'#Presstitutes' are welcome to boycott me
I am informed by some people that most media persons and media houses, both print and TV, have decided to boycott me and not to publish my views or anything about me.
Probably that is because I largely supported General VK Singh who called mediapersons' "presstitutes", on my Facebook post and blog. Of course I had also said that there were also many upright journalists, and I had mentioned the name of P Sainath, whom I greatly respect. I also include the late Vinod Mehta, Karan Thapar, N. Ram, Vinod Sharma, Madhu Trehan, Krishna Prasad, Rahul Kanwal, Bhupendra Chaubey and some others whom I respect. But yes, the vast majority of Indian journalists are indeed "presstitutes", as my experience in the Press Council showed me.
If my information is correct, and indeed these "presstitutes" have decided to boycott me, they are welcome.
I have repeatedly said that I am not a publicity or popularity seeker, and so I am totally unaffected by such stupid "boycotts". Yes, I want publicity of my ideas, not for any personal benefit but because I believe they are in the interest of the nation. However, even if my views are not publicised in the print or TV media, I have the social media available to me ie Facebook, blog and Twitter. That would of course not give as much publicity to my views as the other media, but it is sufficient for my needs.
It is also possible that some political authorities have told the media persons to boycott me, since I have often expressed my low opinion of most of the present Indian politicians, and the "free media" may have loyally obeyed the diktat, but this is in the realm of speculation.
However, I am not blaming media persons alone. After all, they have lifestyles to maintain and families to look after. So they cannot afford to displease their owners (and the owners cannot afford to displease the political authorities). And so like Dr Faust, these "presstitutes" have sold their souls to some Mephistopheles.
It is the general decline in ethics in India which I would like to comment upon.
As I have pointed out in some of my earlier posts, India is presently passing through a transitional period in its history, transition from feudal, agricultural society to a modern industrial one. At present we are neither totally feudal, nor totally modern, but somewhere in between.
A feudal society had an ethical system, but that has largely been destroyed. On the other hand, the ethical system of industrial society has not yet been put in its place (because industrial society has not yet been fully created). So presently there is no ethical system existing in India, and there is an ethical vacuum. So what we have in India is a free-for-all.
Indian society has become largely commercialised, and money has become its God. There is a Hindi film song which accurately summarises the situation "Na bibi na maiyya, the whole thing is that ki bhaiyya, sab se bada rupaiyya". So for making money most Indians can do anything, by hook or crook.
I remember over 20 years ago, perhaps in 1992 or 1993, when my daughter was in class 10 or so (she would have been about 15 then) she gave a birthday party to which she invited about a dozen school friends. I was then a judge in the Allahabad High Court. I went and sat for about 15-20 minutes with my daughter's friends and started talking with them. I asked one girl, who was a bright student regularly getting about 90 per cent in her exams, what she wanted to do in later life. She said seriously, "Uncle I will join the IAS and make a lot of money ". I was shocked! A 15-year-old bright girl was frankly saying that she would take bribes in later life. I could not even imagine such thoughts in my youth. I told her it was wrong to make money by improper means, but she replied, "Uncle when I work hard to get into IAS I deserve to get the good things in life".
I do not mean to say that there are no upright people in Indian society today, but their proportion has certainly gone down drastically. If one's parents have instilled good values in one in one's childhood, the chances are that one will be upright in later life. But if one's parents are themselves corrupt or crooks, as more and more adults are becoming, what can be expected in society ? So I do not blame media persons alone. Most of Indian society has become amoral.
(This article first appeared on Judge Katju's blog Satyam Bruyat.)