyone who asks why women move on
quietly and sometimes accept payoffs, remember
the Pachauri case.
For every person who questions why women
delay complaints to a committee, remember the
Pachauri case.
For every woman who has evidence and is yet
condemned to leave the company, remember the
Pachauri case.
It is a case that encapsulates so many of our
complicit silences.
—The author is a leadership coach who works
with corporates, and the author of OWN It:
Leadership Lessons from Women Who
Do (HarperCollins 2016)
Why do we get caught up in the bigger picture
when the core of it is simple? A 75-year-old man
harasses a girl young enough to be his daughter.
Evidence piles up. Women in the organization re-
sign. Murmurs about Pachauri float far and wide.
Yet the man has the gumption and ease of confi-
dence to enter clubs and entertain foreign guests
unflinchingly.
The woman who complained, however, has
been branded a troublemaker and, of course, it
will be very difficult for her to find a job else-
where. Here, responsibility lies at the feet of the
people who reinstated Pachauri. But it also rests
in the complicit silence of everyone who does not
stand for the complainant, everyone who per-
ceives a complainant as a troublemaker, and who
is not willing to hire someone who has made a
complaint to a committee.
Our society has always laid the onus of the
responsibility on the victim.
Editors’ Pick
Aparna Jain
Every second woman I know has a story to tell
about how they were harassed in childhood or
young adulthood by a person of power: A dad,
a relative, a neighbour. What were they taught?
Keep quiet, because no one will believe you.
WHITHER EQUALITY?
It takes committed leadership
to run a company not
influenced by entrenched
sexism and misogyny

Satirical
website a hit!
Asatirical website offering “token
minorities” for hire — to ostensi-
bly sprinkle diversity into marketing
material or a conference panel— has
amused thousands online.
Rent-A-Minority has been set up
by Arwa Mahdawi who works for an
advertising firm in New York. Of
Palestinian descent herself, Mahdawi
created the site as she was tired of
seeing firms making superficial ges-
tures to promote diversity. On its
ninth day, the site had been liked and
shared over 25,000 times on Face-
book and tweeted more than 3,000
times. A Twitter user described it as
a spoof which “is so close to
resembling the real thing, it hurts”.
Web Crawler What Went Viral
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has stirred the prover-
bial hornet’s nest by uploading a controversial poster on
his Twitter account. It depicts Hanuman reporting back to
Prime Minister Narendra Modi after setting Jawaharlal
Nehru University ablaze. “Done sir, all attention is on JNU,”
reads the speech bubble assigned to the monkey god.
Kejriwal, who earlier ordered a magisterial probe into the JNU
sloganeering incident, has come under attack for this tweet. “If
Hanuman burned JNU on orders of Modi, does that mean JNU is
Ravan’s Lanka and Modi is Lord Ram?” tweeted a detractor while
another wrote, “#KejriwalinsultsHanuman utter shame that this man
is not leaving gods also to defame Modi. Pathetic. Mindset.” Quite a
tweet storm indeed!
—Compiled by
Sucheta Dasgupta
Allegations of sexual harassment at an
Iranian TV station are emboldening
Iranian women to break their silence
online.
Sheena Shirani, a newsreader
at Press TV, has spoken out about
sexual harassment that she report-
edly endured from two of her man-
agers over a long period of time.
She has posted online a recording
of a phone conversation in
which a voice believed
to be that of her boss,
Hamid Reza Emadi, asks her for sexual fa-
vors repeatedly. Shirani quit her job and
left the country. She later uploaded
the audio file, which has been lis-
tened to over 120,000 times. She
has also shared a screengrab from
a text exchange in which Emadi
asked her to take the audio down.
Meanwhile, Press TV has
announced it has suspended two
unnamed staffers and that it
is investigating the
allegations.
Iranian woman protests
workplace harassment
Wikipedia deploys AI
Kejriwal “insults
Hanuman”
Wikipedia has deployed a new artificial
intelligence engine to spot bad edits.
The AI, called Objective Revision Evaluation
Service, scours newly submitted revisions
for additions that look like trollers’ inputs or
are just plain spam.
Created by Wikimedia Foundation, it is
said to function “like a pair of X-ray specs”.
Anything that is suspect is set aside for
“human editors”. If the editors decide that
the content needs to be pulled down, the
contributor will be notified. It promises to
be an improvement on the current system,
where suspect submissions are deleted
without explanation.
Sheena Shirani

year, the event saw footfalls of more than
20,000 people.
While the elite mingled freely with
eminent poets from India and the sub-continent,
Gulzar was the favorite and as was evident,
he was mobbed by the crowd. At 81,
Gulzar’s presence at a program still attracts the
most spectators.
He spoke in eloquent Urdu about technology:
“Jo shaamein unki sohbat mein kata karti thi, ab
aksar guzar jaati hain computer ke pardoun par.
Kitabein maangne, girne, uthane ke bahaane, jo
rishte bante the ab unka kya hoga (The evenings
that used to be spent in its company, nowadays are
RDU in all its beauty, cadence
and lyricism was in evidence at
a festival—Jashn-e-Rekhta—
held in Delhi recently. The festi-
val was, as its moderator, Moin
Shadab, said: “Urdu zubaan ka jashn, uss se judi
bato ka jashn (A festival of Urdu language, a
festival of things connected to it).” Into its second
U
A recent Urdu festival was an attempt to stem
the declining popularity of this language in
India and saw many connoisseurs of it
reveling in its beauty and elegance
BY SHAILAJA PARAMATHMA
Festival
Jashn-e-Rekhta
A Lyrical Evening
Photos: Anil Shakya

usually spent in front of a computer screen. The
relationships that would develop around book bor-
rowing, picking them or dropping them, what will
happen to them now).”
Also present was Javed Akhtar who spoke of
the relationship between love and poetry. When a
visitor asked him how important it was to be in
love to write poetry, Akhtar wittily said: “Aap ba-
hane matt banaiye, jo karna hai kariye (Do not
make excuses, do what you must do),” Akhtar, who
has publically claimed to be an atheist, went on to
say that Urdu was the only language which was
secular from its inception.
He added that poets wrote in Urdu not to
in Delhi RIVETING PERFORMANCES
(Clockwise from far left) The play ‘Dara Shikoh’ in progress; Dastangoi
artist Darain Shahidi mesmerizing the audience with his storytelling;
Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar in the romantic saga ‘Kaifi aur main.’

eulogize god but to mark themselves as anti-be-
lievers. His words were met with loud cheers.
AWARENESS OF URDU
The festival is aimed at becoming a platform for
Urdu literature and culture. Its founder, Sanjiv
Saraf, said: “Through Jashn-e-Rekhta we want to
create a much-required awareness and apprecia-
tion for Urdu and its lyrical beauty and eloquence.”
He added: “The core idea is to bring Urdu to the
mainstream consciousness and to a much wider
audience via performances, panel discussions, in-
teractive sessions and various forms of Urdu.”
Last year, the foundation invited intellectuals
MASTERWORDSMITHS
Below: (L-R)
Poet and lyricist Gulzar,
poet Assad Mohammad
Khan and Urdu poet from
Pakistan Anwar Masood
from Pakistan like Zia Moheyeddin and Intizaar
Hussain. Plays, mushairas, qawwalis, ghazals, dis-
cussions, calligraphy workshops and food festivals
are part of this event. This year, the event was at
four venues and different programs took place si-
multaneously. While there was Pakistani poet
Anwar Maqsood in one venue, there was a book
launch by Gulzar in another, a discussion on fa-
mous Pakistani writer Saadat Hasan Manto in a
third and a play of Tom Alter’s in the fourth.
So gripping was some of the poetry that when
Assad Mohammad Khan, a poet and writer from
Pakistan, who holds the prestigious Tamgha-e-Im-
tiaz award, read passages from his short story, Ba-
sawday ki Maryam, people cried. Then, there was
Anwar Masood, a Punjabi and Urdu poet also
from Pakistan, whose humorous rendition of a
woman fixing her breakfast cracked up the audi-
ence. He asked: “Chacha-ji mein twanu unda bana
diyan? Nahi puttar tu mainu banda he rehn de.
(Uncle, shall I make you an egg ? No child, pray let
me remain a human being) ” He also took a swipe
at organized Islam: “Masjid ka ye mike jo utha laye
ho Anwar, kya janiye kis waqt azaan dene lage.
(This mike from the mosque that you have brought
here Anwar, wonder when
it might call for prayer)”.
Anwar Maqsood,
another Pakistani poet
and scriptwriter, lyrically
spoke about a friend who
asked him what he was
taking to Delhi. Maqsood
said: “Maine kaha ek kaali
polish ki dibiya saath le jaa
raha hun taki kisi ko
zehmat na uthani pade. (I
am taking along a box of
black shoe polish, so that
no one has to take the
pains).” Rajesh Reddy, an-
other poet, spoke about
life: “Jaane kitni udaan
Festival
Jashn-e-Rekhta
WhileontheonehandfestivalslikeJashn-e-RekhtaareorganizedtogiveaboosttoUrdu,
ontheother,somegovernmentshavebeencrackingdownonthislanguage.
Recently,theBJPgovernmentinRajasthanremovedchapterswithUrdu
wordsintheHinditextbookofClassVIII.“MostoftheHindichapters
thatweredroppedwereloadedwithUrduwords,whichweredifficult
forthestudentstounderstand,”amemberofthetextbookcommittee
toldthemedia.“Wewerealsodirectedtostrikeoutthosechapters
whosethemerevolvedaroundaparticularfaith.”
Crackdown on Urdu

versity, came with her lawyer husband to the event.
Hailing from a traditional Muslim family in
Daryaganj, she bemoaned the slow erosion and
disappearance of Urdu from the public domain.
But she also admitted that she herself was guilty of
not teaching Urdu to her son as she had sent him
to an English-medium school.
Then there was Madhavi, a civil servant,
who came from Chandigarh for the second time
specially to attend the festival. As her childhood
was spent in Abohar, Punjab, close to the Pakistani
border, she grew up hearing Urdu on Pakistani TV.
When she went to university, she realized her
dream of learning Urdu. However, it was during an
advanced course that she realized how few takers
there were for this language—she was the lone stu-
dent in the class.
The event also attracted foreigners such as
Tammy Pham, Lawrence Walker and Roushon
Talcott, American students living in Jaipur, where
they are studying Urdu and Hindi in a flagship
program of the University of Texas.
By the end of the three-day event, many would
have carried home memories of a time spent
ensconced in the elegance and sophistication of a
beautiful language. And that makes it all the more
imperative to keep it going.
baki hai, iss parinde mein jaan baki hai. Sar kalam
honge kal yahan unke, jinke muh mein zubaan baki
hai (Wonder how many flights are still left in this
bird, it still is alive. They will be beheaded, those
who still speak their minds).” Darain Shahidi, a cel-
ebrated Dastangoi (16th-century Urdu oral story-
telling art form) artist, spoke of past times and
present circumstances: “Manto pe case chalte the
obscenity par jaise aaj kal chalte hain sedition par
(Manto used to be sued for obscenity the way it
happens nowadays for sedition).”
ELITE CROWD
The festival attracted connoisseurs of Urdu culture
and those who knew how to appreciate it. Nawabi
tehzeeb and “adabs” permeated the air as people
spoke softly, making one forget that this event was
being held in Delhi, known for its relative lack of
sensibility. The elite mingled freely, dressed in
silken anarkalis, flowing palazzos, sherwanis,
kurta-pyjamas and Nehru jackets.
Apart from the cultural elements, there was
also a food festival with Awadhi, Kashmiri, Dec-
cani, Sindhi, Banjaara, Punjabi and Mughlai deli-
cacies. However, it was the chaat corner from
Chandni Chowk called Imli that had the longest
line, evident that Delhi’s belly is satiated mainly by
street food.
The audience was an eclectic mix. Major BS
Gill, a confirmed Urdu aficionado, had flown in
from Mumbai and was heard finishing the shers of
poets on stage.
He said it was during his years in remote post-
ings in the army that he had taught himself Urdu.
Inspired by Mir Taki Mir and moved by Manto,
today he lives and breathes Urdu.
Then, there was Mohammad Farooque Azam,
who is pursuing a PhD from JNU, on “The Critical
Studies of Manto’s Non-fiction Prose” and came
here to savor the language. His in-depth knowl-
edge and appreciation of Urdu poetry made one
realize the richness of the language.
Afifa Begum, a PhD in Urdu from Delhi Uni-
GENTEEL ALLURE
American students of Urdu
language from the University
of Texas.
The festival
attracted
connoisseurs
of Urdu
culture and
nawabi
tehzeeb and
“adabs”
permeated the
air as people
spoke softly.

Twitter Pic
Small Screen
Bollywood Award Shows
T’S the season for film awards
and with many of them being
aired on TV in quick succession,
it is difficult to remember who is
holding them and for what. This,
naturally, has taken a toll on their
credibility. With business interests taking over
these awards, even the jury members are hardly
stalwarts in the field.
Critically acclaimed actor Irrfan Khan, a regu-
lar at award shows this year due to his films Piku
I
Failed
Formula?
Bollywood’s numerous
award shows are boring
and repetitive and far from
honoring deserving artists,
end up pandering to
various coteries
BY SONAL GERA
COMMONTEMPLATE
Ranveer Singh’s dance
sequence from
Bajirao Mastani became a
predictable feature at this
year’s award shows
and Talvar, was quoted as saying: “In the West,
Academy awards or Golden Globes have a lot
of significance. If someone wins an award there,
their graph goes up. They get better movies, and
obviously the money also shoots up. Par yahan
aath-aath award jeet lete hain, aur uska kuch asar
nahi hota (nothing changes despite your winning
eight awards).”
So has the formula for Bollywood awards gone
wrong? Most of them have been shot keeping in
mind television audiences and are more about the

TRPs they garner. Also, these shows often overlap
each other in terms of dance performances, hosts,
award categories and winners, leaving the viewer
quite befuddled.
T
here are numerous award shows in Holly-
wood too—Oscars, Golden Globes,
Screen Actors Guild, Directors Guild,
Grammy, People’s Choice, Critics’ Choice, etc. But
among these, only the Oscars, also known as Acad-
emy Awards and the Golden Globes are similar to
each other in terms of award categories. The others
honor artists and films from different streams of
entertainment. While the Grammys honor the best
in music, Independent Spirit Awards recognize in-
dependent films and actors. Various Guild Awards
crown the best in their mentioned categories.
In India, the main awards are Big Star Enter-
tainment, Cine, Screen, Stardust, Producers Guild,
Filmfare and IIFA (International Indian Film
Academy). While the IIFA awards will be held in
April-May, the others have already been
shot and televised. With so many award
functions, one would assume that it is the
deserving artists and films that are hon-
ored. Instead, most of them seem to
be entertainment-oriented, interspersed
with the appearance of stars who agree to
show up. Recently, actor Rishi Kapoor was quoted
as saying: “I use trophies as doorstops in my home.
What they have done to film awards is extremely
tragic. Agar sabko khush karna hai toh phir awards
ka matlab kya hua (if the motive is to keep every-
one happy, what is the point of giving awards)?”
The sad state of affairs is because these award
shows try to please everyone, especially those who
are a part of a coterie. Several actors have alleged
that award shows work on a quid-pro-quo basis.
Masaan, for example, which created a stir at
Cannes, or Margarita With A Straw that left an im-
pact at the Busan International Film Festival , were
ignored at all award shows. Baby, featuring Akshay
Kumar, and Ajay Devgn’s Drishyam met the same
fate despite critical acclaim. Let’s take a look at
some of the award functions:
Big Star Entertainment Awards (on Star Plus)
The event was the first to be televised in Decem-
ber. It honored movies and artists in every
TIME FORTEARS
(Left) An emotional
Deepika Padukone
receiving the Filmfare
Award for best actress
(Above) All cameras
panned to Rekha as
she hugged Jaya
Bachchan at the
Screen Awards

law, Amitabh Bachchan’s face when Rekha pre-
sented her the trophy. Not surprising.
Actor Riteish Deshmukh and choreographer-
turned-director Farah Khan were the hosts.
Barring some funny one-liners, the whole script
lacked punch. Even the dance performances were
repetitive and dull. The channel definitely needs
a new editing team; one couldn’t help but notice
that the same expressions on the same people
were repeated at different times during the show.
Screen Awards (on Star Plus)
Karan Johar makes sure that whenever he hosts a
show, he cracks some gay jokes. The filmmaker’s
self-deprecating humor was complemented by
comedian Kapil Sharma’s usual repertoire of
jokes. Interestingly, this show even had three sub-
categories for some categories. For instance, for
best actor category, there were four winners—
Amitabh Bachchan and Ranveer Singh (Best
Actor in a Leading Role-Male), Irrfan Khan (Crit-
ics Award) and Shah Rukh Khan (Popular
genre—drama, comedy, social, thriller, romance—
while repeating the nominations and winners
several times. Salman Khan was the brand ambas-
sador for it and hence, his movie, Prem Ratan
Dhan Payo, which was ignored at other award
shows, led the winners’ list, followed by Piku.
Stardust Awards (on Colors)
Parineeti Chopra received an award for losing
weight and in her acceptance speech, she said: “I
was tired of hearing that I can only act good, and
not look good.” What a state of affairs.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was awarded for
Jazbaa and the cameras panned to her father-in-
Masaan (above), which created a stir at the
Cannes Film Festival or Margarita With A
Straw (facing page) that wowed audiences
at many international film festivals were
ignored at all award shows in India.
Small Screen
Bollywood Award Shows

Most award shows have been shot keeping in
mind television audiences and are more
about the TRPs they garner. Also, these
often overlap each other in terms of dance
performances, hosts and award categories.
Award). This ensured that
more people were kept
pleased. TV cameramen viv-
idly captured the moment
when Rekha hugged Ami-
tabh’s wife, Jaya, when he re-
ceived his award.
TV and Film Producers’
Guild Awards (on Sony)
There was little to differentiate
between this award and
Screen Awards. Kapil Sharma
was back as host and there
were the same jokes and
dances. Akshay Kumar’s
movie Airlift was also pro-
moted. Strange, considering
that this was an award show
and not a reality show pro-
moting movies and actors.
Filmfare Awards (on Sony)
Filmfare awards are seen as the most illustrious,,
coming as it does from The Times of India stable
and also because it’s the oldest one. It was, there-
fore, understandable when Deepika Padukone and
Ranveer Singh shed tears of joy while receiving
their awards. However, while accepting the award,
Deepika read out a six-minute-long emotional let-
ter from her father, former badminton champion
Prakash Padukone. If she had been in Hollywood
accepting an Oscar, she would have been asked to
provide a list of people she wanted to thank ahead
of the announcement. Then the list would have
been rolled as a TV screen ticker and she would
have had to finish her speech in a mere 45 seconds.
Why can’t Bollywood follow this formula?
Coming back to the Filmfare Awards, it was the
same pattern of awards, hosts, jokes and even
performances as other shows. This didn’t help the
show retain its supremacy over others. Masaan,
Margarita With A Straw and films of the same ilk
were completely ignored. Worse, the dances were
badly rehearsed. Though Kapil Sharma hosted
this one too along with Shah Rukh Khan, his
quips were bland. Irrfan Khan and Alia Bhatt in-
dulged in a verbal duel with SRK, trying to make
the audience believe it was impromptu. It was not.
The mediocrity of these shows stems from cel-
ebrating personal achievements rather than hon-
oring the best in the film industry. This is unlike
the structured format of Oscars and other Holly-
wood awards. Neither do Hollywood award
shows invent a category just to please people, nor
do they shoot the whole event just for TV.
Obviously, Bollywood has a lot to learn from
the West as far as award shows go.

NEWSDATE NEWS CHANNEL TIME
6/2/16
8/2/16
8/2/16
8/2/16
9/2/16
9/2/16
AnandibenPatel’sdaughterAnar
answersCongresscharges;saysher
familyhasnothingtodowiththe
companyundercloud.
Headleytestifiesin26/11.Firstvideo-
conferencingtestimony.Headleyspeaks
fromChicago;testimonyheardinaspecial
courtinMumbai.
Urdu poet and lyricist Nida Fazli dies of
heart attack. He wrote lyrics for films like
AaptoAiseNaThe, IsRaatKiSubah
Nahin, among others.
ShahiImamofJamaMasjidmeetsPM
Modi;thetwodiscussISIS,AMUand
theotherimportantissues.
9/2/16
7:24 AM7:22 AM7:21AM
2:17 PM2:16 PM
5:49 PM 5:50 PM
2:18 PM 2:19 PM
5:50 PM 5:55 PM
2:10 PM
7:23 AM
2:09PM 2:10 PM 2:18 PM
6/2/16 PMModi,PresidentPranabMukherjee
atfleetreviewinVizag.
9:25 AM 9:25 AM 9:25 AM 9:25 AM
LanceNaikHanumanthappafoundalive
inSiachen.Hehadbeenburiedunder30
feetofslowsixdaysago.Ninejawans
killedinavalanche. 8:02 AM 8:03 AM 8:03 AM 8:04 AM
EmergencylandingofUnionMinister
KiranRijiju’schopperatHindon.The
ministerwasonwaytoUttarkashi. 1:12 PM1:11PM 1:13 PM 1:13 PM
HaryanaHealthMinisterAnilViz’s
commentonbeefcontroversy:“Beefis
dangeroustohealth”.
9:05 AM9:00 AM 9:00 AM 9:07 AM

Here are some of the major news items aired on television
channels, recorded by our unique 24x7 dedicated media
monitoring unit that scrutinizes more than 130 TV channels in
different Indian languages and looks at who breaks the news first.
DATE NEWS CHANNEL TIME
NEWS
12/2/16
12/2/16
12/2/16
17/2/16
SnapdealemployeeDiptiSarnatraced
back.Talkstoherfamily.Hadbeen
abductedfromVaishaliMetroStation. 8:02 AM 8:03 AM 8:05 AM 8:06 AM
9:30 AM 9:32 AM
BhojshalaUtsavSamitiupset,performs
hawanoutsideBhojshala.Tensionover
SaraswatipujaandFridayprayersdayat
thesametime. 9:33 AM 9:44 AM
Anyonewhoraisesanti-Indiaslogansor
triestoputaquestionmarkonnation’s
unityandintegritywillnotbespared:
HomeMinisterRajnathSingh 10:00 AM 10:01 AM 10:01 AM10:00 AM
11:32 AM 11:34 AM 11:35 AM 11:35 AM
1:52 PM
LawyersbeatupjournosoutsidePatiala
Houseagain.
17/2/16
JNUleaderKanhaiyagiveshisstatementto
thepolice,claimstheatmospherewas
tenseevenbeforetheevent.
16/2/16 DelhiMLAOPSharmaaccusedofbeating
upCPIleaderoutsidePatialaHousecourt.
1:52 PM1:49 PM 1:51PM
16/2/16
Ex-DUprofessorSARGeelanitobe
presentedincourttoday.Charged
withraisinganti-Indiaslogans.
11:21AM11:20 AM
13/2/16 PunjabPolicenabanISIagent.Sajjad
HussainarrestedfromSurankotinJammu.
10:53 AM 10:54 AM10:51 AM
11:18 AM
10:54 AM
11:17 AM
8:09 AM8:07 AM 8:08 AM8:08 AM

DESIGNSTHATMADEIMAGINATIVE
USEOFPHOTOGRAPHS,FONTS,
COLORANDWHITESPACESTO
LEAVEANIMPRESSION
By ANTHONY LAWRENCE
Design
Simple and emotive! Why ruin the impact with
more words?
This one is quite offensive. Surely conferences for
women can’t be just about charming smiles and
frivolous talk.
Black is beautiful as this cover of Ebony strongly
conveys.

This installation in Denmark titled “The
Infinity” gives the impression of the interior
of a bee-hive. But artist Yayoi Kusama has
created such polka dot installations in other
color combinations too. You want a wall
or even a room in red and white? He has
it for you. Talk about realizing childhood
fantasies!
Artist Marie Jonsson-Harrison has
perhaps got the title wrong. In this
pleasing painting of the water
world, titled “Halloween & ‘Witches
from Sweden’”, she has brought
out his love for all things bright
and beautiful.
Watches, which are a testimony to the passing of time, have been
fixed on a tortoise shaped installation by Japanese sculptor Natsumi
Honda. Tortoises are known to live the longest. What a way to depict
timelessness!

education, inequality of the sexes…. Now even
young boys are told about these so as to change
their outlook. A typical lesson combines 20-30
minutes of skill-building, followed by group dis-
cussions and problem-solving.
CHANGED AMBITIONS
VoN visited one of these sessions, where the girls
are giggly, jostling with excitement. Tanya Kau-
shaf, 13, is happy she went through this program
which she finished last year. “I have learnt to
speak up and to speak my mind. I couldn't do
this earlier, I was scared. But not any more. Ear-
lier, I did not like studying. Now my ambitions
have changed. I have a goal in life,” she asserted.
Child marriages, early pregnancies and their
complications and premature babies are not un-
common among girls here. Most of them are
married off early and seldom get an education.
Like Tanya, Komal Kumari, a Class X student,
too believes she has benefitted from the program.
GIRL!
Way to Go,
N a cold wintry morning in
January, school kids, mainly
girls from 12 to 14 years, have
lined up for assembly in a gov-
ernment-run school in Maner,
some 35 kms from Patna. The
school is a decrepit building but attendance is
high despite the biting cold. After class, they are
part of peer support groups led by female teach-
ers or women from their community, which are
held twice a week, sometimes more.
This unique program is called Girls First and
is conducted by CorStone, an NGO, which has
been running it in six Bihar districts for over two
years. Here, women talk about the problems be-
setting girls in this state—child marriage, lack of
O
A unique program in Bihar called Girls First
is inspiring confidence and spreading
knowledge about the ills of child marriage,
early pregnancies and gender discrimination
BY MURALI KRISHNAN IN PATNA
Bihar
“Their listening power has increased and
they now talk assertively. And they resolve
their problems in their peer support
groups. There is a friendly environment....
And they are able to talk to boys.”
—Madhulika Mani, an instructor in Girls First
Education
Girls
overnanceG

Views On News 07 March 2016

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