Dr. Ranjan, if you thought that Lalu's in-laws being caught traveling in train without tickets is not a newsworthy item then I must disagree with you.

Regardless of what you believe in, It IS a big deal that the very Railway Minister's relatives are caught without tickets no matter how you cut it or dice it.

I don't know about the CNN/IBN but most media have been covering the events unfold in Nalanda district. The media in Bihar also gave, in my humble opinion, adequate coverage to the recently held Bihar Global Meet in Patna. If you expected Times of India or Hindustan Times to give it a headline prominence, then I am afraid you are asking for too much.

As for your using the term 'elite', this is yet another bogeyman created by a certain section of the society. Like upper caste, lower caste, scheduled caste, capitalist pigs, and dozens of other epithets, it has become a fashion to use the term 'elite' to divide the nation on one's education, intelligence, income, and ability to speak and write in English. When everything else fails, blame the 'elite media'. As the Indian society, slowly but surely, distances itself from the age-old caste-based discrimination thanks to increased awareness and education level, some people are now using the term 'elite' to divide the community.

How do you define 'elite'? Who is elite? Are you elite? If one's higher education, high income, ability to speak or write good English is the definition of being an elite, I am afraid you, me, and the rest of the people on this board will qualify to be 'elites'. Ironically, no one wants to admit in message boards like this that he or she is elite as if 'elite' is a derogatory term.

There is no doubt that there are people in the field of journalism who are anti-Bihari and will continue to bad-mouth Bihar at every chance they get but to expect that the entire Indian media should be focused on Bihar's development is unrealistic and, to some degree, selfish.

Most news media are not government mouthpieces, thank God. They have their own priorities and problems. So to expect from them to highlight only developmental news or sugarcoated feel-good news is too idealistic and too impractical.

I regret to say that I also don't subscribe to your idea of boycott. This method may have been effective in the Gandhi era; today the world has changed and there are other, better ways to make one's point, including holding meaningful dialogs. - Anil Kumar - Feb. 14, 2007

I know for many famous Bihari bashers it is, “WE GOT THEM” but good or bad here is my take on this.

In first place I don’t believe Indian media when they say anything about Bihar. I know GLOBAL BIHAR MEET happened in Bihar, they ignored it as if it never happened. Had I not relied on other sources I would have never known anything about this mega event.

The video of the way two simple looking, very old (over 76 yrs), village couple were being harassed and chased by media was quite repelling specially after realising that these old simple and perhaps illiterate couple were parent of , Railway Minister, Leader of Opposition Bihar assembly and few Members of Parliament of India. After seeing the video all I concluded was the fact that Rabri Devi’s mother and father need some security guards from anti-social elements who harass innocent people in the name of media.

If some freak wants to hear some pervert story that does not mean media should go about plotting such story. I will believe media only if they can sufficiently counter the Railway's version of story (As per the North Eastern Railway's chief PRO M K Singh, the couple possessed second class tickets and wanted to get them converted to AC I ones. They paid Rs 1092 as excess fare and were issued a voucher (no. 523399) against the payment) but no, once the couple reached Siwan and proceeded towards village media gave up their chase because we all know Media do not reach to Nithari Village or Khairlangi Village. Rather than taking the news to logical conclusion they abruptly dropped the news in the middle, “oh the old fellows whom we were chasing for the fun of our viewers/readers were parents of Lalu Yadav, Railway Minister and nothing will happen to them”. I thought they were serious; they will do the candle march, SMS Campaign to hang parents of Rabri Devi, you know as they do now a day. Media may have concluded the things based on assumption but people like me have also learned to assume things about media. Except that they harassed and bullied an over 76 yrs old village couple from Bihar, I don’t believe anything. From whole of Bihar media could only find one leader Shivanand Tiwari to comment, yes same opportunist Shivanand Tiwari who took a march against honest CK Anil for dubious Shahabuddin so much so that even Laluji discouraged him from doing so but this friend of Shahabuddin still went ahead and demoralised an honest officer. Today the same baseless fellow was shouting on TV, parents of Rabri Devi are abusing Indian Rail.

The way old mother of Rabri Devi who was hardly able to walk was forced to show her ‘Lathi’ to media, I think it is high time Rabri Devi should spare some from her 195 security guards for her old parents. It is shame on Laluji and Rabriji that they are so careless about their parents. I am sure they could have arranged one mature attendant for their old and sick parents while they travel outside their village.

Anyway one thing is clear SOMEBODY knew that the old couple were father and mother of Rabri Devi and he called all these media while train was traveling from Hajipur to Chhapra. I have also heard that national media ignored GLOBAL BIHAR MEET and gave no coverage whatever to this mega event supported by Nitish Ji, whereas on call of this SOMEBODY whole national media not only ignored all important national news, Chinese Foreign Minister visit, Russian Foreign Minister visit, Italian Prime Minister Visit, Coverage to Punjab Election, Coverage to National Games in Assam but chose to show how easily they can harass old father and mother of Rabri Devi in Bihar. I think Nitish Ji and organisers of GLOBAL BIHAR MEET should find out more about this SOMEBODY and take his help in media coverage next time. If he is one of the ministers as some of the reports are suggesting then why his services were not taken during GLOBAL BIHAR MEET media coverage?

I don’t think reporters like Prabahakars or Amarnath Tiwaris are at fault. Their employers in Delhi have based their KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) on bad news about Bihar. Their performance is not judged on the news they report from Bihar but the bad news that they report from Bihar. Worst is the news better is the performance. I will not be surprised if reporters from Bihar are encouraged by their Delhi based bosses to get involved in some criminal activity in order to create some bad news. Was this news about Laluji’s parents in-laws one such act? I am not sure but video which was broadcasted tells other story too. I mean to say same media which was questioning the presence of Laluji’s parents in-law presence in First Class AC compartment why don’t they answered who allowed these so called media to enter in the same compartment with their ugly microphone and camera without valid ticket? This is the true face of racist media, “Lalu to bahana hai, Bihar ko chabana hai (Lalu is an excuse, aim is to chew Bihar).” - Shiv Shankar Sharma - Feb. 14, 2007

Instead of concentrating on people who love to bash Bihar let us focus on people who make Bihar bash-worthy by their foolish actions. Need we waste our time in justifying the actions of Laluji's family? How-so-ever optimistically you interpret it, how much can you justify? To an optimist bull waste is manure. Even that has a positive side. Laluji's clan are a load of no gooders and it keeps showing up in their actions. While we bash Bihar bashers let us also bash the people who make Bihar bash-worthy. - Rajesh - Feb. 14, 2007

It is undoubtedly true that the Indian English Media has been biased in its portrayal of Bihar. There has been an excess of bad news; quite often bad news happening elsewhere with no connection with Bihar gets associated; important matters of debate get no prominence; and good news gets ignored.

However, if we choose to highlight the ticket less traveling of the parents in law of Lalu Yadav as biased news, I am afraid, we will end up loosing credibility.

A few years ago, Rajeev Pratap Rudy's holiday in Goa was highlighted prominently when he did not pay for it in time; several other much bigger incidents don't get reported. Again, we could not have used that incident as a bias against Bihar.

In our fight to get due coverage for Bihar, we shall have to be like Caesar's wife : above suspicions. - Thakur Vikas Sinha, Powai, Mumbai - Feb. 14, 2007

Mr Thakur Vikas Sinha, this corrupt media is not at all against corruption otherwise there would not have been any corruption. They are biased that’s why their reports do not carry any value. Somebody rightly said how come Rs 160 English newspaper is being sold for Rs 2 in India , there is definitely something dodgy. For a news channels which people have to pay thousand of Rupees overseas how come they are almost free in India? Hard earned freedom of speech is being subsidized for what? Gifting Lalu Yadav to Pakistan or Bihar to Pakistan?

Mr Thakur Vikas Sinha, contrary to your view I believe we will loose credibility if we believe everything that national media says against Lalu Yadav blindly and if Laluji’s parents in-laws were ticket less won’t you like him to resign as Railway Minister on this issue? If media has no answer to railway version (As per the North Eastern Railway's chief PRO M K Singh, the couple possessed second class tickets and wanted to get them converted to AC I ones. They paid Rs 1092 as excess fare and were issued a voucher (no. 523399) against the payment) then Bihar’s fight must be inclusive of Laluji not exclusive of Laluji. I know dishonest media has no answer to this and say tomorrow this issue goes in court and if judgment comes in favour of Laluji then media will not say Laluji was innocent but they will doubt background of the judge itself.

The national media which ignored the coverage of ‘GLOBAL BIHAR MEET’ was showing whole day ‘HARASSMENT OF LALU’S OLD PARENTS IN-LAWS’ ignoring all other national news (forget about positive news from Bihar) only to conclude that nothing can be done because they are parents in-laws of Railway Minister, why? Isn’t it time to question media whose purpose you served by ignoring the earlier and choosing the later because I think both are linked and by the way what evidence you have for later and what was so important for you to ignore the earlier? A sensible approach will be to appreciate the positive environment which has been created by Nitish Ji and Sushil Ji duo. They have changed the agenda of politics in Bihar. Even Lalu Ji is talking about Bihar. His party is the main opposition and his party is important part of ruling coalition at Delhi. I don’t mind Nitish Ji as leader of JD(U) talking against Laluji, leader of RJD, in fact it is his duty in democracy but Nitish Ji says so many thing about development of Bihar too however this prejudiced media will give news only about Nitish Ji talking against Laluji as if Nitish Ji does not speak anything except Laluji. For example how many of us know that Nitish Ji has claimed Bihar’s share in Coal, Iron, other minerals and also on other resources of Jharkhand? Sorry Jharkhandees but it’s a fact and I support the the demand of our CM! How many of us know that even though P Chidambram refused to give special status to Bihar, Nitish Ji is still adamant on this? But for media it is just, “Nitish denies Lalu’s claim of Bhoot in CM Residence”.

Media has always mocked ‘Lalu is Bihar’, we should not encourage media to run garbage show on Bihar around Lalu Yadav while ignoring important events like ‘GLOBAL BIHAR MEET’ and if they are adamant of running such shown while ignoring the positive news about Bihar then they should be asked to validate their garbage to conclusion.

Mr Sinha I had smelled anti-Bihar bias even in Rajivji’s Goa trip news. Not only that recently I read one of the famous Biahri basher columnist criticizing the recent changes that Rajnathji made in his team by including too many unimportant Bihari leaders in the top slot, according to this columnist after this change BJP lost its difference to any other party from ‘cowbelt’. It is not the question of BJP, RJD or JD (U), when it comes to Bihar, media has its own agenda, sooner we understand this better it is for Bihar. - Shiv Shankar Sharma - Feb. 15, 2007

Prabhakar Kumar of CNN-IBN is not to blame for this, rather it is the "editorial decision making" about which Thakur Vikas Sinha has pointed out in his post of 10th Feb. under Readers Write (Prabaht Kahabar Losing to Big Media).

It is just the blacking out of good news coming from Bihar by the mandarins in the news channels and newspapers. Bad news about Bihar makes good copy and is good for sales, unfortunately. - Shitanshu - Feb. 15, 2007

Media is not biased, but people who by their actions give a bad name to Bihar are biased against Bihar. Media is doing a good job by exposing hypocrites. - Satya - Feb. 15, 2007

It has become a habit of many people talking bad about Bihar. And worse is that Biharis are also involved in it.

People from Bihar must think that the state is made of you and me. Currently Bihar is demanding something from us. - Satya Prakash - Feb. 15, 2007

It is one of the saddest part of the Bihar story, we lost all our identity for only being a Bihari – a synonym for Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav or some other not so good reason. It happened even when we proved it on every front, and be it on national level or international level. It is just because media today is looking for more headlines and no news, and so we lost all our credits in the hands of some bad fames. When there are lots of other icons from our side to talk about, we just see stories about our current Railway Minister and some Matuk Nath only. It is part of media focus which always suppresses good for evil. It is happening to lot more people and community around the world and they are being recognised for only wrong reasons. This could be done backward just by making bad news outnumbered.

Don’t loose heart, these is some light on the end of the tunnel, and we are moving ahead almost nearer to the end of tunnel. As you can see all the good things are happening, scene is changing dramatically in our side and in a year or two we will come out as one of the best state in India. So, be proud for being a Bihari, and lets make a good reason for media and world, to consider Bihari as good and developing people wherever we are living. Together we will make the name Bihari as strong as any other developed community in the world. - Amarendra Kishore - Feb. 15, 2007

If the whole 'ticketless travel' thing was 'made-up' by the media as claimed by some in this discussion, why Lalu is apologizing here? - Rohit Narayan - Feb. 15, 2007

The human brain prefers typecasting and classification. That is how most of our logic is formed. The problem starts when the logic is misinterpreted. As a result of this misinterpretation, phobias and manias develop. Misinterpretation is natural because no two brains can think alike. When one says that he is misinterpreted, what he means to say is that the degree of deviation from the original logic is more than some delta. And the 'proposition plus-minus delta' is according to him, not according to him! It's altogether a 'new' thesis. When Karl Marx used the term 'Bourgeoisie', he intended to condemn the moral hypocrisy of this class. But his interpreters made this term a pejorative rhetoric to ridicule that class. The intellectual hypocrisy of Marx's theory is evident from the fact that moral hypocrisy is found to be inevitably common to all 'classes'. THAT was something Marx missed out in his logic. I know this because I think, I think better than Marx. Ok readers, wake-up time!

To make it simple (for the ’simplistics’ who just woke up), if we cross the limit of 'delta' while supporting/opposing an ism, we create another 'ism' ourselves. But if you don't cross this 'delta', you become a 'class', metaphorically! The 'confused' class. The class we ridicule as 'elite'.

‘Thethur-logy’ apart, I have been using 'elite' as a connotation so far, but I realized now the consequences of doing that. I thank Mr Anil for pointing this out. - Kumod Jha - Feb. 15, 2007

Laluji is not apolozising at all rather he is trying to take credit for whole episode from media where Railway followed the procedure for which media still has no answer. If media feels that Laluji is apologizing that he misused his position as Railway Minster in legalising an illegal journey then I think Laluji should not be apologizing but send his resignation to Prime Minister. However if it is legal to pay extra fare inside compartment and continue the onward journey then what was the big fuss media was talking about? Once again, media should prove that whatever Railway did and said on this episode was illegal and force Lalu Yadav to resign as Railway Minster or else as Laluji said, whatever media wrote was in "bad taste", but "we have to digest it". It should never be a case of apology in public life, either it should be a case of resignation or boast, it turns out to be case of boasting from Laluji that in his regime TTEs are following procedures freely while in my opinion Bihar took the collateral damage as usual. - Shiv Shankar Sharma - Feb. 15, 2007

Discussion on this topic is now closed.