Why
did the media ignore Kailash Satyarthi ? It was barely hours after
the news broke that I stumbled upon this post by none other than Mr
Kingshuk Nag, TOI's Hyderabad editor', on a popular social media
portal. Nag goes on to explain it further in his blog which was
carried prominently by TimesofIndia.com. “I have a confession to
make. I have not heard of Kailash Satyarthi till the news broke about
him...,” the first line explains it all about our media, more so
our elite English media of this country. Irony is you hardly expect
such a story under the banner of TOI. Thanks to Nag, it created quite
a flutter on the day.
Interestingly,
there were many such voices on social media who were quite vocal
about their ignorance. As reads one of them, “I too had not heard
or read about him. Isn't it sad how our media spend all their time
discussing politicians and completely ignore the good things people
are doing!.” As sums of another observer, “ We are late-lateef:
Gandhi first got recognition in South Africa, Vivekananda in the
US...so the Govt of India's turn to do a serious think about it!!!.”
A
quick glance of news channels would tell you how our media fraternity
is good at making up. Series of stories on Kailash Satyarthi and
there was no end to it. As if, all of a sudden, the reporting on
child rights became so fashionable on Indian soil except for Times
Now which was still discovering the mystery behind Sunanda Pushkar's
death. Coming to the story, while most of the reports be it print or
electronic were passing the news, there was hardly any story
explaining why media had shut the door on the matter of Kailash
Satyarthi earlier or it was just a coincidence ?
The
following update from a little bird on Facebook suggests an exclusive
yet to come. “I had tried to help his media person a friend of mine
about ten years back..very few journalist wrote on NGOs.. however I
was very politely told as Satyatri had broken from Swami Agnivesh who
had lots of friends in media...he may not be covered......this may
answer many ???
Prominent
Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar though mentioned that Kailash Satyarthi
used to write for the newspaper. Incidentally, the newspaper also
repeated the editorial of 10th
October 2006 on Child Rights issue the same day. Social media, like
any other day, had quite a few interesting updates on the person. The
man was recognized by the US State Department in 2007 as a "Hero
Acting to End Modern Day Slavery", said one post by Ch Sushil
Rao, a media professional based in Hyderabad while another on sharing
stage with Jairam Ramesh and the likes for a programme in the same
city a couple of years back.
A
common check with an IT engineer sharing the home town and the school
with the person would give a better perspective on the entire
episode. “He was one of us doing his job caring little for any
tangible and quick benefits including media coverage,” that's how
sums up Vijaya Shrivastava, an IT engineer at NTPC Korba, who hails
from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh.
So
it was truly ironical that Kailash won it without most of us knowing
him, forget the media and then international media. It was ironical
he shared it with a Pakistani when firing was on along the LoC of
both the countries. It was ironical even that Malala's rise to fame
put her in a context opposed to Kailash's journey so far.
For
many, Malala has been western media's blue-eyed girl whose story fits
well into the western narrative of the oriental oppression, in which
the context underlying the creation of the oppression is left out.
“The Western world can feel good about itself as they save the
native woman from the savage men of her home nation. It is a historic
racist narrative that has been institutionalised,” comments Assed
Baig, the Pakistan-origin journalist based in the UK, adding “the
actions of the West, the bombings, the occupations the wars all seem
justified now. See, we told you, this is why we intervene to save the
natives.”
Elaborates
a fellow thinker, Another reality is the story of Abeer Qassim Hamza
al-Janabi, 14-year-old Iraqi girl, who was gang raped by five U.S.
Army soldiers and killed in her house in Yusufiyah (Iraq) in 2006.
She was raped and murdered after her parents and six-year-old sister
Hadeel Qasim Hamza were killed. Also not irrelevant to mention is
that Abeer was going to school before the US invasion but had to stop
going because of her father’s concerns for her safety.
And
while the West applauds Malala (as they should), I am afraid it might
be for the wrong reasons, or with a wrong perspective. It feels like
the West wants to gain an agenda that suits them or the policies they
want. That is also why Malala’s views on Islam are rarely
presented. She uses her faith as a framework to argue for the
importance of education rather than making Islam a justification for
oppression, but that is rarely mentioned.
xxxx
All
of us are habituated with a free and fair media that asks question to
almost everybody with an objective to uphold the basic principles of
democracy. We are often used to extensive coverage on certain issues
in the media, at times trivialisation of news. Media points fingure
at many things since it is its job. But who is out there to point
fingure at media when media itself is caught on wrong foot, or misses
something to cover, or jumps the gun ?
In the end, my question largely remains as it is. Why I didn't know Kailash
Satyarthi ? Why I knew it from Reuters the other day, not from TOI or
HT or Bhaskar or Rediff.com before ?