Repeating ad nauseam

The television channel owned by Jayalalitha is indeed doing a good service (in turn a disservice to her) by exposing certain myths about their boss, assiduously created by a loyal section of the print media – as if she is a great orator and spontaneous crowd-puller. But for their live-relay of her public meetings, the people of Tamil Nadu could not have seen for themselves that she is not speaking anything extempore in her public meetings but monotonously reads out pages of texts prepared by her hired statement-writers; and that the crowds are also not spontaneous gatherings of informed cadre/ volunteers of her party, but only hired and disinterested mobs. The crowds do not consist of people who ‘come’ to hear her speech; but ‘brought’ by functionaries in vehicles from all over the state from northern most-Chennai to southern most-Kanyakumari for a ‘show’ of strength. The pro-Jayalalitha Tamil daily ‘Dinamani’ on 15.8.2010 had given a graphic description of vehicles that brought crowds to Tiruchi on the previous day from all parts of the state. The disinterested mobs were totally restless, yelling, ranting and disorderly all through the ‘delivery’ of the speech by Jayalalitha, drawing no cheers or applauses right through in spite of her hectic efforts by voice modulations. In the media enclave also, the reporters were seen talking aloud among themselves as the copies of her ‘speech’ will be given to them.

In a sense, Jayalalitha is ‘media-friendly’; reporters attending her meetings need not take notes of her ‘speeches’ and strain themselves for writing and sending their despatches  to their offices, but just fax or e-mail the copies of her speeches distributed to them. At the editorial desks also, the sub-editors and news editors do not have to exert themselves, but simply give a new headline and intro, if they want to give a change, and instruct the DTP operators composing news items, to just ‘copy and paste’ the text of her earlier ‘speech’ from the files of their computers. For instance her ‘speech’ in Tiruchi on August 15 was a repeat ad nauseam of the one she delivered earlier at Coimbatore on July 13, which itself was nothing but a compilation of her daily statements till then.

However there is something called integrity and ethics of journalism, expected to be scrupulously followed by newspapers and journals. To be honest to their own conscience, can any journalist-working or proprietary-vouch for anything new in Jayalalitha’s Tiruchi speech different from the one she made at Coimbatore, for which Kalaignar had given point-by-point rebuttal with facts and figures, which were also published by the same dailies and journals, though briefly. So, but for filling the columns of their pages, what more value or merit do they find in republishing ad nauseam the same trash as if it is a new one. Will they do it in respect of other leaders? Will they not make caustic comments if any other unintelligent leaders resort to such dubious practices? Does it not tantamount to taking their readers for granted or a ride?

It is Jayalalitha who introduced the word ‘selective amnesia’ in the political lexicon of the country, to denote senior BJP leader L.K.Advani, when as Union Home Minister in the erstwhile NDA regime, he could not oblige to her illegal and unconstitutional pestering for the dismissal of the DMK government by hook or by crook. But Jayalalitha herself suffers from ‘selective amnesia’ whenever she is in the opposition; she pretends of loss of memory of her own notorious track record of anti-people, fascist and corrupt regimes and preaches sanctimonious sermons. The media too, even while claiming to be the ‘watchdogs’ and ‘opinion makers’ of the society, uncritically publish widely her hypocritical statements and project her in an undue manner.

In their anxiety to strike an alliance with her party for the sake of few crumbs of seats in the Assembly elections next year, some opposition parties prefer to assume the contagion of selective amnesia of their own criticisms of and protests against the earlier ADMK regimes, like the meek Vaiko throwing off to winds the tag of ‘fascist dictator’ he ascribed for her and tucking duteously in her handbag.

Let us take two recent issues on which Jayalalitha made a hue and cry, dutifully echoed by other zealous opposition parties pitching for an alliance with her and compliantly carried by newspapers. One was the demand of TASMAC wineshop employees for permanency of their service. Does this lady who recruited them ‘strictly on temporary basis’ for paltry wage and 16 hour work a day, has any moral standing to issue a statement shedding crocodile tears for them? Have the leaders of the Communist parties forgotten the distress of 12 lakh permanent government employees and teachers during her regime: the overnight dismissal of nearly two lakh of them, their arrest and jailing under ESMA and TESMA, death of a long list of teachers and employees etc.? Setting aside the dismissals and releasing the jailed employees and teachers, the Madras High Court on 6.7.2003 also directed the government not to make any new recruitments proposed then. When the government pleader asked for two days stay of the order, the Judge refused to concede and directed the authorities ‘to release them from jails before midnight on the day as they were woken up from sleep and arrested in midnight.’ Unyielding Jayalalitha regime went to the residence of the Chief Justice late in the night and obtained a stay on the order issued in the evening. In the meanwhile, the ADMK regime recruited 16,000 persons in a hasty manner in July 2003 who however could not perform any work. The retrenched government employees were reinstated by the Supreme Court and Jayalalitha had no qualms in ordering the dismissal of 16,000 new recruits, but after protest by Kalaignar and other opposition leaders got back the orders.

With such an anti-worker attitude, Jayalalitha had the tenacity to state that the TASMAC staff were harassed as they were appointed during her regime. The DMK government in 1989 appointed 13,000 community welfare workers for a consolidated honorarium to mitigate the sufferings of educated unemployed, but Jayalalitha dismissed them on assuming power in 1991 only to be reemployed again after the DMK came to power in 1996. Once again Jayalalitha, on assuming power in 2001 dismissed those 13,000 community welfare workers and 10,000 road workers appointed during the DMK rule, as a result of which number of these persons committed suicide and died in harness. But unlike her, Kalaignar not only did not resort to dismissal of TASMAC employees but substantially increased their pays, reduced their working hours from 16 hours to 8 hours, granted interest on their deposits, doubled their bonus and incentive payments and offered many more concessions.

Another issue is the recent moderate hike in power tariff on which Jayalalitha announced a protest demonstration and spoke about its cascading effects etc., For four years since the DMK assumed power in 2006, the electricity charges were not revised despite pressures and now also more than 97 percent households are not affected and for the rest also the increase is marginal.

But during the ADMK regime the power rates were increased twice in 2001 and 2003. In defence of the increases in power rates, Jayalalitha told the State Assembly that,

m There was no justification in demanding free electricity for big farmers (24.3.2003)

m The power charges are determined by the State Electricity Authority and the government has no role in it (28.4.2003)

m The electricity charges are very least only in Tamil Nadu in the whole of the country (24.3.2003)

m Those consuming less than 600 units are 1.13 crore households who constitute as 98 percent of the total consumers. Hence it is wrong to say that domestic consumers – middle class households are affected. (25.3.2003)

m I regret to inform that the TNEB is still running in loss – even after fixing these new rates (25.3.2003)

m Even after new rates, the TNEB is incurring a huge loss of Rs.2,626 crore paid as subsidy by the government (25.3.2003)

m By a Central legislation in 1998, a State Electricity Regulatory Commission had to be constituted which determines power charges for all consumers (17.2.2003)

Treating the duty of the Leader of the Opposition with scant respect for people and sojourning in Kodanad estate in Nilgiris district, if Jayalalitha thinks that by making such shows for few months in the run up for Assembly elections and resort to Goebbelsian propaganda against the DMK government and Kalaignar, to hoodwink the people and return to power, it amounts to an attempt to deceive the masses, which will not succeed. If certain opposition parties in sheer opportunism tie up with her they will also end up with the fate of the rat that tied its legs with that of the frog to cross surging flood waters. And newspapers and journals going overboard to project such an imperious person as against seasoned statesman with firm commitment for the welfare of people and toiling round the clock, all through the year even at his advanced age, are not only flouting ethics of journalism, but also doing a disservice to democracy.

When Goebbels himself could not succeed in his mission in early 1940s, the neo-Goebbels cannot in 2011, in the era of information
revolution!

(22-10-10)