Author: Chinmay Bajekal
Publication:
Date:
The leftist inclined Indian media
has once again shown signs of lacking professionalism by its irresponsible
conduct in the Kanchi issue. By over emphasizing on the baseless
allegations and refusing to highlight the facts which it finds undesirable,
the media has tried to portray the issue in a manner which suits
their ideological interests. From day one the media has been inclined
to believe that the Shankaracharya is indeed guilty of the alleged
crime. This is totally contrary to what it did in the Ishrat Jahan
case. Back then the media was all out to portray Ishrat as an innocent
victim of the communal police of Gujarat. Even though evidence suggested
otherwise the media wanted to have the nation believe it was fabricated
by the Gujarat police. Now the media has all of a sudden started
to believe anything that the police claim.
Following are a few instances that
support the argument against the media.
On Day one the media justified the
sudden arrest of the Seer on Deepavali night, by reporting the allegation
that he was about to flee to Nepal. Later on it was learnt that the
Shankaracharya is given Z security and accompanied by Bodyguards,
which would make it impossible for him to flee the country without
Government's permission.
Later on the media reported that
the younger Shankaracharya His Holiness Vijayendra Saraswathi had
demanded CBI probe into the issue. Some people in the media tried
portraying this as a drift or divide between the two Shankaracharyas.
But later it was learnt that the younger Shankaracharya had never
made any such statements.
The police made a claim that the
Mutt had withdrawn money from its ICICI bank account, which was later
on given to the contract killers. Now it is learnt that the Kanchi
Mutt has no accounts in ICICI bank. So now the police are trying
to look for people related to the Mutt who have accounts in ICICI.
This shows that the prosecution and police is hell bent upon proving
the Shankaracharya as the culprit. It is not as if Shankaracharya
is a suspect but a target. Even if evidence is not found against
him, special efforts are made to create evidences against him.
Just then two of the accused in
the murder told the court that they had been forced to confess to
a crime they never committed and fix the Shankaracharya. And also
they were beaten up in police custody and compelled to sign blank
documents. This weakened the case of the prosecutor and police.
Just then the prosecution came up
with the claim that the Shankaracharya has confessed to the crime.
The media highlighted this and had the public in a state of shock.
Later on when the Kanchi mutt and the Shankaracharya officially denied
having made any such confessions, there is no more talk about it.
The Shankaracharya is not the only
individual affected by this. Even innocent individuals like the lady
Usha suffering from cancer was alleged having absconded while she
was under treatment in the hospital. The media also gave a very wrong
impression to the public regarding the relationship of Usha and the
Shankaracharya due to its irresponsible manner of reporting.
This irresponsible behavior by the
Indian media has brought about the Character-assassination of the
Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi and also maligned the Kanchi
mutt. The media under the banner of "equality before the law" has
fearlessly and without any hesitation played with the Hindu sentiments.
It shows or expresses no regrets over the reporting of baseless allegations
which has offended millions of devotees around the world. It has
never come out with any official apology for having shocked many
devotees by its reporting of false allegations like that of the Shankaracharya
planning to flee the country or having confessed to the crime.
In today's world the media is considered
to be a significant part of the society. And it would be totally
disastrous for the country if the Indian media in future looses the
trust & faith people impose in it. The Hindu has always been
a tolerant person. He need not necessarily express his anger by violence.
So the media should not misunderstand the silence to be his compliance
with the media's conduct in this issue.
