Friday, March 16, 2007
Sreenivasan Jain Defends story on farm widows-VJAS responds as very unfortunate

Sreenivasan Jain Defends NDTV story on farm widows
VJAS responds as it's very unfortunate

Dear Sreenivasan,

Most respected sir,

Receipt of your e-mail(produced below) is kindly acknowlged with responce to earlier e-mail with referance to your untrue story of vidarbha farm widows forced in to prostitution(both reporduced below.

I have written your e-mail after due varification with our amravati farm activist and having indentified ladies used to show fabricated untrue story and to update you and all world regarding the facts but your reply is much more shocking as you are till kept under dark by feeding false information .

I am indebted for your remarks that you used to certify my work

but I promise to bring the fact before the world thorugh your NDTVonly as I know there are till prople with wisdom and reason are working in NDTV and they are closely monitoring your unwarnted misuse of NDTV setup and time will prove who is wrong and who is correct.

The shameful defaming of 3500 farm widows with a cooked-up story is not a private matter between you and me. It is humiliating and sensationalises something false for wrong purposes. You story was public, so also my letter. This is a public issue, the shame and hurt done to thousands of farm widows who are struggling so bravely to keep their farms running and families from starving. Please read the letter I sent you properly. It is clearly an open, public letter, with the web link to the Andolan's blog clearly given there. So you may have wished it was a private letter but it was never so.


We are fighting for Vidharba's farmers and when NDTV did stories highlighting their plight we have helped you, given you support and assistance. I wrote in my letter praising ndtv for that work and also that "we respect ndtv and also sreenivasan jain" -- but that this particular story is not true. So where have we maligned you? You could even now order an inquiry into the footage of this story and how real were those 'interviews.' It was this story not our claims that was "completely irresponsible." As an andolan defending those farmers, we would be failing in our duty if we did not respond when such brazen wrong is done to them. Having taken our help so often, now you find we "have little serious concern" for the issues? You seem angry because you feel we have hurt you with "individuals and institiutions we respect." Sreenivasan, please also do respect the struggling farmers widows whom this story has subjected to so much torment and pain? Please also show us some respect, we who have worked here for years and who have helped you.


Let alone respect of the high and mighty, self-respect demands that you inquire into those so-called interviews and see how real they were. Where are those facts you say you are happy to supply? Why not tell the public of Vidharba what those facts are? Respect them also, not just important "individuals and institutions." Your comment that I am doing this in 'petulance' because we, the activists who live and work here, know less about the farm suicides than your reporter from Mumbai, it is so comical that we shall not comment on it. Anyone who knows Vidharba or journalism at all will draw their conclusion on that joke. But on the fabrications made in the story, should I be silent because some reporter of yours wants to win awards with a sensational story?


With deep disappointment

kishor tiwari

vidarbha@gmail.com

===============================================================================================
Dear Kishore,
We at NDTV had wrongly assumed that the mail you had sent out on the Witness episode was only to me. I had called you in response to that mail, and at the end of the conversation we had agreed to disagree, but more importantly, I had corrected you on your completely irresponsible claim that we had 'fabricated' the story , and had offered to supply you with details of the women and villages from where the report was prepared. You showed no real interest. But we now realise that this mail has been sent out to all those on your mailing list, many of whom are known to us and represent individuals and institutions that we respect. To have maligned us amongst this constituency, and to have cast aspersions on our reporting is shocking, especially from someone who claims have had a long association with NDTV. If you had bothered with checking with us first on the facts, we would have been more than happy to supply them. But instead, your mail seems to suggest that you have little serious concern for the issues we raised, more a petulance that we ran a report on an aspect of the suicides that you are unaware of .
With extreme regret,
Vasu
Vidarbha widows forced into prostitution- This is not true vasu ,by now you are asking us to commit suicide
Vidarbha widows forced into prostitution- This is not true vasu ,by now you are asking us to commit suicide

TO,
SHRINIVASAN JAIN,
NDTV,MUMBAI.

REF: YOUR AWARD WINING PROGRAMME 'witness' ON VIDARBHA AGRARIAN CRISIS.

Respected sir,
I was shocked to see your programme last night witness and could not sleep through out night ,VJAS is only activist group who keeping track farmers suicides and always raising issues of farm widows and updated the whole world regarding plights of widows but your investigative "news item" has been first time information that vidarbha farm widows are forced prostitution.

we respect NDTV nad shrinivasan jain too but ,YOUR THIS NEWS ITEM IS NOT TRUE ,it is carrying very wrong impression regarding more than 3500 farm widows who are working hard against all odds and I have not seen single case of this kind till today .the moral and support theses farm widows are the real spirit of us to work against the all odds in these days of distress .
Here web text and link has been reproduced for my all inter national and national regular mail recipient as I have receiving the calls through out day to know the fact. cases we tracked needs to be probed further but generalisation of issue makes question mark to character of all farm widows .this is very critical issue as whole focus has been vidarbha farm widows moreover projecting vidarbha as new hub for export of farm widows for national prostitution ,VASU IS IT FAIR REPORTING SIR?

NDTV has been reporting vidarbha farm crisis since 1998 and first case of vidarbha cotton framers suicide of RAMDAS AMBARWAR of village taleng takli in yavatmal was reported by NDTV on 1 HOUR SLOT of star news forced Maharashtra chief minister manohar joshi that visited all houses of farm widows and gave the compensation.
VASU you are the witness of all developments but your own 'WITNESS' programme has put all activist involved in this agrarian crisis in fix.if your witness is true that it's moral binding for all of us to commit suicide .this is insult humanity it's matter of national shame.

I respect NDTV and request you to arrange detail probe on news item feeds used for this witness as it's seems to be fabricated one and more extensive stories on struggle of farm widows as damage control exercise .we never expected the words and draft used to show this news item,I PAINED AS EVERY NEW DAY IS COMING NEW SAGA SUICIDE AND NEW VERSION FARM WIDOWS DISPARATE ATTEMPTS OF SERVILE.


I FEEL NOBODY IS GIVING ANY ATTENTION TO THIS SERIOUS ISSUE ,NOW VIDARBHA AGRARIAN CRISIS IS FOR "SPECIAL NEWS ITEM" .


MAY GOD BLESS VIDARBHA FARMERS AND FARM WIDOWS.


regards,

I pained,

thanking
yours faithfully

kishor tiwari