Today both Arnab and TimesNow have squared off my respect they commanded. Arnab and TimesNow were my hope in this insane 24/7 news world. I was willing to forgo my grouse built over past month. But today they killed it.
Today they irresponsibly insulted Indian Armed Forces.
From now on, they will get my respect only on daily content and conduct basis. Past has been squared off. I do not care what were the circumstances for carrying this report.
Fuelling anger against Indian Army for a job well done in eradicating Sikh militancy in Punjab and remaining silent for over 30 years, they dare discuss a documentary by Kanwar Sandhu (KS) accusing army of committing excesses..!!
Kanwar Sandhu, the documentary maker, was with Indian Express, Hindustan Times and now Day & Night News. His Newsroom Head Harpal Singh was with NDTV, CNBC, Aaj Tak, Headlines Today, Indian Express. His editor Gurinder Singh Randhawa held all government positions in All India Report, Press Information Bureau, Election Commission of India, Ministries of Home, I&B, Environment & Forests and Industry and also served as Editor-in-Chief of Central Monitoring Services. All bring over 20-30 years of journalism experience.
With this kind of illustrious back ground of the Kanwar Sandhu team, why none have ever raised this issue till date in last 30 years? Why no one? Why never till date? US and Indian Intelligence Agencies have been exchanging information that Sikh militancy group - Khalisthan is being revived, trained and funded by ISI of Pakistan which has potential to spread terror in India, US, Canada and UK. Why this documentary was hurriedly produced and published now. And did this deserve a prime-time NewsHour debate..??
Nor to my mind and my recollection, TimesNow has ever carried any news against Indian Army relating to their role in Sikh Militancy.
I am not accusing Arnab or TimesNow of insulting Indian Armed Forces directly.
But even carrying a news report after 30 years and after never ever hearing any complaints against Indian Armed Forces in relation to Sikh-millitancy, the conducting debate on topic it itself is insulting.
This is not about free speech. Its about responsible news reporting. I would have appreciated if facts and evidences were discussed. Instead, Arnab and TimesNow fostered (did not personally make but participants made) inappropriate, baseless and unsubstantiated insinuations against Indian Army.
Worst, why was there no representation from Indian Army or Ministry of Defence in the debate to put their side of defence. Inviting one former retired Army man who lacks resources and access to the information relating to incident 30 years back, does not constitute fair representation.
It was nothing short of irresponsible reporting.
I wish CNN / NYT / WP culture was here in Indian media when it comes to reporting any story on Armed Forces.
Then again, Indian media lacks courage to report on and carry NewsHour debate on the most critical, open and shameless corruption cover-up story of the day: PM Manmohan Singh refusing information under Right To Information (RTI) Act on land dealings by Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Italian Sonia 'Antonia Manio' Gandhi.
Today they irresponsibly insulted Indian Armed Forces.
From now on, they will get my respect only on daily content and conduct basis. Past has been squared off. I do not care what were the circumstances for carrying this report.
Fuelling anger against Indian Army for a job well done in eradicating Sikh militancy in Punjab and remaining silent for over 30 years, they dare discuss a documentary by Kanwar Sandhu (KS) accusing army of committing excesses..!!
Kanwar Sandhu, the documentary maker, was with Indian Express, Hindustan Times and now Day & Night News. His Newsroom Head Harpal Singh was with NDTV, CNBC, Aaj Tak, Headlines Today, Indian Express. His editor Gurinder Singh Randhawa held all government positions in All India Report, Press Information Bureau, Election Commission of India, Ministries of Home, I&B, Environment & Forests and Industry and also served as Editor-in-Chief of Central Monitoring Services. All bring over 20-30 years of journalism experience.
With this kind of illustrious back ground of the Kanwar Sandhu team, why none have ever raised this issue till date in last 30 years? Why no one? Why never till date? US and Indian Intelligence Agencies have been exchanging information that Sikh militancy group - Khalisthan is being revived, trained and funded by ISI of Pakistan which has potential to spread terror in India, US, Canada and UK. Why this documentary was hurriedly produced and published now. And did this deserve a prime-time NewsHour debate..??
Nor to my mind and my recollection, TimesNow has ever carried any news against Indian Army relating to their role in Sikh Militancy.
I am not accusing Arnab or TimesNow of insulting Indian Armed Forces directly.
But even carrying a news report after 30 years and after never ever hearing any complaints against Indian Armed Forces in relation to Sikh-millitancy, the conducting debate on topic it itself is insulting.
This is not about free speech. Its about responsible news reporting. I would have appreciated if facts and evidences were discussed. Instead, Arnab and TimesNow fostered (did not personally make but participants made) inappropriate, baseless and unsubstantiated insinuations against Indian Army.
Worst, why was there no representation from Indian Army or Ministry of Defence in the debate to put their side of defence. Inviting one former retired Army man who lacks resources and access to the information relating to incident 30 years back, does not constitute fair representation.
It was nothing short of irresponsible reporting.
I wish CNN / NYT / WP culture was here in Indian media when it comes to reporting any story on Armed Forces.
Then again, Indian media lacks courage to report on and carry NewsHour debate on the most critical, open and shameless corruption cover-up story of the day: PM Manmohan Singh refusing information under Right To Information (RTI) Act on land dealings by Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Italian Sonia 'Antonia Manio' Gandhi.
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