All dailies in Tamil Nadu on Oct 15 published extensive and detailed reports on the arrival of Chief Minister Jayalalitha at her Kodanad Estate mansion for a sojourn for ‘few weeks’ to a ‘tumultuous’ welcome accorded by her party rank and file and officers of the government, as if she had come for some busy official schedule for making the State numero uno in the nation. For instance, the daily ‘Deccan Chronicle’ published the following report on the first page with photograph under the heading “Cheery Kodanad welcome for Jayalalitha”, as if this was the most important event for the people of the State/ country.
“The hills turned vibrant, lively, cheerful and enthusiastic as the public and ADMK party cadres accorded a rousing reception to the Chief Minister and their party supremo Jayalalitha who arrived at Kodanad in Nilgiris district on Wednesday afternoon. The Kodanad slopes wore a festive look with smiling faces and enthusiastic public and party cadres turning up in large numbers to welcome the Chief Minister as one could see people flocking to the area right from early morning. The traditional dances and music performed by the Badaga community people and Kota and Toda tribes along the Kodanad road and the staging of Kerala’s ‘chendamelam’ surcharged the atmosphere that exhibited how enthusiastic the people and party cadres were in according a cheerful welcome to the Chief Minister and to greet their leader. While public and party cadres lined along the Kodanad road raised slogans in praise of ‘Amma’ when her convoy arrived from the nearby helipad, party men and public gathered there threw flower petals to welcome their leader as her convoy moved. The Chief Minister was seen cheerfully waving back to crowd. K.R. Arjunan, Rajya Sabha MP and secretary of the ADMK in Nilgiris, C. Gopalakrishnan, MP of Nilgiris, S.Kalaiselvan, chairman of Thadco were among those who presented bouquets to the CM”. (The word ‘public’ in this report should be replaced with the words ‘hired people’ because that is how they organise crowds for her programmes.)
Almost similar reports had appeared in all dailies. If not the media barons and her fans in the media, the common people will only wonder why so much hullabaloo for the arrival of the Chief Minister of the State, who claims to be the ‘first servant’ of people, as though the executive President of another nation had arrived! Much more, she has not come for any official purpose but for taking rest for ‘few weeks’.
In the whole world, it will be only this outfit of Jayalalitha for which her ‘visit’ to her party office and visits for her rest are occasion of ostentatious celebrations with arches, banners music and dance events. They had spread red carpet for the vehicle of Jayalalitha to pass through and strewn flowers over the vehicle. Such receptions would not have been accorded even to queens and princes in kingdoms.
What were the busy schedules she had had in the last two or three months necessitating rest for a few weeks? Except for the meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she did not give appointment for anybody for meeting her in her Poes Garden residence. Once in a week she used to ‘visit’ the secretariat for less than an hour when some buildings/projects were inaugurated by her though video conference facility. Even for declaring open buildings which are a few km away from her residence, that too on her way to the secretariat, like the medical college buildings in Government Estates on Anna Salai, she was not ‘strained’ to get down from her vehicle and walk a few steps. And the scores of such inaugurations on a single day were released to the media one by one for several days and the servile media would also extensively publish them trying to give false impression to the people as if she was very active.
The Assembly session was held for few weeks when she would come to the House when Question Hour was midway and as soon as she arrived all other business would be stopped and she would read out some announcements under rule no 110 followed by lauding speeches of her minion ministers and alliance party sycophants. All these shows would be over within an hour and she would leave the House. For all these she was called by people ‘one hour Chief Minister’.
As she grew tired of resting in her Poes Garden residence, she went to her Siruthavur bungalow for taking rest for about 10 days. As the ‘rest’ in that bungalow was overtaxing and tiring she has now decided to take ‘rest’ for few weeks in her Kodanad Estate mansion, away from the hurly-burly in Chennai. Now the Ministers and officials will be flying to and from Kodanad and for getting her signatures in important files. In effect there will be two secretariats of the government for some weeks.
While all these are comprehensible for even unlettered lay persons, are they not for the so-called enlightened and well-informed media (persons)? But there is most bewildering abundance of digression in the media in truthfully reporting the affairs of and the happenings in the regime of Jayalalitha.
In contrast, there is more than enough curiosity in magnifying, misrepresenting and misinterpreting the happenings in opposition parties not sparing even very small outfits in their labour to present a picture of disarray and divisions in these parties. Now there are many 24x7 television news channels in Tamil which are conducting debates on political and social affairs. They would take up subjects relating to many States and the Centre and do not spare the ruling party at the Centre and even the Prime Minister at times. Very rarely they would take up the affairs of opposition parties at the national level. But when it comes to Tamil Nadu, invariably the affairs ruling dispensation and party are spared and only those of the opposition parties are taken up for unnecessary debates for dragging through mud and show in bad light.
Are there no problems for people and is this golden period rule in Tamil Nadu? While they show extraordinary enthusiasm in ‘investigating’ even the internal affairs of opposition parties and debating about them for hours and devoting pages to discredit them, the print and visual media conveniently closed their eyes and ears to all the frauds on people committed by the ADMK regime. The Chief Minister has made 184 announcements under rule 110 in the Assembly which were given wide publicity by the media. Have they ever attempted to verify how many of them were really implemented? They have all the means to verify the claims of investments said to have been attracted by this regime, but they are willingly playing second fiddle to all these hoax committed by the regime.
The media is said to be opinion makers. Responsible political leaders sometimes have more influence than the media, primarily because leaders are seen as trustworthy and non-purposive. People are more inclined to accept a political message from someone they know, rather than the media, who they now feel is attempting to manipulate them. Moreover, they learn more by experience than by reading newspapers and viewing perverted debates on TV channels.
If the media in the State do not report drinking water scarcity or power cut problem or price rise or unemployment problem, are the people not aware of those issues? If the media keep approving and applauding the regime and the ruling dispensation, do not the people know that right from the Chief Minister to the ADMK ministers, ruling party M.Ps, MLAs down to councilors are inaccessible without money and do not attend to their problems?
In history, dictators and tyrants were thrown out by people by their own experience. In recent history, though the media was muzzled with censorship during the Emergency in 1975-76 the people threw out the regime. Now in Tamil Nadu with the self-imposed censorship of the media, it is certain that the people of the State will throw out the ADMK regime and give permanent rest for its Chief Minister! r
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