Misinformation Thy name is Paid Media ?

The Uttarakhand Tragedy is still playing out and the sorrow and pain of the people can only be imagined and not really felt. There has been a race against time to save those who are dying and helpless and everyone is trying to help out in the best way they can. At this time it is shameful that some elements and political constituents fearing a massive backlash have resorted to misinformation and mud slinging even on those people who have tried to assist those in need. The stoic silence of those who tried to assist is being misused to spread lies and play politics. Ironically it is these self same people who start protesting and dancing a jig in TV news channel of dont do politics if even one single tough question is but before them. Today we try to make clear what is playing politics and what is not. Because just by using the word politics or secular in a sentence (or a combination thereof) does not get you on higher moral ground. What Actually happened 1. Narendra Modi comes to Uttarakhand. Is not allowed to Land by none other than the Home Minister. The same home minister allows Rahul Gandhi to conduct aerial survey, move by car 2. Modi efficiently transported and removed thousands (6000+ ) Gujarat residents as well as some non Gujaratis from the nodal points in Uttarakand such as Dehradun etc. after theyd been rescued . Also coordinated on whereabouts and pick up of people and provided disaster management staff. Some Details here: http://www.rediff.com/news/report/hownarendra-modi-managed-his-rescue-act-inuttarakhand/20130624.htm What the Media told you 1. Modiji is Rambo, rescued 15000 people himself. < Comment: This is obviously not possible, neither is being claimed by him or his officials for that matter , as the next few pages will show> 2. Modiji rescued people straight from the mountains. 3. Modiji is utilizing this news of rescue as a publicity measure. <Comment: No one from Mr. Modis government or BJP has made any such claim. It is infact the congress which has been providing Modiji publicity comparing him from Rambo to Superman. If today anyone thinks of Modiji as Rambo or Superman they have Manish Tiwari, Renuka Chowdhary etc. to thank for. >

3. Claims: Narendra Modi Government or he himself never claimed a word about rescuing 15000 people . In fact even in the official website all that has been mentioned is : Addressing a high-level meeting of disaster management here to take stock of the situation in the hill state, he said that about 6,000 pilgrims from Gujarat have already come back, while another 2,500 are on the way and the remaining about 100 persons still stranded there are being contacted for their safe return. Is giving status of safe return of people stranded equivalent to publicizing himself.

4. Modiji only rescued Gujaratis < Comment: He was there in capacity as Chief Minister of Gujarat, not as Prime Minister of India (yet) so his first and foremost duty was fully before him. Even so he did rescue people from other states and no asked people where they are from as is evident from the article on the left.>

What was said on Narendra Modijis actual Facebook posts

Can a chief minister inform his people of rescue efforts about their relatives or not ???? For those who wish to check on facebook, actual Narendra Modi facebook page can easily be searched (not any fan pages). These are the only two relevant posts he made. Nowhere has he claimed anything at all about the numbers rescued or even used the word rescue. This is clearly the post from a man who believes he is doing his duty, nothing more, nothing less. One June 19, Narendra bhai offered and provided help of his team. The ungrateful UPA government criticizes and slams this man for the amount of money offered when he was one of the first to send a proper team of his officials of Gujarat without any hype. What Narendra Bhai official Twitter account shows (19-24 June 2013)

Even here as we can see there is no mention of any claim of persons rescued. The person concerned is simply informing on what he is doing and what steps are being taken. Is that a crime? Then who Claimed 15,000 pilgrims rescued ? The claim of 15,000 people rescued has been made by none other than a news paper Times of India perhaps followed with other news papers.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-06-23/india/40146385_1_uttarakhand-cm-vijaybahuguna-narendra-modi
After this many other news channel and media started presenting this story in a rehashed manner. This June 23, 2013 article nowhere is it mentioned who is the source of the figure quoted. Further more, nowhere does the article say that NaMo or his team of administrative officers trekked and climbed the peaks in Uttarakhand to physically rescue pilgrims. That is absurd as that is obviously being done by brave NDRF, ITBP and Armed forces personnel. However for last 2 days it is being shown in almost every news channel as if it was claimed that Modiji rescued pilgrims from ground zero itself. Even this article which has inaccuracies mentions that 15000 stranded Gujarati pilgrims were bought home i.e. those having reached some nodal drop points in Uttarakhand transported from there Here is a more objective look at what really happened: http://www.rediff.com/news/report/how-narendra-modi-managed-his-rescue-act-inuttarakhand/20130624.htm (One needs to read this report to have a blow by blow account of what happened) If Modiji did not rescue people by climbing mountains than how is this useful? Imagine the state of these 6000 plus people who are starved, tired, psychologically shocked and may be suffering from illness. The Gujarat government spared no effort for its people and provided transport and removal facility for them with immediate affect rather than waiting for flights, trains etc. What Narendra Modi and his team did was hugely helpful to the state government of Uttarakhand whose resources are stretched. Imagine having 6000-15000 people who are famished, tired and in disarray waiting for relief and transport in already highly stretched circumstances. Narendra Modi helped both the people of his state and the Uttarakhand government by quickly transporting them out through chartered flights or rail etc.

Irony of Ironies So the person who assisted both the Uttarakhand Government, and the people of his state is now being criticized for something he never claimed or did. What is more this same person was stopped from landing and helping out in ground zero when his involvement actually freed up critical resources needed at that time. What is being lauded however is the visit of a fellow who was allegedly holidaying abroad for last week and then suddenly decides to visit Uttarakhand 8-9 days after the tragedy stuck, and this person is allowed to move by helicopter and road in relief areas with bandobast and security visible behind him. Doesnt this affect relief work now?

Falsehood about Narendra Modi and BJP (Lets see who is doing politics ?) They say a picture is worth a thousand words so let me show you some pictures of the week which will give an idea of the congress attitude about the tragedy: ->

Verification : http://indiatoday.intoday.in/gallery/sonia-rahul-flagoff-relief-material-for-uttarakhand/1/9641.html How would you caption this photo ? Mine is: Why so serious ????? Lets put a smile on my face ?

Did someone mention Photo Op or disaster tourism . Yipeee here I come!

Who says I am here as a VIP . I am here as a common citizen. By the way, who are these nice folks following me ?

There was no aerial survey. Seriously. Only a Car was used. Driver meri caaaaar nikalna.

Only VIPS not allowed. Super VIPS can go and come as they please.

Hey ! No one said no advertising. It was only no politicizing.

Why is Narendra Modi Silent ? So much of maligning has been tried in last week against this leader who simply did what any efficient Chief Minister and National leader should do and spoke only about it by way of information and very different from what has been reported. So why was this reporting done: An over-enthusiastic reporter (who doesnt even quote any official source), or a planted story to malign Modiji, or an innocent story where someone threw an estimate rather than an official figure which became hyped. Whatever it is, Modiji is the last person who seems to be politicking about it, because he has already moved on to the next task and is busy getting things done. And he doesnt have the time of the day to waste on such bickering as he is busy working for the people. While the Congress is overactive defending the Yuvraj s Uttarakhand visit, Narendra bhai is busy distributing employment letters, unifying the country (Follow on twitter to find out more: https://twitter.com/narendramodi ). Jai Hind.