Tag Archives: Media

Remembering the Sikhicide

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This was written two years ago to mark the 30th anniversary of the mass killing of Sikhs in India, following the assassination of the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi.
The situation, two years later, remains pretty much the same, with politicians of all hues and the media, as well as the present state and Central governments, doing nothing. For everyone, but the victims, the “riots”, as they call it, are a closed chapter.

Mandeep Singh's avatarMANDEEPSINGS

1984 anti sikh riots delhi (4)Thirty years ago to the day, a genocide against innocent Sikhs in India started. Thirty years ago, also to the day, top ruling Congress Party politicians led gangs of goons who went about torching Sikh homes in several Delhi localities. It was also then Sikhs, young and old, who were butchered – shot, slit and tires flung around their necks and set ablaze. It was then that the police and administration looked the other way, and even assisted the killers, identifying Sikh households to target. Around 3,500 Sikhs died in Delhi alone and several hundreds others in other parts of India.
All this because a “tree” called Indira Gandhi had “fallen” and her son, Rajeev had said the “earth has to shake when a large tree falls.” But then, Mrs Gandhi was killed by her Sikh bodyguards for having desecrated the Golden Temple, Sikhs’ holiest shrine – which led to…

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Sikhicide: No Media No Cry

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This was written two years ago to mark the 30th anniversary of the mass killing of Sikhs in India, following the assassination of the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi.
The situation, two years later, remains pretty much the same, with politicians of all hues and the media, as well as the present state and Central governments, doing nothing. For everyone, but the victims, the “riots”, as they call it, are a closed chapter.

Mandeep Singh's avatarMANDEEPSINGS

1984-a1-bodyI am hurt today. I feel insulted. I am appalled and ashamed of the politicians and the system we have in India.
The media is also silent – not one of the channels is discussing the 1984 incidents even when they can have lengthy tirades on non-issues like a police officer not tying his shoelaces!
Thirty years to the day, watching television with my parents, we saw the aftermath of the genocide against Sikhs in the Indian capital, New Delhi and other parts of the country.
We saw rows upon rows of burnt houses and vehicles and I found mother weeping and muttering under her breath. We were aghast, and she was disconsolate. After all, what wrong had these thousands of people done?
Yes, a Sikh had shot dead Prime Minister Indira Gandhi but did that mean the entire community would be targeted? Sadly, it did, then.
I was expecting…

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Holy Cow!

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The reaction of a section of the Indian media and the politicians is obnoxious. This is the case of the proverbial ostrich that buries its head in the sand hoping no one would see it and thus it would escape a so-called predator. Wake up, India, because the predators are within, waiting to pounce on the very psyche of this country!

Sindhu S.'s avatarsindhuspace

indian-gang-rape-victim

Can it be happening?

India is outraged by a documentary showing a tragedy calledwomen of India.

Face it. It’s a FACT.

Don’t understand howexposing gender inequality in India will harm my country! And dear women, what are you protesting against, your self interest?

And all this before the film is even out.

Their argument: Showing interview of the rapists and men blaming women for getting raped will make those men heroes!Heroes? In the eyes of whom? Potential rapists, who were waitng for inspiration in the form os a documentary ? Haven’t heard a more absurd thought.

Things have reached such a flashpoint that the director Leslee Udwin has now appealed to the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, to intervene and help lift aban imposed in India. Politicians and protesters had ganged up against the screening of the filmmade around the brutal rape in December 2012 of 23-year-old physiotherapy student Jyoti…

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Were those the days? Yes, they were!

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Were those the days? Yes, they were!

Me with, from left to right, Jalil Omar, BBS and Salman

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Jalil, BBS and Me

Saturday morning, I ended up at my “Alma Mater” in Bahrain – the headquarters of Al Ayam newspaper. It was 17 years ago that I first arrived on the Island, to work on Bahrain Tribune, Al Ayam’s sister English daily.
I have some very pleasant memories of days spent in the company of some of the finest human beings – Arabs, English, Americans, French, Swiss, Indians, Pakistanis, Scottish etc.
Those were also the times when I learnt about Bahraini culture, what to do and what not to, how to address certain people, protocol on royalty and the everyday nuances of living in an Arab Islāmic nation.
Over the years I have seen, and I say this with all authority, that Bahrain is the most forward-looking nation in the Gulf and Arab region, with the friendliest people who make one feel welcome at any time.
So when, on Saturday, I was there to meet with former Tribune Editor Jalil Omar, it was nostalgia all over. We spoke about old times, the ups and downs, the funny and the not so funny, old colleagues, our achievements.
The fact that former Indian Express Resident Editor Brij Sharma (BBS), who I credit with making me the “reporter” journalist I am during my stint in Ahmedabad, India in the troubled 1990’s, and who is still a colleague, was also there, made the discussions the three of us had even more interesting and entertaining.
And, as if that was not enough, the icing on the cake was provided by Al Ayam staffer Salman (Khan), who we ran into as we arrived at the car park on our way out. The warmth in the hugs was enough to show he missed us as much as we did him and others.
I wouldn’t, of course, blame him, and ourselves, if our eyes were a little moist at that point. But, then, does that matter?

Scribe Tribe

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Looking at the distressing pictures from the aftermath of the “Himalayan Tsunami” in Northern India, I cannot but salute journalists on the ground bringing the latest developments to the world. They are in the thick of things, some even at places where rescuers and help have not yet reached.

I remember times as a journalist when I was confronted by mobs, beaten up by police, tear-gassed and threatened but each time I resolved to keep going, excited as ever and looking for the perfect ‘story.’

1It’s never easy covering such events though it may seem like a piece of cake to some who say journalists are only looking for the bad news but then, what do readers want?

Surely, they do will never read anything without the ‘masala’, the spice. They will read first about a fire, an accident, an earthquake, the misery of someone in distress and only after that is over, they might go to what the politicians of the day have to say.

It is heart-wrenching to see – and experience – tragedy. True, its exciting at the scene of a disaster but it has an effect on the psyche of the reporter. Back in India, I have had to speak to relatives of an accident victim fighting for life in an intensive care unit, the distraught victims a stabbing spree and the families of people allegedly brutally assaulted and killed by policemen.

All this takes a toll – emotionally and physically. One is uneasy for days – the scenes keep re-paying in the mind. But what it also does is to bring in the accolades and the recognition.

Newspapers and other media have a job to do. After all, there would be no need for them if there were only good news. They would have no work, there would be no readers, listeners or viewers and life would be rather dull.