The general insensitivity with which the massacre of 12 tribals in Jajpur was treated in the national media once again shows the callouness of urban-based media towards the poor.
Just because they were tribals, poor and the incident happened in Jajpur there was hardly any condemnation. Had a few university/college students injured in police firing it would have led to outrage.
Alas these tribals have no one to espouse their cause, no relatives who study in IITs, IIMs who can mobilise popular opinion of the upper/middle class or create a tsuanmi in blogosphere like in the case of Manjunath, who sadly died while fighting corruption. In no way it is belittling the death of Manjunath or any other upright official.
Just the fact that tribals are on the extreme margins of the state and more so, Media.
The administration had reportedly chopped off their hands allegedly so that they could be used for future identification! They could no take fingerprints, photo copies. Surprisingly, this crime of colossal magnitude has been downplayed by the media.
These tribals were left with no dreams in this Indian state where software companies and BPOs set the standards of morality, truth and liberty. The rape of a call centre girl leads to havoc in Indian media but this barbaric crime just passes off as atrocities on natives during the British Raj.
I am not saying that Media is biased against poor, it is just over concerned about TRPs and too obsessed with Bollywood, cricket, politics, fashion and partying people to show this face of the state to the people. Remember the very police that ought to defend its people fired at the tribals killing 12 in cold blood.
