Storytelling , BBC style

Western guys and their allies are good, alright sometimes driven to doing bad things, but it is those other guys who need some tracking.

By S. Kanthimathi

A regular listener of the BBC World Service, Newshour, sooner or later will catch on to the agenda. It is simple. Western guys and their allies are good, alright sometimes driven to doing bad things, but it is those other guys who need some tracking. A few examples are offered here.

(1) The news reporters for Newshour are selectively aggressive. Government officials, elected or otherwise, of the Palestinians people, India, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Iraq, sometimes even Israel, can be questioned rather angrily - sometimes to the point of interrupting, shouting and humiliating in that order. The leaders of the humiliation-squad are Lyse Doucet and Judy Swallow. One wonders whether these women shout at (usually) male officials to show one`s cultural superiority, or for that extra bit of entertainment - whatever.

Pray tell, what is the job of a news-reporter? In the same Newshour programme, American or EU officials are interviewed with utmost courtesy by the same Ms. Doucet and Ms. Swallow.

(2) The Kashmir issue versus the Palestinian issue. The militancy in Kashmir, both indigenous and the imported variety is a freedom struggle. The militancy from the Palestinian population is terrorism. Kashmir is suffering Indian occupation. There is hardly ever a mention of Israeli occupation of Palestine, neither is there ever a mention of Pakistani occupation of Kashmir (let alone that piece of land where even grass does not grow, and is occupied by China). Do take into account that India and Pakistan occupied Kashmir around the same time when Israel was formally recognized.

The historical perspective is unfair. No mention is given regarding the UN resolution asking for Pakistani withdrawal and a plebiscite in Kashmir, neither of which have been fulfilled. The killings and mass exodus of the Kashmiri people (including Muslim families), and the requirement that no outsiders` settlements in Kashmir be allowed, also do not figure.

Compare this with the Palestinian situation. Almost the entirety of Palestine is now Israel (which could be easily managed since Palestine was a British colony and then the war of 1967), and there are now talks about a possible Palestinian statehood in two small pieces, which are already dotted with Israeli ever-growing settlements.

Almost half the Palestinian population in the world is a refugee population in Jordan and other neighbouring countries, without citizenship of any country. Most of the rest are living under abominable conditions within what is now Israel, West Bank and Gaza. But listening to the BBC, one gets the impression that India is this huge colonizer, whereas Israel has a real problem of terrorism in their hands.

Although the human-rights violations committed by the Indian army need exposure, a fair reportage is also required. Interviewing members of the liberation struggle is not sufficient. There has to be an acknowledgment of the atrocities committed by the militants as well.

Those who lost their ancestral homes also need to be heard. Compare this with the care taken by the Western media to express solidarity with the rights of the Jewish people to their own state (by driving out Arabs as it turns out), as compensation for the persecution they suffered in Europe.

The news media influences the decisions taken by their home-governments. Which means, India is losing Kashmir, which might have happened anyway. The problem is, India is losing big-time in comparison to Israel!!??

(3) Consider the BBC coverage of Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe bad, and Morgan Tsvangirai good. Why? Mugabe is a dictator. He rigged elections to continue as the President. Now Musharraf got himself extended as the President, and that hardly created the outrage (or shouts or humiliations which Zimbabweans received) in BBC`s Newshour. Contactuiyer1@rediffmail.com