Agenda Journalism

By B. Raman

(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topicval Studies, Chennai.)

   
1. Often, I get phone calls from Delhi-based journalists to discuss with me the disturbing phenomenon of some Hindus taking to terrorism and the reported confession before a Magistrate of Swami Assemanand, who is stated to be a follower of the Hindutva ideology. Many of these journalists are not interested in analysing this phenomenon and the investigation made so far. They are only interested in exploiting it to suit their own agenda.

   
2.  They never tell me that they want to have a discussion with me in order to better understand the phenomenon. They always start the conversation with the remark: “Sir, I want to have a couple of quotes from you.” They are not interested in facts. They are not interested in an objective analysis. They are not interested in the truth. They are only interested in quotes. If they are dissatisfied with my quotes or if they find that my quotes would not suit their agenda, they do not hesitate to substitute my quotes with their own and attribute them to me.

   
3.  This pernicious practice of agenda and motivated journalism, which came to the fore during the recent dissemination—one does not know even now by who and why— of the tapped conversations of Niira Radia, the lobbyist, has acquired new dimensions in the wake of the leak of the confession made by the Swami.

   
4.  I am proud to have sounded the wake-up call as early as in 2006 to the dangers of some angry members of the Hindu community taking to reprisal  acts of terrorism against our Muslims if the Government does not take note of the perceptions in sections of the Hindu community that  it has been soft towards the jihadi terrorists. I have been writing and speaking on this from time to time since then.

   
5.  While welcoming a professional and vigorous  investigation into the alleged involvement of some Hindus in acts of terrorism against  the Muslims, I have also been expressing my disquiet over the way the investigation was being done with motivated leaks to suit some hidden agenda. In this connection, I am reproducing below an article titled “Muslim Anger Vs Hindu Anger” written by me on November 16, 2008.

   
6.  In my assessment on the basis of open source information, there were only  four incidents of terrorism in  which some Hindus were probably involved. My fears that there could be more acts of reprisal terrorism by some Hindus against the Muslims in the wake of the 26/11 terrorist strikes in Mumbai were happily belied.

   
7.  I now sense a new wave of anger in sections of the Hindu community over what they perceive as attempts being made by the Congress (I) and some agenda journalists to exploit the confession of the Swami to divert attention from the serious threat of jihadi terrorism that we still face and to whitewash the horrendous crimes of the jihadi terrorists, including the July 2006 explosions in some suburban trains of Mumbai and even the 26/11 terrorist strikes.

   
8.  It is important for the Government to remove such perceptions. The investigating agencies should be given a free hand to investigate the confession of Swami Assemanand to its logical conclusion and to arrest and prosecute those found responsible. At the same time, this should not be allowed to slow down or distort our fight against jihadi terrorism.

 

ANNEXURE 

   
Muslim Anger Vs Hindu Anger

(http://ramansterrorismanalysis.blogspot.com/2008/11/muslim-anger-vs-hindu-anger.html)International Terrorism Monitor—Paper No.466

   
By B. Raman

   
The manner of the current investigation by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Mumbai Police into an explosion at Malegaon in Maharashtra on September 30,2008, which mainly targeted and killed some local Muslims should be a matter of concern to all right-thinking Indians.

   
2.  Large sections of the Muslims,the anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) political class and the so-called secular elements in the Hindu community, which lose no opportunity to demonise the Hindu nationalists and the BJP in order to win the applause of the minorities and project themselves as liberals, have used the investigation to divert attention away from the hundreds of innocent civilians killed by the jihadi terrorists, many of them trained and assisted by the intelligence agencies of Pakistan and Bangladesh and inspired by the pan-Islamic ideology of Al Qaeda and its International Islamic Front (IIF).

   
3.  They look upon the leaks from the ATS— many of them based on narco-analysis of dubious investigation and evidentiary value— as a pre-election Godsend in their campaign to project the Muslims as more sinned against than sinning and the nationalist-minded Hindus, who call for strong action against the jihadi terrorists, as chauvinists and Fascists.

   
4.  This, despite the fact that resort to narco-analysis—-which was frequently resorted to by Hitler’s Nazis and Stalin’s KGB to obtain confessions from political dissidents— has stood condemned in the rest of the civilised world. Many of the thousands of political dissidents, who were sent to the Gulag and the firing squads by Stalin, were tried and convicted on
the basis of narco-analysis.

   
5.  The Wiki Encyclopaedia says as follows of narco-analysis: ” Narco Analysis Test or Narco Test: This refers to the practice of administering barbiturates or certain other chemical substances, most often Pentothal Sodium, to lower a subject’s inhibitions, in the hope that the subject will more freely share information and feelings. The term Narco Analysis was coined by Horseley. Narco analysis first reached the mainstream in 1922, when Robert House, a Texas obstetrician used the drug scopolamine on two prisoners. Since then narco testing has become largely discredited in most democratic states, including the United States and Britain. There is a vast body of literature calling into question its ability to yield legal truth. Additionally, narcoanalysis has serious legal and ethical implications.”

   
6.  Dr. Chandrasekhar, the legendary Indian Forensic science expert, who played a highly-acclaimed role in the successful investigation and prosecution of the LTTE conspirators involved in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, has been one of the strongest critics of the police in some Indian States resorting to narco-analysis, which is not a scientific method of
investigation. In many countries of the world narco-analysis is viewed as a political tool and not a scientific tool.

   
7.  On the basis of statements and remarks made by the suspects under the influence of drugs, which induce a state of semi-consciousness, large sections of the Hindu community have been sought to be demonised, the army has been unwittingly stigmatised and attention has been sought to be diverted from the investigation into acts of jihadi terrorism and from enquiries to establish the full extent of the so-called Indian Mujahideen iceberg.

   
8.  I am proud to have been the first analyst to have drawn attention on October 2, 2008, to the fact that the explosions of September 30 at Malegaon and Modasa in Gujarat did not gel with the explosions carried out in other parts of India by the jihadi terrorists. I was the first to have suggested that we should thoroughly investigate the suspected involvement of some Hindus in these blasts in order to gain the trust of the Muslim community and remove the misgivings in their mind about the fairness of the Police. I was the first to have suggested in a TV interview that if the Malegaon investigation warranted a re-visit to some of the past investigations into terrorist strikes in which Muslims were the main targets, the Police should not hesitate to do so.

    9.  I applauded the Mumbai ATS, when they started the investigation into the suspected involvement of some Hindus in the Malegaon blasts, but I have been greatly concerned over the manner in which their investigation—-instead of remaining professional and scientific— has taken what large sections of the Hindu majority of this country will view as a
politically motivated direction. Some of the media leaks attributed to the Mumbai ATS make one think that the ATS has—wittingly or unwittingly— started playing to the so-called secularists’ gallery.

   
10.  So many obvious questions, which should have been asked by objective opinion-makers, have not been asked. One of the suspects is alleged to have lent her motor-cycle to the perpetrators. Can one think of any instance in the recent history of terrorism in which a terrorist-suspect created evidence against himself or herself by using his or her own vehicle for planting an improvised explosive device (IED)?

   
11.  A private military school, which coaches aspirants to a career in the Armed Forces, has been sought to be condemned on the ground that some of the suspects held a meeting in its premises. What is important is, what was the purpose of the meeting? Was it to plan specific acts of terrorism or was it merely to discuss how to counter anti-national jihadi terrorism? Innumerable meetings and seminars are held every year in presitgious training institutions of the Government to discuss, inter alia, appropriate strategies against jihadi terrorism, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Very often, the speakers call for strong retaliatory attacks against the terrorist organisations, Pakistan and Bangladesh? Are they to be viewed as instigators of terrorism and are our training institutions to be criticised for holding such discussions?

   
12.  We are now told that the explosions in the Samjotha Express in the beginning of last year were also carried out by some Hindus with the help of RDX explosives allegedly supplied by a serving Army officer, who is presently under investigation.

   
13.  I had written as follows on the Samjotha Express blasts on February 20,2007
( http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers22/paper2144.html )

:” The blasts on the Delhi-Attari Samjotha Express (Peace Express) on the night of February 18, 2007, are remarkable for the success as well as the failures of the terrorists. Their diabolic success is evident from the fact that two of the IEDs, reportedly attached to bottles containing incendiary material, functioned without a mishap, causing a carnage in which 67 passengers—mostly Indian and Pakistani Muslims—perished. Their surprising failure is evident from the fact that at least a half of their IEDs failed to explode and has been recovered by the railway authorities. According to some reports, they had planted a total of five IEDs of which three failed to function. According to others, they had planted four IEDs, of which two failed. So many failed IEDs should normally be a surprise in the case of well-trained, clued-up and experienced terrorists. The failures of the perpetrators of Deewana could indicate a possibility—remote at present— that they were new to this business of terrorism—either new recruits of old and well-established organisations or new recruits of new organisations. A systematic follow-up of the forensic trail left by them should help in determining their identity in course of time.”

   
14.  The Delhi police, who investigated the blasts, did not say anything about the use of RDX explosives. From their briefings, it appeared that incendiary devices and not explosive devices were used in the Samjotha Express. That was also the conclusion of many Western experts, including of STRATFOR, the well-known US analysis organisation. If the Delhi police knew at that time that RDX was used, did they try to find out the source of the explosive? If not, why not?

   
15.  If what the public is told now—-on the basis of the leaks from the Mumbai ATS— is correct, then what the Delhi Police told the public in February,2007, was wrong and vice versa.

   
16.  The Mumbai ATS should investigate the blasts thoroughly and need not hesitate to have a second look at the Samjotha Express explosions, but they should do it in a professional manner, but not in a manner that adds to suspicions that the investigation has taken a pre-election political turn—– with the objective being to fix the Hindu nationalists and not to fix the terrorists.

   
17.  I have written and spoken repeatedly about the spreading Muslim anger against what many Muslims look upon as the unfairness of the Indian criminal justice system against the Muslims. I have equally written and spoken frequently about the spreading Hindu anger against the Government and the so-called secularists over the failure to act strongly against the jihadi terrorists.

   
18.  One should be careful to see that the manner of investigation by the ATS does not add to the Hindu anger and lead to a situation similar to what had happened in Northern Ireland where elements from the Protestant community took to arms and terrorism against the Catholics due to perceptions that the Government was not doing enough to protect them from the perpetrators of violence from the Catholic community.

   
19.  This may please be read in continuation of my earlier article titled “Anti-Muslim Reprisal Terrorism?”
at http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers29/paper2892.html.

   
E-mail: [email protected]

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