Ignorance is not bliss.

We Indians are very unfortunate in that we seldom get well balanced news or analysis about events of national importance. Owners of newspapers influence how any news item is reported. Minor events are twisted out of proportion to make political points. Private TV channels indulge in screaming competitions to attract viewers, because that influences their earnings from commercials. There is so called ' paid news ' where newspapers charge money to publish items, disguised as news, prompting Gen VK Singh to label the press as ' presstitutes '. Predictably, this has produced enormous outrage, much of it out of political correctness, but when journalists behave as propaganda agents for political parties then they must be prepared for righteous indignation. Criticising the Prime Minister for insulting the Congress in foreign countries is entirely legitimate but criticising him for not wearing a tie is plain stupid. Not only is a tie a completely useless piece of clothing accessory but it feels more like a noose than an adornment. The penchant for secrecy among our politicians and civil servants make us suspicions of anything we are told. Which leads to polarisation and anger based on ignorance. The present controversy regarding Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose is completely inexplicable. Having said that files about Netaji cannot be revealed because they will affect international relations the government released some files, leading to an outpouring of stupidity, with one fellow actually claiming that since Nehru merely continued the British practice of spying on Indians it was alright. We know that Nehru described himself to be the last Englishman to rule India but is this fellow implying that he was a British agent? Whether accounts of Netaji's death in an air crash were fictitious and whether he lived as Gumnami Baba in UP is irrelevant because he is dead and as citizens we have a right to know whatever there is. But even now civil servants want to hide the truth from us. Why? Who gives them such a right? Around 90% of Indians were born after 1947 so they will just shrug and move on. The government has blocked foreign funding of Greenpeace, accusing it of anti-Indian activities. Greenpeace was attacked by the French in the past and, more recently, the Russians and the Dutch have arrested its activists. It is interesting that Greenpeace does not seem to be very active against the 2 biggest polluters in the world, the US and China. Now we are told that the Ford Foundation is funding communal organisations. It is shameful that India is full of people who are willing to subvert the nation for a few pieces of foreign silver. Give us all the information as it is. The truth will cleanse the system.