Parliamentarian or an industrialist

The above is a short news item in the Times of India of September11, 2012.

It is on nothing significant; one Indian citizen allegedly manhandling another. Of course, one of the citizens, the manhandler, is a prominent one and the alleged victim belongs to the profession that is fixated on these prominent ones. There is not much to choose from.

But there is, in this particular case, something else to choose between: Is the manhandler a politician or an industrialist?

The troublesome question that provoked this uncivil interaction between two citizens was regarding the coal blocks allocated to the industrialist’s company. It gets a little more complicated than that because the industrialist also happens to be a parliamentarian. Then, things get more interesting. Was the question posed to the industrialist or the politician?

The faux indignation of the public and also the opposition party regarding coal block allocation has been going on for some time. I do need to know whether the TV channel had ever posed similar questions to other industrialists who had been favored, if not in this allocation, but in the myriad openings obtained in a liberalizing, privatizing, globalizing economy.

It appears not. Even had the questions been raised, the responses would have been slippery. And, definitely the interactions would have been combative had the questions become more probing. There have been, to my knowledge, no such reports. I think I am safe in assuming that in this instance probing questions arose because the industrialist was a politician, and politicians are fair game for the media types.

A couple of sentences in the last paragraph are very revealing: “Since Jindal is a big beneficiary, we have done quite a few stories on him. However, Jindal trying to hit our reporter is very unbecoming of a parliamentarian.”

Jindal is a big beneficiary, as an industrialist, we must note. But it is only because he is a parliamentarian, his attempt to manhandle the reporter carries negatives. Had he been a mere industrialist there would have been no problem.

Switch to the lifestyle/gossip section of the paper. We typically find some actor or the other involved in a brawl in a bar. It makes news only because the combatants are prominent personalities. A non-bar hopping star or a bar hopping non-star will not get any column inches. Likewise corrupt industrialists (or honest politicians) are beyond the pale of newspaper reporters and reports. It is open season only on politicians, even when they are also industrialists!

In conclusion, I have a sane piece of advice for Jindal – quit politics. Ride the coat tails of politicians and other industrialists to get whatever favor you want from the government. Just do not be a politician.

And this will be better for you in another case also. You can wholeheartedly support the actions of Khap panchayats, those honorable people who indulge in honor killings. Remember you did something close to this some time ago?

Politics truly curbs one’s freedoms. So, quit politics and be content to be a filthy rich yet pure as driven snow industrialist.

Raghuram Ekambaram