American media, especially newspapers have some kind of a hatred towards India. They seem to take vicarious pleasure in publishing all kinds of negative aspects of India. Completely unrelated incidents are compiled together to make the world's most peaceful country look like a haven of violence, civil unrest, communal riots etc. Since arriving in the US in October 2007, I have been reading several newspapers online and Dallas Morning News in print and everywhere when it comes to India they seem to take lot of pleasure in battering our country.
I read an article by a journalist of Indian Origin which should actually make US government and establishment hang its heads in shame. But the writer has skillfully compiled facts about another totally unrelated incident in India and written a fantastic story which makes India appear in bad light. No doubt the writing and editing skills of these journalists are admirable and their ability to cover up the negatives of their country. I used these two paragraphs to give a vent to my frustration about the media and now I will come to the point.
The first article titled "Royal care for some of India's patients, neglect for others" written by one Somini Sengupta, who seems to have forgotten her roots and changed sides after getting employed by New York Times. In the article she does the case study of one Robin Steels, a 60 year old car dealer from the US who travelled halfway around the world to Bangalore, India for a bypass surgery. The reason he had to travel was that he couldn't afford a heart surgery in the US.
The fact that the American government doesn't have any system in place to care for the country's middle-class and poor has been completely ignored in the article. It is well known across America that if one doesn't have health insurance and seeks medical care the hospitals will rip him apart and make him indebted for the next three life times. Though America prides itself as the world's richest nation; sole superpower; a nation with the largest number of millionaires; et al, the country doesn't have the heart to care for its poor. There is absolutely no mechanism in the government system which assures healthcare at a basic minimum cost to the country's poor and middle classes, who can't afford health insurance. The middle classes who don't have health insurance can afford to travel to third world countries like India where quality healthcare is available at fraction of the cost.
Steels spent $20,000 for his treatment in India. It would have cost him over $200,000 if he had the same treatment done in the US. Isn't it shamful that a country which claims to be the richest in the world but can't take care of its sick and diseased? But no, it appears to me that US media thinks it is fine for poor Americans to travel outside seeking quality healthcare at affordable costs.
Instead of highlighting the lapses and lacunae in the American healthcare system the writer takes a completely different course and targets the Indian healthcare system. She takes vicarious pleasure in highlighting the hooch (illicit liquor) tragedy which happened in Bangalore couple of months ago and says that Indian government has failed to equip its hospitals with ventilators and high-tech gadgetry to save lives of the poor. Indian government not providing high-tech expensive gadgetry in hospitals which provide FREE TREATMENT to poor people is a crime. But American government not doing the same is not so much of a crime. This seems to be the dominating sentiment in the article.
Another article I read was in today's Dallas Morning News titled "Discontent over land, jobs sweeps India". In this article the writer, again a New York Times Correspondent, and this time thankfully NOT a person of India origin, compiles three isolated incidents related to completely different issues and paints a picture of politicially and socially unstable India. She talks about unrest in Jammu and Kashmir, where terrorists funded by Pakistan (probably indirectly by the CIA) have been wrecking havock on innocent civilians since 1983 and the recent caste-based agitation by the Gujjars in Rajsthan, which happened 1,200 km (800 miles) away in the capital city and the Gorkhaland agitation in West Bengal. These are internal issues of India and don't have any consequence outside of the country. India has problems like every other country in the world and we will resolve it within ourselves. The last thing we would want is for American media to carefully hand pick disturbing news about India and highlight it and create a bad image of our country.
Indian media doesn't take pleasure in battering America for dumping Genetically Modified rice on African nations. Nor does we take pleasure in battering America for the torture in Guantanamo Bay. In 5,000 years of recorded history India has never gone to war with any nation, we have defended ourselves from invasions. And America one of the youngest nations in the world has waged several wars, all for money, oil and to satiate egos.
Media or journalists are theoretically known as the fourth pillar of democracy, the society's watchdog, force working towards betterment of society, etc, etc. But media people and organisations across the world seem to have forgotten why they were created. Instead of working for a better world and better society, media seems to focus on furthering political agendas and promote vested interests.
I wish American media focuses on development of the world and making sure that at least the 21st century will bring about an end of the concept of third-world nations. And at least during this century peace, education, health and security is something that every individual in the world can enjoy.
