Thank God the IPL is over. As "I try hard to be flamboyant" Modi goes overboard and throws accusations towards Shashi Tharoor and his ilk, its pathetic to see the media revel in the glory and obnoxious macabre dance to sensationalise the drama. IPL seems to be less about cricket and more about money, BIG money , no doubt. Sadly, it has reduced the "Cricket" to sort of a tamasha. I am not against the spread of T20 cricket, neither do I find the gyrating cheerleaders obscene (annoying might be a better term, distracting still better...). What I find absolutely detesting is the "outside" media coverage of the now acclaimed Tharrorgate saga.
First things first, lets get this clear. While many "patriotic" fans claim otherwise, yet the fact is that the BCCI is nothing but a "private" body handling present day. The Board of Control for Cricket in India, or BCCI, is the apex governing body for cricket in India, headquartered at Mumbai. The board was formed in December 1928 as the national governing body for all cricket in India. BCCI replaced Calcutta Cricket Club. It is a society, registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act. The BCCI often uses government-owned stadiums across the country at a nominal annual rent. It is a private club consortium. Basically to become a member of a state-level association, you need to be introduced by another member and also pay an annual fee. The state-level clubs select their representatives (secretaries) who in turn select the BCCI officials. BCCI are not required to make their balance sheets public. In the past, tax exemptions were granted to BCCI on the grounds as promoting cricket was a charitable activity.
Huh? Charitable activity? What rubbish? I think the negligence of sports like Football, Hockey, and indigenous sports speak volumes as to how the game has changed the face of sports and become symbolic to sports. Incidentally, Hockey, the National game of India languishes miserably while India stands a shameful 126th in the FIFA rankings. And yet Cricket continues to be promoted under the “charitable” hood. Surprisingly, their clout is such that even ICL and other rebel leagues had to bow out with disgrace. While it is indeed appreciable that privatising the game has brought fame, glory etc., but the present crisis is more than just a mole. First came the match fixing saga and now this, with links further pointing towards the betting network in the country. Sad and shameful to say the least. That too, for a sport which is considered to be a gentleman’s game.
And the media loves to feast on such fodder anyway. What is abhorrent is the way the media is influencing opinion. Its disgraceful. I distinctly remember there was an attack on the IBN Lokmat office a few months ago. Hardly any media channel had captured the violence. One may say, every channel has a bias. Agreed, but somewhere in between the ethos of the media is lost. Today, media figures like Arnab Goswami, Rajdeep Sardesai, Barkha Dutt are all parley to the mindless sensationalisation of news. They out rightly decry individuals like Narendra Modi, Arundhati Roy, etc. I mean, who gives you the right to sway public opinion? Media is supposed to “report” news and I think that’s it. One cannot beat the opinion and nail it into the head of the viewer. Let the courts decide, let the public judge the individual. The media cannot and should not be biased against what it “feels”. When such a thing occurs, it is termed as “Propaganda”. And that creates a rift always in the public. The media in India, I strongly believe is “INCOMPETENT”, completely incompetent. Like a spoilt brat, it doesn’t know when to Shut the **** up!. And this has been proved not once but multiple times. The Mumbai attacks, the Riots, the Naxals menace, they all have invariably benefited due to the media. And worse still, is the “speculative” nature of analysis. Disgusting to say the least…
While one is free, one should also be aware of one’s duties. The media seems to have forgotten theirs. Its very sad that in a “free” country like ours, lack of responsibility has made these TV channels like rabid dogs on leash. They bark without caring a damn about the consequences, especially the damage it does to a person's image in public.
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