A big thank you to all those who wrote in to find out how I was doing.
I won't get into the details of that night of vandalism on the SRM campus here, but I will say one thing - there are some seriously dangerous and delinquent officers in our police force.
The Superintendent of Police (SP) of the Kancheepuram district A Amal Raj sprang upon my cameraman, snatched our camera, broke it and then stole the tape. (It was returned to us after we complained to the Director General of Police.) But the frustrating agony is that nothing is being done to punish this man! Absolutely NOTHING!
1) The police have refused to register an FIR.
2) They have arrested two people (local goons who assaulted me) but they could well be fall guys because I have not been given a chance to identify them.
3) Revenue officials are conducting an enquiry into the affair because it involves a police officer. But, so far, I have received no phone calls from the said revenue officials. Considering i'm the 'victim', shouldn't I be in the picture somewhere?
If this is the way they treat journalists then I really do shudder to imagine how the common man must suffer at their hands. The police can do so much but they do so little. It tires me out now to constantly understand 'the system' and be more sympathetic to the pulls and pressures of working in government. Frankly, whats the point of understanding?
I dont think its too idealistic to say that if you want to be corrupt you will, if you want to abuse your power you will. However if you want to be clean but poor - you can.
15 comments:
@Alaphia,
Glad to know you are doing good...
Ours is still a young democracy, it will take time to mature...
Take care...
@Chennai Chatter,
"...THe Chennai police largely consists of village brought-ups,..."
I am a pure chennai product, but i strongly object your generalization... Urban brought-ups like Manu Sharma, did not fare any better.
whoa! well i've managed to be blissfully unaware of this (only heard about the mayawati incident) but glad you're ok and keep up the good work!
some Cops are worse than the goondas and underworld.
They should be shot first.
@Chennai Chatter,
I think you got me wrong...
"...THe Chennai police largely consists of village brought-ups,..."
I strongly objected to your generalization that village brought-ups are dangerous in nature... and not whether Chennai police is good or bad...
Hello,
That is too rude.NDTV is reasonably good for a news channel. Anyway,that is off the topic.
But,Alaphia,there could have been a more in depth news coverage of this incident on NDTV.Why is it that no follow up is being taken?
Truly, you have exhibited the true qualites of journalism.As regards, the 'system',well, most things in India are like that, aren't they?
Regards,
bnap
Is NDTV left oriented because Radhika Roy is sister of Brinda Karat ?
Do not NDTV force opinions on people first, then they do SMS polls ?
Present day journalists indulge in yellow journalism.
Journalists are worse than politicians. Do they follow any ethics ?
If they do not change, soon alternate media will come up by people's journalism.
- save indian family
Hello,
What language is this?Alaphia,it would be better if you could edit such posts.And as regards journalistic ethics,well,NDTV is certainly not left biased as much as I can see.Infact,sometimes,they even ridicule their economic policies.And today's politicians!!Well,ow can you compare them with journalists?If it not were for journalists, our country would decay even more exponentially.
bnap
Good to know you are back Alaphia. Though i am not from chennai i feel the police in most of our cities are same. They are rude, brash and ill mannered with very few exceptions.
Well what else can you expect from such a police force which is used to indulge in such high handedness frequently. The system is rotten to the core. One has to keep on it i suppose to make any change whatsoever.
Hi Reflex,
The two dravidian parties are two of the worst outfits i have had the misfortune of covering.
Hi bnap,
I have deleted some of those filthy comments people left. You know how it is.... cyberspace is full of cowards who can never pluck up the courage to say what they really want to in flesh and blood. Such comments throws no light on anything but an empty head.
Thanks for stopping by.
HI Cynical,
Im back indeed... Wanted to blog about it earlier but was exhausted just by 'talking' about the incident.
Hello Save Indian Family,
Your questions defy logic...I dont know if they were supposed to sound rhetorical but if they were not... well I dont think i can even begin to answer them. But I have to agree with you that some journalists are indeed worse than politicians....but not all. If that were the case MP's would never be exposed taking bribes for asking questions, the Bofors scam would've never come to light and who would've heard of Tehelka?
Hi Bnap,
Just read your earlier comment... Thanks a lot.
Hi Neodawn,
Thanks for stopping by. I agree with you about the "urban brought-ups".
Hi Chennai chatter,
Actually I was hesitant to carry this our own assault as a big piece of news. I felt that couldnt become the bigger story. The story was primarily about the strike...thats perhaps why you didnt see anything detailed on the NDTV website.
But i have learnt some bitter lessons about the police force... worse about a few journalits who have sold their soul to the establishment.
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