‘ನೂರೆಂಟು ಮಾತು’ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಎರಡು ಮಾತು
ಬರಹದೊಂದಿಗೆ ಓದುಗ ಮಾತನಾಡಿದಾಗ ಮಾತ್ರ, ಬರಹಕ್ಕೆ ಮತ್ತು ಬರಹಗಾರನಿಗೆ ಸಾರ್ಥಕತೆ. ‘ನೂರೆಂಟು ಮಾತು’ ಅಂಕಣದಲ್ಲಿನ ಕೆಲವು ಬರಹಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ದಟ್ಸ್ಕನ್ನಡದ ಓದುಗರಾದ ಶೇಷಾದ್ರಿ ಎತ್ತಿದ ಆರೋಗ್ಯಕರ ಆಕ್ಷೇಪಗಳಿಗೆ, ಅಂಕಣಗಾರರಾದ ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರ ಭಟ್ ಉತ್ತರ ನೀಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಒಂದು ಆರೋಗ್ಯಕರ ಪತ್ರ ಸಂವಾದ.
ಸಂಪಾದಕರೇ,
ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರ ಭಟ್ಟರ ಕಟ್ರೀನಾ-ಅಮೆರಿಕಾ ಕುರಿತಾದ ಲೇಖನ ಓದಿದೆ.
ಕಟ್ರೀನಾ, ಅಮೆರಿಕನ್ ಸಮಾಜದ ಸಿರಿವಂತಿಕೆಯ ತೆರೆಯನ್ನು ಹರಿದು, ಬಡತನ, ವರ್ಣಬೇಧಗಳನ್ನು ಜಗತ್ತಿಗೆ ತೋರಿದೆಯೆಂಬುದರಲ್ಲಿ ಸಂದೇಹವಿಲ್ಲ. ಅಮೆರಿಕಾದಂತಹ ಸಿರಿವಂತ ದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ, ಕೇಂದ್ರ, ರಾಜ್ಯ (ಲೂಯ್ಸಿಯಾನ) ಮತ್ತು ನಗರ (ನ್ಯೂ ಆರ್ಲೀನ್ಸ್) ಸರ್ಕಾರಗಳು ಇಂತಹ ವಿಪ್ಪತ್ತನ್ನು ಎದುರಿಸುವಲ್ಲಿ ಎಡವಿದ್ದು ಶೋಚನೀಯ ಮತ್ತು ಆತಂಕ ತರುವಂತಹ ವಿಷಯ.
ಕಟ್ರೀನಾ ಪ್ರಸಂಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಬುಶ್ ಮತ್ತು ಆತನ ಆಡಳಿತ ಮಂಡಳಿಯ ಕಾರ್ಯಾಚರಣೆ ಸರಿಯಿತ್ತೇ, ಇಲ್ಲವೇ? ಅಂತಹ ಸಿರಿವಂತ ಸಮಾಜದ ಮಧ್ಯೆ, ಇಂತಹ ಬಡತನವೇ? ಅಮೆರಿಕಾದ ಬಡವರಲ್ಲಿ ಬಹುಮಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಆಫ್ರಿಕನ್-ಅಮೆರಿಕನ್ನರೇ ಇರುವುದಕ್ಕೆ ಕಾರಣಗಳೇನು? ಇವೆಲ್ಲಾ ಚರ್ಚಿಸಬೇಕಾದ ವಿಷಯಗಳೇ. ಆದರೆ, ಭಟ್ಟರ ಲೇಖನದಲ್ಲಿನ ಕೆಲವಾರು (ತಪ್ಪು) ಮಾಹಿತಿಗಳೂ ಮತ್ತು ಅಮೆರಿಕಾದ ಬಗೆಗಿನ ಅವರ ಪೂರ್ವಗ್ರಹಪೀಡಿತ ಧೋರಣೆ ಸಹ್ಯವೆನ್ನಿಸಲಿಲ್ಲ.
ಉದಾಹರಣೆಗೆ - ಭಟ್ಟರು ಬರೆಯುವ ‘ಕರಿಯರು ಅಂದು ತಮ್ಮ ಜೀವ ಉಳಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಹೋರಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದರೆ, ಬಿಳಿಯರು ... ಅವರ ಮೇಲೆ ಅತ್ಯಾಚಾರ, ಅನಾಚಾರಕ್ಕಿಳಿದಿದ್ದು’ ಸತ್ಯವಲ್ಲದ ಸಂಗತಿ. ಆ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ ಅನಾಚಾರಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ತೊಡಗಿದ್ದುದು ಬಹುಮಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಕರಿಯರೇ.
ಹಾಗೆಯೇ, ಭಟ್ಟರು ಬರೆಯುವ ‘ವೆನೆಜುವೆಲಾ ಹಾಗೂ ಕ್ಯೂಬಾದಂತಹ ಚಿಳ್ಳೆಪಿಳ್ಳೆ ದೇಶಗಳಿಂದ ಸಾವಿರಾರು ವೈದ್ಯರನ್ನು ಕರೆಯಿಸಕೊಳ್ಳಬೇಕಾಯಿತು’ ಎಂಬ ಮಾತೂ ಅಸತ್ಯ. ಈ ಮಾಹಿತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಭಟ್ಟರು ಎಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಸಂಗ್ರಹಿಸಿದರೋ ಅವರಿಗೇ ಗೊತ್ತು.
ಇನ್ನುಳಿದಂತೆ, ಭಟ್ಟರು ತಮ್ಮ ಲೇಖನದಲ್ಲಿ ಅಮೆರಿಕನ್ನರಿಗೆ ಮಾನವೀಯತೆಯೇ ಇಲ್ಲವೆಂಬ ಅಭಿಪ್ರಾಯ ಮೂಡುವಂತೆ ಬರೆದಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಈ ಅಭಿಪ್ರಾಯವನ್ನು ಮತ್ತಷ್ಟು ಮನದಟ್ಟು ಮಾಡಲು, ಕಳೆದ ವರ್ಷ ಅಮೆರಿಕಾದ ಕೆಲ ಭಾಗಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ವಿದ್ಯುತ್ ಕೈಕೊಟ್ಟಾಗ ಭಾರತೀಯ ಹೋಟೆಲ್ ಮಾಲೀಕರ ಔದಾರ್ಯದ ಕುರಿತೂ ಬರೆದಿದ್ದಾರೆ.
2004ರ ಆಗಸ್ಟ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ವಿದ್ಯುತ್ ಕೈಕೊಟ್ಟಾಗ ನಾನು ನ್ಯೂಯಾರ್ಕ್ನಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಇದ್ದೆ. ಆ ದಿನ, ಉಚಿತ ನೀರು-ಆಹಾರ ನೀಡಿದ್ದು ಕೇವಲ ಭಾರತೀಯ ಹೋಟೆಲು ಮಾಲೀಕರು ಮಾತ್ರ ಅಲ್ಲ. (ವಿವರಗಳಿಗೆ, ಇಲ್ಲಿ, ಇಲ್ಲಿ, ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಮತ್ತು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಿ.) ಅಂತೆಯೇ, ಒಬ್ಬ ಭಾರತೀಯ ರೆಸ್ಟರಂಟ್ ಮಾಲೀಕ ಸಹ ಉಚಿತವಾಗಿ ಆಹಾರ-ಪಾನೀಯಗಳನ್ನು ನೀಡಿದ್ದೂ ನಿಜ. ಅದನ್ನೇ ದೊಡ್ಡದು ಮಾಡಿ, ಭಾರತೀಯರು ಮಾತ್ರ ಹೃದಯವಂತರು, ಅಮೆರಿಕನ್ನರಿಗೆ ಮಾನವೀಯತೆಯೇ ಇಲ್ಲವೆನ್ನುವ ಭಟ್ಟರ ವಾದ ಒಪ್ಪುವುದು ಕಷ್ಟ.
ಸುನಾಮಿಯ ನಂತರ ಭಾರತೀಯರು ಸಂತ್ರಸ್ತರ ನೆರವಿಗೆ ಬಂದಂತೆ, ಕಟ್ರೀನಾದ ಸಂದರ್ಭದಲ್ಲಿ ಅಮೆರಿಕನ್ನರೂ ತಮ್ಮ ದೇಶಿಗರ ಸಹಾಯಕ್ಕೆ ಮುಂದಾಗಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಜನ ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯರಿಂದ ಹಿಡಿದು ಬೃಹತ್ ಕಂಪೆನಿಗಳವರೆಗೆ, ಪುಟ್ಟ ಶಾಲಾ ಬಾಲಕ-ಬಾಲಕಿಯರಿಂದ ಹಿಡಿದು ವಯಸ್ಸಾದ ಹಿರಿಯರವರೆಗೆ, ಸಣ್ಣ-ಪುಟ್ಟ ಪಟ್ಟಣಗಳಿಂದ ಹಿಡಿದು ಮಹಾನಗರಗಳವರೆಗೆ, ಜನ ತಮ್ಮ ಕೈಲಾದಷ್ಟು ಸಹಾಯ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ, ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಈಗಾಗಲೇ ಒಂದು ಬಿಲಿಯನ್ ಡಾಲರ್ ಧನ ಸಹಾಯ ನೀಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. (ವಿವರಗಳಿಗೆ ಇಲ್ಲಿ, ಇಲ್ಲಿ, ಇಲ್ಲಿ, ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಮತ್ತು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಓದಿ. ಇವು ಕೆಲವೇ ಉದಾಹರಣೆಗಳಷ್ಟೇ. ಇಂತಹುದು ಅಮೆರಿಕದೆಲ್ಲೆಲ್ಲೂ ನಡೆದಿವೆ. ಇನ್ನೂ ನಡೆಯುತ್ತಿವೆ.)
ಒಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ, ಕಟ್ರೀನಾ ಸಂದರ್ಭವನ್ನು ಉಪಯೋಗಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಅಮೆರಿಕನ್ನರನ್ನು ದೂಷಿಸುವ ಭಟ್ಟರ ಲೇಖನ ಓದಿ ಖೇದವಾಯಿತಾದರೂ ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯವಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲ; ಭಟ್ಟರಿಂದ ನಾನು ಅಂತಹುದೇ ಲೇಖನವನ್ನು ನಿರೀಕ್ಷಿಸಿದ್ದೆ.
-ಶೇಷಾದ್ರಿ, ಸೌತ್ ಬ್ರನ್ಸ್ವಿಕ್, ನ್ಯೂ ಜರ್ಸಿ, ಯು.ಎಸ್.ಎ.
***
ಅಂಕಣಕಾರ ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರ ಭಟ್ರಿಗೆ ನೇರವಾಗಿ ಶೇಷಾದ್ರಿ ಬರೆದ ಪತ್ರ
Mr.Bhat,
I have been reading your articles in the "Noorentu Maatu" column for a long time. Thanks to thatskannada.com
I have noticed that in your articles there are way too many factual errors. As a reader of your columns I am really concerned about that. More than that, I am also concerned because your newspaper Vijaya Karnataka is the number one newspaper in Kannada today and is read by hundreds of thousands and they are being misled.
I am not sure whether these errors are introduced deliberately or because of a lack of a good fact-checking system. Either way, its your reader who is being given wrong information. (While I am not sure whether these errors or deliberately introduced or not, they always seem to fit your narration and the argument. Hence, one could argue that they get introduced deliberately.)
I have written about some of these factual errors in thatskannada.com more than once. Please take a look at the following links:
In your recent article about Katrina, you write that 1) while African-Americans were struggling to survive, white Americans were engaging in raping and abusing them 2) America had to bring in thousands of doctors from Venezuel and Cuba.
Both of the above are false.
While there may have been some incidents of whites misbehaving or abusing blacks in the aftermath of Katrina, most of the people who engaged in lawless behaviour were poor blacks. Many of the victims were also blacks. As far as America bringing in thousands of doctors from Venezuela and especially Cuba, this is completely untrue. Since factual errors seem to creep in your articles so often, I would like to ask you a few questions. I hope you would take some time to answer them.
- Are these errors deliberately introduced
- Do you have any fact checking system in your paper? If not, why?
- Could you tell us why there are so many errors in your columns? (If you want, I can provide a full list of them. For example, in your article about Wilma Rudolph, you write that she won 4 Olympic medals as an 18 year old and that both of her legs were afflicted with polio. All those things are untrue.)
- Do you publish corrections for the errors published?
Regards
-Seshadri
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ವಿಶ್ವೇಶ್ವರ ಭಟ್ ಅವರ ಪ್ರತ್ಯುತ್ತರ
Dear Sri.Sheshadri,
Thank you very much for your mail. I am happy to know that you have been reading my column. I appreciate your interest and concern which you show to my write up. Any way its nice to know you.
Regarding the questions/doubts which you have raised in your mail, I would like to make my points clear. I have written that America had to take the help of thousands of doctors from Venezuel and Cuba.
Please do read the leader article written by Dr. Arvind Sivaramakrishnan in The Hindu on 7 Sept, 2005. The author is lecturer in politics at Tauntons College, Southampton, U.K.
It reads : The U.S. political system is also showing the characteristic reactions of rich countries when faced with refugees. Politicians in the State of Texas, to which about 100,000 refugees have fled from Louisiana, are saying they cannot take any more and that they need federal government help from Washington DC. They openly cite the fact that Texas, one of the most extreme Republican States, has no public services worth the name. Texas is most of the size of Europe, is soaking rich with oil money, and has a population of 22 million. It is not known if the Texan exchequer has offered any aid, but Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a socialist, has offered $1 million as aid via the Red Cross, and Cuban President Fidel Castro, a communist, has offered 1100 doctors and 26 tonnes of medicines.
For complete article please do read at http://www.hindu.com/2005/09/07/stories/2005090702811000.htm
Regarding your second question...There have been many incidents of whites misbehaving or abusing blacks in the aftermath of Katrina, the entire world watched this on TV. I do not think which requires any explanation.
Meanwhile I also subscribe your view point that most of the people who engaged in lawless behaviour were poor blacks. Many of the victims were also blacks.
By the way, I respect for your eye for details and heart for factual correctness.
I have been looking out for a right person who can stand between readers and the newspaper. He is called Readers Editor in the newsroom. He will find out the mistakes appeared in the newspaper on behalf of the readers and also explain why those mistakes occured taking the side of the paper. I feel you have that appetite. With the result I can start a column - Corrections and Clarification. The Guardian has started this column. Ian Myes is acting as its Readers Editor. Now Vijay Karnataka is available in the form of e-paper and you can read it everyday.You can visit www.vijaykarnatakaepaper.com
Thak you very much
Yours
Vishweshwar Bhat
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ಭಟ್ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಶೇಷಾದ್ರಿ ಅವರಿಂದ ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ಪತ್ರ
Dear Mr.Bhat,
I am really surprised -- in a pleasant way -- that you responded and that too so quickly to my queries. In all honesty I must say I wasnt expecting a reply at all. Thank you very much.
Now, getting back to the topics we were discussing, while it is indeed true that Castro offered to send thousands of doctors, it is also true that US did NOT accept that offer. (Please see the CNN report - http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/09/05/katrina.cuba/)
Castro and Chavez (of Venezuela) are not really in friendly terms with the US - especially the Bush administration. So, when they make these kinds of offers one wont know whether these are offers of compassion or a way of expressing schadenfreude.
In any case US rejected these offers and hence your article is factually incorrect on that count; you wrote that US had to get thousands of doctors from these two countries when in fact they didnt.
I read The Hindu article that you referred. That too has many factual errors - mostly minor but still intended to mislead the readers into thinking in a particular way. Is it because of almost knee-jerk anti-Americanism of some of our intellectuals? I dont know. But, we never see any such articles about China for example. Certainly not in The Hindu or the Frontline!
Regarding the criminal acts committed by some whites against blacks, you yourself now admit that most of the people who were engaging in lawless behaviour were blacks. Then, why write about white-violence instead of more common black-on-black violence? Does it not mislead the readers into thinking that there was a prevalent racial overtone to the violence when mostly it was not?
I am really flattered to know that you are even thinking of using my rather humble abilities. Since I live in US, I have grave doubts about me being useful in any meaningful way for your newspaper. In any case I will give you a call soon; if not for anything else, just to say a "Hello".
BTW, I tried registering for free-trial subscription of Vijaya Karnataka online edition alrady twice without any success.
Thanks again for taking time to respond.
Regards,
-Seshadri
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