Whodonit: Gyaneshwari Express Accident

Maoists were once again back in news...and this time with a vengeance and yet again, for all the wrong reasons. As the news headlines suggested last week, the sabotage of Mumbai bound train,
Gyaneshwari Express, in West Midnapore had all the imprints of a Maoist involvement. As many as 100 people died in the accident and more than 200 were critically injured.

However, interesting subsequent news reports indicated that it was perhaps a ‘rogue’ Maoist outfit that was behind the incident. Now this is perhaps the first time there are reports in the
media that a ‘rouge’ Maoist outfit exists. Or is it that perhaps the Maoist did not want to take the blame for an incident that invited severe criticism across the civil society in the media, and as an afterthought, blamed a ‘rogue’ outfit. If intelligence outfits in the country are to be Believed, the Maoist movement is an ‘exceptionally intelligent’ one and they don’t act without a valid reason or cause. Some news reports, cutting across mediums, suggested that the Maoists were indeed
responsible for the sabotage.

The civil society, which has been the biggest advocates of the Maoist in the media, now needs to answer a few uncomfortable questions. Earlier, the Maoist blew up a bus in Dantewada, killing innocent people and close on the heels comes the case of the Gyaneshwari Express train. And even if one was to believe the theory that a rogue Maoist group does exist, which is targeting innocent civilians, then perhaps it is time for our security establishments to take note of it so that
innocent killings can be stopped.

Bringing Up Bollywood

So what’s so interesting about Bollywood these days? Anything and everything is interesting and exciting. If one reads or watches Bollywood news in news magazines, news channels, news portals, one finds a plethora of interesting gossip, information, fashion trends, music, dances and so much more. Bollywood news and news reporting has come of age. There is an information explosion in Bollywood news. Detailed information about movies, movie stars, actors, directors, their personal lives, music, fashion…everything is available on television, print and the internet. The latest trend is that Bollywood news comes directly from the horse’s mouth…many Bollywood stars have begun talking directly to their fans through social networking mediums, twitter being the most popular one. The ‘tweets’ of the stars are followed with great interest and the entry of any bollywood star - new and old - into the cyber space always creates a buzz, a stir in the media. This information explosion has both a positive and a negative side – the positive is that the fans get all the information they want and much more but on the other hand, the negative is that the stars and Bollywood, in turn, has lost its aura and mystique.

Honour Killings: Nothing ‘Honourable’ About It

The headlines of news channels, news magazines, news portals, all have been screaming about the recent spate of honour killings. So what does ‘honour’ mean? According to the dictionary, honour means: the respect that a person, his family receives from others that makes them proud; personal integrity; allegiance to moral principles. So why are we calling these barbaric murders ‘honour’ killings! It is a completely misguided sense of honour that is making these people kill young men and women of their families just because they have dared to choose their own partners. All reporters – print news, broadcasting news and internet news - by calling them honour killings, are somehow invoking and spreading this false sense of honour instead of curbing and curtailing it. Media needs to coin a new term that evokes sense of disgust at the killings rather than a sense of pride in the hearts and minds of the readers and viewers. The word honour is a huge mistake and there is an urgent need for news broadcasters, magazines and portals to find another term. Unfortunately, the term has been widely used and has gained widespread acceptance in the media and the population and it will be a difficult task to erase it from everyone’s minds…but erased it must be because these are certainly not ‘honour’ killings as we understand the meaning of honour, rather they are horror killings.

West Bengal Elections: Left’s Envy, Mamata’s Pride

Mamata Banerjee has proved that ‘impossible is nothing’. The Grand Didi of West Bengal has been dominating the news headlines since this morning by sweeping the Kolkatta Municipal Polls and giving the Left a run for its money in other civic bodies as well. The Railway Minister, who spends more time in Kolkata than Delhi, has kind of justified her absence from Rail Bhawan, by winning this election. Even though the media criticised her long absence from her Ministry and from cabinet meetings, Didi is having the last laugh after the poll results.

The news headlines since this morning have been describing the civic polls as a semi final with Mamata emerging a clear winner and the Left bastion being clearly in danger. There is no denying the fact that Mamata has worked tirelessly at the grassroot level to give the Left one its biggest electoral jolts in recent times. The focus of both the local and national headlines on Mamata’s victory has made her into a bigger star. The civic election results are also an indication of things to come. With Assembly elections due in the next couple of months, the Left will face its biggest political challenge of retaining power despite three decades of uninterrupted rule in West Bengal. The local Bengali news channels have already written off the Left saying that the trend of the civic polls will spill over to the Assembly elections. But it would perhaps be wrong at this stage to write Left’s political obituary. Even during the last Assembly elections, media had written off the Left and all poll surveys too indicated the same trend. But the Left bounced back with one of its best electoral results!

All one can say at this stage is that West Bengal is poised for one of the best electoral battles between the Left and the Trinamool Congress in the months to come. And no one can deny that Trinamool, led by its charismatic and mercurial leader, Mamata Banerjee, has performed against all odds.