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General Forum: NRI - Information | | Andhra Press and Disinformation | |
| and the rest of andhra after nizams...
Posted by: Mr. Spider Man At: 21, Aug 2003 10:21:36 PM IST
Maa Bhoomi.
This the land The Great Nizams withhold even after Independence.
Posted by: Mr. M Kumar N At: 21, Aug 2003 10:20:14 PM IST
Nobody asked for free food, free education etc.etc.. Telangana is asking for its rightfull share..
Posted by: Mr. Spider Man At: 21, Aug 2003 10:13:48 PM IST
Andhra Press and Disinformation
Pasham Yadagiri
(Former Editor of Varthamanam)
The Telangana region has been a victim of conspiracy of silence, hatched by the Andhra rulers, actively abetted by Andhra press. The observation of M. Chalapati Rau that the freedom of press has degenerated into freedom of owner of printing machines aptly applies to Andhra press. The Andhra owners of Telugu newspapers without exception and the Andhra journalists with few exceptions never bothered to understand seriously the problem of Telangana region which accounts for a near one-third of circulation of Telugu newspapers.
The Andhra press has failed to empathize with the woes of Telangana people, being subjugated by successive rulers for over 800 years. The people of this region, in stark contrast to docile and content people of the other regions of the Andhra Pradesh, have been restless and volatile. The Telangana people fought Mallick Jaffers, Aurangazeb, the French army, the British army, Qutubshais and Asafjahis. They fought back the Razakars, created by the last Nizam, the world's richest man of his times. At least 10,000 peasants were killed by the Nizam's army and several thousands were jailed.
Even after the mighty Nizam's forces meekly surrendered to the powerful Indian army in 1948, the peasants of Telangana continued their struggle even against the Indian army to protect the lands they gained from Nizam and his stooges. The people fought the Andhra rulers in 1969 demanding separate Telangana. This upsurge had left 376 students killed by the police. The hunger and poverty, perpetuated by the Andhra rulers systematically, has provided a breeding ground for people's unrest and violence. The heroic sacrifices of Telangana people during Kakatiya regime, Asafjahi rule and Qutubshahi rule remained unsung and unmourned by the Andhra media. Through the Telangana armed struggle of peasants has no parallel in the history of coastal region, or for that matter any other parts of India, the heroes of the struggle are not considered freedom fighters by Andhra media.
The Andhra press similarly, have failed to empathize and sympathize with problems of the common man of Telangana. The starvation deaths of Mahbubnagar, the migration of legendary Palamur labor to unknown destinations in search of livelihood, drought or famine, highways chokes by endless herds of cattle on way to the slaughter houses, power crunch forcing the helpless farmers to engage gensets to pump water to their fields, hailstorms frequently destroying crop, livestock and even humans, forcible recovery of co-operative loans from the farmers of drought hit areas, desertification of vast agricultural lands, alienation of tribal lands, pollution of subterranean water sources, lack of drinking water, fluoride affected villages - to be precise the human misery that provides volumes of human interest new pieces to any journalist worth his salt and with heart in its right place do not find space in Andhra newspapers. The hunger in Ethiopia is rightly a prominent story in Andhra dailies, but the starvation deaths right in the very backyard of Hyderabad-based newspapers do not merit mention.
Andhra newspapers like elsewhere, have only two types of columns, i.e., human interest stories and vested interest stories. While there is no room for human interest stories, the vested interest stories dominate news of Andhra dailies. The unpaid columns of Andhra papers are almost fully occupied by disguised ads, which are subtle form of advocacy journalism. The news of floods in Andhra is prominent headline in Hyderabad daily but famine in Telangana is no news. The drainage problem in coastal delta is bigger news while the irrigation problem of Telangana are hushed up. The loss of property in coastal districts is more prominent news in dailies of even Hyderabad than the loss of life due to hailstorm in Telangana.
One would excuse the blackout of Telangana problems by Andhra press till 1975, because Vijayawada used to be publication center for Andhra newspapers. But the entire Andhra press started moving to Hyderabad since 1975 to graze virgin pastures of Telangana. Soon they realized that Telangana provided them ready and fast expanding market. Almost all chain newspapers have more than one-third of their circulation in Telangana while English newspapers and English periodicals have half their circulation in Telangana. Yet the Andhra Press is not loyal to its Telangana readers. It harbors extra-territorial loyalties. The problem of Andhra farmers are magnified and blown out of proportion, while those of Telangana farmers are either shown in poor light or blacked out. This is not a result of innocent mistake but an act of 'not so innocent' mistake. The management of Andhra newspapers have financial interests in Andhra region. Any focus on Telangana problem may lead to demand for expenditure on irrigation facilities or power and transmission lines. It may prevent siphoning of funds to Andhra projects. Apart from this, the management have developed political interests, breaking the dividing wall between newspapers and politics. This prompts the management's to black out any news that disturbs the interests of the party in power. Journalists, most of whom hail from Andhra region and to some extent are related to the management's connive with the proprietors to silence the cries of Telangana people. A handful of journalists, whose vision is colored, if not blinded, by parochial 'regional patriotism' fail to empathize with and appreciate the woes of Telangana people because of very little exposure they have.
When farmers of Medak, Nizamabad and Nalgonda districts hired gensets using diesel to pump water, not a single photo or news item appeared in Andhra papers. When the irate farmers attacked electricity offices they were shown as irresponsible hoodlums or naxalites. Hundreds of poor farmers starved to death in villages abutting Krishna river in Mahabubnagr districts 1987. Except one, almost all Andhra newspapers blacked out this news.
Every year ten lakh farm labor migrate from Mahabubnagr district in search of livelihood, and lakhs of cattle are driven to slaughter houses of want of fodder. This does not merit any coverage even in Hyderabad based Andhra papers. Though proximity is news, personal consequences for proprietors and journalists is more important news. Since the misery of the people of this area has no personal consequences for pressmen, it does not find place in news columns. The Andhra dailies never bothered to probe into dwindling population of livestock in Mahabubnagar district, which topped the list of districts in the state under head 'cattle' in 1971 census.
The migration of Palamur labor to far off places like Narmada Valley project and Assam tea gardens and Medak and Karimnagar labor to Bhiwandi, Bombay, Sholapur and Kolhapur, are never enquired into by any newspaper. The recent hailstorm in Telangana killing 42 persons, thousands of cattle, destroying Rs. 600 crores worth crops apart from property was a single-column story for Andhra papers while the loss of cotton and tobacco crop in Andhra at the same time was banner headlines.
When people of Nalgonda are demanding completion of Sriramsagar project flood flow canal, Srisailam left bank canal and extension of Nagarjunasagr left canal, the Andhra Press shows Pulichintala project as an answer to their problems. The newspapers may even go to the extent of asking poor Telangana farmer for contributions to take up Pulichintala project which may ultimately submerge their own lands. The Almatti dam which will adversely effect the farmers of Coastal Andhra is depicted by newspapers as a curse to Telangana farmers. Telugu Ganga which siphons of the rightful share of Telangana waters to Rayalaseema and Nellore is projected as a boon to the Telangana farmers. When Telangana people ask Ichhampally project on Godavari, the Andhra papers seek to explain that Polavaram project will serve the Telangana farmers.
The Andhra newspapers made Telangana readers victims of disinformation, dished out from time to time on various issues. When Bhabha Atomic Research Center' site-selection committee selected Nagarjunasagar for locating its nuclear power station for South India, the environmentalists and farmers of the area protested against the possible damages of radiation. But the media tried to project it is a harbinger of prosperity.
Unfortunately the newspapers addicts both from Telangana and Andhra are so indoctrinated by the anti_Telangana propaganda that they wonder how Telangana can prosper without water resources in the event of statehood. Little do they realize that about 80 percent of Godavari catchment area and 70 percent of Krishna catchment area fall in Telangana. They also wonder how Telangana can build a capital city for itself after separation without realizing that Hyderabad city was capital of the region much before the formation of Andhra Pradesh state.
When a farmer was killed by police at Kaldari in Godavari district, Andhra papers front-paged the news for several days. But, they failed to show the same anxiety when 30 poor tribals were killed in Indravelli in Adilabad district.
All Andhra newspapers are obsessed with beauty of Kondapalli toys but have not a word in praise of the craftsmen of Nirmal, Pembarthi and Pochampalli.
Godavari and Krishna Pushkaras are treated as if these rivers are not in Telangana. The festivals of Telangana like Batukamma and Bonalu are not allotted space on par with Andhra festivals. The Telangana proverbs, idioms and dialects are belittled by Andhra dailies.
The meetings for separate Telangana organized by various groups are blacked out. The people War's statement on Telangana movement was not published by two leading Andhra dailies. Meeting for separate Telangana held at Suryapet, Warnagal and Hyderabad did not merit attention in Andhra media. This speaks volumes for partition attitude and disinformation campaign of Andhra press.
Posted by: Mr. Konu Venkat At: 21, Aug 2003 7:18:01 PM IST
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