Media In India/elsewhere -2

[Guest]

Extraordinary letter from White House Counselor Ed Gillespie to NBC News topper Steve Capus.

Accuses NBC of selective editing of weekend interview with President Bush on “appeasement” remark and Iran.

Also asks for clarification on NBC views of “civil war” in Iraq, the economy, and the role of opinionmongers on MSNBC.

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"The following is a letter from Counselor to the President Ed Gillespie to NBC News President Steve Capus:

Steve Capus
President, NBC News
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, N.Y. 10112

Mr. Capus:

This e-mail is to formally request that NBC Nightly News and The Today Show air for their viewers President Bush’s actual answer to correspondent Richard Engel’s question about Iran policy and “appeasement,” rather than the deceptively edited version of the President’s answer that was aired last night on the Nightly News and this morning on The Today Show...

NBC’s selective editing of the President’s response is clearly intended to give viewers the impression that he agreed with Engel’s characterization of his remarks when he explicitly challenged it. Furthermore, it omitted the references to al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas and ignored the clarifying point in the President’s follow-up response that U.S. policy is to require Iran to suspend its nuclear enrichment program before coming to the table, not that “negotiating with Iran is pointless” and amounts to “appeasement.”

This deceitful editing to further a media-manufactured storyline is utterly misleading and irresponsible and I hereby request in the interest of fairness and accuracy that the network air the President’s responses to both initial questions in full on the two programs that used the excerpts...

Mr. Capus, I’m sure you don’t want people to conclude that there is really no distinction between the “news” as reported on NBC and the “opinion” as reported on MSNBC, despite the increasing blurring of those lines. I welcome your response to this letter, and hope it is one that reassures your broadcast network’s viewers that blatantly partisan talk show hosts like Christopher Matthews and Keith Olbermann at MSNBC don’t hold editorial sway over the NBC network news division." 
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
How left media is manipulating election, now interview of sitting President?
Same way media always go negative on India when it comes to Pakistan.

[Capt M Kumar]

<!--emo&:blow--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blow.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blow.gif' /><!--endemo--> Indian-American brings Internet campaigning to India
18 May 2008, 1221 hrs IST,IANS
NEW DELHI: If Ravi Singh, CEO of one of America's first internet electioneering sites, has his way, Indian political parties will be campaigning on the web in the next round of elections.

With nearly 640 campaigners signing up with it in the US in 2007, ElectionMall TM Technologies, Singh's brainchild, is creating waves in the world of political campaigning. Especially in the heat of the presidential elections there this year.

Globally, internet campaigning is a $75 billion market. In the US alone, it's a $9.8 billion market.

"The idea of political campaigning using technology, the internet, signifies a total paradigm shift. And it's working. Through the internet, not only is there a greater outreach to people but voters also have a wide choice at their fingertips in deciding whom to cast their votes for," Washington-based Singh said here over a cup of tea.

Singh, who keeps shuttling to and from Los Angeles, is in India to emulate a similar module and has invested $2 million in his ventures here. India's general election is to be held next year.

"I was 25 when I decided to join politics in the US but failed to make a mark. My failure made me realise the disadvantages while campaigning, the loopholes of being unable to reach across to the people.

"That's when I developed ElectionMall in 1999 with just one computer. Today it's recognised as one of the industry pioneers and people call me a campaign guru!" the 35-year-old Sikh American laughed.

Singh said that with people becoming internet savvy here, the idea of internet campaigning might just click.
"Didn't you vote for the Indian Idol show or some other reality show competition? With people becoming more technology-savvy, using internet campaigning will increase government participation amongst the people," he said.

The ElectionMall has over 63 international patents and is perhaps the only registering authority for digital certificates in elections.

It's a different story that there hasn't been much of a response from the political fraternity here. But Singh said he would continue to hold talks with the politicians and "educate the market" in this regard.

"This is why I have now set up two research and development labs in India - one in Delhi and the other in Bangalore. The factors which click in the US don't necessarily work here and we have to do our homework carefully before setting foot here," Singh said.

"We are also inviting young entrepreneurs to help us in this venture. We will most probably start this module with local states on a licensing model," Singh said.

But it's not just politicians who can avail themselves of the services of ElectionMall. Voters can use a voter's tool called Widget, by which they can raise funds on behalf of the politician they support.

"Political parties, individual candidates, promoters, citizen's groups, voters - anyone - can run a campaign and we will do the rest.

"Creating web pages, campaign literature, managing staff, helping raise funds, contacting voters by e-mail, fax and phone, organising election tours, even printing, and distributing T-shirts and other election material - it's all up to us," he said.

[Guest]

here is a spin/teesra by the BBC
Strike over Maoist Killing
Life in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, has been brought to a halt by a general shutdown, called in protest at a killing by <b>Maoist former rebels</b>
Human rights activists say the Maoists killed a Kathmandu businessman inside one of their military camps in southern Nepal earlier this month.

The <b>former rebels</b> say it was an <b>isolated incident. </b>
--------------
UNMin has condemned the incident, but told the BBC it <b>was not yet clear where the victim died</b>. His body has not been found.

The Maoist leader, Prachanda, says the <b>killing was the work of isolated people</b> within his party whom <b>he called "selfish". </b>

[Bharatvarsh]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Dalit boy touches the stars

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/...how/3041392.cms<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
What does caste have to do with this?

A few days later it turns out that:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Kolhapur boy cons authorities to get money for NASA trip

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Kolhapu...how/3069481.cms<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Our former "Dalit" boy suddenly becomes just a "Kolhapur" boy, interesting how that works.

A while back I saw on cnn ibn I think, a headline stating something along the lines of "Dalit boy beaten brutally", turns out his own dad did that, what role did caste play in that?

When you get a lot of people who just skim through the headlines, they form their impressions through them, and this is how responsible our "secular" media is.

[Guest]

Media bias in Karnataka election coverage exposed.

[Bharatvarsh]

Another report in a similar vein by Times of Pakistan:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Dalit man lynched in Bihar
30 May 2008, 2034 hrs IST,PTI

SAMASTIPUR (BIHAR): A dalit was allegedly beaten to death by his neighbours after he demanded the money he owed to them in Samastipur district, police said on Friday.

Superintendent of Police Surendra Lal Das said that Lakendra Paswan (35) was tied with a bamboo tree and lynched for daring to ask for payment from one Heeralal Paswan, under whom he was working.

The accused, however, alleged that Lakendra was drunk when he entered the house of Amarnath Paswan, Heeralal's relative, and misbehaved with his wife, following which they beat him to death on Thursday.

A high level team of the state Human Rights Commission will make an in depth inquiry into the killing of the dalit, official sources said.

Amarnath Paswan has been taken into custody and efforts were on to arrest the other accused persons.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/...how/3086628.cms<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[G.Subramaniam]

A paswan kills another paswan and suddenly it becomes an atrocity on dalits

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>A high level team of the state Human Rights Commission will make an in depth inquiry into the killing of the dalit</b>, official sources said.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Is this a joke or journalist wrote this under influence?

[Pandyan]

This is not new, I have seen other news stories like this. And just above that BV posted another 1 just like that.

[dhu]

The entire so-called caste system is constructed out of such material. land fights, random murders, etc are attributed with an ideological basis. someone complaining about "it's very difficult to get tea" gets converted into a desire to sit at the table. Same thing with entry into kitchens, eating out of plates, and so on...

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Madhava Prasad (2000) rightly points out this confusion in our understanding of caste problems in one of his articles.

[I]n its “India Matters” segment, Star News reported on the continued practice of untouchability in a part of Tamil Nadu…reporter is interviewing a labourer who says...in Tamil: “Oru kappu tee kadikkiradekashtamapochi.” A close translation of this remark would be as follows: “It is/has become difficult to get even a cup of tea.” However, the translation provided by the news programme was embellished with the insinuation of another desire, rendering the cup of tea itself immaterial. It said, “We cannot even have a cup of tea with them.” <b>This is not so much a translation error as an ideological slip. To put it simply, the expression of a need (and the difficulty of its fulfilment) has been converted by the translator into an expression of desire.</b> ... The labourer’s words could be interpreted as a complaint against the tea-stall owners for refusing to serve him tea, but the translator implies that he is actually more concerned about the refusal of the upper caste customers to let him share their company. To the stated object, “cup of tea” the translator adds the implied object: to have tea with “them”. The subject too has changed: the grammatical subject “it” has been replaced by the collective “we”, thereby transforming the speaker into a spokesman.4<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Guest]

<b>India: No Bragging Rights yet</b>

<!--emo&:flush--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/Flush.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='Flush.gif' /><!--endemo-->

[Guest]

Wanted: <b>Professional journalists from the developing world</b> for ten-month
fellowship in U.S.

The Humphrey Fellowship Program offers a ten-month stay at a leading
American university to study journalism and undertake professional
affiliations at top U.S. news organizations.

The non-degree program includes financial support for studies, travel,
workshops and seminars, a monthly stipend, funds for books and a computer
subsidy.

Fellows take classes in journalism, public affairs, government, or other
fields of their choice. Humphrey Fellows from different professional
fields are assigned to 15 different U.S. campuses. Most Humphrey
journalists are assigned to the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at
the University of Maryland, one of the top journalism programs in the U.S.
Fellows participate in field trips, workshops, lectures and many other
offerings available in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area, only a
30-minute subway ride away. Fellows often use some of their professional
stipend for travel within the U.S.

Applicants should have a minimum of five years of substantial professional
experience, limited or no experience in the U.S., demonstrated leadership
qualities and commitment to their communities. Most applicants have good
English skills and university degrees.

To apply: Contact the <b>Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy or the
Fulbright Commission in your home country.</b>

Deadline: Varies by country, but usually June to September for the
following year (Now for the 2009-2010 year.)

For more information: http://www.humphreyfellowship.org and/or
http://www.journalism.umd.edu/Humphrey/

[Guest]

From Hindustan times
Writer booked for 'derogatory article'

A complaint was registered against political analyst Ashish Nandy for writing a "derogatory article", police said on Friday.
The case has been registered under Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, language etc) and 153B (imputations, assertions, prejudicial to national integration), police said.
The complaint was filed by V K Saxena, President of National Council of Civic Liberties, an NGO.
According to NCCL, the article written by Nandy was "derogatory and presented Gujarat and its citizens in bad light".
The article was published in a leading daily soon after the Gujarat elections.

[Guest]

this link from IBN tries to blame Modi for filing the complaint
Modi govt files case against Ashis Nandy, daily
New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government on Sunday decided to file criminal cases against noted sociologist Ashis Nandy and the resident editor of a national daily in Ahmedabad.
While Nandy has been charged for an article he wrote in January, the newspaper had published stories critical of the Ahmedabad commissioner of police.
An irate Nandy told CNN-IBN that the state government is taking such steps to silence its critics.
“I have been charged with creating animosity between communities for publishing a column. They want to threaten me but they also know that their case has cannot stand against me,” Nandy said.
Calling it a case of harassment, Nandy also said that he has spoken to his lawyers, however he is “not going to take such issues seriously.”

[Bharatvarsh]

Thats hilarious, although I am for complete freedom of speech for everyone, the impotency of the Indian gov't makes that impossible and you often get the rights of Hindus being supressed (eg: Aurangzeb exhibition) under the phony "communal harmony" crap, well its time the "secular" scumbags too face the same thing, they won't learn their lessons any other way.

It would be great if the b@st@rd Khushwant Singh's books are all banned, he had no qualms recommending a ban on Salman Rushdies controversial book in the 90s.

[Pandyan]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Dalit youth beaten to death in Moga
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/...how/3091612.cms<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

What relevance does caste have in this?

[Bharatvarsh]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Times of India faces sedition charges from police
1 day ago

AHMEDABAD (AFP) — The Times of India said Monday it is facing sedition charges  from the police for allegedly questioning the competence of a senior officer in volatile Gujarat state.

Editor Bharat Desai and a senior reporter with the Ahmedabad edition have been charged along with a photographer for the Guajarat Samachar newspaper, the Times told AFP.

The leading English-language broadsheet was seeking legal advice after being informed of the charges,  although they had "not yet got copies of the charges filed against Desai and (Prashant) Dayal," a journalist said, asking not to be named.

Ahmedabad police declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

The charges, which include criminal conspiracy, stem from a series of investigative reports questioning the alleged links of new Ahmedabad police chief O.P. Mathur with a mafia don and his ability to guarantee security in the city.

Mathur was appointed to the job just last month in Ahmedabad, the western state's commercial capital, which is reported to figure high on the hit-list of several Islamic rebel groups.

"As a leading responsible newspaper, it was our duty to highlight the past of the man who is the new commissioner," Desai told NDTV news channel.

The daily wrote on its front-page Monday that "the reports essentially were a scrutiny of the track record of the top cop in view of the challenge posed by terrorists."

Hundreds of journalists and rights activists protested Monday outside Mathur's office, chanting slogans against attempts to "muzzle the media."

"This is a conspiracy against freedom of the press and we want that everyone across the country speaks up against this," said Rathin Das, a senior journalist with the rival Hindustan Times.

Rights activist Cedric Prakash said the charges were "symbolic of the fascist mindset of an administration which does not care about the constitutional rights of its citizens, specially freedom of speech and expression."

Gujarat, ruled by Hindu nationalists, witnessed widespread rioting in 2002 when mainly Hindu mobs rampaged through Muslim neighbourhoods killing at least 2,000 Muslims.

The rioting followed a fire in a train carriage that killed 59 Hindu pilgrims.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jtpyeE...1_SwBwtMHQHrb-g<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Bharatvarsh]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Dalit woman is sarpanch of Punjab village
4 Jun 2008, 0103 hrs IST,I P Singh,TNN

PHULL: A 21-year-old Dalit girl has become sarpanch of this village in Kapurthala district in the recently-held panchayat polls. Sukhi had not imagined, even in her wildest dreams — engrossed as she was in household chores and stitching to help her family make ends meet — that she would one day head the village.

In fact, mother Piar Kaur was to contest the election but after her voter's card was lost, she had to shelve the plan. Sukhi's father Sucha Ram, a mason who had returned from Dubai some time back, was determined that somebody from the family contest the election and that was when Sukhi entered the fray.

As the seat was reserved for an SC woman candidate and she happened to fulfil the requirements, there was no looking back.

"I also wanted to be active in social life but could not get a chance," Sukhi said, while adding that destiny gave her the opportunity and villagers also supported her wholeheartedly.

If the lost card of her mother forced the candidature on her, it was a margin of a mere four votes over her nearest candidate in the election that helped her become a rare example of sarpanch at such a young age.

"I want all-round development of my village and want my village to be ahead of others," she said, shyly referring to a day when she might be married by adding, "I wish villagers remember me after I leave this village."

Harvinder Singh, a village resident who actively supported her, said, "Though we are satisfied that all five candidates of our party won, more importantly, it is a matter of pride that our village has probably the youngest woman sarpanch. Being young and fresh in public life, she would be working without biases and would be having more development-oriented approach than getting embroiled in petty issues."

"It can boost the morale of other girls in the village," felt another villager Sukhwinder Singh.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/D...how/3097485.cms<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
If it was already reserved, then what other caste woman will win?

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Indian Conservatives Struggle to Build Alternative Media</b>

Richard L. Benkin

Amitabh Tripathi is convinced his nation of India is under attack; so he did something few people are willing to do.  He abandoned a promising freelance career with India's mainstream media (MSM), so he could he could write openly as a conservative about Indian leftists, Islamists, and government policies that play into their hands. 

"You cannot write about the leftists," he told me, "because the Congress [Party] government is dependent on them"; and if you identify the terrorist threat as Islamist, "you are called anti-Muslim and a racist."  But, Tripathi said, that is not what worries  him the most.  "The major threat to Indian sovereignty is government policies that are based on pseudo-secularism and Muslim appeasement."  For journalists, that translates into a rigid political correctness that forces them to adhere to the MSM's left-wing bias or look for employment elsewhere.

"After meeting Dr. Daniel Pipes and Dr. Richard Benkin," Tripathi said, "I came to know the gravity of the Islamic threat, what the whole world is facing, and the ignorance people have about the Israel-Palestine struggle.  India is entering the most critical period in its history and that the current government and other elites are handing our enemies a victory."  Since most of what we hear about the world's largest democracy centers on its new role as an economic giant, its nuclear status, and perhaps its ties with Israel, we might think Tripathi is exaggerating; but there is a great deal that our own MSM does not report. 

I was in India for the better part of February this year, when almost every day saw radical action:  "road strikes" where separatists and other protesting radicals closed major thoroughfares; a thwarted cyber-terrorist attack by Islamists; communist agitation and demonstrations against India's proposed nuclear deal with the United States; and a military operation by Maoist terrorists against a police station that killed dozens. 

Islamic radicals are flexing their muscles, too, building radical madrassas (or Islamic schools) throughout the country, especially in Muslim-dominated villages.  Darul Uloom Deoband, the seminary that produced the Taliban's Mullah Omar, is located less than 100 miles from the capital and continues to issue regular fatwas.  Muslims are demanding autonomy in several areas; and three Indian states have communist governments.  The most entrenched of them, West Bengal, sits less than 15 miles from a barely-patrolled border with China.

So Tripathi started Lokmanch, a Hindi-language web site that features frank criticism of what he and others call the government's "ostrich-like behavior."  He also has translated articles on Israel, the US war against Islamist terror and extremism, Barack Obama, and other topics.  They provide Indians with information that their media simply does not report.  Quietly, Tripathi is attracting more and more Indian journalists, including bona fide members of the MSM.  Several of them offered me their candid opinions about the media's leftist bias, the center-left government, and the severity of the Islamist threat facing their country.  They work for major newspapers and broadcast channels; English and Hindi-language outlets, purely Indian companies, and some with an international reach.  Their concern was genuine; their passion intense.

But because, they told me, they "would surely be sacked" if their editors or colleagues heard those candid opinions, we met in out of the way hotels, coffee shops, and other inconspicuous places.  So concerned were they that only some agreed to let me tape our conversations.  And all of them-with the exception of Amitabh Tripathi-agreed to speak openly only so long as they remained anonymous.  They hoped our interviews would garner support for their cause, especially in the United States.  "At the very least," one told me, "perhaps it will help people know just how dangerous things here are."

<b>"India is regarded as a very soft state."</b>

Every journalist echoed the sentiments expressed by this one.  "The US and India are two great democracies.  We [India] must support the US War on Terror.  It is the only thing we should do!"  They are frustrated and concerned, however, at India's reticence to do so whole heartedly.  The ruling parties "fear a negative response from Muslims [and a loss of votes even though] more people believe India should openly ally itself with the US in the war on terror...the politicians are afraid to be seen as anti-Muslim." 

Muslims make up about 20 percent of the Indian population, and their interest groups and organizations are united and vocal.  In the media, reports must adhere to a certain formula "because they feel that these kinds of [anti-terror] reports will build up feelings against Muslims."  Thus, they attribute things to generic "terrorists, but they are not terrorists.  They are Indian Muslim institutions getting money from the Saudis...to create mosques that look like five-star hotels."

In the lead up to this year's Indian budget, Muslim groups rolled out statistics showing their constituents lagging behind in education and income and demanded subsidies and government commitments.  No one challenged their assumption that the lag was due to prejudice or that the Indian taxpayers had to shoulder the burden.  They simply caved and acceded to most of the demands.  Hence, the budget contains large sums for Muslim pilgrimages to Jerusalem's Al Aqsa, but not a penny for stateless Hindu refugees from Islamist terror in Bangladesh.  "If you are pro-Hindu, you are called a racist."

India's parliamentary system also complicates things.  The ruling Congress Party had to ally itself with Indian Communists (CPIM) to oust the right wing Bhatariya Janata Party (BJP).  The CPIM is part of the ruling coalition and holds the balance of power.  "If they believe their demands are not being met, they can bring down the government.  This is why India still has not ratified the nuclear deal with the US."  Many Congress leaders recognize its critical security role and want to sign it, but their communist partners have made the deal's rejection key to their remaining in the coalition.  This also helps explain India's puzzling reaction to the recent Maoist takeover in neighboring Nepal.  Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukharjee hailed the communist victory as a new era in South Asian politics even after the new Nepalese commissars vowed to end "Indian dominance" in Nepal.  "He comes from West Bengal...and cannot represent his state without support of communists," which drives Indian foreign policy.

<b>"Israel is our role model; America is our ally."</b>

The wedge issue separating the Old Left elites from today's Indian conservatives is Israel.  The MSM reports Israel as the villain in the Middle East and the Palestinians as victims.  For the first half century of their existence, India and Israel did not even have diplomatic relations.  It was not until the 1990s that common security concerns prompted a thaw; and relations did not really take off until 2003 with a visit by then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. 

Previous Indian politics built on the late Jawaharlal Nehru's union with Yugoslavia's Josip Broz Tito and Egypt's Gamal Nasser to form the non-aligned bloc of nations.  The anti-US and anti-Israel course they charted set the basis for the UN's endemic hatred of both nations and dominated Indian policy for decades.  That is why, one journalist told me, "there is something of a generation gap between the [established and generally older] editors and publishers" and people today.

Media coverage remains biased, which is why, according to Tripathi, it came as a tremendous surprise to many Indians when they saw evidence that Israelis were the victims of Arab terror.  They began wondering at MSM condemnation of actions that were no less self-defense than their own.  "We must give people the real picture of Israel-Palestine struggle" as parallel to our own struggle for existence.  "The network of madrassas and imams in India, holds that the entire subcontinent was once under Muslim rule and still would be were it not for the British.  That is how they look at Israel, as darul Islam"; that is, as a land once under Muslim hegemony and so by rights always under it.  They opposed Indian partition in 1947 and the partition of Palestine in 1948, because it would recognize the legitimacy of the non-Muslim state on land they consider their own.

Many Indians "are enraged" by their nation's "soft policy" and have begun holding up Israel as a role model publicly.  They also point to Israel's development in areas like agriculture and defense.  "Despite adversities, Israel progressed a lot but we Indians were far lagging behind."  "Without a doubt," another said, "if Israel did not say to hell with those who wanted it to be soft, it would be gone.  And if India does not do the same thing, it will be gone because the official philosophy of the [Muslims] is the same."

A couple days after Tripathi and I parted, I found myself addressing a journalism class at the University of Lucknow in Upper Pradesh province.  I spoke about the role of journalists, the war against Islamist terror, and about Bangladeshi Hindus living in India-victims of ethnic cleansing.  The students were lively and engaged on a variety of topics, but their eyes really lit up when I mentioned that I am a Zionist and had been to Israel.  Their thirst for knowledge and analysis seemed unquenchable; their questions non- stop.  "How has such a small country like Israel been able to defeat all of the Arabs and their terrorists?"  "How can we [India] be more like Israel?"  Even the one student who took a vocal, anti-Israel position addressed admitted to the class that "I have to do more work to check my information."

<b>"Axis of evil and axis of terror in this world are Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran"</b>

"There is not a single democracy between Tel Aviv and New Delhi, and if we keep taking the road of weakness, our enemies could easily defeat us...Our foreign policy is to have friendly relations with our neighbors.  But our neighbors are all radical Islamists and dictators."  These journalists freely admit that they are not "completely objective, but at least we say so" in contrast to the MSM.  They believe that the vast majority of India's 1.1 billion people see things the way they do but that their nation has been hi-jacked by "leftists, weaklings, and corrupt people."  For instance, one said, "it's a crime that the communists are still in power.  They use intimidation and voter fraud, but Congress lets them because they want to stay in power.  If BJP and Congress would come together and force a fair election, the Communists will lose."

Providing Indians with good information, uncensored by a fearful and rigid MSM is what Amitabh Tripathi hopes to accomplish with Lokmanch.  "The web site is only the first step," he said.  "Small, local papers publish in huge numbers and they are not part of the mainstream media.  They are just as frustrated with things as we are.  We want to channelize (sic) them to become an alternative media."  He estimates it will take "two to three years perhaps" to build a news network and mobilize opinion makers in India.  Several small papers already have joined Tripathi's network.  We can help by providing them with access to news and opinion and original articles (much as I did with Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury in Bangladesh).  And like all such endeavors, this one is struggling to find funds, as well.

Mandhol Kalan is a small village about 50 miles from Delhi where Deoband imams banned television, radio, photography, even singing.  One Hindi TV network did a story exposing it, which forced the government to react.  But instead of addressing the issue it raised, the Ministry responded by distributing new television sets.  Not surprisingly, the Deobandis returned, confiscated the TVs, and re-instituted the ban.  But now, the government does not return calls, and networks have not returned to Mandhol Kalan.  Thus, just outside the Indian capital is a village that makes Afghanistan look like Las Vegas.  Worse, said one of the journalists involved in the original report, the media's silence "allows [the Islamists] to impose their views exclusively and produce more terrorists."

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/05/ind...s_struggle.html<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[acharya]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Hindus want 'NC-17' rating for 'The Love Guru' movie

Washington (PTI): Hindus in the US, who are protesting against the release of controversial film 'The Love Guru', have appealed to a top American rating body for assigning the movie grade 'NC-17' so that nobody under 17 can watch it.

The movie currently has 'PG-13' rating provided by the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA) of the US which means 'parents are strongly cautioned, some material may be inappropriate for children under 13'.

Hindu groups are protesting against the release of the movie, alleging it "lampoons their religion and beliefs".

"Cinema is a powerful medium and it can create stereotypes in the minds of some audiences, especially in the minds of younger audiences, who are passing through an impressionable phase. We do not want our next generation to be growing up with a distorted view of Hinduism and Hindus," Rajan Zed, a Hindu leader spearheading the protests said in a statement.

"If Paramount Pictures and Viacom, the presenters of the film, continue with their anti-Hindu stance we will consider launching a worldwide boycott of their products, and will stop any dealing with the companies," Bhavna Shinde, a representative of Hindu Janjagruti Samiti, said.

'The Love Guru' is a comedy starring Mike Myers of 'Austin Powers' fame and is set to be released on June 20. The main character in the film is raised in an 'ashram' in India and then moves to the US as 'Guru Pitka' to seek fame and fortune.

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