Truth-squadding

Truth-squadding
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Highlights

So, we all know now who tweets on behalf of Rahul Gandhi. None other than Rahul himself has asserted that his \'Pidi\' does so. He was proud to say so. Was it hilarious? Or was it just an attempt to divert people\'s attention from his own deficiencies? Whatever could be that, it is now clear that Rahul\'s dog seeks to define the truth and set the course for the nation.

So, we all know now who tweets on behalf of Rahul Gandhi. None other than Rahul himself has asserted that his 'Pidi' does so. He was proud to say so. Was it hilarious? Or was it just an attempt to divert people's attention from his own deficiencies? Whatever could be that, it is now clear that Rahul's dog seeks to define the truth and set the course for the nation.

This ‘Pidi Gandhi’ is the latest from the Gandhi-Nehru pariwar to feed us on their pearls of wisdom. When this dog seeks to tells us that GST and demonetisation are bad for the economy of the country and its people, a load of people love it.

A sagacious Pidi is trying to establish a false equivalency in its enthusiasm to counter the "false propaganda of the BJP leadership" and that should bother us. Media houses too have plunged into the game of establishing false equivalency in the country to the detriment of the nation. We all know by now that a section of media keeps attacking the critics of the government mercilessly and relentlessly by accusing them of being anti-nationals. The so-called liberal and secular media just tries to give weight to the 'other side' of the story. Amongst the post-truth politics practitioners, the Nehru-Gandhi family remains outstanding.

The biggest lie of Rahul is that he would include Patidars in OBC quota. He certainly cannot sacrifice 40 per cent of OBCs for the sake of about 12 per cent Patidars. Yet no questions are asked of Hardik Patel or of Alpesh Thakor in Gujarat over the same. Not even by the media. Because the company that Rahul seeks to keep in Gujarat is self-contradictory. Can he have both Hardik Patel, the Patidar leader, and Alpesh Thakor, an OBC leader, simultaneously on his side and campaign against the BJP?

If one believes that politics should be based on evidence, then this tendency of Rahul Gandhi is worrying. Evolution of media is also abetting this post-truth. In the maze of fragmented news that is drowning people, lies can quickly take on the appearance of truth. Left to themselves, people would like to question the contradictions.

But, news agencies prefer to just balance it creating a phoney balance at the expense of truth. It should be the job of the media to check the veracity of the claims, however, sadly, they leave it to politicians to do the truth-squadding (mining the truth). Establishing objective facts is not easier. A lot of analytical judgments about the veracity of several things go into it.

When the season of intense political heat comes, journalism should take more of a responsibility for what is true and what is not. Readers would like to have it instantly too and not weeks later after follow-up articles. So, the question is not whether Modi is losing it or Rahul's image is on an upswing. Ordinary man has lots of problems and requires his answers. No one wants to hear it from Rahul's dog and he should stop whingeing.

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