India shamed, yet again!
I could not stop commenting on two recent episodes that hog the headlines today:
Firstly, the episode of Tarun Tejpal of Tehelka and his molestation of his daughter’s friend, colleague and journalist on 7th November at the Tehelka Think Festival at Goa.
Tehelka itself was shot into fame with its expose and sting operation singeing BJP’s then top leader Bangaru Laxman (who had to resign), Barak Missile episode, match fixing stories, Naroda Patiya case, revelations on Dayanidhi Maran, leakage of defence files and many more. Tehelka kept us on the edge of the seats and grew to be a metaphor against corruption.
Tarun, after quitting his job as the editor of Outlook, started Tehelka in 2000, to start as an online news and later grew into a full-fledged magazine. Tarun was considered an outstanding and an upright journo, unafraid of any eventualities from the increasing number of enemies, whom would have loved to scald him.
That the news of the molestation has broken out and made breaking news and headlines in the newspapers is not strange. The way in which the editor E mailed the incidence, which falls under attempt to rape, under the present amended criminal acts, smacks of another royal poke, empowering himself to introspect (only on the victim’s going public of the story), adjudicate and abdicate his throne for a brief while as an atonement. Come on, “Tarun, you know the laws of the land. There is no scope to escape arrest and stand trial as per the present laws.”
Secondly, the sting operations and Anna’s allegations on corruption at AAP party. Arvind Kejriwal, broke out from Anna, who seemingly had softened his stand on the Government, gloating over his success in making the Lok Pal bill taken for discussion in the parliament. The wily and crafty parliamentarians laughed their way back home and his movement was dumped, belying the confidence of the youth and the public dreaming for a corruption free India.
Arvind started with a Aam Admi Party, with a broom as his party symbol and chasing every conceivable mis-governance without coming strongly on his own stand. How after his own presumed winning of the Delhi elections, he will grant statehood to Delhi is anyone’s guess, that is, if he wins at all. He also has been instrumental in plotting to bury a nationwide movement against corruption by Anna Hazare, by breaking away and taking a political route, forgetting Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement against the British and Jaya Prakash Narayan’s Sampoorna Kranti movement.
The sting operations conducted by crafty journalists, bent upon bringing a fact to the world that the important people around the seemingly savior of mankind, could be normal mortals, professing usual traits, when it comes to facing allurement with cash offers. My personal feeling is, AAP has distanced itself further from the Delhi Assembly’s winning post.
I wrote on the two episodes, one on a person, who rose to the stature of messiah, exposing corruption at high places and another, a party with a leader, who until the other day was considered standing atop an invincible fortress of integrity.
We are shamed!
