Mohe Rang De Basanti
DEFINITION of SACRIFICE:
23rd March, 1931: the selfless giving up of a valued thing for the sake of something else. Eg: The Sacrifice of lives of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru for the independence of India.
23rd March, 2006: the selfish giving up of a valued thing for the sake of attaining something more valuable.
Eg: The “Sacrifice” of post of NAC and MP by Sonia Gandhi to attain political mileage.
23rd March will always be marked as BLACK DAY. 23rd March, 1931 for death of true martyrs and 23rd March, 2006 for the death of true journalism.
On a day when Sonia Gandhi stepped down from the post of chairperson of National Advisory Counsil(NAC), not knowing the reason of it being in existence as well as an MP, there is a mad rush in media to cover this story. There’s a contest amongst the media channels to hail the so called ‘martyr’. Now let’s go little inside the true story.
Some days back, following the complaints from some Congress people the president of India disqualified Rajyasabha MP Jaya Bachchan from her post as she was also holding an office of profit. According to the constitution an MP cannot hold an office of profit. But Congress didn’t know that people living in houses of glass don’t pelt the stones on other’s houses. There are loads of congressmen and women who hold the dual positions. And to lead the pack was the Congress Chairperson herself: Sonia Gandhi. When it realized its gaffe, the congress thought of making amendments in the ordinance itself and decided to pass the resolution for it on the last day of the budget session to avoid further questioning and cross-questioning. But caught in its own trap, it faced flak from all fronts. Here the congress chairperson played a masterstroke once again.
On 23rd March, ’06, rather than being ingloriously disqualified she chose to step down herself. This step of hers was hailed as SACRIFICE.
The biggest culprit of this drama getting a name of Sacrifice and martyrdom is none other than TRP hungry media channels who would go to any lengths to cover a story and interpret and jumble up the truth in its own way. Right from the state owned News channels like Doordarshan to Private channels like NDTV and Aaj Tak covered it comprehensively and all brought their own judgments without bringing the nut out.
Many news channels compared this event with the sacrifice of Bhagat Singh and others for the freedom struggle 75 years ago. This is a rude insult to the very nature of sacrifice of these great people. Even to think of such a comparison is an act of highest folly.
A woman letting her child go in the tsunami to save other two is known as sacrifice. A firefighter giving up his life for saving others in New Market Area is known as sacrifice. A soldier dying for his country fighting against the terrorists is a martyr. These people don’t get their due and are clouded by such inconsequential incidents which take the centrestage. The media needs to know this difference and act responsibly. They are accountable to all citizens of the country.
Many players and athletes playing in the Commonwealth games going on right now sacrificed their savings and life for securing a medal for the pride of their country India but what do they get in return: A last 5 minute slot in a news item. The Sacrifice drama gets other 25.
I am not a politician, just an average but alert Indian and cannot see or tolerate such events and will stand up against it in my own way. I expect many others join me in this struggle and stand up for THE RIGHT AND THE RIGHTS.
- MAULESH SHUKLA
Tags: Rang De Basanti, Bhagat singh, Sukhdev, Tsunami, Congress, Sonia Gandhi, Jaya Bacchan, journalism, martyr
madhavi says:
nice post!
… me think,you could consider sending this to a newsdaily, to publish,fer others to read..who r otherwise misguided by the hype…to understand the “difference”!!
a newspaper, who hasnt yet succumbed to the hype already!..though…
March 25th, 2006 at 12:59 pm
Dolphin says:
Never liked politics…they r so confusing…and this proves it..:shock:
March 25th, 2006 at 01:02 pm
anirudh says:
m with ya …:smile:
March 25th, 2006 at 04:31 pm
Neha says:
im sure montu would be glad for that anirudh!
March 26th, 2006 at 01:25 am
Neha Mujumdar says:
this has very little to do with politics dolphin, its your goddamn country and i don’t think anyone can be self-centred enough to not even care about anything that goes on beyond their own little petty world.
March 27th, 2006 at 12:15 pm
kruz says:
democracy is becoz of politics…people who know how to manipulate rule, people who dont, crib…
April 1st, 2006 at 11:42 am
Neha says:
hmmm. ok…:?:
April 1st, 2006 at 12:40 pm
kruz says:
lol…
April 3rd, 2006 at 11:19 am
rdb says:
Hope you guys enjoy listening to the songs:
April 5th, 2006 at 04:28 am