From Devsagar Singh
Kunda: The media coverage of Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya`s arrest as also the arrest of his father Udai Pratap Singh evoked a roller coaster reaction from people of this sleepy little town 170 km from Lucknow.
"The newspapers knew nothing about Raja Bhaiya or his father. They have been made to write all rubbish because of local politics. Otherwise how could Raja Udai Pratap Singh be painted as a villain. He is a saintly personality busy in pooja (worship) most of the time", said Raj Bahadur, a resident of Kunda, reacting to a question as to what he thought of the arrest of Raja Bhaiya and his father.
His defence of the erstwhile princely family was as total as his loyalty. "Even up to this age (he said he was 55) I have not seen Raja Udai Pratap Singh. But we all know he helps the needy. Poor people go to him for help for their daughters` marriage and he never disappoints them by giving them generous monetary help", Raj Bahadur said emphatically.
Three time independent legislator from Kunda and a former state minister, Raja Bhaiya was arrested by the Mayawati government about a month ago under the dreaded law POTA (prevention of terrorism act). Subsequently, his father was arrested too under similar charges.
"Look how Jagran (a major Hindi daily from Uttar Pradesh) cooked up story against Raja Udai Pratap Singh. It concocted a story of the Raja keeping a concubine called Vasantha from the age of 12. What a shame in the name of journalism? We locals know there never was a thing like that", said Raj Bahadur in total disdain for the media. "I have heard that many papers took this line after Jagran wrote this trash", he stressed. At least one major English daily, Hindustan Times had reported similarly.
Raj Bahadur is not the only one full of hate for the newspapers for what they called entirely wrong reporting about the princely family. Said Pares Patel ( a Kurmi by caste): " No one had heard such bad things for Raja Bhaiya and his father. I do not know what has happened to the newspapers. Things were going so smoothly. Suddenly they turned upside down for Kunda. God knows what will happen now." Over 70 and ailing, and yet supervising the standing crop in his field, Patel was full of praise for the princely family and full of venom for the newspapers.
But the reaction from a group of Muslim residents from Kunda was significantly different. They were hesitant to talk about Raja Bhaiya and his father`s arrest. But drawn into conversation slowly, one of them said without revealing his name: "There must be something. Otherwise how can anyone be arrested?" Kunda does not have a sizeable Muslim population unlike many UP towns although it is nestling close to Allahabad.
A rather muted reaction. But it spoke the mind of a particular community. The conversation came to an end abruptly after some non-Muslims came within hearing distance at the roadside dhaba.
But what is interesting is that Jagran reportedly slowly changed its version of Vasantha. After painting a bad picture of Raja Udai Pratap Singh over the Vasantha issue, it slowly turned its position as if to correct itself without being asked to do so. Why and how did it happen? On Feb 4 issue , for example, Jagran published a story headlined: "Eik thi Vasantha" (There was a Vasantha) creating a suspense about the life and times of Raja Udai Pratap Singh. Within a week of the report getting published, Jagran came out with another report headlined "Rajgharana" on Feb 9, extolling the virtues of Raja Udai Pratap Singh.
While how and why it happened is still a matter of debate among UP journalists, one thing remains certain: that the paper`s credibility became suspect.
Devsagar Singh is a former