While most of our criticisms of
The Hindu are normally about items in the paper, sometimes it is worth commenting on something that does
not find mention in it. I refer, of course, to the paper's deafening silence on the question of India's attendance of the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony this year to dissident activist Liu Xiaobo in the face of China's call asking countries to boycott it. Several newspapers across the country have called upon the government to grow a spine, ignore the call and go ahead with its attendance. This publication which is usually at the forefront of providing unsolicited advice to the government in foreign affairs particularly where it concerns relations with the United States has been sitting it out editorially on this question. Even the op-ed columns have not mentioned anything about the matter. It is quite remarkable that a paper which regularly dishes out shrill rhetoric about the need for India to pursue an "independent" foreign policy and not back down before American pressure has chosen to stay quiet when the country is facing real pressure from a certain other powerful nation. No guesses why that might be so but I would still like to hear what the folks at the paper have to say.
Posts
5 comments:
This is the problem, we neutral readers, have with this publication. I don't think editorial policy can pervade into areas of disseminating and purveying news. They could have mad Anathakrishnan write some inane details on the compulsion of both the nations and could have hinted that India is within its right to attend the Nobel Prize ceremony.
Your blog, despite its' moniker, shouldn't focus only/ mainly on a has-been newspaper and its' senile custodians.
I hope so, China got it. They deserve that. But I just have a question, will America has something to be appraise in such way?
Thyagi,
I think the problem would have been that it would have exposed the hypocrisy of supporting human rights organizations within India but authoritarian government in China. There lies the conundrum.
seadog4227,
Good point. There are a number of similar publications in India today and it may be worthwhile to expand our criticisms beyond The Hindu. This is something we need to work on. Thanks for the suggestion.
Brandon,
Not sure I understand your point. Please explain.
One more instance of deafening silence - until recently when the whole world has woken up to the scandal - is on the 2g issue. The Molly coddling of raja & the dmk is a case in point. If one were to go by lic's version, raja is innocent! If paid news is bad, so is paid silence.
Post a Comment