"I sometimes suspect that both the communities in the old city are suffering from some kind of psychological disorder. They always find one or the other reason to fight against each other. "
"they are certainly suffering from mental disorder of 'religious intolerance' and need immediate treatment. Yes, all of them need treatment. "
Shaik Ahmed Ali, the bureau chief of CNN-IBN in Hyderabad is a revelation. Above are the gems he produced in his latest article on the curfew in Hyderabad a month ago. As we see, he is busy judging people rather than analyzing what possibly went wrong. Heck, he is not even reporting! None of his posts shows he actually tried to get to the bottom of the topics he was writing on by speaking to anyone - there are no quotes of the people he spoke to. Maybe he just sits at his desk and writes, that people in the city suffer from psychological disorders!
Mr Ali's case reminds us about the quality of Journalism we have today even while our nation is confronted with myriad complex problems. He is the chief reporter in a state which is confronting an unprecedented crisis, the solution for which can redefine not just the political and social identity of the many states in this country but can redefine the identity of this nation into something more complex than just a union of linguistic states. And we have Mr Ali, for a leading news network in India, to report this with absolutely no insight into things political, social or economical but loads of sweeping statements from his empty head.
Prior to his piece on Curfew, Mr Ali produced these frivolous pieces -
Why Women's Reservation Bill is Anti-Muslim?
The anatomy of Telangana agitation
Political Mafia is ruling HyderabadI will remember YSR, forever
When I read these, I was wondering what qualifies him as a journalist. And then a journalist friend chipped in with these words about Mr Ali's background-
"I have read this blog. It is completly immature and unprofessional.
This man was a boy when he started working for APTimes way back in 1996-97. He is an old city guy and not well educated. He just completed Class 12 and did not do any further education. Generally he used to be put on crime and old city beats. These are the beats which are generally given to young journalists from Muslim community. Later on, this fellow was hired by CNN-IBN. It was a complete surprise to me as he did not have good formal education.
Somebody told me some complaints were lodged against him with the CNN-IBN management. But i do not know how he continues to work for the channel. His understanding of politics is very pathetic and he is not very well informed about the dynamics of the Andhra politics. His world-view does not rise above the gallies of the old city. This man should not have been allowed to write as he pleases for such an esteemed channel as the CNN-IBN headed by people like Rajdeep Sardesai and Sagarika Ghose."
So there we get it. A +2 guy with no formal studies writing now for CNN-IBN! There are countless gems in all his articles like those in his blogpost about curfew. In an earlier post about the Telangana agitation, he said - 'The demand for Telangana may be genuine and justified, but, I believe, the present agitation is surely not genuine or at least, not everyone associated with the movement is genuine.' One more judgmental statement from his Mr. Shaik, the genuine journalist.
