The Need to Raise Our Voices Against Injustice

Media in our country is infamous for picking favourites and training their guns against innocent either on the provocation of powerful forces or because big stake holders at the core of such media channels are politically or ideologically aligned to people who have an interest in maligning names and false implicating people for their personal motives and gains.

               

Our innocent BapuJi has fallen victim to such syndicates that are hand in glove with the ruling government and they have an interest in tarnishing Sant Shree AsaramJi Bapu's name. Attack after attack has been directed towards Bapu, yet it has failed to break the spirit of truth seekers and those who know and believe in the truth. These are the people we need to learn from and two incidents that have sought to raise voice against injustice and demand the truth are as follows:

1. The December twitter protest

Thousands of BapuJi supporters gathered and raised their voice against corruption and blatant bias against those who have made issues out of nothing for their selfish motives. More than a hundred different examples of bias were mentioned in these tweets, which went to become one of the trending topic on Twitter. Not only is this incident worthy of congratulations, but we must also take a lead out of it and protest against the anti-Hindu mindset of media and lack of action against people like Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tarun Tejpal.

2. Letter to Uttar Pradesh chief minister

In another similar incident protesters gathered around the District Commissioner's office in Allahabad in UP and submitted a letter to  the CM in which they requested that strong action be taken against the CEOs and news anchors of news channels India TV, News Nation and News 24. In the said memorandum, it was mentioned that despite repeated requests, these news channels have failed to tone down derogatory language against AsaramJi Bapu, which caused them untold pain and mental suffering.

Both of these are exemplary incidents which has set the right precedent for the rest of us to take right action against perpetrators of this crime.

What action has been taken against unbiased news channels - The nation needs answers

How media and law has handled AsaramJi Bapu case is now known to all, there are no secrets as to how news channels painted BapuJi in the wrong hue and made a villain out of an upright saintly person driven completely by ulterior motives. Millions of Bapu's disciples were shocked and awed at this but what even more abhorring was how these media channels branded an innocent family as sex racket operators and showed a minor as a victim of sexual exploitation. This disgusting sacrifice of moral ethics on the altar of money was too much and the pain it caused to the innocent Sadhak family was harrowing.

What was the truth?

On 2nd July, 2013, Sant Shree AsaramJi Bapu arrived at the household of the complainant for Pag Phera ceremony and blessed his family which included the complainant's wife and his 10 year old niece. It must be noted that the media channels targeted these two females specifically by accusing the wife of running a sex racket and saying that the niece was a victim of BapuJi.

The family had to take action, it approached police and lodged a complaint against News 24 at the Palam Vihar police station but nothing came of it. Protests were carried out for 3 days from 14th Dec to 16 Dec, yet the police did nothing at all.

The complaint was completely cold shouldered and nothing came of it. Following this set back, the media victimized family formally decided to lodge an FIR at the same police station. This time two additional channels were brought under the purview of the FIR taking the total to three which now included News Nation, India TV and News 24. The charges that were invoked against these channels are: IPC 469, 471, 120B, 671 IT Act and 13(C) POCSO. It has been three days since and we are yet to see any positive outcome. Will the media or the law enforcement come up with an explanation as to why nothing has been done to nab the people named in the said FIR of 16th December, 2013?

Contrasts in how law enforcement and media handled Bapuji case and those of others

Law enforcement forces in a democracy are expected to be impartial and unbiased in their job and for most part they, exceptions arise when strong political forces are at play, calling shots from behind the curtain. Many times in the past we have disparities in the carriage of law and some of these have been very high profile ones that force us to sit up and take cognizance.

Case in point here is Sant Shree AsaramJi Bapu the holy Hindu Saint who has done so much for the poor and downtrodden of our nation and yet the media chose to crucify him without looking for reasons or logic, which is not only pathetic and silly but also belittling of our cultural heritage because this is a direct attack on an important religious figure of the nation. In what appears to be a controversy of with an anti-nationalist innuendo, BapuJi was implicated in a false rape cases. The law enforcement swings into action and swoops him up spectacularly. Thereafter, he is confined in jails and subjected to humiliation and hardships that are meted to hardened criminals.

This was just the beginning, soon after media doubled its effort to malign and bring disrepute to the name of AsaramJi Bapu and later even his son. It was clear that anti-BapuJi forces were at play here and media was happily playing second fiddle in spreading false news about Bapu and everyone else connected to him. The aggression which media and law enforcement displayed was extraordinary in many aspects. To begin with media took for granted that Pujya Shree AsaramJi Bapu was guilty and there was nothing to prevent the downfall of an innocent man who is considered a saint by millions of his followers all over the globe. In the days that followed more such false news was spread unstopped. Only recently has the NBSA heeded to these outrageous incidents and pulled the leash on TRP hungry news channels for spreading wrong information. In a very recent case, three news channels, India TV, News Nation and News 24 were taken to task by a family that was falsely portrayed as willing participants of sex rackets and scandals that are totally unfounded and false.

In stark contrast, several criminal cases of similar nature are pending in court that require attention but for reasons best known to law enforcement forces, these cases do not get as much importance as the bogus case against Bapu is getting. One very recent example of this is the Gurgaon Sadhak family case. On 16th December, a family lodged an FIR against three news channels viz: News 24, India News and News Nation for showing morphed video on national TV, implicating them of being involved in salacious scams involving the Bapu. 13(C) POCSO, IPC 469, 471, 120B and 671 IT acts were invoked but no action has been taken against the CEOs of the news channel yet. The question we ask today - why such disparity in carriage of legal action. There is no doubt in our mind that some deep conspiracy is at play against Sant Shree AsaramJi Bapu.

Complain fails to move police, Family victimized by media now files fir expecting Justice

In one after another, the turn of events that in the last few weeks has come as a welcome breather for Asaram Ji Bapu supporters and sadhaks. The first of them all was the falling from grace of liar Bholanand and Tripathi followed by the clearing of Narayan SaiJi's name as the absconder and lastly unveiling of the duplicity of evidence planned to be presented against Bapu. But all is not well yet and there are still matters that need clearing up and more attention from law enforcement and media. Recently, three national news channels New 24, India News and News Nation showed doctored content insinuating crimes that Sant Shree AsaramJi Bapu had not perpetrated and in the process maligning the name and honour of a family in addition to violating rights of a child!

These grave charges have been brought against the said media channels by a simple sadhak at whose residence his holiness AsaramJi Bapu arrived after a Satsang session for Pag Phera. It must be noted that these three news channels altered a video clip that was recorded in 2 July 2013 and presented it in poor light throughout the day of 12 Dec, 2013.

These channels defiled BapuJi and the entire family of the Sadhak by hinting that they were willing participants in salacious activities. The channels went on to implicate that the women in the family organized sex rackets for BapuJi. This led to untold pain and misery and anguish for the family. Following this the media-victimized family decided to knock at the police's door for justice, but unfortunately the plea was cold shouldered. This cold treatment forced the family to lodge a formal FIR against News Nation, News 24 and India TV for the improper presentation of news and violating rights of a 10 year old girl. The FIR invokes IPC 469, 471, 120B, 671 IT ACT and last but definitely not the least 13(C) POCSO.

It now remains to be seen whether the police will bring in the people accused in the FIR and if it does how long it takes.

Media victimizes innocent girl - Sadhak family lodges complaint against NEWS 24 Channel

As if the harm the skewed media has done till now is not enough, News 24, a popular news channel has gone one step ahead of the rest and defamed an innocent family in its mindless hunger to gain more TRPs, blind to the fact that their action has caused untold anguish and pain to innocent citizens! Sadhaks of AsaramJi Bapu also complained of such biased content being presented in other news channels as well. Notably, India TV and News Nation made repeated telecasts of doctored information through its channels recently.  

Recently India TV, a popular news channel has also been rapped by the National Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) for using derisive language against AsaramJi Bapu, and now this has followed. It should be noted that this recent misrepresentation is a graver offense than using defamatory language against a holy saint because in this case the victim is a teenage child who was portrayed by the media as victim, whereas the truth was far from it!

In the news presentation BapuJi was shown moving his hand over the back of the said girl in what the media described as offensive, but the truth is that BapuJi was blessing her and his actions were comparable to a grandfather patting his grandchild. To gain maximum leverage for their personal sake, the news channel had one of its female journalist analyze the video clip wherein she goes on to accuse BapuJi but seems completely oblivious to the fact that she herself was involved in violating child rights. In their blind pursuit for more TRPs, the said media channel not only pulled an innocent child into the middle of an unnecessary debate but also maligned other women of the household by hinting that women like them organized sexual escapades for Sant Shree AsaramJi Bapu. This is despicable and unexpected from media in a country where it is considered the 4th pillar of democracy.

Unlike most people who would have been scared of raising their voice, this media victim family has come forward with their complaint and invoked 13 (C)POCSO against News 24 for violating the rights of a child. This is high time that we open our eyes to thousands of such unbiased news dished out by the media against AsaramJi Bapu and lodge strong complains against such misrepresentations.

NBSA raps India TV on the knuckle for using derisive language against Asaramji Bapu regarding holi festival celebration

On 6th November, 2013 India TV was served a warning by the NBSA (National Broadcasting Standards Authority) for using derisive language in its reporting of the Holi festival incident in which the channel reported that BapuJi's Holi celebrations were conducted despite the fact some parts of Maharastra was reeling under severe crisis.

This report was carried out by India TV on two dates (17th and 18th March, 2013) on their channel. The language used during the program was potentially defamatory and caused mental anguish to followers of Bapu. In a reaction to that, supporters of Sant Shree AsaramJi Bapu sought an explanation from India TV.

The response from India TV was not satisfactory following which Bapu's followers moved the NBSA for review. On examination of a CD containing the said telecast, NBSA found that indeed the news channel had missed out on following guidelines on a few occasions. In a meeting that was held on 18.9.2013, NBSA decided to warn India TV for the irregularities, this is what was decided in the meeting. "NBSA decided to issue a warning to your channel and any future transgression would be dealt with severely". This was necessary because of blatant defiling of the Bapu and his Ashram by different section of the media ever since he was arrested. The NBSA's stand on the issue is a very welcome breather for Bapu supporters who have been pained endlessly largely because of an insensitive media that had taken upon themselves to ridicule and try BapuJi despite the fact that the matter is sub-judice.

India TV does it again twists video out of context - Presents biased perspective on video recorded by Asaramji aide

In the last few weeks we have been seeing too many incidents of the media getting too excited on the case against Sant Shree AsaramJi Bapu. Investigative media becomes ridiculous when it surpasses the bounds of logic and does things to get more attention by pushing completely biased information.  

Very recently, it has come to light that India TV jazzed up an unassuming video of BapuJi interacting with his disciples and a young student who was purportedly victimized by Bapu. It is rather amusing how media channels twist things out of context and make them appear like soap operas just to grab eyeballs. In the doctored video AsaramJi Bapu is shown gently touching and pampering the young girl, just as any grandparent with exactly the same feelings that would normally be seen in average Indian families. There was absolutely no grounds for anyone to blow this simple video out of proportion, but a certain section of the media cannot help but show such incidents for more than what they actually are. What we have seen on India TV is just that.

Quite interestingly this incident occurred in the household of a devotee of Sant Shree AsaramJi Bapu in presence of the girl’s parents and close relatives. It has further been said that the said video clip was recorded especially on request of the devotee at whose residence BapuJi was present that day. When the MMS went live the family was shocked because women in their family were falsely accused of running sex rackets and prostitution which was untrue. This telecast resulted in embarrassment for the family primarily because neighbours of the unfortunate family began questioning the nature of their relation with Sant Shree AsaramJi Bapu. Not to mention this caused immense emotional pain and scarring following which the family finally lodged a complaint against the news channel.

This shows that there is no limit as to how despicable the media can get, assailing devotees of AsaramJi Bapu for TRPs.

Asaramji Bapu was expecting to be implicated like Sankarcharya Jayendra Saraswati

Sant Shree AsaramJi Bapu said on 6th December 2004 that he was likely to be implicated in similar false cases like Kanchi Seers Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati. This was said in the wake of the seer's arrest on charges of murder of a manager of the Mutt. AsaramJi Bapu said that his number came after Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati. The seer was arrested and jailed for 9 years. At the end of that period it was found that the seers were actually not guilty of the crime that they were accused of initially. It could be more than a coincidence that the very year Sankarcharya was cleared of the crimes, Sant Shree Asaram BapuJi was implicated!

When he talked about this, the year was 2004 and a great Hindu leader was under the cloud of murder. His disciples along with millions of followers around the globe were pained, they had to be guided and kept on the path of truth. AsaramJi Bapu was a beacon of guiding light at that moment and he courageously steered masses back into the path of truth and love and gave them a reason to keep their path. To make his case strong he cited the example of Sai Maharaja who also had similar misfortune not too long before Sankaracharya was brought to book. If one takes a close look at these incidents we will see that there is a trend in the way all spiritual leaders have been implicated. One after the other Hindu leaders has been attacked. The first to have fallen was Sai Maharaj, followed by Sankaracharya and the latest to have faced the same fate is none other than Sant Shree AsaramJi Bapu. One would be hard pressed not to find a pattern in all these insinuating manipulation of the law by forces working to malign good names of religious leaders.

Throughout these rough times, BapuJi has always continued spreading his message of peace and love. He said then that everything would become alright soon and he asked his followers to keep faith on the almighty.

Even Learned Law - Keepers Err

No one is above the law and there have been numerous occasions when law and order has blundered. There is no denying the fact that dispensing justice is not the easiest of task and those in the profession of up-keeping law face a gargantuan task in bringing all to task. But when a big miss comes to light one cannot but stand up and take notice of the matter. With the arrest of AsaramJi Bapu and his son, many are invoking the question - could the law have erred?

In a democratic country, we do posses the right to express our opinions without fear of retribution and clearly no one is in violation of those in question developments since His Holiness AsaramJi Bapu was arrested recently. It is noteworthy that there have been lapses here too, but thankfully remedial action has since been taken. It is not lost to public cognizance that prosecutors gunning against Narayan Sai moved the court and obtained a non-bailable arrest warrant which was later absolved by the court considering the fact that an NBW may not be issued to arrest any person, hence all these time Narayan Sai was falsely labelled an absconder. It is quite ridiculous that a section of the press has taken this and blown it out of proportion to such an extent that the general population began taking this falsity for granted. Thankfully, the recent court stand comes as a welcome breather for BapuJi and his family from the continuous onslaught of propaganda spread by detractors of the spiritual leader.

What we are hinting at is the possibility of more blunders by the court and the law. Given the highly motivated and powerful detractors of BapuJi, one cannot completely rule out deeper conspiracies and conspirators at play here. Sant AsaramJi Bapu has been hinting at the possibility of a conspiracy and given his impressive track record of speaking out against powerful and corrupt politicians, he definitely has some very irate and resourceful enemies. When Congress faced a defeating blow in the recent assembly elections, BapuJi commented that the truth will prevail and it has only begun.

If famous dignitaries like Kanchi seers can stay shrouded in clouds of doubt for 9 long years, we would not be surprised if law takes equally long to come out with the truth.

Sad deviation of media from the path of truth

Humans have been critical and noxious since time immemorial; there is little novelty in that. Even today with the enlightenment of education, nothing much seems to have changed, which is very unfortunate.

What is even more painful is the harsh truth that His Holiness AsaramJi Bapu who has spent the greater part of his life unto the service of mankind was not spared? The saint has always been advising his disciples about being truthful and remaining closely associated with a life that is filled with nothing but the truth. The kind Bapu never for a moment rested from his job of spreading the gospel of love, truth, honouring women, helping the poor and educating children. Following his teachings millions have chosen the right path and brought about positive changes in their societies, states and thus to the entire world.

Media, which is considered the fourth pillar of the Indian democracy, has lost sight of its aims. Instead, it has decided to embark on the path of falsehood and cheap publicity for monetary gains. Driven blind by ulterior motives, media has not even stopped from flinging mud on the kind Bapu. It is an abominable attempt at sabotaging Bapu's reputation and selfless service. This unfortunate deviation of the media from truth and sacrificing BapuJi on the altar of rumours heralds a sad day for Indian journalism. Perhaps this is the outcome of commercialization of media that has money at its true north instead of truth.

Nothing can be more detrimental to a nation's future than a corrupt media that does not stop at anything when it comes to making money. By actively spreading rumours and criticizing all and sundry for everything that comes across their path and by maligning reputation of spiritual leaders of the nation, the media has not only become less authentic and authoritative, it also increasingly inviting wrath of the almighty lord unto who His Holiness AsaramJi Bapu has dedicated his life and work.