Police this week said that the editor of Goa's first-launched English-language daily, Arun Sinha had been accused in a molestation case involving his maid-servant. This was initially reported mid-week by the DigitalGoa.com SMS-based breaking news service which also has a site [1]. The detailed item is [2].
[1] http://www.digitalgoa.com [2] http://www.digitalgoa.com/ca_disp.php?id=379 A lot of other comments also came up on the Net. This early announcement [3] came from the Goa Suraj Party -- functioning this week in near-detective mode -- on Thursday October 13, 2005 via Goanet (and probably other networks). It added to its brief announcement, "whether it is a frame-up or authentic is awaited." London-based Goanet volunteer Gabe Menezes was quick to follow-up with a link to The Hindu's news story [4], which mentioned no names but said the case was against a "senior journalist and editor of a local English(-language) daily." [5] [3] http://shire.symonds.net/pipermail/goanet/2005-October/034107.html [4] http://shire.symonds.net/pipermail/goanet/2005-October/034145.html [5] http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/14/stories/2005101405921300.htm This is an unusual case by any count. The person involved is a senior local figure ... and police have been known to oftentime drag their feet and make light of cases. It's hard to believe that a genuine case could not have been wrangled out of; though by the weekend there was also talk about intercessions to the persons in high posts. Another editor -- whose role was barely mentioned -- was also involved in the filing of the complaint against Sinha, and carrying a story on top of his frontpage the next day. Sections of the Marathi/Konkani press went to town with the story as contrasted by the attitude of the English-language dailies. (The NT itself carried a frontpage, three-para report, no names mentioned; Herald dropped it completely. GT wrote a fairly strongly-worded piece but displayed it single-column on the inside page.) Sunaparant, the struggling-for-circulation Devanagari Konkani highlighted it fairly prominently on Page 1. Arun Sinha has been editor of the Navhind Times for some 12 years, probably one of the longest serving editors of the paper -- the first English-language daily to be launched in Goa in 1963. While at the helm, the journalist who had earlier drawn national attention (via The Indian Express) to the infamous Bagalpur Blindings Case has probably rubbed a number of persons the wrong way in Goa. This could have lead many to take up the issue... not necessarily with the girl's interest in mind. Is there some politics involved? Or do we journos remain selectively skeptical? (One view was that this was a way of paying back Sinha's employers for its role in toppling the earlier BJP government, particularly in the switch-over by former BJP deputy CM Digambar Kamat; but who can be sure of what is and what isn't a red herring here?) Goa Union of Journalists has been discussing this issue; a stand is possible. Goa's media fraternity, which obviously comes in with diverse viewpoints and backgrounds, was also strongly divided on how to view this issue. Shiv Kumar in Mumbai, formerly also with The Indian Express as its Goa correspondent and now with The Tribune, set the ball rolling [6]. An attempt by this blogger to argue against a "trial by the media" and linking this issue the NT's own earlier role [7] drew an angry response from some. One anonymous note lambasted this writer, with much criticism and a number of allegations. It can be seen here [8]. 6 http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/goajourno/2005-October/002391.html 7 http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/goajourno/2005-October/002395.html 8 http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/goajourno/2005-October/002418.html You can view various viewpoints from former Tehelka reporter (and one time NT staffer) Mayabhushan Nagvenkar at [9], [10], [11], [12] and [13]. Also from Gomantak Times' Reuven Proenca, currently on a year's study leave in the UK [14], Shiv Kumar [15], [16], [17], [18], [19] and [20]. Loksatta and The Indian Express' Raju Nayak [21] has his say, while Deccan Herald's Devika Sequeira has a blunt retort [22] with additional inputs at [23] and [24]. 9 http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/goajourno/2005-October/002392.html 10 http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/goajourno/2005-October/002393.html 11 http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/goajourno/2005-October/002394.html 12 http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/goajourno/2005-October/002401.html 13 http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/goajourno/2005-October/002402.html 14 http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/goajourno/2005-October/002397.html 15 http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/goajourno/2005-October/002400.html 16 http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/goajourno/2005-October/002408.html 17 http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/goajourno/2005-October/002409.html 18 http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/goajourno/2005-October/002410.html 19 http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/goajourno/2005-October/002406.html 20 http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/goajourno/2005-October/002416.html 21 http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/goajourno/2005-October/002406.html 22 http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/goajourno/2005-October/002412.html 23 http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/goajourno/2005-October/002413.html 24 http://puggy.symonds.net/pipermail/goajourno/2005-October/002414.html The last two reports reflect on the story from the new Mumbai-based daily DNA (Daily News and Analysis, for whom former ToI veteran Pushpa Iyengar is back in the state as its Goa correspondent) and the Deccan Herald, respectively. Not everything expressed above is something one would agree with. Am I reading too much here to see some digs being taken...? But then, one moderator's idea of fairness is another's form of censorship! And what worse than being condemned as a fence-sitter? At the same time, some on the NT side also saw a campaign of bias seeping in via Goajourno against their publication, consistently and persistently over the past fortnight. We would like to believe that this network [25] balances out our individual biases and bees-in-our-bonnets to take on diverse sections of the media. Or maybe one is biased in saying this oneself! Former Herald editor Rajan Narayan's comments in his 'stray thoughts' doesn't seem to be online yet, when [26] was visited just after midnight on Saturday-Sunday. He raises both the sex-abuse allegation and the child-labour issue. [25] http://puggy.symonds.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/goajourno [26] http://www.goanobserver.com/ >From the non-media side, the seemingly powerful (and who says it isn't?) media behemoth can well suited for target-practice, whenever the opportunity presents itself. The Goan Forum is obviously off (See "Looking Glass 5 ... a Saint....or a 'Sinna'?" [27]) when it argues that "the relative silence about the incident in the online Goa media is striking". But it might embarass the Navhind Times when it talks about this editorial [26] sourced to that paper itself, castigating the Goa government for its apathy on dealing with the fact that "highest number of domestic child labourers". [For the record, Arun Sinha hasn't yet issued a statement. But sources close to him put the age of the domestic worker at 15, while the police say she's only 11. Also, there are differing versions emerging about whether the girl was just slapped, emerged "in a bruised and battered condition" or was "sexually abused". The first version comes from sources who got Sinha's version, and the latter two feature in online and media reports respectively. [27] Currently at http://www.colaco.net/ permalink not sure [28] http://acr.hrschool.org/mainfile.php/0183/324/ Eitherway, this warrants concern. Blocking the story isn't going to help; neither is sensationalising it (or scoring over past enemities over it). If the charge is true, it's serious. And it's even more so if it's not! --FN, October 16, 2005. -- ---------------------------------------------------------- Frederick 'FN' Noronha | [EMAIL PROTECTED] Independent Journalist | http://fn.swiki.net Goa, India | +91(832)2409490 Cell 9822122436 ----------------------------------------------------------
