"For me you are the
veena
Caressing finger me
for you”
-
Bharathiyar
“Ganesh Kumar is an excellent actor, but the
Oscar should go to Oomen Chandy for his acting in this whole episode”
-
Kodiyeri
Balakrishnan from CPI[M]
Perfect Match |
Second of April dawned with a surprise news. Minister for
Forests K.B.Ganesh Kumar became the first minister to resign from the Oomen
Chandy government. As a good Congressman, Oomen Chandy tried to delay the
inevitable but could not delay too long. The resignation was on the cards, as
the chance for reconciliation between Ganesh Kumar and Yamini seemed out of
bounds. Both of them leveled charges of physical assault in public and it became
a treat for the media. Photos of Ganesh Kumar with bruises were aired; opinions
sought from different quarters, the media frenzy came to a temporary halt with
his resignation.
Now two questions arise naturally. Is it mandatory a
Minister or a Government servant resign on personal issues/allegations? To what
extent media can give prominence for such stories?
The first question is tricky as we have not yet come to
terms with absolute freedom that is proposed and followed (to a certain extent)
in the West. But we can state that if a
Government Servant’s personal allegiances affect his daily activities and amounts
for a larger impact on the society, then it is no more personal. It is for the media/public
to scrutinize that. For example, Nehru’s relation with Edwina affected the
independent India as much as his leadership hence it is nothing wrong debating
that.
In this episode, nobody including the strong critics of
Ganesh Kumar could charge him any wrong in ministerial affairs. He is one of
the performing ministers in Kerala Government more than anything he was able to
make the changes happen. Renovation of government theatres and excellent
hosting of IFFK was one such example of excellent work by Ganesh Kumar and his
team.
Media has become a punch bag of late for all thanks to its
sensationalism. But the prominence given depends on the general public’s
interest and most importantly on the competitors. Both these factors go hand in
hand. Comparatively Indian English News Channels could themselves appropriately
in a situation like this. We have some lessons to be learnt from how English
Media handled the Abhishek Manu Singhvi video in compromising position with a
fellow lawyer.
This is another episode to analyze the psychology of Indian
Public like the Abhishek Manu Singhvi episode. All said and done, if Yamini
withdraw her complaint today Ganesh Kumar will be reinstated within hours.
Hence Kodiyeri’s comment quoted above is very much valid but
he missed include the public as well; we too acted our part very well.