Dehati Aurat & Indian Paid Media

Broadcast Editor's Association(BEA) has issued a statement taking objection to Narendra Modi's speech today in Delhi in which he questioned the conduct of a particular journalist (read Barkha Dutta). This is just another of the many instances where the Indian mainstream media closes ranks and shields powerful media personalities even at the very hint of some external scrutiny.

The controversy has its roots in a comment by a well-known Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir on Geo TV. Mir described and quoted -  Sharif smilingly told Barkha “it seems Manmohan Singh went to complain to Obama about me not like India’s Prime Minister but like a ‘dehati aurat’, during a breakfast meeting with him and NDTV’s Barkha Dutt on Saturday while expressing his unhappiness that Singh complained to the US President Barack Obama about Sharif on Pakistan. Geo TV is on record, has telecasted live the statement of Mir where he was clearly heard saying the above. After the controversy erupted, Mir later tweeted: "PM Nawaz never said anything derogatory against Manmohan." But didn’t say that Sharif never used that phrase. This shows that for Mir such a statement about Indian PM is not derogatory.

Now let’s examine what Brakha Dutta has to say about this incident. Barkha tweeted that "Sharif's allegorical account was all about how disputes should not involve third parties. Not once was a slur passed by him against the PM. Sharif was upset that Pakistan (was) raised by India with Obama. In this context, he told an allegorical tale. In Sharif's tale, there was a dispute between two villagers, one of whom was a woman. Story ended with how fights should be settled between parties". But here she actually revealed more than she could hide. She accepted that Sharif actually narrated about a fight  and mentioned about a village women. What she avoided to clarify was who Sharif compared with the village women (dehati aurat).

BEA is upset because Modi during his speech said "the journalists who were sitting in front of Nawaz Sharif when he was insulting our Prime Minister should also answer to the people of my country. I want to ask those journalists, I don't know who were they but journalists of my country who were having sweets sitting with Nawaz Sharif when he was abusing our Prime Minister calling him village woman, I expected those Indian journalists, the country expected them, to refuse the sweets and walk out”. Can BEA explain what wrong Modi said about Indian Journalists? Our so called secular media could not digest "puppy" or "burqa" analogy, but they are quite comfortable with "dehati aurat" analogy made by the Pakistani PM about their own PM. If Nawaz Sharif narrates an anecdote which is malicious, they describe it as "wildly misconstrued, misinterpreted, and misreported" (Times Of India report).  But if Modi tells an anecdote, then that is construed as ill and derogatory. What kind of ethical and nationalistic journalism is it? BEA is quick enough to issue statement objecting to Modi’s speech but can they explain to citizens of India – what action did they take when a section of media created controversy by publishing imaginary news that a mall in Gujarat on the idd day refused entry to muslim youth, which later proved to be completely false?? Can they also explain, what action did they take against those journalists, who published a fake report that Modi claimed to have rescued  15,000 people during Uttarakhand flood and gave him the name “Rambo”? Can they also explain what action they took against Barkha Dutta, who was caught on tape brokering deals among political parties during the “Radiagate”.  Therefore, BEA has no credibility to question Narendra Modi on anything.

Narendra Modi is perfectly right in criticizing Sharif and the Indian journalist for making and tolerating a joke about our Prime Minister. BEA’s defence of the Indian journalist means that they don’t understand the stature of the Prime Minister and have no sense of dignity & patriotism. A sincere and mature leader of a country never indulges in such joke about leader of another country, when they are headed for a serious talk. There are protocols to be followed when two Prime Ministers engage in talks with each other,  which have long term implications for both the countries. Modi with his sense of patriotism could never  tolerate  such an act. It seems that BEA and some of the paid secular media don’t even feel the sense of being an Indian - a proud nationalist Indian. Defending such an act is more heinous than the insult.

If Sharif dares to insults our PM,  we should be able to hit back firmly saying that his country behaves like a prostitute and is enjoying paid sex with USA. It is a fact that Pakistan can do anything for aid money and material from USA. USA has already impregnated Pakistan and she has delivered an illegitimate child to this world called “Islamic Terrorism”.