"Don't conduct parallel trial in Sushant case": PCI to media outlets

Ever since Sushant Singh's father filed an FIR against Sushant's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, TV news channels have made this entire case into a "media trial". All ethical norms of journalism have gone out to the trash bin and cheap sentimentalization is the norm now. There is no regard to privacy any more. Leading the pack is Republic Bharat news channel which perhaps has no fear of censorship since it supports the ruling party BJP most of the time! But finally, Press Council of India has spoken up on this matter and sent a warning to the Media Outlets. This was a very much needed and hope the media houses adhere to the journalistic standards they are supposed to follow. 

The Press Council of India on Friday said the media should adhere to the norms of journalistic conduct in covering cases under investigation and is advised not to carry out its own 'parallel trial'.

The media should not narrate the story in a manner so as to induce the general public to believe in the complicity of the person indicted, the Press Council of India (PCI) said in its advisory.

The Council said it has noted with 'distress that coverage of the alleged suicide by a film actor by many media outlets is in violation of the norms of journalistic conduct' and, therefore, advises the media to adhere to the norms framed by it.

Asserting that publishing information based on gossip about the line of investigation by official agencies on the crime committed is not desirable, the PCI said it is not advisable to vigorously report crime related issues on a 'day to day basis and comment on the evidence without ascertaining the factual matrix'.

Such reporting brings undue pressure in the course of fair investigation and trial, it said.

'The media is advised to refrain from giving excessive publicity to the victim, witnesses, suspects and accused as it will amount to invasion of their privacy rights,' the PCI said.

Identification of the witnesses by the media needs to be avoided as it endangers them to come under pressure from the accused or associates as well as investigating agencies, it said.

The PCI asserted that the media is advised not to 'conduct its own parallel trial or foretell the decision to avoid pressure during investigation and trial'.

The reporting of the alleged suicide by the actor by some of newspapers is also in violation of the norms formulated by the Council for reporting on suicide, it said.

The norm prohibits publishing stories about suicide prominently and advises the media not to unduly repeat such stories, the PCI said.

The media is expected not to use language which sensationalises or normalises suicides or presents it as a constructive solution to the problems, it said.

The PCI asked the media not to use sensational headlines or use photographs, video-footage or social media links while reporting on suicide cases.

Reference: Rediff

Shocking: Woman Killed and Little Daughter Left With Dead body; Woman Was Tattooed Ruby + Dharmendra and Ruby + Saddam

Warning: Image can be disturbing. 

In a shocking incident, a woman was murdered by criminals who dumped her body by roadside and left her 2 year old baby daughter along with it. Police found that the woman had a permanent tattoo made with writing "Ruby + Dharmendra" and in another hand another tattoo "Ruby + Saddam"; indicating this was a murder due to multiple relationships or multiple weddings of inter-religious kind. 

Happy Independence Day!

 

Modus operandi of Adityanath Thakur’s Govt in Uttar Pradesh to kill “political targets”

Immediate Goals: 

1. Kill political enemies

2. Send a warning message to people like the men killed

3. Create a terror in the society so that they fear the CM and his government

Modus operandi: 

1. If the person is a plain criminal without political impact, no matter how big he is, just arrest him and do not kill him 

2. Choose to kill only big names with political clout i.e. “Strongmen” (“Bahubalis”; because for some reason someone in government wants them dead and killing only “big fish” would create a terror in the society 

3. Ignore all old cases which are already in the Court since “the Mafia works outside the system”

4. Get a new case filed in Police by someone; preferably related to the victim and preferably by a person of the same caste. The cases can be even mundane and need not be serious 

5. Immediately take action on the new case by doing all necessary documentation so that there is no legal loop hole

6. Arrest the person

7. Also arrest or kill the person's family members for maximum impact. Do not discriminate against women or children of his family for meting out a punishment 

8. Do fake encounter claiming the victim tried to flee or attack the policemen

9. Plant stories in media and newspapers defaming the victim; especially show him as a person who did crime against people of his own caste

Goals Achieved: 

1. Courts and legal system totally bypassed

2. Target killed without doing any real work like collecting evidences and doing a fair trial

3. Since the motive was to eliminate “political enemies”, it was necessary to do his murder in a mafia-like manner; i.e. a Mafia always “sends a message” to other people like the victim too

4. Ultimate goal is to run the state like a Mafia controlled place, where people are terrorized and do not question the government

Other methods: 

1. Harass, trouble and threaten opposition political party leaders to the extent that they are no longer vocal

2. Use unemployed social media users to promote and trend the CM because the social media is the tool to reach out to the rest of the country and the world 

3. Target specific castes or section of society which hold prominent power in society. And leave the caste which the CM belongs to for such punishment, because of obvious reason

Larger ploy: 

1. Establish the personal brand of the CM as a cult leader so that one day he can qualify to be PM

2. The promotion of CM's personal brand needs to be done at the cost of (BJP) Party's image; since anyone who would stop supporting the govt would actually quit supporting the BJP but every new "fan" of the UP govt would actually be a fan of the "CM" in person. 

Sushant Death Case: Popular Media Theories and Counter Arguments

I will briefly touch a few points and questions which are being repeated in the TV media as open points while their clear counter-arguments exist but no one is speaking about those. 

Theory: Sushant Singh was not depressed

Counter Argument: Sushant was not a small child that his sister needed to stay at his home for 4 days (8-12 June) just to console him. It is obvious that he was depressed, perhaps suicidal, and his sister is not telling whole truth. 

Theory: Rhea stole a lot of Sushant's money

Counter Argument: Sushant was not a teenage boy that his girlfriend stole all his money and he just watched. May be he willingly splurged all that money on her to impress her, like boys do to impress their girlfriends. No media is speaking this plain fact which is often seen in boyfriend-girlfriend relationships. There are boys who started doing crime to get easy money to spend on their girlfriends. And here we have Sushant whose net worth was of Rs 60 Crores. Why won't he spend money on his girlfriend to impress her? 

Theory: Whatever Sushant's father says is true just because he is Sushant's father

Counter Argument: CBI should probe why Sushant's father took 45 days to file FIR and if any politicians called Sushant's father before the FIR. May be all this is just to help Nitish Kumar and BJP's image just before Bihar Election; as I wrote in my previous blog. 

Theory: Rhea had kept Sushant captive and did not allow him to talk to his family

Counter Argument: This theory is so silly but it is still being played in the media. Sushant was not a small kid that someone will keep him captive. Plus, his house had many flat-mates and he could easily get help from someone or the other if he was in trouble. 

Theory: Sushant had very good relationship with his family

Counter Argument: Based on the news and facts learnt through media reports, Sushant clearly loved his sisters and his sisters loved and cared for him. But that is not entire "family". His sisters were married and living in their respective homes under perhaps controlling husbands. Yesterday, a Whatsapp message was being shown on TV News where one of Sushant's Jeeja (brother-in-law) had written a stern message to Sushant saying, "Stop involving my wife in your family matters". So, SSR's sister was not SSR's family? Now let us bring a counter theory: Sushant's Jeejas isolated Sushant from his sisters and it caused Sushant not to get the family support he needed at the time he was depressed. The above mentioned Whatsapp message clearly shows that at least one of his Jeejas was harsh at him. Plus, this theory also explains why SSR did not make a trip to his home or sister's place when he was depressed. Because he was not welcomed there! 

Theory: Rhea is responsible for Sushant's death

Counter Argument: By now we know that Rhea and Sushant had some kind of fight after which Rhea left his home on 8th of June and blocked his number. For next 5-6 days when Sushant was alive, they did not have any conversation. When Sushant called Rhea on last day, the call did not go through as number was blocked. Now, breakup is a person's "right" and we can't blame Rhea for breaking up with Sushant. It was Sushant's decision to give up his life and perhaps he knew it and hence did not write any suicide note because he thought she would understand the reason very well. Sushant was only 34 after all. 

Perhaps Sushant's family was jealous of Rhea and hence they have put all blames on her. That was my first reaction hearing about the FIR too (blog). CBI should also probe SSR's sisters and all Jeejas to see if they had abandoned Sushant or caused any mental trouble to him and if such acts were as painful to him as was his breakup with Rhea which caused him distress. 

An impartial probe from all angles is expected from the CBI and we hope the truth comes out soon. 

Sushant Death Case: Is Late CBI Inquiry Politically Motivated?

Finally, central government has given approval for a CBI probe into Sushant Singh Rajput's death case. People and fans were already seeking such a CBI probe ever since Sushant died, but government has granted it only now, after about 2 months. A few questions are natural to come. Why now?

If you notice the timing and sequence of events, it would become clear. Due to no suicide note found and some pictures of his dead body leaked in the media, people and fans became too curious to know the "whole story" of his death and started asking for a CBI probe. But govt did not budge. Maharashtra govt said that it would not allow CBI inquiry and no one thought CBI inquiry could be done if Bihar state govt asked for it, and hence no one expected it from Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. But it is safe to assume that if Central govt thought that this case deserved a CBI inquiry, it would have got the necessary procedure done. For the record, Rajya Sabha member Dr. Subramanian Swamy had already officially requested CBI inquiry by writing a letter to our PM. Afterwards, PIL was filed in Supreme Court demanding CBI inquiry but Supreme Court said a clear "no". Then, how could we get CBI inquiry even after Supreme Court said no?

Perhaps Modi Govt thought that Supreme Court would accept CBI probe and govt won't have to take the decision. "Sanp bhi mar gaya, lathi bhi nahi tuti". Because once Govt allowed CBI probe in a celebrity's death, everyone will demand the same next time something similar happened. And government won't like to keep sending CBI to inquire into each celebrity's controversial death. CBI is more for probes into political or an event of national importance. So that explains why central government was not taking a decision on this earlier. 

So what changed now that govt did it? I think it is opposition parties' response and public anger which the govt thought could become issue in upcoming Bihar Election. Bihar Election is due in October 2020. Opposition parties were already making Sushant's death a big issue, e.g. Pappu Yadav or Tejaswi Yadav. Why should Nitish Kumar and BJP allow them to earn all the brownie points? So, they went for the CBI probe. CBI probe was also done perhaps since it had implications in Maharashtra politics. CBI probe would show Shivsena down, since Shivsena had clearly taken a stand that it won't allow CBI probe into the case. When Bihar Police went to Mumbai for probe, local administration did not cooperate and the forced quarantine of IPS Vinay Tiwari was clearly a case of mischief. Public opinion was totally against Shivsena Govt and BJP won't want to miss the chance to appear as a flag bearer of justice. 

Then, I think the manner in which CBI probe was achieved looks like a well thought-out plan. 

If Sushant's father had some facts, he could have submitted those to Mumbai Police. But a new FIR specifically against Rhea clearly tells that it was a "well thought out plan" at highest level in Bihar politics.  

Now a question arises: Whether CBI Inquiry really be impartial? There are reasons to doubt this. 

The manner in which Rhea has been painted as a "culprit" in the eyes of the public, tells that perhaps CBI will try hard to frame her even if she was remotely connected to Sushant's suicide. But CBI is a reputed organization and we all expect it to be impartial. It is Bihar elections which are making me worried. Whether BJP will misuse CBI to make populist statements and will it cause problem for people like Rhea even if they are innocent? Only time will tell. 

Ayodhya Ram Mandir: Congress Party's Missed Moment

Today, 'Bhoomi Pujan' ceremony for Ayodhya Ram Temple has been conducted. With it, a historical justice has been done. People from entire India are celebrating the moment. The ruling party BJP and its associated members are proud of it. PM Modi himself went to Ayodhya for the ceremony. This is one moment he will never forget in his life. And this is a moment which Congress Party will also never forget. 

Had the Congress party not been so adamant at its policy of "pseudo secularism" which stood for "pro minorities" and "anti Hindus", this moment won't have come today. Had Congress Party got Ram Mandir built in Ayodhya, today, BJP would have only 20-30 MPs and Rahul Gandhi or Owaisi would be our PM.  Without Ram Mandir Movement, BJP won't come to power at center. Whatever happens, happens for good.

May be Nehru ji could have got Ram Mandir built too, but he did not want it. Neither did rest of Cong govts. Indira Gandhi had other priorities too. Rajiv Gandhi just used Ayodhya issue for small political gimmick (which many call his mistake) which boosted the Ram Janmbhumi movement. But he did not want the Ram Temple too. If we look and judge, there has never been a single government which really wanted Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. In that, Modi government gets a lot of credit. 

5th of August shall be remembered as a big day in the history of both national parties of India: BJP and Congress. For BJP, it is a day of a great achievement. For Congress, it is a day of self-reflection and lot of repentance.