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ELECTIONS '98
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E-mail from readers the world over
Date sent: Friday, January 23, 1998 9:19 PM This has reference to the report on Rediff On The NeT titled "BJP in fix over web site." I was surprised and pained to read some of its contents, which are not only false but also motivated by considerations other than those of impartial journalism. No doubt, the matter concerning the article ("Sangh is my soul") which wrongly appeared on the BJP’s web site in the name of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and which was later withdrawn from the site with due explanation, was a goof-up. But when your correspondent, Shri R R Nair, uses the occasion of the report to give currency to his own baseless speculation about the goof-up being "an attempt by party president Lal Krishna Advani’s supporters to tarnish Vajpayee’s image," then the very credibility of Rediff On The NeT is called into question. As your correspondent specifically mentions my name in this context, I am compelled to ask you a couple of questions: If your correspondent is doing a report on the BJP’s web site and has chosen to link my name to presumed attempts to "tarnish Vajpayee’s image," isn’t it his basic journalistic obligation to speak to me? Your reporter has tarnished my image and reputation by unnecessarily mentioning my name -- but without showing how I was involved either in the goof-up or, what is a far more serious charge, in the attempt to damage the image of my party’s tallest leader. True, the Internet is a new and exciting medium for journalistic communication. But does the newness of the medium exempt Net reporters from adhering to the old, immutable canons of fair and unbiased journalism? Had your correspondent really tried to probe the genesis of this goof-up, he could have easily found the true facts, which have been clearly stated in the accompanying e-mail letter to you from Dr Dinesh Agarwal, President of the Overseas Friends of the BJP (USA). But Shri Nair’s intention was, perhaps, not to probe the real background to the inadvertent goof-up, but to speculate on a non-existent "inner-party power struggle" in the BJP. As a Net publication, you should have approached the obvious and relevant source for the story – namely, the Overseas Friends of the BJP (USA), the original creators of the site and who are easily accessible on the Net. After all, Kamal Darshan (the original name of the web site) and its creators could not have been unknown to a pioneering Indian webzine like you. I am happy that Rediff On The NeT has started a new tradition of independent Net journalism in India, and the tremendous global response it has received in a short time makes any Indian proud. But, I wonder, should you let your goodwill and reputation be dented by biased stories like the one you have published? I expect to see this letter published prominently on your site. Yours sincerely, Sudheendra Kulkarni Chief Coordinator of the BJP’s Internet web site BJP Central Office 11, Ashok Road, New Delhi 110 001
Date sent: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 11:09:15 +0000 I am surprised and outraged by R R Nair's story under the heading 'BJP in fix over web site.' The story is full of outright lies, calumny and clear bias of the writer against the BJP. Overseas Friends of BJP in USA had started the original BJP web site (called Kamal Darshan) back in February 1996 prior to the election of the 11th Parliament. It was at that time that we had scanned the 'controversial' article from Organiser and posted it on Kamal Darshan. It has been on the web site since then. How come no one in the media ever found any fault with Atalji's views during the 1996 election? Almost all Indian newspapers wrote stories on Kamal Darshan in 1996. Even The Hindu, a well-known anti-BJP English daily, had analysed the web site thoroughly, and even commented on its content but its columnist did not find anything objectionable in the same article at that time. Two years later suddenly it has become a hot issue; why? Nair's insinuation that Mr Sudheendra Kulkarni, being a Advani man, is responsible for planting this story to discredit and tarnish Vajpayee's image is preposterous, outrageous and a total fabrication. No top party official would have told anything to Rediff on this issue. Sudheendra Kulkarni could not have planted the story, simply because that's what he got from the original web page, Kamal Darshan (KD). Most of the files in KD were archived and sent to the system administrator in India for redesigning the web site. They picked the files and posted them on their server. There is no question of foul-play or ill-motive. Our OFBJP's volunteer team has been coordinating this for the past two months with the people in the BJP's media cell. Nair's version is totally fabricated and written with a deliberate attempt of creating a rift among the BJP's top leadership. The entire story reflects badly on Rediff. With this story, Rediff has reduced itself to the level of gossip-mongering. I would appreciate if you please post this rebuttal prominently in your News section. Thank you. Dinesh Agrawal R R Nair responds: This correspondent had no intention of causing a rift in the BJP's top leadership and the story was not written with any intention to tarnish anyone's image. The BJP itself has admitted that the posting of the article 'Sangh is my soul' on its web site was a mistake. The very fact that the party's prime ministerial candidate had to issue a statement distancing himself from the article shows how much consternation the article on the site caused him. Such an event on the eve of an important election could not be ignored by the media. More so when the article kicked up a lot of dust when it was originally published in Organiser. It prompted this correspondent to probe further and enquire about the article. Moreover, the article assumed significance as it was contrary to the BJP's current campaign strategy. It is by now very clear that the party's top leadership has refrained from referring to any contentious issue, and is projecting an all inclusive centrist image. The article on the web site, on the other hand, shows Mr Vajpayee as a militant Hindu. When Mr Vajpayee had said a couple of years ago that he did not write the article, why did it get pride of place on the BJP's site was the issue raised in my report. All the national dailies carried reports on the BJP site, the goof-up, and Mr Vajpayee's subsuquent statement. It is not a happy situation when the prime ministerial candidate has to issue statements denying knowledge of things that the party's web site says is written by him. A member of the BJP's national executive told Rediff On The NeT that this could not just be a mistake as the article had earlier caused the party much embarrassment. It was this leader who suggested that mischief was suspected. And about the allegation that the person responsible for hosting the site being partisan, this was raised by BJP leaders themselves, who spoke to me on condition that their identity not be revealed. The report does not say the article is a plant. It only says, quoting BJP leaders that whoever is responsible for posting it, may not have been aware of the embarrassment the article had earlier caused the BJP. It only says that speculation is rife in some quarters that there is an attempt to tarnish Mr Vajpayee's image. No one can deny that such a sentiment was in the air in Delhi those days. Intra party wrangles are not uncommon in any political party, and it is not the first time that a tussle between the BJP's top leaders was discussed by the media. In fact, ever since Mr Vajpayee was projected as the party's prime ministerial candidate there have been media reports about an ongoing tussle in the BJP. Finally, I would like to clarify that the article does not cast any aspersion on any one in particular.
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