Indian media is busy in Priyadarshini Matto case, Jesica Lal case, Sealing drive in Delhi and Champions trophy Cricket tournament since last one month. It seems the 24×7 news channel are not presenting the news but selling the news. They have become insensitive to a great extent. Let me give you an example.
On September 29, four members of a dalit family were massacred in Kherlanji, a village in district Bhandara, near Nagpur in Maharashtra.
The incident was reported first in some Marathi daily and the mainstream media did not provide any space to this incident. Some political parties organised a protest but it remained a mere ritual.
DNA reported the incident on October 7 that Surekha, 44 and her daughter Priyanka, 18 were beaten and gang-raped in front of villagers for an hour before they fell dead.
It is reported that sticks were pushed into their private parts. The male members were stabbed repeatedly and their private parts mutilated when they refused to do sex with their blood relatives.
Bhaiyyalal Bhotmange, 50, a dalit farmer was helpless witness of this incident.
DNA had another report on October 12 on the incident that only two weeks after the Kherlanji massacre, the Maharashtra Minister for Social Justice Chandrakant Handore gave an aid of Rs4.5 lakh to Bhaiyyalal who is the sole survivor of the Bhotmange family.
Here is the detail of the incident and some pictures of the victims that can make your tears out even if you are a hard-hearted person. I advice you not to see the pictures if you are bit extra-emotional human-being.
The Times of India has reported about this incident only on October 29.
NDTV has reported this story on October 30 almost one month later of the brutal incident.
Was the brutal murder of 4 members of the family and gang rape of Priyanka really not an issue to raise by the media? They say about themselves as the fourth pillar of Indian democracy and watch dog over the administration.
Where were you? The story of dalit family massacre is not any worthwhile for you people. The channel like NDTV has reported the story only after one month and interestingly they did not said any thing during the news package about the date of the incident. And They say that they are the watchdogs...
Update: The blogosphere is abuzz with the story and also over the publication of the pictures. Some are supporting the move and others denouncing it. Check it out on India Blog Watch.
Comments
It’s not the fact. Actually print media of this region raised it’s voice and filed several stories. They have limitations. It was electronic media which didn’t pay any attention to the massacre.
Pratyush - The images were too disturbing.
Wish you had put some sort of warning in the title or the first para.
Dear Santosh, Why do you say that Print media or the local media have their limitations. This is not true. In today’s India, the news spreads like fire. It does not matter which was the original source of the news. Yes, you are right that electronic media did not pay any attention on this incident. They have become the money-making organizations. Champions Trophy news is more important for them than these killings. I felt bad that Maharasta news papers also did not present the fact in detail or did not pay any attention on this issue. There are so many news papers which have good readership. Just forget the readership equation, the important thing is the courage to present the truth and ability to fight for that.
Thank you Amit for reminding me.
Hi Pratush,
You are right on your part. In today’s india news spread like fire but there is an opposite side too. There are many brutal incidents which don’t get a single column space in Print. The Bhandara incident is same like that. I enquired personally about the case. Though some local newspapers covered it but it was not like a campaign, which was the need of the hour. The photographs were pathetic, hence local dailies tried to escape. We see that after getting aired, news are generally grabbed by Electronic media, but it didn’t happen in this case. I talked about the word LIMITATION. Print media is doing nothing but thinking about per column per centimeter rate of the advertisement/sponsorship and ironically reporters don’t have power to break and lead the story. It may be a matter of debate at national arena.
Santosh, I will nice if you spell my name correctly, anyways, You are right according to your logic.
”Print media is doing nothing but thinking about per column per centimeter rate of the advertisement/sponsorship and ironically reporters don’t have power to break and lead the story.”
Is not this self-imposed limitation of media organisation? You can say Media is lacking to do ’Journalism’.
Pratyush, you have raised a very relevant point here. I saw this page only today, but I have been thinking. The media that did publish the incident, had a much watered down version. ”Four members of one family killed” was all that people know and have also forgotten. The caste aspect was never touched. I wrote a letter to the editor of Hitavada, a Nagpur paper and it was never published. It is simply not possible that the media so blindly ”missed” all that was happening.
This is the letter that I had written. I dont see any inappropriate words or phrases here. Do you?
Dear sir,
Through the column of your esteemed paper, I would like to express my support and encouragement to the numerous groups that are fighting for justice to the Khairlanji victims. Also I am vastly moved by the fact that the protestors have consciously stuck to democratic means of protests. Otherwise the details of the incident are sufficient to bring boil to the blood of the meekest. These bodies have shown exceptional patience and courage. I congratulate them for this.
On the other hand I am surprised that it is only the dalit groups that are raising their voices. Is this solely a tragedy with a certain dalit family that we don’t know? Is this not a human tragedy that has exposed the most brutal face of crime? Would we like to live in a world where our fellow humans are living in constant fear, simply because they happened to be born to parents who belong to a certain caste? Has our caste grown so much that it can overshadow the human soul inside us?
I would like to use your newspaper to appeal the people of Nagpur to raise their voices against this incident. Don’t join a group if you don’t feel like it, but do show your concern and condemnation of the act. There are many methods. Newspapers and internet are two of them.
Alpana Bose
The editor of Hitavada has proved that our consciences have really been taken over by our caste.
There is one more thing that I would like to mention. The whole national media is up and alive to picture, report and telecast the violent protests that are taking place in Nagpur today. But they had very conveniently closed their eyes to the actual incident and very interestingly also to the 15 days of peaceful and democratic protests that were going on in Nagpur. BRAVO!!
This is very Disturbing....People of angpur should Build pressure on Goverment to enquire into this probe
Alpana, You are right and u had got the experience of the self-imposing limitations of media on them. The editor of ’Hitavada’ did not find, your letter on the dalit killing, suitable to publish. It’s strange. I am surprised that the news channels have enough time to telecast the program such as ’cricket ka mahabharat’ and ’one day ka test’... because these programs generate revenue. News media should understand its responsibility, that would be better for the people of India
What is even more disturbing is the fact that it is finally the stone pelting, raasta roko, putting buildings and vehicles afire, is what gets attention. Today a CID probe has been ordered into the case, but nobody took notice when men and women peacefully protested and demanded their democratic rights for days on end.
Does this mean that this is what we need to do to wake the administration up? The government should be really careful otherwise violence will become the rule of the day.
Well said Alpna, You have pointed out a burning fact and the root cause why people often choose violent means to make their voice bold these days. The government as well as the media both are responsible for the changing behaviour of the common people. No body hears the voice of peaceful protest but once it goes violent it created all attention. This is a dangerous change happening in the society.
kitee sarmanak bab ahe manav hya lahanshya gawane akhya maharashtrala kaleek potlee kharach lajja nahee ka watlee thethee pratekanna gya prakarche karya karnyache mala tar watate punished karyala pahije thetheel pratekanna koneehee madatela ale nahee. kharach khed watato. hyawar sarkar aple kontya prakarche karya ghehu icheeto. kharach aplee sarkar Twareet ka action ghet nahee twareet action ghyala surwat zale tar nakki sangto kunawar Balatkarache sankat nirman honar nahee anee apla Kanoon yewadha curruption khar pratekane wa sarkar ne sawaryala havee he karya...
hang each of the accused to set the example so that such incident does not occur in future
This is a really disturbing insident. To bad in an age of so many educated ”indians”, only the ”community” people are pushing the insident. The media has just started to buzz on the insident. I could only imagine in films that someone could do something like this and even ”appear” to get away with it. Just shows the law inforcement condition in rural india. I bet the police people in that area did not have even the intellect of a rikshaw puller we see in citys.
About the protests and distruction of public property in and around nagpur. It appears that the demonstration was not that organised. But if it was and if people where willing to take law in their hands, well, they should have gone after the people responsible for the insident rather then causing public inconvinience. I guess it was just to get the attention of the people, and it worked. But i cant justify it.
i just hope the culprits get punished. If not how can we be sure that anything even worse dosent happen again.
when i came to know about this incidence by news paper and by electronic media i really got shocked and thougt that after 56 years of independence we are not able to live in peace. This incedence also represents how our law and has effective to dare one, unfortunately i have to say that at present no one dare to indian law to afraid to commit crime, in my point of view hang till death its not perfect punishment to the accused who made such shamefull thing not only hang but also hang till death infront of people its the only to form dare to others that never thought to do this things again.
Its doesnot matter that they are dalit or any other cast we all are indians but its does matter that they are also indian humanbeings and they also have right to live pecefully. i am also brahmin but never support to this types of incidencse whether othere may be any cast.
Unfortunelly i want to say that our political and administration mechanisum are so that always act slowly after issue get errect. By this opnion i reuest to our judiciary that try to never get bailled in such type of cases, and our respectalble lawyers also avoid to take such cases. and finally i would also like to request to our media agence wheather it may be news paper or electronic media take proper cogniganse in time or such incidense.
it’s the truth of today’s media that our media is on the position of childhood. it need time to grow up. only 10 to 15 years is totel existing life of indian television media. our print media is one of the mature on in the world. but print media also try to beet TVs, and in this race, we are leaving many things behind.
Dear omsdas, you are right but media in India has gone a long way in just 15 years of its existing. It was excellent during at the initiating time. But now the mushrooming news channels are selling the news. They are not here for real journalistic purpose, they are here to earn revenue only. They go for the news which can be sold easily. Now online media (New Media) is doing the right kind of journalism. This issue is the clear example of that.
the pictures shown are the proof of the in human feeling of the killers about the dalits . Why is the govt. is not responding to this case. Why Mr. R R Patil is making a deaf ear towards this case.
dear pratush ranjan, i am agree that focus of electronic media only looking for revenue. but at the same time you can’t compare India’s electronic media with BBC and CNN. They are mature one. but I am working in electronic media and i know it’s time of transection, we are in the process of changing. actully we are learning a sort of trial and error method. as you said that online media is doing real journalism, it’s not true. At least main stream media is try to reaching that place where incident happend. but what in the case of online media thay don’t know the ground reality, because thay hardly doing reporting. In many cases, thay doing only cut and paste business. with thanks. by
Dear omsdas, As you said you are a electronic media person, nice to know that. You have point out a good matter of debate. But I think don’t make this issue as a center point of any other debate. This issue has pull down heads of all Indians.
Electronic media has the power to make Abhisek and Aishwarya’s possible marriage as International breaking news. They can make 1/2 an hour to one hour special programs on this matter with so many packages including the bytes of their fans and the reporters can clollect the public bytes by going in shopping malls. Are you talking about this type of ground reality and reporting from the ground? I think you were in a hurry to decide that who are doing real journalism or who are not. India has more than 6,00,000 villages, how many reports of problem facing by the villages are being covered by Electronic media.
If you will not agree with my words, then just go by the words said by our honorable President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.
read this -http://www.indiadaily.org/entry/india-needs-efficient-journalists-for-well-research-reporting-abdul-kalam/
regards
Hi All,
This incident is a real shame on all of us. Even after 60 years of independence our minds are slave to such inhumane thoughts.
I disagree with few of the writers on one point....they added a caste factor to the whole story...we all know criminals have no caste they are just anti social elements....such incidents take place everywhere...its just the powerful people versus downtrodden people....adding caste factor to such incidents will never solve any problem...it only widens the caste divide....we should consider this incident a crime against whole of humanity not against SCs/STs...and fight against such crimes....all the criminals should be hanged for such heinious crime....and yes the media is not playing its role....they are just business houses making a good money out of every news..if they feel that a news can raise their TRP they will cover that like anything...else it wont get a place even on the news strip running at the bottom of the TV screen.....
By writing blogs or writing articles on such incidents wont do much good...governments are doing their role..we should do our role...people from nearby place must help in rehabilitation of the victims....
Its my sincere request to all..pls do not give it a caste touch....thats the only way out to eradicate castism from this country..
Rohit Saxena