Walking into Pak Trap

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The Indian Express walked into Pakistan’s familiar trap: equating Pakistan’s puppet, civilian regime with the Indian State and more shamefully equating their rogue army with our brave hearts in uniform. http://www.indianexpress.com/section/editorial/35/. See the last line of the editorial today. Similarly, Indian reporters are so desperate to get an “exclusive” that they let the oft repeated Pak assertion go un-rebutted, that military “parity” between Pak and India is a sensible notion. That is real cheek.
This follows on the unedifying spectacle of a senior TV anchor with an English channel “siring” and squirming before the Pak Prime Minister in New York on Sunday last while referring to her own Prime Minister by name “Manmohan Singh” as if he were an Under Secretary in the Ministry of Finance. We are thankful she did not refer to the PM by his first name, as many Indian TV anchors are now prone to do, to show that they are heavily networked. They need not do this because the Radia episode exposed them. Our top most anchors should learn from BBC and CNN (not imitate them blindly) where anchors do not refer to the “flag holders” from their own countries except after adding an honorific though they do not generally extend the same courtesy to leaders from developing countries. There is a sub-text to on-sceen informality which needs to be discerned. No one refers to the Queen of England by her name. American Presidents hang onto the “Mister President” name tag, long after they have left the post and are expected to live upto it also. In India also, the State provides ex-PMs and Presidents the such ce of continuation of the palatial life they get used to while in office. Why then tolerate and encourage such ritual downgrading by the Indian press?

Pronoy Roy and Vinod Dua should start a school for TV anchors so that such errors are not repeated. Call me old and old fashioned but I like listening to debate not a shouting match in a shrill tone. If I wanted that I would go to the local disco and listen to my son’s electronic music. Thank God for the likes of Vishnu Shom, Nidhi Razdan and Rajdeep Sardesia (who has learnt to listen rather than scream). Will others please follow deorum and decency. I am sure there are other stellar anchors in the Hindi channels as well but I get exhausted just watching the English ones.

 
 

2 thoughts on “Walking into Pak Trap

  1. All are pro pakistan pro congress anti india stooges. Some have been caught in monumental scams and yet let off for reasons that one feels ashamed to describe here . Nidhi Razdan questions the supreme court of india and facilitates pakistani spokespersons on indian channels whilst bashing our army and the bravehearts.. I think Pakistan is a more conducive place for all your so called “good talkers” to start anothet ndtv. They can call it NITV . New islamabad terror vision

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