Has the Speaker of the House finally seen the light? One is quaking in one’s shoes, not at all sure, if these observations will lead to being thrown into a dank, dark cell, turned into an Orange is the new Black, an Indrani Mukherjea, clearly missing her hairdresser’s touch — never to be heard from again for bringing up the running grudge wars between a Speaker, a journalist who has led a ‘now you see me, now you don’t’ hide and seek game with the police, (the khakhis, unwilling to step in to this monumental s*#%) and the third, another journo, whom no-one has seen either
In the land of the blind, where the one-eyed man is king...... Bad jokes aside — and I hope that Speaker Koliwad does have a funny bone and allows himself to be tickled pink sometimes — in the back and forth between the judiciary and the executive and the national press (so quick to jump on this bandwagon) this week, the one thing that came through is that this was not just about curbs on the freedom of the press, but equally, about a long-running and deeply personal animus between this unlikely quartet; None of whom, it must be said, have played fair.
The bad blood between them all stems from the acrimony, generated by the writings of two journalists — Ravi Belagare and Anil Raj — who have been deeply critical of the Speaker – when he wasn’t the Speaker — and the Yelahanka representative Mr. S.R. Vishwanath, in their respective publications.
Are politicians fair game then, because they are in the public eye? Is this the justification, for the open season on politicians? Do, we in the press have the right to attack politicians at whim? Questions, that can have only one answer. Yes, if you are in public life, you will be open to scrutiny, and while some of it will be fair, most of it will not. The press will be intrusive. And in this age of trolls and social media, it will get ugly. Real ugly! And no, it’s not okay to run a one-sided diatribe, at least, not without giving the target of your attack, a chance to clear his or her name, put out their side of the story.
Mr. Koliwad and Mr. Vishwanath have undoubtedly been at the receiving end of Mr. Belagere’s sharp wit and barbs, some of it well below the belt, I am told, and Mr. Raj’s tabloid-style sensational journalism, some of it less than economical with the truth. But the fact remains that if these journalists had crossed the line bordered on fantasy and not fact,and if they hadn’t appeared before the Privilege Committee, despite repeated summons, for the ritual public dressing , the next step chosen by Messrs. Koliwad and Vishwanath should not have been handcuffs and a jail term for the erring hacks, but the judge and jury.
Only two other journalists have been called before the committee thus far – the first, a highly respected former editor, and the other, the head of a publication in Belgaum. For a Privileges Committee to be convened with 22 members instead of the House of 224, sounds like someone was determined to rush it through. And this is the problem that one has, with it.
Was that old caste bogey — the only suit of armour left to the politician — the only factor that stopped Chief Minister Siddaramaiah from pulling up Mr.Koliwad? In poll-bound Karnataka, where caste has always trumped every other election strategy, the sickening descent into caste politics has already begun. The Congress, worried about alienating the Lingayats and wanting to shed the anti-Lingayat tag was not going to rein in the Speaker. A Lingayat. The induction of Mr. S.R. Patil at Kudalasangama, was a calculated ploy to woo the community and counter BJP’s star Mr. B.S.Yeddyurappa, a poll-winnning Lingayat in a party that is in grave danger now of dining out (will BSY have breakfast, lunch and dinner with no-other community but the Dalits?) on that one card. BSY may come a cropper, given the buzz from the inner ranks that his poor showing in the two by-polls was no accident and that a silent sabotage within has begun against his refusal to heed anyone but his coterie. For the Congress, its open season, cleared from on high to pander to not just the Lingayats, but the Vokkaligas, and the minorities and the SCs and the Backwards, and the Kurubas — whom the CM would like to see added to the list of Scheduled Tribes, gravely endangering that vote bank!
All of that, will be handled by the Congress as polls near. But the more immediate question is who will be spared the blushes when Mr. Koliwad and the Belagere — Raj duo come face to face this Tuesday. If demo and now GST wasn’t enough…Is Andher nagri mein, kitne chaupat raja…
