Press Council Chairman Justice Markandey Katju on Saturday said anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare lacks the scientific ideas that are needed to solve the problem of graft.
The PCI chairman also took a dig at the media for "hyping" up issues such as the 100th century of Sachin Tendulkar, retirement of Rahul Dravid, pregnancy of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and death of film star Dev Anand.
"This Anna Hazare movement, I have not spoken about it because I am attacked by the media as if Justice Katju is some kind of demon. I regard Anna Hazare as an honest man, there is no dispute in that. But what are his scientific ideas? I don't think he has any scientific ideas," Justice Katju said.
Addressing the convocation ceremony of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, he said shouting slogans like Bharat Mata ki Jai and Inquilab Zindabad will not end corruption.
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'Shouting will not do anything'
Photographs: Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com
"You cannot fight corruption by shouting Bharat Mata ki Jai and Inquilab Zindabad. What will happen with shouting? People shouted here for 10-15 days and then went home. There is rampant corruption in the country and that is why there was so much support for Anna Hazare," he said.
Corruption needs a scientific solution, he said, adding, "What is the rationale of the thinking of Anna Hazare? With due respect, I could not find any scientific ideas. This shouting will not do anything. You have to have a scientific solution for it."
Justice Katzu also flayed Hazare for his approach in dealing with issues such as alcoholism.
"You say you can stop alcoholism by tying a man to a tree and beating him. Is this a solution to alcoholism? Most poor people take alcohol and country liquor because they get relief from their miserable lives and forget their miseries," he added.
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'Dravid retired, the country is doomed'
"To abolish alcoholism, you have to raise the standard of their living. You have to reduce their miseries, not that you catch hold of people, tie them to the tree and beat them," Justice Katju said.
He also attacked media houses for giving "undue" space to entertainment to "divert attention from real issues".
"Ninety per cent of media coverage goes to entertainment. The problems of the country are not price rise, employment, poverty but whether Sachin Tendulkar has scored his 100th century. Once he has scored his 100th century, issues like unemployment, hunger and poverty are finished and rivers of milk and honey will flow here."
"When Rahul Dravid retires, it is the greatest catastrophy in history. Rahul Dravid retired, the country is doomed. For days on end, the media hyped it up. This is your Indian media," he added.
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'I took up the issue of journalists'
He said the Mohali cricket match between India and Pakistan last year was also hyped as if a "Mahabharat" was taking place.
Accusing media houses of suffering from a "total loss of sense of proportion and priority", he targeted newspapers and TV channels for showing programmes on astrology which he termed as "pure nonsense".
Seeking to clarify his position on being termed a critique of the India media, Justice Katzu said he is also one of their biggest supporters.
"I took up the issue of journalists being targeted by stone-pelters in Jammu and Kashmir and the freedom of the media in Bihar," he said.
Demanding accountability from media houses, he said there is no absolute freedom in the country and every freedom comes with some sense of responsibility.
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