TELANGANA X:The Good, Bad & Ugly of National Media Coverage

Telangana movement in its latest phase has been the most widespread, democratic and non-violent people's movement in this country since Indian Independence. Some captured it in its bellowing spirit while some journalists instead of seeing this as an opportunity to show-case this nation's democratic ideals, ignorantly and narrow-mindedly misreported and ended up consolidating the distrust and reaffirming the fears Telanganites have that they are outnumbered and outweighed even in media.

Here is a brief look at the good, bad and the ugly of that coverage.

The Good:
The very independent Tehelka too took the roads in Telangana to gauge the mood in 'Stir, My Beloved Country'. Samrat Chakrabarti, who earlier wrote an investigative article on Bt.Brinjal did this observant piece on the latest phase of Telangana movement .

The Hindu came up with this wonderful article 'World through homogenous frames' on the democratic spirit in the OU student movement. In contrast to the hare-brained interpretations by most in mainstream media on how the students movement is becoming a threat to law & order and democratic rule, the article analyzes how the students in fact embraced the democratic values of this country and how they seek to find shelter or withhold them as and when required. Thanks for the Anon who shared this link with me on this blog.

EPW, as discussed earlier, went on the Telangana trail. This is a fantastic piece that captures the magnitude and the mood of the movement.

The Bad:
NDTV's TS Sudhir's close-mindedness is amusing. Even while events of unheard magnitudes erupt around for the cause of Telangana, he was inexplicably indifferent. Not that he didn't get the feedback. Look at the pic here :)

TS Sudhir's profile on NDTV reads 'He has reported extensively on politics, Naxalism,..and is one of the senior most television journalists in the country today'. It was a shame to see this 'senior' produce literally nothing on the claims of Telangana advocates even when they seem to have succeeded dividing this state. Instead, this is the gem he produced - "Even KCR does not believe he is the right vehicle (for achieving Telangana). His party's symbol is the ambassador car but he doesn't travel in one himself". Maybe the 'senior' journalist thinks Chandrababu goes cycling to the assembly and his Heritage offices and that Mayawati rides an elephant everyday on public and private businesses! Another gem - "I watched with horror as students at Osmania University in Hyderabad turned virtually into monsters". Yeah, you read it right. He calls OU students monsters. How could he say renaming Kadapa after YSR is apt as YSR, according to him, is its most famous son and then call OU students monsters because he thinks they are violent! And yes, he labels himself journalist, sorry a senior journalist.

The Ugly:
Well, enough has been said. Shaik Ahmed Ali of CNN-IBN has been a revelation.

In contrast, an alien NY Times (I & II) and Al Zajeera (I & II) did better, reporting things as they were which much of our own mainstream national media failed to do. We should just hope independent journals/magazines like EPW and Tehelka continue to write, debate and spread awareness about aspirations of people in this vast country and not let their genuine and democratic struggles go unnoticed and thereby alienating them from the ideals India professes to practice. After all, the measure of success of any democracy is the number of people's movements that blossom in it and not the absence of them.

My posts on Telangana:
TELANGANA IX: EPW goes on the Telangana trail
TELANGANA VIII: My letter to Sri Krishna Committee (SKC) - A case for demerger of Telangana
TELANGANA VII: Grossly discriminated against: Prof Bhalchandra Mungekar
TELANGANA VI: Why Telugu news channels bar coverage?
TELANGANA V: Plutocrats unleash terror over OU students
TELANGANA IV: Shri Krishna committee a crude joke
TELANGANA III: A case of Tyranny of Majority
TELANGANA II: Statehood at Midnight
TELANGANA I: Telangana Movement and the Plutocracy: The Gathering Storm

TELANGANA IX: EPW goes on the Telangana trail

The globally reputed independent social science journal Economic and Political Weekly (EPW) came up with another insightful article on the multiple dimensions of the Telangana movement - On the Telangana Trail. The journal which every week brings together academics, researchers, policy makers, independent thinkers, members of non-governmental organisations and political activists for debates straddling economics, politics, sociology, culture, environment and numerous other disciplines has recently started what it calls "Special Issues", which deal with subjects of contemporary interest. And this article is one such Special Issue.

The article starts by questioning 'What is Telangana? Why does it stir such powerful sentiments?' and then the writers, Kalpana Kannabiran being one of the 5 from different NGOs, go on to find answers and record their conversations with 'a cross section of people on their participation and their aspirations – people across political formations and social backgrounds'. They meet small farmers, pastoralists, intellectuals, coal miners, schoolteachers, weavers, traders and dhobis; Muslim, adivasi, dalit and student leaders; They attended meetings in adivasi hamlets, in working class urban neighborhoods and they visited shibirams (tents) across the region and spoke to people on relay hunger strikes. They conclude 'We see quite clearly the emergence of a new politics that is committed to deliberating over the meanings of democracy and direct action. People’s demand for Telangana elaborates a complex set of arguments in relation to investment, employment, education, land, water, and resources. But more importantly it has to do with self-rule, dignity and self-respect, which are the fundamental premises of the Telangana movement. The separate state is seen as only the first step towards democratization.'

Earlier this year, EPW published 2 other articles - 'The Historical Context of Andhra and Telangana, 1949-56' by Mr. Gautam Pingle and The Movement for Telangana: Myth and Reality by Rama S Melkote, E Revathi, and others. Mr Pingle is Director, Centre for policy and governance Administrative Staff College of India and his article is very rare in the sense it examines the role of caste and other social equations that, in the first place, forced the Telangana merger in the 1950s and how they now get unsettled. Some of this content was later republished in Indian Express as 'Caste and the politics of merger'. The second article discussed threadbare widely-publicized perceptions of the people's movement.

In light of these interesting pieces, it would surprise us how less informative or analytical the mainstream vernacular and national press has been about the the basis of the Telangana struggle. How many articles/programs were produced in at least AP about the reasons behind the the initial merger of Telangana, the present demand for demerger and the consequences if or not the demand is met? At least, It was the most basic of duties of the journalists to at least report happenings as they were during the last few months of struggle, pre and post December 9 announcement. Even while the issue was making national headlines, disrupting life in AP, mainstream national media did not initiate any debate on the real/perceived grievances of Telangana, obviously because of, on one hand, the ignorance/prejudice of the reporters while on the other the networks did not go beyond '15 minutes of fame' type news.

Photo Courtesy: REUTERS/Krishnendu Halder

My posts on Telangana:

TELANGANA VIII: My letter to Sri Krishna Committee (SKC) - A case for demerger of Telangana

TELANGANA VII: Grossly discriminated against: Prof Bhalchandra Mungekar

TELANGANA VI: Why Telugu news channels bar coverage?

TELANGANA V: Plutocrats unleash terror over OU students

TELANGANA IV: Shri Krishna committee a crude joke

TELANGANA III: A case of Tyranny of Majority

TELANGANA II: Statehood at Midnight

TELANGANA I: Telangana Movement and the Plutocracy: The Gathering Storm