Goofing-up again

Shortly after the attack on Parliament, a Doordarshan camera team was sent to the Prime Minister’s Race Course Road residence to record Vajpayee’s reaction to the terrorist attack. The Prime Minister’s message was shot three times before it was finally approved. The retakes were thought necessary since, in the earlier versions, Vajpayee sounded a trifle confused for he expressed ignorance about the number of policemen killed. Unfortunately, in the first evening telecast on Doordarshan, the wrong version was used. To compound the mistake, private TV channels cut into this telecast and relayed it to their viewers.

The Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra gave the Prasar Bharati CEO, Anil Baijal, a tongue lashing. Baijal, in turn, issued a stern memo to correspondents, producers and directors about the goof-up, particularly as the mistake was repeated in the night. A three-hour long review meeting was held at Doordarshan to introspect — two days later.

No privilege breach

Did Defence Minister George Fernandes violate Parliament’s privilege by summoning the Army shortly after the December 13 attack? Some in the Speaker’s office were heard grumbling that the Speaker G M C Balayogi had not been consulted by the defence minister before he called in the Army. Actually, the Army never entered the Parliament House complex but guarded the roads outside. It was the National Security Guard (NSG) which was called in to defuse any remaining explosives.

Bad casting

AS a former Speaker of the Lok Sabha who has also been a central minister, Shivraj Patil is more comfortable on the treasury benches rather than as an activist opposition MP. Which is why many in the Congress complain privately that he is a misfit in his new role as deputy leader of the Opposition in place of the late Madhavrao Scindia. Patil was fielded by his party as the main speaker in the Lok Sabha on the attack on Parliament. Unlike his colleagues, Patil did not focus on security lapses but talked at length about the security measures he had introduced in Parliament as Speaker and even spelt out what he felt was his unfinished agenda. Patil volunteered that he apprehended a terrorist attack on the Supreme Court. A senior Congress MP openly grimaced and put his hand to his head in horror while Patil was speaking, since he had let the government completely off the hook!

Swimming pools

True, Indian missions abroad veer towards the opulent, but the CAG felt that that it was time to question the lifestyles of our diplomats after it discovered that in Frankfurt even the house of the Indian consul general, a relatively junior post, had a swimming pool and a sauna bath. The CAG has sent a note to the Ministry of External Affairs demanding a list of all ambassadorial residences with swimming pools. The MEA’s explanation for renting the Frankfurt house is that the lease is 10 years old and the property was found suitable, the fact that a sauna and swimming pool were there was only incidental! Considering that every other Indian embassy seems to have a swimming pool including the ones in Iran, Spain, Malaysia, Syria, Brazil, Peru and Botswana, it may take a while to compile the list.

Up, close and personal

In focusing on the heroes of the December 13 assault, the print media has largely ignored the TV cameramen who showed extraordinary courage in continuing to record footage of the terrorists in action, even as bullets whizzed past them. Some private TV channels telecast graphic shots of the assault, which testify to the courage and professionalism of the men behind the lens. TV viewers could glimpse the confusion on the face of one of the armed militants, as his bag falls and he wonders whether he should continue running or stop to pick it up. They also saw a terrorist being gunned down and gesticulating to his companion to leave him behind. When ANI cameraman Vikram Singh was hit by a bullet and lay helplessly on the ground, another cameraman recorded his agony as the CRPF brought him some water and tried to drag his body to a sheltered spot. Vikram Singh’s sound assistant had the remarkable presence of mind to pick up the camera screwed in on a tripod and switch on the automatic record button so that the camera would continue to its work.

Chain reaction

A major catastrophe was averted on December 13, thanks partly because the car hailer who stands on the steps of the main entrance to Parliament House attached his chair to a pillar using a chain. The chain was to ensure that no one pinched his seat while he was away. The suicide bomber rushing towards the steps of the main entrance was whirling a very long cord which got entangled in the chain. He tripped on the rope and fell and became a sitting duck of a target for a CRPF guard positioned close by. If the militant had succeeded in reaching the main gate, horrendous damage could have been caused, for he had explosives strapped to his waist.

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