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Sikhs, Lies and Channeltapes
An open Letter to Ms. Sagarika
Ghose, Managing Editor CNN-IBN
Dear Ms. Ghose
 Even
if you consider me too religious, please accept my Greetings in the
Name of God, the light of every soul.
In view of the prevailing circumstances
in Panjab, like all Sikhs, my entire family was watching your
programme on 16th May, 2007, Are modern Sikhs too
attached to their religion? We were more shocked at what we heard
than what we saw.
The 20-25 minute programme was a totally
ill-researched activity. You and the learned panelists were totally
at sea while addressing the Sikhs and various aspects of Sikhism.
You began the conversation by saying, that in the last few days
tension was building up between the followers of the Dera Sacha
Sauda and SGPC Sikhs. I am a reasonably well-informed Sikh but I do
not know anything about this new category of SGPC Sikhs, which you
coined during the course of the programme.
Chandigarh-based eminent panelist, Dr.
Pramod Kumar, who is otherwise very erudite and clear about
political issues relating to Panjab, ventured to say that there are
many sects amongst the Sikhs and the Dera Sacha Sauda was perhaps
one of them. He had the temerity to say that the Dera Sacha Sauda
was perhaps appointed by the SGPC for propagation of the Sikh
religion. His statement that “the SGPC should see the logic that
the generic content of the Dera is not anti-Sikh” and that “deras
are all the self-employed pracharaks of SGPC of Sikhism” was
patently outrageous.
Your channel, CNN-IBN cleverly chose a
marriage counsellor and the mother of an apostate Sikh boy to air
the pre-meditated mission statement of the programme which was that
Sikhs should adjust in accordance with the needs of the modern
times. You went to the extent of suggesting that Sikhs who travel
abroad and face problems of identity should relinquish it and that
would not make than any lesser Sikhs.
Except for the views of eminent lawyer,
H. S. Phoolka, who put the Sikh identity question in perspective,
the whole programme was handled with kid-gloves.
Neither you nor the panelists asked
pertinent questions:
What exactly prompted the self-anointed
Baba to insert the blasphemous advertisement at this juncture?
Why did a cross section of the media
publish the advertisements in the first place?
Why should they also not be taken to
task for their irresponsibility?
Why is the government moving casually in
the case of murder against the dera chief?
This is not the first such programme.
Such off-the-cuff programmes are dimes a dozen on your channel as
well as other channels. Not very long ago, when talking about the
Right to wear Turban in France, you suggested that not wearing the
turban should not be seen as a very significant question. I have no
hesitation in saying that the whole approach reflects the tabloid
nature of TV channels when handling serious issues.
And by the way, you were not the only
one. Aaj Tak lended the nomenclature “Guru” to Baba Gurmeet Ram
Rahim and made loud comparison between the tenth Master, Guru Gobind
Singh and the dera chief. On India TV, Talwandi Sabo, where the
Jathedars were meeting, on 17 May 2007, became Talwandi
Sahib. Rashtriya Sahara went on to suggest that the media should
intervene and play the role of a mediator.
Journalists writing stuff similar to
what was heard on your channel and your sister channel ibn7 lent
more grist to the grind in Panjab in the late seventies and early
eighties. The attempts by Kuldip Nayar, Arun Shourie, Girilal Jain
and others in Panjab to reinvent Sikhism for the Sikhs dealt
unnecessary and unwanted injury to the Sikh psyche. There were many
more attempts in the Panjabi media and the mainstream India media to
undermine Sikh ethos and pontificate the Sikhs about what they
should do and what they should not. Of this what part was
deliberate is for chroniclers to unearth.
The mainstream Indian media and
presently the channel medium are also guilty on the count of
preaching Islam to Muslims whenever any issue relating to Iraq or
human rights violations of Muslims in Gujarat surfaces.
Let me explain to you as to how the
Sikhs think and react when you air such programmes. Sikhs are
totally offended. Whether I am a staunch Sikh or not, whether I
sport unshorn hair or not, whether I am too religious or not, given
the history of the relations between Sikhs and the Indian state,
cursory remarks about Sikhism and Sikhs are seen as a part of a
large design to undermine the Sikh ethos. You have to understand
this.
A prerequisite of serious journalism is
extensive research and analysis before filing stories on community
issues. The superficial and perfunctory approach of television
channels has been derided by many a columnist, writing in various
journals without any iota of improvement from the other side. A
beginning can be made by having a public-spirited ombudsman to
monitor programmes and listen to peoples’ complaints. Should the
multimedia medium and the government of the day fail to do so,
communities will have to evolve and set-up their own mechanisms.
I believe in the Sikh liberal
theological approach but that under no circumstances mean that Sikhs
should forego the fundamental tenets of their faith. The
sensibility of communities is razor-thin and the sensitivity of the
media giants is pachydermous. You can make a beginning by starting
sensitivity training programmes for your goodself, your staff at the
back-end as well as at the front-end. Let us all be part of the
solution not the problem, eyeballs grabbing notwithstanding.
The Indian media thrives at being
agnostic and atheist. My message to the new medium is that whether I
am too religious or less, for God’s sake, leave me alone!
Yours sincerely
Jagmohan Singh
23 May 2007
ibnlive has chosen
not to publish the letter on its website. Jagmohan Singh may be
contacted at
jsbigideas@gmail.com.
30 May, 2007
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