It was a proper Italian Job! An
Italian Judge charted public discourse in India, appearing on Indian TV twice
in as many days, a chance not many from the judiciary in our country get. The
eagerness with which our Television channels hung on to and interpreted his
words surprised many, for they hardly understood the language. It was
surprising because, even though I don’t read Italian or understand it, I don’t
believe the Italian media even attempted to obtain or support the Indian
Judiciary's view of the Italian Marine's case which according to the middleman
in the Augusta Westland case, is reaching a conclusion agreed on earlier
between the PM's of the two countries.
It appears that middlemen are not
restricted to defense purchases and agricultural trade in India, but extend to
the diplomatic niceties between countries which media accounts speculate was
the case in the in the Pakistan visit
and the UN brush-by.
The roles of Television
Journalists and India’s top investigative agencies seem to have exchanged. The
Journalists have made inroads into their investigative turf, tracking down
middlemen, wanted terrorists in Pakistan, quoting from secret Government documentation,
and generally hanging all and sundry out to dry after a thorough but detergent
free wash, despite the overwhelming drought. They have literally become queen
bees as their stings attack those most vulnerable, at their weakest moments. Some television channels even claimed that
they had set the Parliament agenda, and here I was, thinking all along that it
was the Parliament secretariat that did that, on the advice of the Government.
At the first and second estate
struggled to find their feet and move forward on their governance agenda,
especially GST, the all-important integrative tax, the third and fourth estate
made their mark - the latter with their stinging revelations, steadfast
grilling and judgements of people and events, and the former, conceding the
pleas of the state and central governments and upholding the defamation law
that the often defamed demanded be scrapped as unconstitutional. Defamation and Sedition are the new buzzwords
of public discourse, intertwined and determined in their objective of keeping
the tongue within the cheek, so that neither the individual nor the nation is
harmed in any way, by its undue wag.
Never mind that it’s the only part of the body that can give others an
alternate perspective to their own!
Election coverage dipped with the
heat of the Augusta wasteland and the
Uttarakand forest fires, but will pick up in the next week as the C section day
arrives on May 16, ironically exactly two years after the current govt won a
national land slide. Whether, the land is sliding under their feet will be
known shortly, but will not immediately affect their newly found 15 year
vision, developed perhaps through their new progressively tinted spectacles.
The 15 year vision, which would
comprise an NDA document, called ironically, the National Development Agenda, reviewed
every three years, is we hear, to be prepared by the substitute to the Planning
Commission - the 12th man in cricket parlance - whose legacy will run its
course next year as the last of the five year plans come to an end. Ultimately, it would seem that the Plans had
no vision, and the vision may have no plan!
Meanwhile in the US, Trump
trumped his rivals with his America first policy, to the consternation of
Indian Americans, who are worried about the future of their H1B visas and Green
Cards, while Clinton struggles past Sanders.
It’s not clear who will be better friend of India, and the world waits
with bated breath to see the outcome of an unusual American presidential
election.
Meanwhile back in Bollywood, it’s
the age for biopics – Azhar will be followed by Dhoni, just as on the cricket
field. Here now, Azhar is out to entertain - it’s a potboiler
that is not fixed and will provide us all with a peek into the man behind
wristy player as the IPL reaches its climax.
The week was not a wasteland
(Westland) surely!
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