AK in MUMBAI Media Lies And The Gound Truth-an eye witness account Like all humans I also had a dream. My cherished dream was to at least catch a glimpse of my Hero, my true inspiration-Arvind Kejriwal. When I saw his Mumbai programme- local train ride from Andheri to Churchgate, I thought that moment of fulfilment had come. I stay in Borivli and could travel to Churchgate to get a quick glance. I reached Churchgate around 12 today and in another few minutes the train carrying Arvind arrived. Suddenly, there was a human tsunami on the station. The crowd was in a frenzy of excitement. And what a motley crowd -young, old, rich, poor, rustic, urbane, male, female, semi-literate, intellectual, businessmen, service-class, unemployed---.Yet, I was stunned by the harmony in the contradictions. Together, they just looked so Aam, and so Indian. As Arvind was hustled out of the train deafening slogans rent the air. I was still wondering how do I catch a glimpse of my Hero, when in a few moments it was all over. I saw the crowd rushing out of the main gate on the west side. It was too huge a crowd, the gate too small. Police control was atrocious. As the crowd surged towards the exit a metal-detector fell. Media would later blow it up by showing its fallen clips and blame it on the rowdism of the crowd. This was a certainty as there were insufficient police or other officials to monitor the rush on the platform or the exit. Did the authorities under estimate the magnetic appeal of AK, or were they banking on the proverbial indifference of Mumbaikars. After all, Anna’s last rally in Mumbai was an utter embarrassment. Or- was it their strategy to encourage chaos so that AK gets a bad name. Perhaps, they failed to feel the under-currents of transformation sweeping India. How could the financial capital remain untouched? It was indeed a huge, huge crowd especially by Mumbai standards. Yes, it was immensely excited to see their inspirational leader. However, the crowd’s disparity notwithstanding, it was totally disciplined. It followed the leader in brisk and measured strides and as it emerged out of the gate. There was absolutely no indiscipline or chaos. Had there been any other politician, he would have never let pass such a golden opportunity to make political capital and would have certainly exploited the occasion to address the crowd. But AK is a dignified leader. Sensing that the huge crowd could inconvenience the public, he immediately left for the scheduled venue-Bajaj Bhavan. Later, I was shocked to see the media blowing up fascinating untruths. It seemed the media’s perverse imagination had run amuck. “Kejriwal holds up Mumbai”- “Commuters inconvenienced”- such were the wailing screams on most channels with repeating broadcasts. Andheri to Churchgate in a slow local is about 40 odd minutes. 11.30 is non rush-hour. On landing at Churchgate , AK was out in about three to four minutes-and media saw a Mumbai being brought to a halt. So far I had perceptions of the media being biased as it was controlled by powerful interests who would depict any political outfit challenging the existing set-up in poor light. However, I still thought that the media would distort truth within sane limits. After all, it also had to maintain its credibility. Today I realized how wrong I was. Media can go to any insane lengths to distort the truth when it comes to maligning AK. Today as an eyewitness I saw the ground truth and the blatant falsehoods of the media. If you really want to see the chaos at Mumbai local stations, let the media send their crew on a day when only three locals are cancelled. They will see chaos in new dimensions. Let them come on a day when trains run just twenty minutes late during rush-hour. That’s enough to disrupt the normalcy of this city and bring out the tantrums of hassled and agitated commuters in utter ugliness. An innocuous 40 minute train ride of a popular leader brings delight to a dull commute. It brings excitement to a monotonous journey. But the blinkered media calls it disruption. Today, I have lost even the semblance of trust in the media and am thoroughly convinced that it has degenerated into a vicious organ of falsehoods. I am convinced that there is a deliberate concerted media campaign by powerful vested interests to subvert the AAP movement which is rapidly becoming a massive peaceful uprising against the present corrupt and criminalized set up. So friends, don’t believe a word of what the media says to tarnish the image of AK and AAP. Just continue to work with the same spirit, dedication and commitment we showed for the Delhi election and believe me we’ll end up with another surprising performance. ( Sorry to say that I couldn’t catch even a glimpse of my hero as he was hustled out in moments. I am getting a little old. I also have some health impairments. An acute slip-disc problem and a knee impaired with varicose-vein that restricts my walk to only short distances. Thus, movement restrictions constrain my little contribution to AAP only to the social media. However, a leader infuses a mystical strength and energy in his followers. So, there is also a part II of the story of how in spite of my physical conditions I was able to persevere and a little later join the long procession where I not only got to see AK but was walking by the side of his jeep from Nana Chowk to Nagpada and still further to Byculla . A man limping with an agonizing varicose vein could walk almost seven KMs in the scorching sun is a miracle that can only be actuated by such an enlivening leader like Arvind Kejriwal. So,despair not beloved Motherland, there is hope now. )
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 05:00:32 +0000
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