All looked up to them as people of rare breed.

They turned out to be men of lesser morals and greater greed.

*Anonymous*

They are corrupt, but claim to be incorruptible.

They are paid henchmen of rich and powerful, but make loud boast of speaking truth to power.

They would like us to believe what they print or broadcast as nothing but truth.

But voices on the ground whisper something else. They must be heard.

They term the most brazen practitioners of communalism as secular. And brand those who advocate equality for all as communal.

They celebrate Hijab as a liberating way of dressing oneself.

But sarees are imposition on women by regressive Hindu customs.

They idolize Imran Khan as the well-bred, modern and secular person in the subcontinent.

The man who terms every other terrorist group of the world as freedom fighters and Osama bin Laden a martyr.

Some of them including their political masters are highly praised by Hafiz Sayeed, a UN sanctioned terrorist.

But they claim that they are against terrorism.

They colour the crimes to suit their agenda.

A Muslim killed or beaten by a Hindu is a victim of hate crime.

But a Hindu killed or beaten by a Muslim is not so. It’s a law and order issue.

They organise Award wapsi and protest rallies against any crime in any of the states.

But they don’t hold the states responsible, more so if they are ruled by parties of their preference.

They twist incidents of riots and highlight them in international press as anti- Muslim riots. Example: the riot in Delhi and before that in Gujurat.

They take live transmission of bodies of covid victims being burnt in crematorium. They sell it to international media at a premium price.

They are full of respect for dead at Kabristan. They omit, as a mark of respect for the dead, scores of bodies given quiet burial in USA, UK, Italy and elsewhere.

They were friendly with Kasmir separatists and still are. But claim they stand for common Kashmiris.

They were ok with Kashmiri youth pelting stones and taking up guns. The terrorists were romanticized as some headmaster’s son, a victim of Indian army excesses or stories of this nature.

But the Government that has terminated the fraud called article 370 and 35A is called names. Communal, Hindutva bigots and autocrats to name a few.

Now, the youth holding Indian flags and joining Indian army is not a matter to rejoice over for them.

For them, the ultimate test of government’s credibility as a secular and democratic character is established only by holding peace talks with Pakistan.

Pakistani sponsored terrorism has to be borne in silence because we have greater obligation as a big country.

They cosy up to the most corrupt, most violent and communal parties of the country. Because the more corrupt and autocratic the political parties are the more disposed they would be to silence the voices by bribing them.

No wonder, Bengal violence doesn’t find any place in TV channels. Because they are well paid. Crimes in Rajasthan and Maharashtra are given a quiet burial.

Ever wondered why Congress is still a favourite of many in the media? Because it is a compromised party and so has a natural tendency to co-opt voices to sing paeans of praise for them.

Who are these people? They are Indian media: a house of shame.

DISCLAIMER: The author is solely responsible for the views expressed in this article. The author carries the responsibility for citing and/or licensing of images utilized within the text.