Must Journos Soldier On?

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Soldiers are not supposed to think and mull over war and death. Their job is to shoot when ordered so. If soldiers get philosophical, perhaps all wars will be lost. Worse still, all thinking soldiers will perhaps be the first to be shoved into body bags. And that is not what army training is all about. It is about survival and victory. No soldier's ever gone to war thinking in his head that he will lose the war he is heading for.

In some ways, journalists - no matter how small or big a story they are working on - are a little like soldiers themselves. Their lives are tough, jobs demanding, deadlines and results sacrosanct and mostly the boss's word has to be followed. So there is no missing a story. Like there is no missing a shot. There is no room for lame excuses like there is no room for a mishap. For whatever it should take, all that matters at the fag end of a sometimes newsy and otherwise a non-newsy day is results. What matters is the story. And the larger responsibility of bringing in news to the doorstep of those who can't be there to watch it in person. No matter how tough the circumstances and how big the dilemma, the first job is to get news. For, that alone will create awareness and perhaps start a process to bring in change.

And perhaps that's what happened in Bhagalpur on a dull day in August. If it weren't for the reporters and the camerapersons on field, we would not have ever known what brutalities human beings are capable of. Thanks to the steady shots from diligent camerapersons, detailed reports from stringers and reporters, the plight of a petty thief being punished by the just and mighty in rural areas, could be aired on prime time. News anchors were horrified. The thinking talking heads left aghast. The National Human Rights Commission propelled into action and hard talk, political parties given another chance for a dharna and the ordinary viewer left thinking thank god it wasn't him or her.

The shots were indeed repelling. It made stomachs churn for most of us watching it, uneasy at the reality being aired on our screens. Human skin being dragged and ripped on hard tar is not stuff that can leave anyone indifferent. Everyone who saw it had a comment to make. Mostly intelligent. Mostly sensitive. After all that's the most one can do from a distance. So all of us sitting at comfortable distances from Bhagalpur did what we could.

For those in Bhagalpur had done their jobs... The cops, the bystanders, the Press. All in tandem. As mute as Salim, who snatched a chain and paid for it. Civil society gathered as spectators in the streets of Bhagalpur held itself back so that the rest of us could watch Salim's ordeal.

I wonder if the same group of spectators, otherwise vocal about what needs to be done to correct the system, had joined hands to save Salim, would this have happened? Perhaps the ordinary citizen is too helpless in such situations. Maybe. And therefore they stayed put.

But there was the Press. The watchdog. I wonder if the Press, otherwise powerful and capable of influencing decisions stood up to stop Salim's tormentors, would this have gone on? Even if two out of the many Press people there opposed it, while the others documented proof for the world to watch, and taken action against, would this ever have taken the turn it did? Perhaps the media, pretty much like the soldiers in war zone were just doing what they were meant to do. Staying away from becoming the story themselves, they kept busy with getting us the story. But when all's done and the dust settles down, I am left wondering...

The system needs hardcore dedicated professionals. Agreed. As a journalist on the spot my first duty would be to get the story. But was I born a journalist? Or a human with tender skin that hurts when it is torn? Maybe Salim could tell. If he ever could.