BARKHA DUTT’S FALL FROM TIGER- HILL
The Nira Radia tapes linking her to Ratan Tata, Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi have shocked a few idealists but have surprised many. The dominant opinion of the elite has veered toward corporate right and for them such acts are routine. But what has surprised all is not the act but the players. Till very recently Barkha Dutt was like a youth icon . She made her place in the field of media seeking truth with determination. It was in the Kargil war that she was discovered reaching right atop on hills with our soldiers reporting their acts of valour. She won awards and appreciation of people who saw her regularly on NDTV taking up issues close to the society asking tough questions to politicians , bureaucrats , imminent citizens and scholars etc. There was this earnestness in her demeanour which earned her respect. But; with the release of Radia tapes she has lost it.
In the present times when corruption is being revealed routinely the Society is helpless and numb, they do not know where to look for help and to do what next. In the fall of Barkha Dutt they see a loss of innocence. They tolerated her brashness and rudeness and often ignorance for she was serving a purpose but now it seems that all this while she was not what she looked ! She is also being perceived as a person who could not handle power and the responsibility which comes with the profession of a journalist. The response from the media seems to be muted. There was an article by Nihal Singh condemning her and Vir Sanghvi, Khuswant Singh also wrote giving them the benefit of doubt and taking the incident very lightly.
What comes out quite clearly in this episode is that the media is protective of its flock and do not desire to aggravate the matter further . As one sees on the television Barkha Dutt continues with her duties in a routine way seemingly unperturbed and even the politicians have not hounded her which seems prima facie surprising. But it is clear to me that this lady has lost her moral authority to question any citizen for wrong doing. It seems amusing that Pranoy Roy has not reigned nor curtailed her area of operations as she conducts programme on varying topical subjects with the usual elan talking to the cross- section of community.Sometimes I expect a participant to raise the issue of Radia tapes and seek her version of the story, it will certainly be justifiable! Or is it that I am overreacting? But then where does the buck stop?
This powerful fourth state with unbridled powers should be made accountable to the people who remain glued to their blabber .
As I publish this post the Public Accounts Committee headed by Shri Murli Manohar Joshi have summoned and questioned Ratan Tata and Nira Radia, but the ray of hope is from Anna Hazare who is presently on hunger strike demanding bill on formation of Lokpal to be drafted and tabled in Parliament, many imminent citizens have joined him and therefore it is a test of their strength and resolve and also of the issue of corruption will be examined and it will be seen that how many people are ready to contribute in the movement for reformation.
This entire series of exposure has further convinced me that Capitalism is essentially a corrupt system and as it gets stronger it gets more subtle and sophisticated like the newly discovered ‘superbug’ in Delhi by the U K Scientist which is immune to all known antibiotics !
