About MJ Akbar and his Career

Mr. MJ Akbar is currently the Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs, and a Member of Parliament. Recently as part of 'MeToo' campaign, he has been accused of sexual harassment to fellow female journalists. Main opposition party Congress Party has demanded his resignation and launched a strong campaign against him. 

A few facts for the benefit of all: 

First, MJ Akbar has been accused of sexually harassing woman journalists "during his time in the media". It means there are no charges of misconduct against him while being the minister of state in the current government. Mr. Akbar he has been an eminent journalist and editor and has worked with media houses like The Times of India,  The Illustrated Weekly of India, Onlooker, Sunday, The Telegraph, The Asian Age, etc. 

MJ Akbar's political career is as follows:

1. MJ Akbar is an ex-spokesman for Rajiv Gandhi.
2. He won Loksabha election as a Congress candidate in 1989.
3. In 1991, Akbar joined the Congress-led Govt as an adviser in the Ministry of Human Resources. 

* MJ Akbar has joined BJP only recently in 2014.

#MeToo Campaign in India and Way Forward

What is this trend about?

The phrase "Me Too" was popularized by American actress Alyssa Milano on Twitter in 2017.  #MeToo is the latest global fad / trend which Indians have copied from the West. As a 'third world' nation craving for our place on the globe, Indians copy a lot of global trends only at their face value. Most of these are hypocritical in nature and are completely forgotten / abandoned afterwards. MeToo is also one such trend which is just the latest fashionable trend being followed in India and promoted by TRP craving media. 

Role of Mainstream Media (MSM)

Mainstream media in India does not have any better job than assassinate famous people's character and conduct 'media trials'. Mainstream media even pass the judgments in most cases, and then go on to haunt democratic governments for not doing enough according to what they ordered!

Like Award Wapsi fad / tirade this will also vanish without trace in a few months.

Is this trend genuine?

I fail to believe that all of a sudden, most male celebrities in India have become predators and sexual assaulters; just because an American actress popularized a hash tag on Twitter!

What happens in most cases is as follows - most of the time these are "consensual relationships". Until the woman keeps getting monetary benefits out of the relationship, she will keep mum. When the relationship turns sour and she does not earn anymore out of it, she will call it "rape" or "assault" or whatever.

In a lot of cases, such women also simply accuse rich and famous men so as to earn "extortion money". For every such #MeToo complaint which is being made, I guess there would be 5 other cases where the woman would have earned her "extortion money" and would have kept mum. This is plain criminal.

Somewhere, this media propelled trend is sick. It is sad both for men and women. Because it is dishonest and opportunist at the core. No one can know what really happened 10 or 15 years back, but these women are trying to destroy careers, homes and families of rich and famous men for their own selfish motives. This is shameful.

At the same time, some of such reported incidents might be true. It is our collective responsibility to think of ways to prevent such crimes from happening. 

What can be done to prevent such real crimes?

For the MeToo related real crimes; most such crimes have happened when there is a victim and there is an exploiter. E.g. there was a movie director and there was a female actress in search of work. The relationship was 1:1. Number of females on the road did not matter to what happened inside closed doors between two people.

I think such crimes are side-effect of how civilization is working. There is too much pressure on young aspirants and the 'rat race's is too harsh. If there were too many jobs for those female aspirants who went to see their male bosses; they won't have chosen to be exploited at that time. They are now accusing their perpetrators when they are rich and strong. So justice should not be a privilege of rich and strong women. We have to ensure even poor and weak women get justice if they are harmed. And that can happen only by creating a happier, more prosperous and civilized world.

- Rahul 

Technology as fourth pillar of democracy

When will we realize that internet changed the world! Are not we still living in the past when we say these old things like media is a pillar of democracy? Internet, technology and social media changed the world and now technology is the true pillar while news is a commodity! 

There is not much role of these traditional media houses; when citizens of y-generation are aware of the world events by the moment. No one waits for the newspaper vendor to drop newspaper at the door every morning; we just read online news happening every minute! No one reads editorials anymore; where much of brainwashing used to happen earlier! World changed; people changed; and hence the need of mainstream media houses reduced. So they have resorted to air CCTV camera footage of accidents; funny videos; and glamour news on TV. And on printed papers, we see two views - one supporting and one opposing - in order to catch attention of both sides of the divide. Mainstream media is not yet settled down; we are in transition phase. But Mr. Modi is very futuristic in all areas, e.g. solar power, etc. He found long back that mainstream media does no good and social/digital media is much faster and more direct; so he chose later over the older media...

Hoax of Non-Gujaratis fleeing Gujarat

You must have read news in mainstream media (MSM) about non-Gujaratis fleeing Gujarat after a recent incident. For example, here is a news item on Rediff.com which mentions "Railway stations in Gujarat are packed with north Indian migrants and everyone wants to flee Gujarat as they fear for their lives".

But I think media is giving this news too much of spin. Most of migrants go to their native places during Durga Puja, Diwali and Chhath Puja every year. That is what is happening now barring a few exceptions. Media is just reporting those as fleeing migrants as that is more convenient 'spin' for them. 

I am sure most migrants would return to Gujarat after Diwali and Chhath puja.

Gujarat has been and will always be a very safe place for migrants. The mainstream media and opposition parties led by Congress party are targeting Gujarat because it is home state of our PM Narendra Modi.

Sabarimala verdict is flawed in many ways: On Rediff

Let us imagine for a moment that there is an idyllic island in the Pacific Ocean. People follow their native traditions, and rituals, there is no war, it is a harmonious society.

On opposite corners of the island are two temples, one for men and one for women.

The women's temple celebrates menstruation, and is a safe sacred space for women to congregate and bond.

The men's temple similarly is a community space where men mingle. Men and women live in harmony.

The question simply is this -- should such a situation be outlawed? Is it necessary to force women into a men's temple and vice versa to uphold 'equality'?

This is exactly the situation that existed in Sabarimala. The Sabarimala temple did not allow women of a certain age into the temple. This was part of the legend associated with the temple's deity.

There are also women-only temples (external link) in India where no men are allowed.

Each temple has its own story and maryada. There is even a temple that specifically celebrates menstruation, the Kamakhya temple in Assam. Men are barred from the temple for certain days.

Every temple does not need to be identical, the divine can be celebrated in many different forms, each having its own particularity. It does not need to be homogenised into sameness. This is the beauty and diversity of Hindu traditions.

The Supreme Court judgment is flawed in many ways.

Firstly, the process of 'public interest litigation' in such matters is itself flawed.

The notion of 'public interest' is an excuse to subvert a basic principal of justice -- that of locus standi.

People who can show no harm to themselves can ask for a remedy in the 'public interest'. Therefore, you can impact others with no skin in the game yourself.

This turned into a farce in the case of Sabarimala.

Activists sitting in Delhi, neither devoted to temple visits, nor having any interest in worship at Sabarimala, file a lawsuit based on 'public interest'.

Never mind that the actual women devotees of Sabarimala from Kerala ran an ardent campaign with the tag #ReadyToWait, for their wish to honour the traditions of the temple.

The legend of Sabarimala has Ayyappa, the presiding deity, in celibate form, which is why women of a certain age do not visit the temple, to respect the tradition.

So when women devotees actually want the tradition to be honoured, whose 'right to pray' is being violated?

If one doesn't have faith in the legend of Ayyappa at Sabarimala, why would one go to pray at the temple at all?

The point clearly is not about the 'right to pray', but about desecrating a sacred place. This is exactly what the verdict has done.

Hindu women had repeatedly expressed their support for continuing the traditions at Sabarimala.
As Anjali George had expressed (external link) about the #ReadyToWait movement, 'It is ignorance, which makes them see the practice in Sabarimala as discriminatory.'

'#ReadyToWait is to tell the so-called activists that they are wrong on Sabarimala; to tell all the decision-makers that we devotees are the more important stakeholders in the debate over faith and not the atheist feminists,' George added.

Jogakhichudi, a devotee, writes in OpIndia (external link) in response to the Supreme Court verdict: 'I'm a Hindu woman and believer who is #ReadyToWait and with this verdict, I feel utterly cheated and defeated. Cheated and defeated by these false petitioners who didn't represent me (and thousands like me) and yet cheated me out of my right to choose to wait. But mostly, I am angry. Very angry.'
Similar sentiments were expressed by other women devotees as well. Twitter user Govinda63106467 expresses the anguish (external link) of his mother.

'The judges never thought about people like my Mom who is a ardent devotee of Ayyappa all her life and seeing her beliefs shattered by people who don't understand the emotions involved is indeed depressing.'

So the Supreme Court passes a draconian judgment on the pretext of providing relief to 'Hindu women' against discrimination. Hindu women devotees are not relieved, but distressed by this judgment.

If so, who exactly did the Supreme Court provide relief to?

Who is celebrating this judgment?

Sabarimala has been under attack for decades as a popular anchor of Hindu devotion in Kerala. It was attempted to be destroyed in a fire in 1950, a work of Christian zealots, according to the government inquiry (external link). It has since then been consistently under attack.

Further, the Supreme Court judgment was based on claiming that there was no 'scriptural or textual' basis for the practice. This is also flawed since it turns diverse Hindu traditions into becoming bad copies of Book-based religions.

Traditions do not need any textual authority. Their existence over time is their source of authority.
Thus, a patriarchal court ignored Hindu women's pleadings. It is like flawed notions of 'equality' destroying native traditions at the idyllic Pacific Island mentioned earlier, because colonial outsiders know what is best.

It is a colonial gaze on native culture, a 'civilising mission' to fix natives.

The only woman justice on the bench dissented with the four male judges. And the pretext for all of this was 'women's rights'.

Can there be a clearer example of patriarchy at work?

Sankrant Sanu (@sankrant) -- an author and entrepreneur based in Gurgaon and Seattle -- blogs at sankrant.org. The views expressed are personal.

http://www.rediff.com/news/column/sabarimala-verdict-is-flawed-in-many-ways/20181001.htm

Surgical Strike and Medical Surgeries

Indian Army has done a few 'surgical strikes' on Pakistani terrorists and support network over the last few years. This has been often cited by the BJP supporters as an achievement of current BJP-led government at the center. India was long called a "soft state" for being too liberal on the terrorists and Pakistani attacks. Now, Indian Army retaliates whenever there is infiltration or attack from across the border. 

Someone compared these strikes with medical surgery and tried to make fun of it saying that unlike medical surgeries, these "surgical strikes" did not solve the root cause of the Kashmir problem. 

I think "surgical strikes" by definition are known to be "tactical" strikes; not expected to remove the root cause - which a "medical surgery" is expected to do. And hence this may not be best analogy.

I think taking "antibiotics" would come closer. It would solve the immediate issue right on hand. It may also have side-effects.

Co-founder of Leftist Website "The Wire" accused of sexual harassment

These days, India is witnessing a #MeToo campaign where women are labelling charges of sexual assaults on famous male celebrities. It started with movie stars and until it was within movie industry, media was celebrating it. This was perfect "Masala" news - a paradise for media houses since such news attract public attention immediately. But alas, media's celebration was short-lived. Now this campaign has infiltrated the media itself!

Over the last few days, several media personnel have been accused by women. A Hindustan Times key person was accused recently and he stepped down. And now The Wire's co-founder has also been accused: 

Now co-founder of leftist website ‘The Wire’ accused of sexual harassment

https://www.opindia.com/2018/10/now-co-founder-of-leftist-website-the-wire-accused-of-sexual-harassment/

This is life "full circle" for crooked media houses who enjoy at the expense of others. This is also a slap on the face of "self righteous" portals and news traders like The Wire who claim to be "holier than thou" but have coffins in their coffers. 

Why BSP and INC could not forge an alliance

Recently BSP which mainly plays caste based identity politics decided to go solo and not do do alliance with the Congress Party. I think the reasons behind this decision are the follows:

1. Since Congress Party is a sinking ship and no one wants to board a sinking ship
2. Since Congress Party needs BSP more than BSP needs Congress Party
3. Since Mayawati can earn more by selling tickets to rich bidders than what Congress Party which is moving towards bankruptcy can offer her...

Modi Government and Mainstream Media

Someone commented that the current India PM Mr. Narendra Modi does not appear to face mainstream media much and does not directly face questions thrown by TV journalists. The feeling was that the current government focuses too much on social media platforms and seem to be not relying on the mainstream media.

First, when you say that PM is "not facing the press"; you have to be more specific. Our PM does give interviews to the press as well as to TV channels. Then what specifically do you mean by "not facing"? I believe you are expecting him to hold press conferences where mainstream journalists could ask him a variety of questions about government policies and he would try to "conquer" them. In a nutshell, you expect some "drama" from him.

But alas, government works in a certain way for the benefit of all. Govt has specific spokespersons for that role. And hence PM does not have to hold a press conference after every policy move. Also, individual Ministers do hold press conferences explaining decisions of their ministries. In India we do not have USA type presidential rule; hence Mr. Modi does not hold press conferences like Mr. Trump does. 

Previous PM Manmohan Singh had also held only 3 press conferences during his tenure of about "10 years". But one can say that his tenure was marred by scandals and scams, and that would have made it necessary. Currently govt is running very smooth and hence there is not much need for press conference by PM.

I think the perception that Modi Government is not depending on mainstream media to some extent is true. Out of all India PMs, current PM Mr. Modi seems the best when it comes to be being directly in touch with people. And there is a history and reason behind it. After post-Godhra riots in Gujarat, he was ostracized and demonized both by opponents outside and within his party. There was a strong media campaign demonizing him both inside India and among NRIs (since Gujaratis have strong NRI presence). E.g. we constantly got news from media about Modi being denied Visa by US even though he never applied for the same! And we had seen what mainstream media had done to him with the famous "puppy remark" by Mr. Modi in an "interview". Hence, in order to survive; and in order to "turn stones thrown to him into a stepping stone"; Modi took "social media" by storm and got into direct contact with people. Media initially was baffled - why does not he talk to the media? Why does not he gave media interviews? Crooked media could not believe there initially that there could be such a Strong Willed Lion among Men who would "bypass" them totally!

After becoming PM, of course he had to give interviews to media and interact with media. Keeping aside media's hateful and funded campaign against him, he started loosening up. But it is important to know the history.

I think it is a mistake to think that PM Modi is out of touch with people and does not know our feedback. He is on Twitter and posts his events, thoughts and works several times every day and would also get people's reactions. He has this NaMo App for mobile phones through which he gets feedback. He does Mann Ki Baat on Radio and TV regularly on weekends. He goes to visit all across the country in election rallies as well as to inaugurate government projects. He regularly visits Temples and places of religious and cultural importance wherever he goes. When he sees children, he goes and plays with them. We never had such "human" PM in the recent times... This is why his supporters adore him like this... 

Plus, most of Big Indian Media Houses have been Left Leaning or Anti-Right Wing philosophy. E.g. The Hindu is a certified communist leaning paper. Hindustan Times Group from the Birla ownership who funded Congress. India Today and Rajdeep Sardesai are anti-BJP. NDTV is certified pro-Congress and anti-BJP channel. CNN-IBN and Sagarika Ghose are clearly Left leaning.

I accept that a few media / TV news houses are pro-BJP too; but all these are only recent upstarts. All old and biggest media houses are anti-BJP, pro-Congress/Left. Hence, if Modi Govt takes mainstream media too seriously, they will only bite it in the ear while standing on its shoulders. Hence Modi Govt still focuses on direct access to people through social media channels.

- Rahul Tiwary