Er. Sarbajit Roy
National Convenor
India Against Corruption jan andolan
TO:
Shri Wasi Ahmed
Adviser, BACS/TRAI Date: 17-May-2013
BY EMAIL
Sir,
Sub : Open House Discussion on Media Ownership on 18/05/2013
I am given to understand that the cited OHD has been restricted to only 150 pre-registered persons on the advice of the local police after the Hyderbad incidents. The said notice is not, however, on the TRAI's website.
As we had come to learn of this new requirement of pre-registration only today morning the members of my movement have not been able to register themselves since all the "seats" are booked. We also apprehend that there shall again be trouble at the venue and the meeting shall be disrupted.
Accordingly we are setting down a few points in case we are prevented from attending.
1) That TRAI has no power u/s 11 of the TRAI Act to indulge in this futile exercise, which now falls in domain of Competition Commission of India, if at all.
2) That this exercise initiated by the 16 May 2012 letter from Secretary MIB to Chairman TRAI is a purely political exercise for a corrupt Central Government to threaten media houses on the eve of elections, and that TRAI is a spineless caged parrot ('tota') in this corrupt exercise.
3) That the entire media is already vertically integrated in the hands of a few powerful political dynasties and religious groups operating through veils of corporate secrecy which have to be pierced and exposed to daylight.
4) That the independent citizens are being black-listed by these media cartels controlled by these hidden dynasties and oligarchies.
5) That in the case of my own movement the "India Against Corruption" we have been blacklisted by each and every television news channel after the IAC, post 26.Oct.2012, refused to compromise on its ethics and toe the "political" line demanded by their political-religious masters.
6) The Hon'ble TRAI may kindly enquire under its statutory powers how many media channels have reported the proceedings of the "India Against Corruption" prior to 26.Oct.2012 and post 26.Oct.2012 especially the actions of the undersigned and the other Executive Committee members.
7) That the leading News TV channels have formed a cartel described as the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) whose members have strong cross-media links/ownerships. Immediately after the new management of India Against Corruption took over from 26.Oct.2012 we were approached by PR (Public Relations) agencies affiliated to these news channels and newspapers to sign secret contracts with them whereby we would be guaranteed a certain amount of media air time and column coverage across their media holdings. We were shown many purported examples of such secret agreements entered into by the IAC's predecessor management and assured that the same or better secret commissions / profit-sharing terms would be given to us also.
8) That since we are ethical persons, we refused to conclude any such agreements with these cartels, and hence we have been blacklisted by each and every media channel/group.
9) That it is an open secret that highly integrated media houses such as Times of India, Hindustan Times, Star TV, NDTV, CNN etc not to speak of all the Hindi and regional houses are selling their editorial content/space and "manufacturing news" and all the regulators are in their pocket to the extent that their lobbies even have private in-house regulators to fool the public by employing pliable retired judges such as Justice J.S Verma and Justice A.P. Shah.
10) That the TV news channels are openly rigged to black-out authentic or dissenting views. I shall cite but one example. The whole nation today is following the "COALGATE" scandal which PIL was first instituted in the Supreme Court by one Advocate Mr. M.L. Sharma or suchlike. A few months later another advocate Mr. Prashant Bhushan (who was earlier an activist of India Against Corruption till he resigned over some questionable financial transactions involving donations made for the IAC but which were diverted to his trusts) filed a copycat petition evidently at the instance of some Coal Block allotees and energy majors such as Jindals and Lanco who his immediate family regularly represent before various Courts and Tribunals) to dilute the scandal. On each and every date of the Supreme Court the orders are being passed in Mr. M.L.Sharma's PIL (which is the lead PIL) but Advocate M.L. Sharma who brought the CAG report to the Supreme Court has been blacklisted (like IAC) by the TV news channel cartels who are under direct instructions from the Minister I&B to only take "bytes" outside the Supreme Court from Advocate Prashant Bhushan for COALGATE. By such means the airwaves which are the wealth of the nation (Cricket Association of Bengal v. Secy. MIB) and the means of manufacturing news have been allowed to get concentrated in the hands of a few persons in gross violation of the Directive Principles of State Policy and to deny the fundamental right of citizens to independent news and views which is a part of Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution.
11) That the TRAI may also enquire into how many TV news channels have reported that Advocate Prashant Bhushan's trust called PCRF (Public Cause Research Foundation) received a Rs. 25 lakh donation on or about 5.April.2011 from the uncle of one of the major beneficiaries of the COALGATE scandal causing him to eventually file his copycat COALGATE PIL in the name of another NGO (Common Cause) he is an Executive Committee member of. Since the said donation of Rs. 25 lakhs was purportedly given for activities of India Against Corruption as was widely reported in the print media on 14th and 15th April 2011 and PCRF refused to account for its use, IAC disassociates itself from any such kind of fund raising activities involving profit sharing with the media houses and filing of fake PILs and fake hunger strikes ('anshans') to rake in donations, but no TV news channel will report our honest stand.
12) That a further fraud has been played on the citizens of India to ensure that only slanted and biased news is disseminated. I am referring to CAS and DAS. Poor people who cannot afford Set Top Boxes have had to give up their TV cable connections by the millions. Instead they are now being given "free STBs" (all dangerously sub-standard and made in China) by political parties which only transmit a select "boquet" of news/religious and General Entertainment channels of that groupings persuasion. Goondas are employed at local level to see that only proprietary STBs of a particular party / media cartel can be fitted in a neighbourhood / locality. How can Parliamentary democracy for which a plurality of views is essential be ensured under these circumstances ? Please enquire into this !
13) That the media houses are so powerful that even TRAI's own advertisements and public notices do not get widely disseminated in the villages and small towns. How else does TRAI explain that only 2 or 3 individuals have responded to this Consultation paper?
14) That IAC accuses TRAI of deliberately and malafidely preparing such a complex consultation paper (and that too only in English language) at the behest of the media cartels which no ordinary person can understand it or respond to it effectively. By such means TRAI has completely ignored its mandate to protect the consumer from depredations of telecom and broadcasting cartels.
IAC supports any process which shall regulate media houses, control their monopolies and oligarchies, and cause them to operate transparently and cheaply for the people of India.
That these are only a few of the points we shall make at the OHD tomorrow if we are allowed inside. Please take the same on record in advance and disseminate the same for any counter-comments.
Yours faithfully
( Er. Sarbajit Roy )
National Convenor
India Against Corruption, jan andolan
B-59 Defence Colony, 2nd floor
New Delhi 110024
Te: 09311448069
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