To Goanet - ******* Yellow Journalism by Soter D'Souza
Creation of 500 NGOs in Goa by the saffron forces, as expected panic buttons pressed by Frederick Noronha in Herald today. This pronouncement has set this lefty-journalist into high alert mode. The SEZs, mega-housing projects, Food Parks, IT Parks are not at all of interest to him. What is very interesting is the cock-eyed opinion about political groups cornering NGO space. As if to say that present NGOs are better then political parties. Political mischief seems limited to only one party in this country. It does not seem to apply to West Bengal and Kerala where the powers have infiltrated every civil society group and where intolerance to any form of opposition prevails. On reading the views by Frederick it appears that the BJP is the only political party that is trying to infiltrate the civil society world. He has desperately forgotten all the controls in the Mahila Mandals, SHGs and other GONGOs by the Congress party. The difference is that some things are done under the table while others are done in public view. Some developments are under acute surveillance while others are swept under the carpet. When will journalism be fair in Goa? Journalists have been running smear campaigns against some citizen's initiatives just to promote the interests of a certain lobby. The Goa People's Assembly was a classic case of conspiracy by journalists known to have leanings to certain groups having a soft-corner to certain builders and politicians. Another glaring lie, which has also figured in Frederick's writing, is the theory being floated that the rumblings in GBA were plotted by the saffron lobby. The failure of GBA is there for all to see and the forces choking GBA to protect the interests of a political lobby are well known to the public. But suprisingly not to some mainstream journalists who wear the garb of being unbiased. They hobnob with a particular section sponsored by a prominent builder just to ensure that their puppet in control of GBA is not destabilised. Some journalists need to look at the log in their own eye before they set out to remove the spec from the other's eye. -Soter D'Souza ***********
