Selfish journalist and irresponsible politician of our time
Nava Thakuria
May 08, 2009
Should a scribe goes for extracting of personal information of an individual, which is illegal in India, and then submit the details to a politician in power-this is the debate presently gaining momentum in Assam. The debate has also raised the pertinent question, whether a journalist has the ethical, moral and legal right to trace someone´s call records for a non-journalistic purpose. The issue came alive after a State minister claimed that he received a call list of an individual, which has become useful for his political dispute.
Dr Himanta Biswa Sharma, the health minister and the spokesperson of Assam government, in a formal press meet at Rajiv Bhawan in Guwahati on April 11, claimed that three opposition parties were inherently working to ensure the defeat of the Congress candidates in the Lok Sabha polls. According to him Asom Gana Parishad, Bharatiya Janata Party and Asom United Democratic Front were collaborating under the initiative of Hiranya Saikia, a member of People´s Consultative Group (formed by the banned United Liberation Front of Asom).
Dr Sharma claimed that Saikia was in constant touch with many senior leaders of these parties in the last few days. In support of his statement, the minister even distributed the call records of Saikia´s cell phone to the reporters. Even though the AGP and the BJP had the formal electoral tie up this time, Dr Sharma asserted that, they tried to achieve an inherent understanding with the AUDF, which is a minority interest oriented political party, with Saikia´s help.
The PCG was launched by the ULFA primarily for preparing the groundwork of peace talks directly between New Delhi and the leaders of the banned outfit . Though the PCG members were selected by the outfit, it is not a banned organization (One can say it is now a defunct body). More over, the Government of India had three meets with the PCG members, where one of the meetings was attended by the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
The press conference of Dr Sharma was telecast live by a Guwahati based satellite channel News Live, where the minister specifically informed that he got the call details of Saikia´s personal phone from a ´journalist friend´. The programme passed off coolly, but it aroused a pertinent debate among the media persons in Guwahati, whether a journalist has the ethical, moral and legal right to trace someone´s call list and submit it to a minister.
Rajdeep Sardesai, the editor-in-chief of CNN-IBN and also the president of Editor´s Guild of India termed the exercise (of the journalist) as unethical. Similarly, DN Bezboruah, a senior Assamese journalist and the former president of Editor´s Guild commented in the same tune.
DN Chakrabarty, former editor of Dainik Asom has criticized the journalist as a black-sheep in the profession. "He (or she) should be condemned in strongest words. More over, the behaviour of the minister was also equally unacceptable. The minister should not try to use a journalist for his vested interest," Chakrabarty added.
Critical comments on the tainted scribe were also poured from the independent journalists Annan Suresh (based in Kolkata), Syamhari Chakra (based in Bhubaneswar), Atul Deulgaonkar (based in Latur) with Deborshi Chaki (based in Mumbai), Manjula Lal, Alok Putul (based in Delhi) and many others.
Even two Bangladeshi editors expressed shock that a journalist can collect such private information and then submit it to a minister. Mustafa Kamal Majumder, editor of The New Nation (a Dhaka based English daily), argues that if someone collects such information for exclusively journalistic purpose, that may be debated (and justified). But once it is sent to a minister, the said journalist has lost all moral values to continue involving in the profession any more.
Salah U.S. Choudhury, editor of Blitz (a Dhaka based weekly) also echoed the same concern exclaiming ´how a journalist can compromise the minimum level of ethics of the profession (for some selfish gains)´! He also condemned the minister for his tactics to bring the media person in to a controversial episode.
Paritosh Mukhopadhyay, general secretary of National Federation of Newspaper Employees, termed the act of the journalist as ´immoral, unethical and illegal´. Speaking to this writer from Kolkata, Mukhopadhyay asserted that the tainted journalist should be dragged in to the court under the press council laws. He also insisted that the issue must be brought to the notice of the Information and Broadcasting ministry and the Prime Minister´s Office.
Meanwhile, the Journalists´ Forum, Assam demands to identify the journalist, who had submitted the mobile call list of an individual to the minister. In a statement, issued by the JFA chief Rupam Baruah it said, "It is shocking that, a journalist can go for collecting someone´s call list, which is illegal in India, and even submit it to a minister ignoring the media ethics!"
The forum was critical to Dr Sharma as well saying, "For the sack of argument, even if the call list was collected by the minister from a competent authority with legal formalities, the JFA demands a public apology from Dr Sharma, as he tried his best to defame the integrity of the journalists.
"A minister must not consider the media persons as his slaves, who may be used according to his choice. After all, a prominent minister like Sharma should behave with responsibilities and maintain minimum honour to the media," the statement concluded.
But this is not the first time, when Dr Sharna dragged himself in to a controversy. Weeks back, he led a motorcycle rally in support of his Congress party, but forgot to wear the mandatory helmet. When the reporters pointed out his recklessness, the eloquent debater of yesteryears answered promptly, "I have full faith in God and the almighty would protect me from any accident". Dr Sharma could not think of admitting his wrong approach, which might send a negative signal to the common persons to go for violating the Motor Vehicle Act in India.
Similarly, in a recent election campaign rally, Dr Sharma went on arguing that the opposition parties in Assam had left no stone unturned to get the credit of all good works done by the Congress led government at Dispur. According to him, the main opposition party AGP had performed nothing for the people during its two time ruling at Dispur. But the AGP leaders always claimed the fruit of many schemes, those were actually launched by the Congress. Then suddenly Dr Sharma uttered, "I will not be surprised, if the AGP president tomorrow claims my wife as his own."
Everyone in Assam however admits that Dr Sharma is an intelligent, brave and efficient minister, though he often speaks reckless. From a student leader to a minister in the Congress led Tarun Gogoi government, Dr Sharma has come a long way. In his over a decade long political career, he has proved his mettle as an influential leader and also a performing minister. He has grown both his political clout and personal properties. Today Dr Sharma owns a Satellite Television channel too (for record, his wife serves as the CMD of News Live, one of the three satellite news channels of Northeast India).
As a health (and family welfare) minister, he performs fairly well. The government medical hospitals of the State have been renovated in his tenure, where as the serving doctors are made available at odd hours for the benefit of the patients. Many villagers start enjoying minimum healthcare facilities in their localities as the presence of government doctors in rural areas become visible. He deserves appreciation for his performance as the minister for Guwahati development as well.
However, the latest controversy invited criticism and condemnation to the minister as well as his party in a crucial time, as Assam was embracing the election on April 16 and 23. The young minister remained silent on the identity of the tainted scribe, but troubles continued brewing for him from other fronts. Hitting back at Dr Sharma, Hiranya Saikia alleged that the minister indulged in an illegal act attempting to intrude into his personal life. Saikia has already sent a legal notice to the Reliance Telecom for providing his call list to somebody else.
Speaking to this writer, a Guwahati based senior Telecom official informs that nobody is permitted to have call list of a different individual. Even a journalist can not have the call records (of an individual) in India unless it emerges as of a serious security threat or other national interest and possesses the permission of the Home ministry. The respective telecom company is liable here for punishment, disclosed the official, who wanted anonymity.
On the other hand, denying any kind of inherent electoral tie up, the leaders of AGP, BJP and AUDF termed Dr Sharma´s revelation as baseless. More over, both the AGP and the BJP had lodged complain in the office of Election Commission demanding legal actions against Dr Sharma.
The senior BJP leader SS Ahluwalia while talking to local reporters in Guwahati garbaged the allegation and charged that Dr Sharma illegally collected the call records of an individual. The BJP Prabhari for Assam also asserted that the act revealed the misuse of the government machinery by the minister. Ahluwalia also disclosed that the party would move the Election Commission asking for legal actions against both the minister and the concerned telecom service provider.
The AGP general secretary Kamala Kalita, after denying the allegation of Dr Sharma, challenged the minister to disclose the source of the call records of Hiranya Saikia. Kalita also informed that the regional party would send a legal notice to the telecom company too for its irresponsible act.
Dr Himanta Biswa Sharma, the health minister and the spokesperson of Assam government, in a formal press meet at Rajiv Bhawan in Guwahati on April 11, claimed that three opposition parties were inherently working to ensure the defeat of the Congress candidates in the Lok Sabha polls. According to him Asom Gana Parishad, Bharatiya Janata Party and Asom United Democratic Front were collaborating under the initiative of Hiranya Saikia, a member of People´s Consultative Group (formed by the banned United Liberation Front of Asom).
Dr Sharma claimed that Saikia was in constant touch with many senior leaders of these parties in the last few days. In support of his statement, the minister even distributed the call records of Saikia´s cell phone to the reporters. Even though the AGP and the BJP had the formal electoral tie up this time, Dr Sharma asserted that, they tried to achieve an inherent understanding with the AUDF, which is a minority interest oriented political party, with Saikia´s help.
The PCG was launched by the ULFA primarily for preparing the groundwork of peace talks directly between New Delhi and the leaders of the banned outfit . Though the PCG members were selected by the outfit, it is not a banned organization (One can say it is now a defunct body). More over, the Government of India had three meets with the PCG members, where one of the meetings was attended by the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
The press conference of Dr Sharma was telecast live by a Guwahati based satellite channel News Live, where the minister specifically informed that he got the call details of Saikia´s personal phone from a ´journalist friend´. The programme passed off coolly, but it aroused a pertinent debate among the media persons in Guwahati, whether a journalist has the ethical, moral and legal right to trace someone´s call list and submit it to a minister.
Rajdeep Sardesai, the editor-in-chief of CNN-IBN and also the president of Editor´s Guild of India termed the exercise (of the journalist) as unethical. Similarly, DN Bezboruah, a senior Assamese journalist and the former president of Editor´s Guild commented in the same tune.
DN Chakrabarty, former editor of Dainik Asom has criticized the journalist as a black-sheep in the profession. "He (or she) should be condemned in strongest words. More over, the behaviour of the minister was also equally unacceptable. The minister should not try to use a journalist for his vested interest," Chakrabarty added.
Critical comments on the tainted scribe were also poured from the independent journalists Annan Suresh (based in Kolkata), Syamhari Chakra (based in Bhubaneswar), Atul Deulgaonkar (based in Latur) with Deborshi Chaki (based in Mumbai), Manjula Lal, Alok Putul (based in Delhi) and many others.
Even two Bangladeshi editors expressed shock that a journalist can collect such private information and then submit it to a minister. Mustafa Kamal Majumder, editor of The New Nation (a Dhaka based English daily), argues that if someone collects such information for exclusively journalistic purpose, that may be debated (and justified). But once it is sent to a minister, the said journalist has lost all moral values to continue involving in the profession any more.
Salah U.S. Choudhury, editor of Blitz (a Dhaka based weekly) also echoed the same concern exclaiming ´how a journalist can compromise the minimum level of ethics of the profession (for some selfish gains)´! He also condemned the minister for his tactics to bring the media person in to a controversial episode.
Paritosh Mukhopadhyay, general secretary of National Federation of Newspaper Employees, termed the act of the journalist as ´immoral, unethical and illegal´. Speaking to this writer from Kolkata, Mukhopadhyay asserted that the tainted journalist should be dragged in to the court under the press council laws. He also insisted that the issue must be brought to the notice of the Information and Broadcasting ministry and the Prime Minister´s Office.
Meanwhile, the Journalists´ Forum, Assam demands to identify the journalist, who had submitted the mobile call list of an individual to the minister. In a statement, issued by the JFA chief Rupam Baruah it said, "It is shocking that, a journalist can go for collecting someone´s call list, which is illegal in India, and even submit it to a minister ignoring the media ethics!"
The forum was critical to Dr Sharma as well saying, "For the sack of argument, even if the call list was collected by the minister from a competent authority with legal formalities, the JFA demands a public apology from Dr Sharma, as he tried his best to defame the integrity of the journalists.
"A minister must not consider the media persons as his slaves, who may be used according to his choice. After all, a prominent minister like Sharma should behave with responsibilities and maintain minimum honour to the media," the statement concluded.
But this is not the first time, when Dr Sharna dragged himself in to a controversy. Weeks back, he led a motorcycle rally in support of his Congress party, but forgot to wear the mandatory helmet. When the reporters pointed out his recklessness, the eloquent debater of yesteryears answered promptly, "I have full faith in God and the almighty would protect me from any accident". Dr Sharma could not think of admitting his wrong approach, which might send a negative signal to the common persons to go for violating the Motor Vehicle Act in India.
Similarly, in a recent election campaign rally, Dr Sharma went on arguing that the opposition parties in Assam had left no stone unturned to get the credit of all good works done by the Congress led government at Dispur. According to him, the main opposition party AGP had performed nothing for the people during its two time ruling at Dispur. But the AGP leaders always claimed the fruit of many schemes, those were actually launched by the Congress. Then suddenly Dr Sharma uttered, "I will not be surprised, if the AGP president tomorrow claims my wife as his own."
Everyone in Assam however admits that Dr Sharma is an intelligent, brave and efficient minister, though he often speaks reckless. From a student leader to a minister in the Congress led Tarun Gogoi government, Dr Sharma has come a long way. In his over a decade long political career, he has proved his mettle as an influential leader and also a performing minister. He has grown both his political clout and personal properties. Today Dr Sharma owns a Satellite Television channel too (for record, his wife serves as the CMD of News Live, one of the three satellite news channels of Northeast India).
As a health (and family welfare) minister, he performs fairly well. The government medical hospitals of the State have been renovated in his tenure, where as the serving doctors are made available at odd hours for the benefit of the patients. Many villagers start enjoying minimum healthcare facilities in their localities as the presence of government doctors in rural areas become visible. He deserves appreciation for his performance as the minister for Guwahati development as well.
However, the latest controversy invited criticism and condemnation to the minister as well as his party in a crucial time, as Assam was embracing the election on April 16 and 23. The young minister remained silent on the identity of the tainted scribe, but troubles continued brewing for him from other fronts. Hitting back at Dr Sharma, Hiranya Saikia alleged that the minister indulged in an illegal act attempting to intrude into his personal life. Saikia has already sent a legal notice to the Reliance Telecom for providing his call list to somebody else.
Speaking to this writer, a Guwahati based senior Telecom official informs that nobody is permitted to have call list of a different individual. Even a journalist can not have the call records (of an individual) in India unless it emerges as of a serious security threat or other national interest and possesses the permission of the Home ministry. The respective telecom company is liable here for punishment, disclosed the official, who wanted anonymity.
On the other hand, denying any kind of inherent electoral tie up, the leaders of AGP, BJP and AUDF termed Dr Sharma´s revelation as baseless. More over, both the AGP and the BJP had lodged complain in the office of Election Commission demanding legal actions against Dr Sharma.
The senior BJP leader SS Ahluwalia while talking to local reporters in Guwahati garbaged the allegation and charged that Dr Sharma illegally collected the call records of an individual. The BJP Prabhari for Assam also asserted that the act revealed the misuse of the government machinery by the minister. Ahluwalia also disclosed that the party would move the Election Commission asking for legal actions against both the minister and the concerned telecom service provider.
The AGP general secretary Kamala Kalita, after denying the allegation of Dr Sharma, challenged the minister to disclose the source of the call records of Hiranya Saikia. Kalita also informed that the regional party would send a legal notice to the telecom company too for its irresponsible act.
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