Thy neighbour's voice

Manmohan and the media

BY SANJAY Kapoor

INDIAN Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a man of few words. One-liners also do not come easy to him. Quite apparently his handlers have not been of much help in stringing words that lend wit and sparkle to his speech.

Uncharitable critics would even call Prime Minister Singh's speeches boring, and fit for seminars on macroeconomic issues.

His second national press conference, thus gave him an opportunity to rework on his image - as interaction with the media demands spontaneity and ability to answer questions on one's feet.

That his confidence was high was indicative of his decision to hold the conference in the first place - his predecessor Atal Behari Vajpayee could not gather courage to meet press persons collectively in all the six years that he was in power - but also by the manner in which he took on his critics who called him the "weakest prime minister" India has ever seen.

Quoting figures, Singh tried to prove that his 20 months rule had been a phase of high economic and diplomatic achievements and people were unfair when they criticised him or his coalition government. " Judge me by my work", Singh replied in his usual no-nonsense way.

He also made light of the suggestions of how Congress President, Sonia Gandhi, had devalued his authority. " I draw strength from her", was his explanation to the dyarchy in the existing political arrangement. Even though the prime minister, at times, did not reply to the satisfaction of some journalists, but there was no attempt to duck any questions.

The 90-minute interaction, which was telecast live by the state broadcaster, Doordarshan, also revealed the concerns and mindset of the Indian media.

There were the usual issues involving economy, the government's war of attrition against the left parties on the issue of privatisation, relationship with the United States and the stand that the country would take on Iran's nuclear programme.

Most of these questions naturally flowed from the crises staring the government's attention. Iran's nuclear programme and peace talks with Pakistan had been matters routinely dwelt upon by the foreign secretary and the spokesman. PM's responses, expectedly, were no different.

The media persons sitting in the lush interiors of Delhi's convention centre, Vigyan Bhavan, did not ask anything that ruffled or surprised the Prime Minister. No questions were asked that went beyond the headlines.

Was it good management by the Prime Minister's office or the inadequacy of the media? Although press enjoys unbridled freedom, it is possible to see an invisible official imprimatur - helped by media's own compulsions - on the general course of the press conference.

There was nothing of substance on Nepal or Sri Lanka, neighbours both, that want a just and peaceful end to the bloody strife in the country. There is a growing international opinion that India should play an honest broker and bring on the table warring opinions and strive for a settlement.

Recently, an international study recommended greater participation of New Delhi in peace initiative in Sri Lanka due to its high credibility. For a host of reasons, north Indian media is obsessed with US and Pakistan.

They have little time for other neighbours till something quite dramatic happens. And the television, which is driven more by the happenings of the moment, is accentuating this tendency. So what does not fit in the news capsule and would not help in the audience rating is dropped.

In most national Indian channels, news editors and marketing personnel frequently ask questions like: who watches the happenings on Sri Lanka or Nepal? Will we get more commercials if we show more international news?

These and more questions seem to drive the content of news on television and also in the newspapers. Concerns of the media outlets and its news managers have become local and they seem to give precedence to crime, sex and scams.

Due to inadequate pressure from the media, the government has been able to get away with an ambivalent stand on both Nepal and Sri Lanka- two countries where violence is slowly escalating and it could have far reaching implications for India too.

In Nepal, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is very keen for an intermediation of some kind to end this crisis, the Defense Ministry has its own ideas and still reposes faith in the leadership of the Maharaja. It would have been interesting to know what PM has in mind.

In the case of Sri Lanka, too, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had acceded to the request of visiting President Mahinda Rajapakse to play some role in sorting out the building face off between the Government forces and the Tamil Tigers.

Before New Delhi could nuance the nature of its response, there were angry suggestions from Tamil chauvanist groups from Tamilnadu, who wanted the government to keep its hands off the island. It would have been illuminating to know how Prime Minister Singh looks at these issues even if he chose to be diplomatic.

(The writer is the Editor of Hardnews, India. He is a former Asiaweek correspondent) sanjay -hnm@satyam.net.in.