Our political leaders, media persons as well as celebrities like film-stars and cricketers all have the power to drive, influence and lead public opinion... As long as they influence public opinion with a view of benefiting the nation, it's good... But what if they overlook that aspect & try to strengthen their market value... What then..?? Would their words do anything other than damaging hope, trust and faith..??
Look at the NDTV-Baba Ramdev interview that is trending on social media these days... It seems that NDTV selectively edited the interview to show Baba Ramdev as a brainless buffoon... Is it fair...??? Well, it generated TRP for NDTV and created enough likes, comments and tags on Social Media for the media house to survive another day... But what did the interview do beyond that..?? It wrecked Baba Ramdev’s image... It spread ill will against him in the society... Probably many of his followers were left wondering- Is Baba Ramdev also like any other Baba..?? His contributions in the area of health and social reforms etc. were overlooked... People began losing hope in a person who has done something good to the country... Ultimately, What purpose did NDTV’s interview achieve beyond creating doubt by damaging hope, trust and faith..???
Now think of Salman Khan’s tweet on Yakub Menon... What purpose did that serve..??? It took our courts more than 20 years to arrive at this verdict... Just think for a second, would the courts not have gone through the case details..?? Would there not be enough evidences..?? For 20 years, relatives of Yakub’s victims have died bit by bit every single day... What about them..??? Did only Hindus die in the ’93 bomb blasts, and even if that is the case, does that reduce the magnitude of crime..?? It is easy for Salman to tweet and then withdraw and apologize, it takes no efforts for Owaisi to shout that people of only minorities are being targeted but what purpose does it serve..?? Once again, it creates doubt... People think our judiciary is so incapable that even after 20 years, it cannot arrive at the correct verdict... People think our system is so unfair that only Muslims are hanged.... People just lose hope, trust and faith...
Lets spare a few lines on Arnab and his hashtags... Today's hashtag probably will be #ModiFailsIndia for the Gurdaspur terror attack.. It would generate likes, comments and retweets... People will abuse intelligence officials, ministers, government and all... What then..??? Will that solve the problem...???
Jeffrey Eugenides once said, "Fair criticism begets positive change, Unfair criticism begets ire, pointless criticism begets scorn." It is easy to ask questions, it is always difficult to answer them, it is even more difficult to take action...
It is easy for any politician to transfer blame... Kejriwal can say Modi isn’t helping him, LG isn’t helping him, police isn’t helping him, MCD isn’t helping him and so on... Modi can choose to say that Congress isn’t helping him... Congress can say Lalu-Mulayam-Nitish aren’t helping them and so on... You can have colourful Dharnas, posters and advertisements around this but who is benefitted..??? You cannot build India by shaming and naming each and every individual...
The poor still go hungry.. The homeless sleep without shelters.. The public still ride on potholed roads.. The residents still complain of overflowing sewage... All this circus for what purpose? To generate publicity and TRPs..??? To shatter hope, trust and faith..??
Hope, Trust and Faith are precious things... One doesn’t appreciate them enough as long as they are there... But when they are gone, there is no direction or promise of the future... We are already ashamed of India in so many ways- bad roads, poor hygiene, traffic, poor policing, pollution and so on.. Our public personalities are working overtime to dent the little trust that still remains... It has become a fashion to curse the system, to damn those in power, to advise those who work in the system. We need to have faith in our institutions, systems, processes, past and future... Only then can India ride confidently into the future....
To our public figures, I would like to say, Think beyond the TRPs and publicity... The nation awaits your lead..!!!
Jai Hind...
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