The only saving grace in Justice Pratibha Rani's judgment was that Kanhayia Kumar was granted bail.  Other than that, it was an awful judgment, badly worded and full of moralizing sermon on patriotism and nationalism.  I mean, for the life of me, I cannot understand why our judges can't stick to the facts of the case and see that the basic individual rights and provisions in the Constitution are not being violated.  Must they get on a high horse and start offering gratuitous lecture as to how or what a patriotic person should be like?  Whether it's me or Kanhayia or anyone else for that matter, nobody needs a certificate on patriotism from anybody.  Everyone is a patriot in his or her own way.

Arnab Goswami and Sudhir Chowdhry are the bosses of two of the most widely watched news networks in India.  The former runs TIMES NOW, the English one and the latter ZEE NEWS, the Hindi one.  They both earnestly claim to be a conscientious television journalist who are driven by the noblest of the professional objectives; but the reality is quite different.  Every night on Primetime, these gentlemen get on their soap box and launch into a harangue against anyone or anything that doesn't fit into their narrow vision of what constitutes 'National interest'.  To my mind, they have done a great disservice to the community of television journalists in this country.  If you watch them, which I don't by the way, you can't help but being perversely  mesmerized by the kind of reactionary demagogue they become, denouncing anyone who tries to put across a liberal or sober element into the discussion.  Theirs is an agenda driven show in the guise of a news programme, where they would try to suck up to the powers that be and promote mostly the Hindu right-wing world view.  They would ask you a loaded question and then trap you if you are on the side of reason rather than emotion.  The pomposity, the exaggerated notions of patriotism where there is no place for nuance or complexity can be quite unnerving if you are not a smart cookie.  They have been a kind of unfortunate trend setter in that the news stories are not so much reported as they are influenced.  Entrapment of unsuspecting people, morphed videos, manipulated editing, everything and anything is a fair game in the mad rush for getting the maximum  eyeballs, the ethics be damned.   The angry shout, the hectoring tone, this constant bullying into accepting one particular point of view makes you wonder where have all the decency from the public life gone?  There's complete certainty on their part that there can be no competing or contesting ideas of nationalism in this diverse and pluralistic society of ours.

   The white noise of lies, slander and half truths night after night have reduced the public discourse to the level of the gutter.  I have personally seen people who take their cue from these news channels, internalizing the mindset of a lynch mob where there is no room for any doubt about anything whatsoever.  There is a behavior pattern which is animated by an almost puritanical rage against individual liberty and personal freedom.  The old tactics is resorted to where if you can't take on somebody with logic and sober argument, you abuse and become shriller and shriller.  These people might be in the business of asking for banning, hanging and punishing the so called 'anti-national elements', but I would never like that to happen to these pious hate-mongers on Primetime television.  Because no matter how distasteful and offensive I find their proposition to my sensibility, I do believe that they have every right to express them.  I stand in opposition to everything that they represent but I would never like to become intolerant as they are.  What I can do however is keep challenging the bigotry and prejudice, and keep pushing the boundaries of civilized debate.