archive: We sleep well Mr Sebastian, thank you
We sleep well Mr Sebastian, thank you
A Surya Prakash
The Pioneer
July 28, 1999
Title: We sleep well Mr Sebastian, thank you
Author: A Surya Prakash
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: July 28, 1999
It is well over a year since India became a nuclear state but there
are no signs yet of the Western world, which lives under the
protective cover of NATO's nuclear umbrella, coming to terms with the
world's largest democracy acquiring its weapons of deterrence.
Though there are signs of a thaw in Indo-American relations in the
post-Kargil phase and many of America's NATO allies have begun making
pro-India noises, a substantial part of the White world is still
uneasy with the presence of the Brown Sahib in their cosy little nuke
club. The most recent evidence of this is available in the Hardtalk
interviews of Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh and Defence Minister
George Fernandes by Tim Sebastian of the BBC.
Self-respecting Indians would find Mr Sebastian's crude posturing in
both these programmes rather revolting. But they must see it and
suffer it if only to understand the prevailing attitudes in Europe's
racist underbelly. For example, Mr Sebastian asked both the Indian
ministers if they "sleep well at night" after turning India into a
nuclear-weapons state!
Even more extraordinary was the childish question that he posed to
both of them: "How many bombs do you need to sleep well at night-10,
20, 30, 100, 500,1000?" Both the ministers seemed dismayed by the
man's superciliousness but kept their cool and told him that this was
not a matter that they would discuss with him. Since both of them
refused to put a number on it, we do not know how many bombs have
ensured good sleep for a billion Indians, but we do know that Mr
Sebastian has been "sleeping well" for many decades now under the NATO
defence umbrella that includes over 10,000 nuclear warheads and
thousands of missiles to deliver them across the globe. In fact, the
British alone have enough in their basement to blow up this world many
times over and this has been giving security-conscious Indians many
sleepless nights for a long time. Actually, it is only after May 11,
1998, that people in the sub-continent have begun to catch up with
their sleep! That is why Mr Jaswant Singh was forced to say: "Please
don't lecture us."
Mr Sebastian's lack of balance and depth came through quite often in
the programme. For example, he told both ministers that India was
trying to climb up the nuclear mountain while the others were trying
to climb down. Mr Jaswant Singh had to tell him more than once that he
was factually incorrect. The Minister reminded him that only last
April, NATO had reiterated the need to retain its nuclear arsenal.
Stranger still was Mr Sebastian's poor understanding of the Kashmir
problem. He sought to harass Mr Singh for close to ten minutes on
India's human rights record on the basis of some dubious reports put
out by Amnesty International. According to him, the Indian Army has
for years been indulging in torture, rape and summary execution of the
people of Jammu and Kashmir. If this is so, it is indeed a major scoop
because India's free Press, which has always been critical and
unsparing, has never got scent of such atrocities in this border
state.
Further, Mr Sebastian, it appeared, was unaware of the fact that India
had a Human Rights Commission headed by a venerable, no-nonsense judge
like Justice MN Venkatachaliah. Nor did he know that police and
security agencies in the country dread the prospect of an inquiry by
this watchdog panel. Needless to say that Mr Sebastian seemed
blissfully ignorant of the central problem in the State of Jammu &
Kashmir-the murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children by
the hordes of Islamic terrorists who are being sent in by Pakistan for
over a decade. They cross the Line of Control, hide in the forests,
make frequent forays into human habitations and summarily execute
innocent people. Two such incidents, which resulted in the senseless
killing of 30 people, occurred around the time the BBC was recording
these interviews. Every such incident is widely reported by television
networks, including the BBC, the world over but Mr Sebastian made no
mention of it in either of his interviews. On the other hand, he was
most disturbed by the alleged hamhanded treatment of terrorists by the
Indian Army.
Both the ministers remained admirably cool in the face of Mr
Sebastian's bullying tactics. In fact such was their poise that they
succeeded in unsettling the interviewer, who, with pre-determination
and desperation was trying to live up to his "Hardtalk" image. When he
realised that he was unable to intimidate the ministers, Mr Sebastian
began arguing with them. This was much in evidence during the Jaswant
Singh interview when Mr Sebastian kept firing questions without giving
Mr Singh a chance to respond. It happened so often that it left
viewers wondering whether Mr Sebastian was competing for airtime with
the interviewee!
But even such low quality TV journalism has its uses. Every journalism
school in India must procure a copy of this tape in order to teach
students how not to conduct an interview. This 30-minute tape will
help teachers dispense with hours of lectures in order to teach the
"Dont's" in TV interviewing. Among them are: One, do not compete with
the guest and try to grab half the airtime. Two, do not project
yourself or advertise your views but draw out the interviewee and get
him or her to talk on issues. Three, do not see yourself as some kind
of a pugilist and constantly enter into arguments with the person you
are interviewing. This is childish and uncivil. Four, pose critical
and uncomfortable questions but never be rude or crude. Five, do not
begin an interview without adequate homework and research. Six, even
if you think that you are God's gift to this world because of your
place of birth or whatever, do not carry such baggage into the studio.
The Jaswant Singh interview should also silence a lot of sceptics who
doubt the Vajpayee Government's ability to direct foreign policy.
Hopefully, it will dampen the spirits of some so-called foreign policy
experts who are currently hanging around 10, Janpath and constantly
whining about "India's failures". Some of them sound like apologists
for Pakistan when they say that the G-8 Summit Resolution on the
Kargil conflict went against India because it did not name Pakistan as
the aggressor or when they argue that Mr Clinton's assurance to Mr
Nawaz Sharif that he would take personal interest in the Indo-Pak
peace process amounts to "internationalising" the Kashmir issue. Mr
Jaswant Singh is undoubtedly the most credible and articulate
spokesman India has had in a long time. Within a matter of just 12
months and almost single-handedly, Mr Singh has got the Americans, the
Chinese and several others to re-examine their policies vis-a-vis
India. This is no mean achievement, and no amount of nitpicking by the
Natwar Singhs of the world is going to obscure the truth. For a long
time now, friends and fellow travellers of the Congress party have
dominated the foreign policy scene and not all of them are gifted with
clarity and articulation. As a result, India has often been
represented by ministers and experts who fumble and mumble their way
through interviews. Mr Jaswant Singh's "Hardtalk" performance sets new
standards and the Congress party and all others who claim or aspire to
speak for India must make honest efforts to measure up to that.
Thus, despite the obvious bias and lack of balance, there is something
to be gained from Mr Sebastian's labours. Further, from a long term
point of view, it will not be a bad idea to have him in our midst more
often because that is one sure way of knowing the hopes, fears and
prejudices of the British hoi polloi.
Back
Top
|
