NO MORE SECRETS

There was an old song that went “ Do you want to know a secret? Do you promise not to tell?” There was also the sexist remark that if you don’t want to keep a secret you should tell a woman. It was supposedly a faster means of communication than the telegram or telephone.

With an IT enabled telecom revolution, telling secrets has come a long way since then. There seem to be no more secrets – be they bedroom romps, bathroom singing, business and political lobbying or diplomatic immunity. We are now bombarded with Radiagate and Wikileaks. Suddenly the mighty have been dislodged from their pedestals. Reputed journalists like Barkha Dutt and Vir Sanghvi have taken a beating. The naïve among us are shocked, because they earlier held them in awe! Wikileaks has also shaken us out of Obamania, with the belated discovery that America is not a saint! Are there lessons to be learnt before more effigies are burnt?

Since I usually get back from work at 9.30 p.m., I get to see a bit of TV after 10.00 p.m., which is when most TV debates are at their argumentative best. I find that most anchors of TV debates seem to have their own agendas, regardless of what the panellists have to say. They cut short some panellists, and abruptly switch to those whose opinions seem closer to their own. Before the advent of TV, the moderator of a debate, like the Speaker of Parliament, actually spoke the least. Not so today. TV anchors are more like helmsmen, steering the debate in the direction they choose.

Why am I writing all this? Because journalists are just as human as anybody else. Each one has his/ her own social conditioning, and resultant inclinations. There is no such thing as a neutral journo. In a heated debate on Barkha Dutt’s “culpability”, Swapan Dasgupta admitted that he was perceived as being pro-BJP. Dilip Padgaonkar said that no journo was lily white. I must frankly admit that I am left of centre in my social praxis, and pro-laity in my ecclesiology. I don’t need to be apologetic about it. So why are we so alarmed that Barkha Dutt or Vir Sanghvi were used by business lobbyists because of their perceived proximity to the Congress? During the 1970’s/80’s Ramnath Goenka, Arun Shourie and the entire Express group were anti-Indira and Bofors. The Birla owned Hindustan group is considered pro-Congress. N. Ram of the Hindu is an avowed leftist. Chandan Mitra, who now owns the Pioneer is a BJP MP. TV channels in Tamilnadu and Andhra are owned by political families. So what?

The problem is not with newspaper editors and columnists or TV anchors. It is with the readers and viewers, who blindly lap up everything that is dished out to them. How real are reality shows? There is no such thing as the gospel truth in the media. We need to take all news and views (including mine) with a big pinch of salt, lest we have to be pinched out of our daydreaming later. Barkha and Sanghvi are neither saints nor sinners. They are plain human. Isn’t it better that way?

As for business lobbyists, that’s not news, it’s old hat. If we can have caste, class, religious and regional lobbies, then will not businessmen and industrialists, who have crores at stake, also have their own? Lobbying, per se, is not bad. What is important is that all four pillars of a democracy – the Legislature, Executive, Judiciary and the Fourth Estate, need to be eternally vigilant, despite human frailty.

What of Wikileaks? Why be afraid of Blackberry’s confidentiality, when the most “secure” communications of the most powerful nation can be so easily hacked and accessed? Alarm bells rang in India about American double speak and betrayal of the anti-terrorist campaign. How naïve of us to be so trusting or dependent on America, or any other country, for that matter. Veteran diplomat G. Parthasarathy kept repeating that there was nothing surprising in the leaked diplomatic tapes, as every country plays games and calls others names. If India sent its troops disguised as Mukti Bahini to liberate Bangladesh, then why are we shocked at Pakistan’s army trying to bring azadi to Kashmir? It is dangerous to don a “holier than thou” halo.

There are more lessons to be learnt. How is it that the most powerful democracy has been battered by Wikileaks, or the largest democracy by Radiagate? Why don’t we see leaks and gates in Russia, China, Pakistan and Myanmar? Because they have no room for dissent or discourse, which will be ruthlessly suppressed or annihilated. Instead of being alarmed, we should be proud of our democratic institutions, and systems of checks and balances. We should emerge stronger.

Other than journos and politicos, there are lessons to be learnt on the personal level too. How do we interact in personal relationships? In the days of snail mail we thought carefully before we put pen to paper, whether writing to a parent, child or lover. We took time off to visit each other’s homes, which built strong bonds.

Now we casually tell each other to “take care”, and hope to meet or reply asap. We don’t take time to think or reflect when on the phone, in online chatting or postings on Facebook and Twitter. We can be sugary sweet or at our acerbic best, in virtual relationships. We could also be communicating what we think is secret or secure, forgetting that we have entered an era of Instant Insecure Information Technology (IIIT). Information Technology is good. Instant is bad, because there is no opportunity to reflect or retract. Insecure is fraught with danger. Your secret communiqués may be accessed or hacked anywhere, by anybody. There are no cyber cupboards to hide one’s skeletons in. Teachers have tracked their students, and employers their employees, in the nebulous world of cyberspace. Commercial and diplomatic espionage is only too easy. Illicit or extra-marital flings are peanuts for the nutcracker. Beware, because somewhere Big Brother is listening. So the next time you go into cyberspace, think again before you tap the keys, for there are no secrets today.

* The writer is a veteran columnist and social activist.
DECEMBER 2010

BEWARE, YOUR LEAK IS SHOWING

Poor Barkha, having often dragged others over the coals, she found herself in the dock, in a bizarre reversal of roles. Seasoned journalists like Dileep Padgaonkar, Manu Joseph and Swapan Dasgupta lampooned her over Radiagate. This was a reportedly “unedited” NDTV debate, which may have been Barkha’s own idea to exonerate and extricate herself from the leaked Radia tapes. Accustomed as she is to besting others, she was herself severely tested, admitting to an “error of judgement”, not amounting to misconduct or corruption.

I also read Vir Sanghvi’s spirited defence in HT of his conversations with Niira Radia. Strangely, I read his defence before I came to know of his “offence”! Sanghvi’s “Counterpoint” has since been “encountered” and is now off the ticker. NDTV has since become a pay channel so I don’t know what is now raining on Barkha rani. Does she still reign, rain or rule the waves? I empathise with both these journos. Have they been framed and victimised in a greater conspiracy that is yet to be leaked out?

Rival channels and columnists are rubbing their hands in glee at the embarrassment or downfall of their fellow journos, with a “Holier than Thou” halo. They should beware, their leaks could be next. As Padgaonkar said, “No journalist is lily white”.

What of Wikileaks, which has no pretensions about leaking? The most powerful democracy, right from Richard Nixon’s Watergate (the original gate) has been leaking so much. Whose hat will bail out all that water? Is it coincidental that America, the most powerful democracy, and India, the largest democracy, are vulnerable to leaks? Why don’t we have leaks and floodgates of info in Russia, China, Pakistan and Myanmar? Because they are not democracies. Leaks and gates, like dissent, will be ruthlessly suppressed, or in police jargon, “encountered”.

Why are we so alarmed at these leaks? We should infact take them in our stride, as an indicator of a vibrant democracy, and emerge even stronger. Experienced diplomats were also not surprised by the Wikileaks, because they know that every country plays its own games, and calls others names.

Not so long ago, when one had to put pen to paper, and repeatedly retype a manuscript, there was time for a rethink. Hard copies were always signed and dated, and therefore impossible to retract. However, in this era of Instant Insecure Information Technology (IIIT) there are really no secrets. There are no cupboards to hide the skeletons in. It is therefore a wake up call to all – journalists, politicians, students, employees and spouses. Beware of what you mindlessly write and say on email, telephone, Facebook or Twitter. Your leak may be showing, for somebody’s big brother somewhere is listening!

3rd December 2010