The Republic has gone crazy. Nobody expected it to be any better. Civility and dignity are in danger. WSN editor Jagmohan Singh writes an Open Letter to raise a banner of protest, not to match the shrillness of Arnab Goswami but to defeat him.

Dear Arnab Goswami:
Some years back, on a fact-finding mission to Srinagar, I had a fleeting glance of you at the airport, huddled away straight from the aircraft by top-notch security and army personnel. My friend who had come to receive us remarked, “so much for independent journalism.”

Very reluctantly, I inflicted self-torture for the last 6 days at different times of the day, so that I could write about the new Indian TV channel, called Republic -your prematurely born baby which perfectly fits with the Banana republic image of India which Indian leaders are trying to protect over the decades.

www.republicworld.com

“Your blue-eyed boy, the omnipresent BJP spokesperson -Sambit Patra, while talking at other participants whom he obviously disagrees with, says “Today, the Republic of India is asking you? Who has given him the right to be a representative of the Republic? He represents his party and if he represents the Republic, then surely it must be a Banana Republic.”

Your channel and you are shrillness personified. You would not see any such thing even in the tin-pot little African countries. Everything that happens on the channel is a lesson to journalism students about what a journalist should not do. While journalists are trained not to disclose their sources, in this case the sources and resources clearly seem to be of the powers that be.

Do you remember this? Your blue-eyed boy, the omnipresent BJP spokesperson -Sambit Patra, while talking at other participants whom he obviously disagrees with, says “Today, the Republic of India is asking you? Who has given him the right to be a representative of the Republic? He represents his party and if he represents the Republic, then surely it must be a Banana Republic.

“Your Republic TV is not a channel. It is a new organisation of Nazi nationalists on the leash let loose on unsuspecting Indians. Each word coming out of the mouth of each anchor and on the field journalists led by you.”

Last evening, the Samajwadi Party spokesperson Ghanshyam Tiwari, who maintained extreme patience, had to listen from you, “Don’t cross the line, don’t cross the line, don’t cross the line…how many times – a good 100 plus times, with interceptions like, “I will tear you apart”, “Have you ever contested an election?”, “Why should only politicians give speeches, even journalists can?”, “I am a seasoned journalist with a decade long standing.” Uff, I left the screen as I was tempted to smash it.

At another debate, another panelist, Gaurav, obviously pro-Arnab, kept laughing when you continued your monosyllable talk, repeating it ad nauseam, loudly said pointing out to Pakistani panelists, “You will hang Kulbushan, try it, we will hang ten here.” “Have you forgotten 1971?”, he said and you joined in pointing out to Baluchistan and other areas of unrest in neighbouring Pakistan. It is sickening. I really wonder why the Pakistanis come for such coarse and insane discussion.

Every internal issue of a minority, especially the Muslims is the subject of your channel. Triple Talaq is an issue but the pain of the Kashmiri women can easily be sacrificed at the altar of Indian-ness. I dare you to touch any of the Sikh issues in the same manner and you will find the Sikh community at your doors, literally.

The way you have been going after the left and the liberals of this country is nothing less than shameful – a word you used a thousand times in the heavily advertised Debates at prime time against those you disagree with. Last night you broke all records of shamelessness, probity and norms of civil behaviour -you endorsed the Indian army tying a Kashmiri man on a jeep and using it as a protection shield.”

I had a hearty laugh when I heard you say, “If you are not a nationalist, you are not a journalist.” A young man, scared of your image, as seen in your self-promotion ads, remarked, “Five minutes into the channel and I feel like vomiting.”

Your Republic TV is not a channel. It is a new organisation of Nazi nationalists on the leash let loose on unsuspecting Indians. Each word coming out of the mouth of each anchor and on the field journalists led by you. In its shrillness, amateurishness, faulty English, it strikes at the roots of fundamentals of journalism.

With the name Republic, in complete violation of the Emblems and Names Act, it is conceived in sin and the sinners are the owners, the bureaucracy and the government which has allowed such permission. The Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use), Act, 1950 expressly states in Section 1 that the purpose of the act is to “prevent the improper use of certain emblems and names for professional and commercial purposes.” In the schedule of under the Act, in relation to Section 2 and 3 of the Act, the nomenclature “Republic or Union of India” is listed as item no. 6 as a prohibited name. Of course, the central government can give special permission, which is quite obvious in this case. How and why was special permission given to you? What was the quid pro quo?

Let me say this loud and clear. A banana republic gets a Banana Republic TV channel. Those who have any sense of dignity and decorum left in public life, should stay miles away from your studios. I call upon India’s political parties -union and federal level to stop sending their representatives to the Republic-only to be chided and threatened. Where are the ethics committees? Where are those who need to control such abnormal behaviour? Justice Markandey Katju, we need you. Oh! Liberals of this country -politicians, journalists, civil libertarians, please wake up. You have nothing to lose but noise, chaos and insults.

Arnab Goswami, seeing and listening you talk is scary. I need to ask a Jew trained in the works of Simon Wiesenthal to tell us how Nazis think and how to contain them. I will work for the success of the People’s Commonwealth and the defeat of the pseudo-Republic. I ask my readers to join me in this endeavour.

Yours
Jagmohan Singh