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The Name that is Bihar
by
Abhinandan Mishra
Jan. 1, 2008 |
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We
have time and again read and heard the the
concept of “ Prejudiced reporting ”. Those who
have gone through this weeks Tehelka magazine (
December 29, 2007) would have surely read the
article “ Two years On, no new deal ” on the
state of governance in Bihar by Tehelka’s Bihar
correspondent. And one would not find a better
example of ‘prejudiced reporting’ than the above
mentioned article.
Those who are not aware of the ground realities
in Bihar are sure to rise in unison and call for
the rolling of Nitish ‘s head after reading the
current Tehelka’s write up. The writer has left
no further scope for criticizing Nitish Kumar
led JD (U) government and he has through
manipulative use of facts turned every work of
progress and development that has been taken up
by Nitish into that of misdeed.
He in the end of his article says that the
‘people of Bihar are wondering whether they did
the right thing in electing Nitish as a CM’? The
writer has failed to answer on what is the
parameter that he has has used while
constituting ‘the people of Bihar’ in the
present case.
The writer has embarked on a “feel bad” drive
while criticizing the state government and made
sure that by the end of the article people start
feeling that “Nitish is the worst thing that has
happened to Bihar”.
It would have been better if the writer had
acknowledged the efforts that are being taken up
by Nitish to improve the situation Bihar which
has been result of 15 years of ‘‘susasan’’ by
RJD (pun intended).
It has been only two years since the JD (U)
assumed power in Bihar. The correspondent at one
place says that Nitish has formed commissions
after commissions to implement policies and to
conduct enquiries into the various social and
legal misdeeds of the previous state government.
What else he expects? Does he expect that all
mis-adventures of the previous government should
be ignored?
For the records one of the commission was on the
1989-90 Bhagalpur riots. The Justice N N Singh
Commission of Inquiry which was constituted in
February 2006 recommended that victims of the
1989-90 Bhagalpur riots should be compensated on
par with those of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Later after the JD (U) came into power a Bihar
court sentenced Kameshwar Yadav, the prime
accused to rigorous life imprisonment. The
police had earlier closed the case against
Yadav, citing lack of evidence. In fact, he was
later given a citation for maintaining communal
harmony by the state police in 2004 when the
state was ruled by the Rashtriya Janata Dal
(RJD) government of Rabri Devi.
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Chief Minister Nitish Kumar last year ordered a
fresh probe into the 27 riots cases that were
closed by police citing lack of evidence. So
much for bad governance.
Later the writer says that although the crime
rate has gone down in the state after the new
government yet crime committed has increased. He
states that this is due to the fact that the
police machinery has been told not to register
cases. If this arguments has any substance then
I am sure that the previous government also had
enough ‘clout’ over the police to stop them from
registering cases. But under the RJD rule both
the crime rate as well as crimes committed
increased.
The writer further quotes a PUCL worker to
substantiate his claim. It is illogical to
expect that a human rights activist with due
respect will say that all’s well in the state.
Better choice would have been a local trader or
a local journalist.
The biasness continues to gain strength as we
turn the pages. The magazine goes on to
criticize Nitish Kumar on the ground that by
setting up speedy trial courts he is targeting
his political adversaries. They further say that
the CM is targeting leaders from particular
castes. One of the so called ‘target’ was Anand
Mohan , a JD (U) leader and a former MP. He was
‘targeted’ by Nitish for inciting a mob to lynch
the then district magistrate of Gopalganj
Krishnaiah 13 years ago.
Then the magazine dwells on the issues of
development. The appointment of 3.12 lakhs of
teacher comes up ; but even in this case Nitish
earns negative input. He uses this number to
point out that only 1 lakh post of policeman and
engineer have been filled up till now. Nobody
not even a CM possesses a magic-wand these days
and expecting him to bring the golden days of
Pataliputra back in a short period of 2 years is
a bit too much.
The most childish of the magazine claims is
embedded in the first paragraph of the article.
The writer says that Nitish and company are
worried after around 2 lakh disenchanted people
turned up for a “Chetavni rally’ of Lalu Yadav.
Those who were in Patna at that time will tell
that these rallyists were not the ‘dis-enchanted
lot’ and by no stretch of imagination they
numbered 2 lakhs. As a matter of fact that rally
was supposed to go on till 5 PM but when the RJD
leaders saw the sparse crowd they decided that
it was in their best interest to windup the
rally by 2 PM but not before Laluji dedicated
his two sons to the service of the nation.
Much of the rallyists composed of rural people
who came in buses and tractors, not because they
wanted a change in the state but because it was
better to earn some bucks and have a good time
in the city rather than idling away a Sunday
afternoon.
Quoting opposition leaders and local activist
for describing two years rule may give a picture
but it will not be a true and complete picture.
I have time and again reiterated that a mess
that took 15 years to be done cannot be undone
in 2 years. At least Nitish is trying and
putting efforts to put things back on track. Let
us save our critiques for 3 more years and till
then let Nitish do his job and let Bihar live in
peace for the state has already earned more than
its share of bad name.
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Comments: |
Mr.
Mishra, I can understand your
feeling. And your feelings are in
general the reflection of 'common
educated people of Bihar'. I just
wanted to add, despite all these
media attempts, it will be only the
people of Bihar which will matter
because their vote will determine
which MLA is worth for what.
Then, how to tackle these false news
about Bihar in media? I will leave
it to the educated people of Bihar
to use their logic in finding out
the truth. I am unable to find a
good analogy but just to serve the
purpose, wanted to give the
following examples:
1. Any genuine Indian knows the
truth behind the 'news getting
published in Pakistani media about
Indian government role in Kashmir
issue or terrorism'.
2. The same way, an immigrant from
India in USA will face the same
biased news about Indian current
economical status. Believe it or
not, you will still find news in
media where they will compare India
to some remote undeveloped African
countries. But any educated Indian
has an IQ to decipher the 'true
meaning of Tehelka news'
3.Prior to Gujarat Election, lot of
NDTV news were creeping against Modi
but finally it was the Gujarat
people who voted him in majority.
Having said that, I am not a BJP
follower but at the same time,
cannot ignore the developmental
works, Modi did in Gujarat during
his tenure.
With this, before ending my letter,
I want to praise Indra for posting a
very good article titled "Bihar
- Some Hopes and Despair" in Dec
2007 on PatnaDaily. If you get time,
please have a look at it, its worth
reading rather than getting agitated
and wasting energy on some falsified
biased news on a website who are not
in anyway going to represent Bihar.
- Niraj Ashutosh, MD, Detroit,
Michigan, USA - Jan. 2, 2008
I
would like to redress, in my
opinion, the following sentences.
1. "It would have been better if the
writer had acknowledged the efforts
that are being taken up by Nitish to
improve the situation Bihar which
has been result of 46 years
(1961-2005; Kursi ki Ladai started;
12 Chief Ministers in 10 years from
Feb. 1961-June 1971) of ''susasan''
by RJD, Janata Party, Congress (I),
Congress (O), Jan Kranti Dal and
Socialist Party.
2. "I have time and again reiterated
that a mess that took 32 years (Apr
1975 - Feb. 2005 including "world
famous" JP Movement) to be done
cannot be undone in 2 years. At
least Nitish is trying and putting
efforts to put things back on track.
Let us save our critiques for 3 more
years and till then let Nitish do
his job and let Bihar live in peace
for the state has already earned
more than its share of bad name. -
Dr. Sudhir Ranjan, USA - Dec. 3,
2007 |
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Discussion on this topic is now
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