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Amarnath killings

7 pilgrims have been killed by terrorists. They were on their way to Amarnath. It’s saddening. It makes me sadder than other forms of killing since it was a pilgrimage. Moreover Amarnath is a high profile, strenuous ‘Yatra’ meant only for the chronic Hindu devotees. Civilians, on a pious trip, would be the softest of all targets, even for the hardcore terrorists. Hence it must be condemned harder than other forms of homicide. And that’s what the media is doing. When the Mumbai massacre (26/11) happened in 2008, we were all hooked on to the TV set. The nomenclature was an obvious derivation from the WTC attack on 9/11. Our indigenous ‘dd/mm’ format gave us a boon. Let me not repeat a ‘Mumbai Meri Jaan’ line here, though I’ve deep respect for the makers and the content. Today’s newspaper headline reminds me of a few incidents around that time. 1.    RGV went to an affected area along with the erstwhile CM and spotted by the media. He wasn’t supposed to accompany a CM. He had probab

Blitzkrieg on TV

Arnab Goswami has listened to Mr.  Narayana Murthy's plea . India, Mr. Goswami's nation, has found an answer to the charges on lack of innovations. Mr. Goswami is spearheading a movement in his new avatar. After a brief hiatus from public eyes, he is back with a news channel which claims to have snatched the numero uno spot in no time. For the last 1 week, its only line is India vs Pakistan. It's a hard line as opposed to the carefully crafted diplomatic ones being watered till now. It's a pseudo war (albeit verbal with slurs being the only weapons) that gets played out on national TV everyday. In aggression it can beat even a real army on a scorching summer day, in warmongering an Alexander or a Kublai Khan. I'm not going to raise fingers on his (or his financier's) ulterior motive behind running such a high octane show. The typical questions his rivals ask e.g., whose money is it, are the fierce exchanges scripted, why just one headline , is it about news