‘N’ation ‘D’amaging ‘T’ele ‘V’ision (NDTV) hangs its head in shame

‘N’ation ‘D’amaging ‘T’ele ‘V’ision (NDTV) hangs its head in shame

CHANNEL             :        NDTV.

DAY / DATE          :        Thursday the 11th of January 2007.

TIME                     :        8.30 pm.

PROGRAM            :        ‘Verdict’ – India 60 minutes.

TOPIC                   :         Makara Jyothi in Sabari Mala.

HIDDEN AGENDA:          To insult Aiyappa Devotees; To ridicule Hindu faith;

To hurt Hindus’ religious sentiments.

PANEL                  :        1. Shri. G. Sudhagaran, Devaswom Minister,

    Government of Kerala.

2. Shri. Ananthraman, Guru Swamy from

    Bangalore.

                   3. Shri. Rajan Gurukkal, School of Social

   Sciences, MG University.

ANCHOR     :   Ms. Nidi Razdan.

QUESTION  :  Is “Makara Jyohthi” (Divine Light) a miracle or State’s set up?

BACK DROP GIVEN BY THE CHANNEL:

1981 – Mr. Karunakaran Nair of KSEB (Kerala State Electricity Board) along with the help of his driver Gopinathan Nair set up an ‘artificial’ jyothi by lighting 2Kgs of camphor.

1986 – Officials of Devaswom Board set up an artificial Jyothi with the protection of the Kerala Police.

The correspondent of NDTV showed a concrete platform like structure from where the artificial light was allegedly set up by the ‘state’. He also said that the setting up of the ‘Jyothi’ is an open secret, but the devotees are not bothered.

DISCUSSION:

Mr. G.Sudhagaran:- The ‘Makara Jyothi’ cannot be termed as a State’s set up. The government has never involved in such things. The government respects the ‘faith’ of all religions and all religions have many such faiths, which should not be questioned or debated, as it will hurt their religious sentiments.

Mr. Anantharaman, Guruswamy:- As devotees of Swami Aiyappa, we believe in Makara Jyothi and that is why millions of devotees are thronging the Sabarimala every year. We have steadfast faith in Lord.Aiyappa, which should not be debated.

Mr. Rajan Gurukkal:- Such a farce has resulted in many stampedes and unfortunate deaths. It is condemnable that the government itself is involved in such set ups.

The channel showed the result of the SMS poll as 100% for state’s set up and 0% for miracle, along with support comments from only three viewers, just for a few seconds and withdrew the figures & comments. Suddenly the anchor thanked the panelists and closed the program and shifted to sports news. The whole program lasted only for 5 to 6 minutes, while normally such ‘verdict’ debates are conducted for 30 to 40 minutes.

What happened behind the scenes? Why the program was abruptly closed?

The answer is left to our guessing.

RESULT:-  The embarrassed Anchor Nidi Razdan cut a sorry figure and NDTV hung its head in shame.

MY QUESTIONS:-

Why was the set up done only in 1981 & 1986?

Is the Jyothi state-managed every year?

The devotees (including me) have been witnessing the Makara Jyothi for ages (I was told by my elders that during their days the Jyothi used to be there for even 5 to 10 minutes) and has it been ‘managed’ since then?

If it is set up on a concrete platform, how come it moves on air?

If the alleged ‘set up’ is true, why have the governments involved in such a ‘farce’ to fool the devotees?

Who is bloody NDTV to question the faith of Hindus?

MY ‘SMS’ TO NDTV BEFORE THE PROGRAM:-

“Christian funded channels like you have no business to ridicule Hindu faiths.  Were you eating ‘shit’ when that ‘rascal’ Benny Hinn was cheating millions in Bangalore? Don’t hurt our religious sentiments damn it! Change your topic of debate.” –  B.R.Haran, Chennai.

I feel many such messages would have reached the channel forcing it to close the program abruptly. Let us not allow these anti-Hindu channels to telecast such programs in future also.  

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