The media creates a Robin Hood
As the Maoist leader Kishenji went on and on, news channels brought to life and entertainment the conceited world of the Maoists. The recent 'abduction cum bargain drama' of police officer Athindranath Dutta also brought the role of the media under scrutiny. Viewers watched Kishenji in the Sankrail police station of
There is no doubt that, for that particular day, Kishenji was the hero of prime time television as he talked about why police officers should be kidnapped and killed, and why the government should bargain for their lives. When the anchor quizzed him about the health of Athindranath Dutta -- what he was eating and how he was staying with the 'most wanted' -- Kishenji went to the extent of consoling his family, and elaborately expressing his concern about the health of his so-called 'father' who was being well taken care of since he had been declared no less than a 'Prisoner of war'. This new incarnation of Robin Hood then went on to direct the parents of the prisoner to bargain with the Buddhadeb Bhattacharya government, even inciting them to ask why it was not acting swiftly, or bargaining with him to get the abducted officer released.
It was no wonder that it was Kishenji's day as he went on and on from one TV channel to the other -- his phone so continuously busy that even negotiators (of the government) wanting to speak to him had to queue up and wait their turn. At one point, TV channels went to the extent of showing Kishenji -- supposedly holed up in some place around Lalgarh by the security forces -- roar and threaten that if the joint forces did not withdraw immediately and give him free passage, the abducted officer would be dead. After warnings and helpless appeals by the parents, family -- and even the news channels themselves -- not to hurt the officer, the forces were seen pulling out and standing as mute spectators even as the release show was being planned in front of the media.
Police could not trace -- or were not allowed to trace -- a person wanted for the killing of so many police personnel as well as CPIM supporters in Lalgarh! The media played the negotiator in the rescue game. Media personnel were asked to switch off their mobile phones before being taken to a remote school where the handover was to take place. After a good long lecture and the propagation of the Maoists ideology, the 'prisoner of war' was handed to the media. All the goodbyes and shaking of hands was done on camera even as Athindranath's life was saved and he was sent safely home. The fall out was that the media televised the entire deal done by the government in which twenty-two suspected Maoists were released in the Midnapur court.
Kishenji's phone went out of range after his newly attained Robin Hood image. The media had other human stories to focus on: of Athindranath meeting his family again, of his going to the Dakshineshwar temple, and of how he understood the plight of the people of Lalgarh and the Maoist influence over them. Athindranath now believes that the people of Lalgarh are dispossessed, and are in need of 'development' -- something he did not realize during his tenure as police officer there.
What the TV channels missed out on is that they were actually dancing to the tune of Kishenji legitimizing the abduction and killing done by the Maoists. They also missed out on the fact that now the Maoists will not face the media any time soon since, as far as they are concerned, its work is over i.e., in successfully bringing forth the humane face of the Maoist leader as he released the officer in charge. No questions were posed to him as to why the gunmen killed two other sub inspectors of police in the same police station for fear of antagonizing him and thus hurting the abducted officer. Nobody pointed out that the Maoists killing spree was no less brutal than terrorist attacks. Nobody questioned how such killings can be justified or asked why he should not be punished and be called a killer.
In other words, the media ended by playing into the hands of the Maoists and becoming its propaganda machine. In fact, Kishenji himself conceded to the media that they failed in Andhra Pradesh because of the 'developmental' work done there. This means that if development came to Lalagrh, the Maoists would fail there as well. This only proves the point that he quite definitely would not let anyone work in Lalgarh for progress and development.
Why has Athindranath Dutta -- by now a media celebrity -- not been forced to answer the question about what was he doing as a police officer while his colleagues were being gunned down in front of his eyes by female Maoists? The deceased police sub inspectors sitting in the police station were in 'lungis and T-shirts when they were killed by the armed female wing of the Maoists. Athindranath was also in casual clothes when he was kidnapped and taken away by two female armed Maoists on motorcycles. Why did no one question how a police officer could be kidnapped in broad daylight from a police station which had a branch of the State Bank of
Many questions arise. Was all this bargaining by the government? The ones who were released from the Midnapur court on that fateful day were actually some very poor women booked on trivial grounds, with the police not having filed even a charge sheet against them. They were actually booked for ninety days so as to create pressure on the families to divulge the truth about suspected male Maoists cadres. Here the government did not want the media to pursue their cases, hence the bargain game. And Kishenji on live TV was bargaining the release of senior Maoists leaders and the withdrawal of joint forces rather than just the release of these women.
Thus, the media danced to the flute of the Maoist Kishenji who, rather than forging a deal with the government, succeeded in using the media to his own advantage. Now, Kishenji is not available to the media. His phone is switched off. But, he will call them up when he needs to.