On page 5 of the Delhi print edition of the Times of India is the following headline:
“Low turnout, but Anna unfazed”
And a para in the same item clarifies further:
“Unlike his previous protests, Monday’s sit-in witnessed a very thin crowd. Except for Medha Patekar, no other activist was present. But Hazare seemed unfazed with the poor turnout. He sat quietly on the stage, standing up only to wave the national flag or address supporters.” (from the news item.)
But this was not evident from the way the news of Anna sit-in was being broadcast on our news channels yesterday. They were behaving as if all farmers of the country have descended on Delhi to protest the Land Acquisition Bill.
And our ruling elite was seen in panic as a result. The media has become our worst enemy. Instead of broadcasting facts, it broadcasts its ideology, or the ideology of those who write their paycheques.
Farmers do not oppose Land Acquisitions, because they know that only industrialisation is the future. Land holdings per family are now too small to be of any value as agricultural land. If industries come up, men will shift to industrial jobs, and there would less men dependent on farm land, making farming economically viable again.
Raed the news item here.
