Arnab Goswami is no Dabang; instead he qualifies as Gabbar of TV news industry.

by Dr. Javed Jamil

Times News publicizes Arnab Goswami as the most watched TV anchor.  But he is no Dabang; instead he qualifies as Gabbar of TV news industry. The Gabbar shouts every night in the midst of clapping by the viewers. Last night was the same except that his guest this time was special: Rahul Gandhi. Times was constantly publicizing it as the political interview of 2014. Alas! It can be qualified as among the worst interviews I have watched. The truth however is that it is not Rahul but Arnab that failed the viewers. The nation had an opportunity to know Rahul: his heart, his vision and future plans. But Arnab was only asking questions that had no direct relation with him, the questions that should have been put to Man Mohan Singh, the Prime Minister or Sonia Gandhi, the President of Congress. Till a few months back, Rahul was only one of more than one hundred Congress MPs and one of the party functionaries. There were many seniors who were in charge of the Government and the party. But he was asked questions that related to the “failures” of Man Mohan Singh, even 1984 riots, for which he was even asked to apologize. Poor Rahul might have given the consent of interview in the hope that he will be able to tell the nation what his vision is. But he chose the wrong person who had little interest in unveiling Rahul. Instead he was consciously busy in proving that he was no match for Modi. There was a clear design in Arnab’s intention. He blocked Gandhi speaking his heart and mind. To the credit of Gandhi, he still managed to give a broad hint of his vision, his heart and his style of functioning. He succeeded in sounding candid, a straightforward person whose heart pains at the sufferings of the people and one who wants to change the system without caring for money and power.

Arnab was interviewing him as if a BJP spokesman was taking the interview. The questions were repeatedly asked about the “dynasty” slogan of BJP campaign. Nobody asks them: Was Jawahar Lal Nehru Prime Minister because he belonged to Nehru family or because the people of the country chose Congress MPs who then elected him PM? Was Indira Gandhi not an elected Prime Minister? Did Rajeev Gandhi become PM without the votes of the majority of the countrymen? If Congress had three PMs from pone family, did it not have Shastri, Narsimha Rao and Man Mohan Singh? Even all the other PMs except Vajpayee were originally the products of Congress. If Sonia did not become PM, the argument is that she controlled government from behind. Had she chosen to accept the responsibility, she would have been blamed for not allowing any other Congressman to lead the government. If Rahul had wanted, he could have become PM much earlier, and no court could have stopped it on the ground of its being undemocratic. But again, instead of admiring the family for their ability to sustain the confidence of the party and the people, they are targeted for being dynastic.

Will Arnab Goswami now interview Modi and ask him the following questions?: What does he think of Advani’s Rath Yatra that ultimately led to the demolition of Babri Masjid? Will he apologize to Muslims for the unconstitutional demolition by the BJP workers and supporters? Will he tell why the persons involved in demolition were not punished? Will he tell why Vajpayee chose to make Advani his deputy even despite his role in the demolition? Will Modi apologize for the Post demolition rights that killed thousands of Muslims? Will he tell why BJP tries to always bring in discussion that part of terrorism where Muslims are allegedly involved despite the fact that it has caused much less damage than that caused by terrorism where Hindus are involved? Will he tell why he fails to take note of the fact that in almost all the riots in the country including 1984 riots against Sikhs, Hindus mostly with Sangh mentality have been the culprits? Will he not lament the fact that Sangh Parivar was solidly behind Indira Gandhi in her action against Golden Temple, which ultimately led to her assassination and subsequent riiots? Will Modi accept the allegations against him about abetting Gujarat riots? Does the present state of legal position absolve him for the responsibility? Will he now apologize to the Muslim community and pledge that he will never allow such riots to be repeated? Why does he always make some remarks in his speeches that show his aversion to Muslims? Why did he in his recent speeches target meat industry? Does he want to put ban on meat exports? Why did he honour the BJP MLAs whose role in inciting Muzaffar Nagar riots is being investigated by the police of the state? How can a Prime Ministerial candidate openly challenge the actions of the police of a state of the country? Why did he allow Yedurappa in the party despite serious allegations of corruption against him?  Why he begs 60 months in return for 60 years for Congress? If BJP has not been able to govern India, it is simply because it has not been able to win the confidence of the nation, and if Congress has ruled that long, it is simply because they have been able to win the confidence of the people. Unsure of his victory, has now Modi started emotional blackmailing by begging for votes? Why did he not answer charges in the snooping controversy? There may be dozens of other questions. We will be waiting when Arnab interviews Modi and ask these questions instead of asking about his future vision.

* Dr Javed Jamil is a thinker and writer with over a dozen books including his latest, “Muslim Vision of Secular India: Destination & Road-map”, “The Devil of Economic Fundamentalism”, “The Essence of the Divine Verses”, “The Killer Sex”, “Islam means Peace” and “Rediscovering the Universe”. He can be contacted at doctorforu123@yahoo.com or 91-8130340339.