from Photographers Blog:
Fight for a frame
The digital revolution has its pros and cons; on one hand it has amplified the chance of getting a picture in a stampede-like situation and on the other, it has created the stampede-like situation. With the advent of digital technology, the number of publications and media houses has grown, in turn multiplying the number of cameramen and photographers present at an event. Yet it has also increased the number of picture possibilities which in the celluloid days were limited to 36 frames in a film roll. Good or bad there is no going back.
Ignoring my aching jaw, I scrolled through my images to see if I had got the picture, of India's former telecommunications minister Andimuthu Raja, accused in the 2G spectrum scam. It must have been an elbow of one of the many cameramen or photographers present who were struggling to get the same picture that struck me. I didn’t mind the pain as even my elbow hurt a bit. I was sure I wasn't the only one with a sore jaw, of late we photographers were accustomed to it.
Court assignments as we call them, isn’t an assignment a photographer is keen on doing. But it has become mandatory as the picture compliments the newspaper headlines - lately they were related to the 2G Spectrum scam, a $39.16 billion scam that shook the nation. One after another the suspects have been zeroed in as the Indian judiciary tightens the noose on everyone involved. Every now and then someone is produced in court and we photographers find ourselves in the similar stampede-like situations.
Since December Reuters has covered a number of these types of events- be it a courthouse or the Central Bureau of Investigation headquarters.
I remember one occasion when Raja was to be brought to the Patiala House court. I didn’t count but at least one photographer and at least three TV cameramen were present from each electronic media house. Unplanned events like this one become very chaotic, as hordes of photographers jump into a narrow area to get first a good picture, second a usable one - the latter is mandatory. As Raja climbed down from a government vehicle he was surrounded by photographers. I struggled as I made my way with my wide-angle lens and landed in front of him. I was lucky to reach there as my counterparts from other organizations were shooting blindly, I didn’t take my hand off the shutter release, and shot hundreds of frames, 6 or 8 of them were usable and one I consider good.
Is Congress digging its own corrupt grave?
Telecom Minister Kabil Sibal’s attack on the competency of India’s independent state auditor appears to show Congress’s growing desperation at its inability to silence corruption charges, and the inevitable backfire may illustrate just how out of touch India’s ruling party has become with the current political climate.
Last week’s allegations by Sibal of the “utterly erroneous” calculations in a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) estimating a $39 billion loss to the exchequer during the 2008 2G spectrum sale have led to a barrage of criticism from opposition politicians and the CAG, and appear to have only resulted in increased pressure on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is reportedly mulling a breach of privilege motion against Sibal – a Congress heavyweight – for his insinuation of “serious errors” in the independent investigation, the CAG has suggested his remarks were “in contempt of the House” and the opposition, already riding high on the ruling party’s seemingly endless list of corruption-related woes, accused the minister of attempting to “overreach the Parliamentary process.”
In short, his attempt to discredit the report, with the assumed blessing of Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, has only led to more headlines and headaches.
Sibal may be correct in his assertion. The loss to the state is essentially incalculable – the CAG even admitted that in its report. But in failing to address the issue of improper practices undertaken during the spectrum allocation that the report also noted, he risked appearing to shift the blame away from his sacked predecessor, A. Raja, a member of a party crucial to the success of Singh’s ruling coalition.
Similarly to Prime Minister Singh’s December promise to appear before the PAC to answer questions on the 2G scandal, rather than agree to a joint parliamentary committee as demanded by the opposition, Sibal’s analysis of the CAG report was seen by some as an example of half measures by the government in tackling corruption, and a failure to address the allegations head-on.
Trouble comes calling for the Congress
Ashok Chavan and Suresh Kalmadi have been let go by the Congress. Who will be next?
The scams laid at the government’s door do not end with the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and the war homes scandal in Mumbai.
The opposition and the media, having tasted blood with Shashi Tharoor, Chavan and Kalmadi, now have Telecoms Minister Andimuthu Raja in the crosshairs over the sale of 2G spectrum.
Pranab Mukherjee, the omnipresent firefighter, has defended the government, saying the enquiry on the Delhi Games was instituted even before the opposition demanded it.
On the war homes scandal, his stand is the matter involves individual transgressions, not the government and hence does not concern parliament.
But a party that has been in power since 2004 in the centre and for more than a decade in Maharashtra may find it difficult to shake off responsibility for things that happened on its watch. Particularly when it comes to the telecom ministry. And that may not be good news for Raja.
Whether Raja stays, belonging as he does to a crucial coalition partner, or goes — the bigger question is whether the high-decibel drama will lead to anything substantial apart from a change at the helm?
