In ancient Roman calendar , 15 March is called , "
Ides of March "
A few days earlier in 44 BC , a seer had warned Julius
Caesar to " Beware of the Ides of March "
On that day , on his way to Senate , Caesar joked to
the Seer ,
" Ides of March have come "
Seer replied ,
" Aye , Caesar , but not gone "
Once inside the Senate , Caesar was assassinated !
Caesar paid the price for ignoring the warning !
Thankfully , 2000 years later , there are no physical
assassinations
But , what about political " harakiri " ? Self
- inflicted wounds ?
Entirely possible , when ego combines with anger - a
deadly cocktail !
Why else should Arvind Kejriwal threaten ALL media by
saying ,
" Media are corrupt . They are bribed by political
parties and businessmen to air PAID NEWS
If we come to power , we will investigate and send ALL
of them to jail "
Of Course , we understand the anger , the enthusiasm ,
the frustration with the present political system and can forgive AAP leaders
for the following :
> a few
hundred people were inconvenienced when Arvind travelled by
rickshaw /
local train in Mumbai
> some AAP
workers misbehaved in their enthusiasm to show their
support to
Arvind's crusade
> AAP
organizers did not apply for the
necessary police permissions
sufficiently
in advance
We can also concede that media will place before the
public , not the real / total / unblemished picture - but its " tainted
" version , dependent upon that media's political leanings
Eg :
How many TV anchors thought it fit to place Nitish
Kumar ( CM - Bihar ) in the witness box , when he brought the entire state to a
grinding halt , a few days back ?
Or when those election rallies of Narendra Modi / Rahul
Gandhi disrupt millions of lives ?
Sure , Arvind is given to hyperbole and we could have brushed
aside if he were to say ,
" In my perception ,- and I have no proof - , some
TV channels are being financed by some people / parties , to tell white lies
and to malign AAP
If we come to power , we would investigate such nexus ,
if any , and try to make media , truly independent of such undesirable
influences "
But he allowed his ego to overtake his genuine /
well-placed anger !
ARVIND
It is still not too late to be warned - to militate with decency !
The Ides of March is here !
* hemen parekh (
15 March 2014
/ Mumbai )
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