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This is followup letter to Stephen Segaller, Executive Producer, [Wide Angle]
after the last week’s PBS show ‘soul of India’. Please feel free to reuse
this letter with appropriate changes. Contact addresses are at the bottom of
the letter
Letter also available at:
http://www.indiacause.com/IC10_PBS_Letter2.htm
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Subject: You promised us a "fair Show" but see what you delivered,
Mr.Segaller!
Dear Mr.Segaller,
After your response to our letter about “Soul of India” we were
sincerely hoping that PBS will stand to your following promises:
1. "I understand your concern that our program should not tell only one side
of the story"
2. "Be assured that I share that objective. In each episode of this series,
we attempt to provide a three-dimensional story, with voices from both sides
of disputes or controversies"
3. "We will be reporting mainly on recent events in Godhra and Ahmedabad, and
placing them in a full context"
4. "we commission our programs from producers and directors of the highest
quality"
5. "It is our intent that all WIDE ANGLE programs be accurate and balanced"
At the end of this letter you will realize that the "Soul of India" was
"An injustice to the millions of Hindus & Muslims living harmoniously
in India”. Your show did not lay foundation towards a peaceful world,
but only offered "legitimacy" to the "Islamic Jihad".
Let us try to summarize from the comments we received from our readers:
1. Your team of "producers and directors of the highest quality" offered more
than 20 minutes of interview time to Mr.Jaffer's family and many other Muslim
victim’s families with a "tearful homage". But none of the Hindu Mother’s
tears were captured on film! -- Is this the "balanced" reporting you
promised, Mr. Segaller? Are you aware, "Mothers do not have religion", Mr.
Segaller?
2. Your "highest quality" team offered more than 20 minutes of interview time
to Mr.Harish Bhatt but none of the 1500 "Muslim" perpetrators that plotted
the Godhra massacre was interviewed. -- Is this the "balanced"
reporting you promised, Mr. Segaller?
3. Your "highest quality" team emphatically mentioned that "There are over
100,000 Muslim refugees as a result of the attacks". But did not mention
"30,000 Hindu refugees in the aftermath of the Gujarat riots". -- Is
this the "balanced" reporting you promised, Mr. Segaller?
4. Your "three-dimensional story" ensured that the viewers would pay LITTLE
ATTENTION to the barbarism that triggered off the riots. Several "swords
waving" Hindus were shown while none of the 1500 "BARBARIC Muslims"
responsible for "Inferno that’s consumed 40 women and children" was shown.
-- Is this the "balanced" reporting you promised, Mr. Segaller?
5. None of the "Muslim rioters" that subsequently killed more than 260 Hindus
and 100 policemen were shown. Forget showing them but "Your highest quality
team" took care not even to mention these numbers in your "Soul of India"
-- Is this the way to place Godhra and Ahmedabad "in a full context",
Mr. Segaller?
6. Although babri's destruction was shown at length, the subsequent Mumbai
bomb blasts were not mentioned -- Is this the way to place Godhra and
Ahmedabad "in a full context", Mr. Segaller?
7. Your "three-dimensional story" suppressed the facts -- "Out of 850 dead,
260 were Hindus and another 100 were policemen. 27,000 people were arrested,
3,400 FIRs recorded and 7,233 rounds fired, 139 people (mostly hindus) got
killed in the police firing. -- Is this the "balanced" reporting you
promised, Mr. Segaller?
8. Are you aware about a state called ‘Jammu & Kashmir’ in India,
Mr.Segaller? A part of India where Islamic Terrorism has killed more than
60,000 civilians of "India", more than 700,000 Hindus have been displaced
from their homeland. (Compared to that, Gujrat is not even 2% impact!) But
your "three-dimensional story" on "Soul of India" did not even turn to this
“Soul of India” issue. -- Is this the "QUALITY" of your "Highest
quality producers and directors", Mr.Segaller?
9. Role of the RSS was highlighted throughout in the film but the mention of
Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) was totally eliminated. SIMI, a
Fundamentalist Islamic movement, was founded in April 1977 with the goal of
achieving 'liberation of India' by converting it into an Islamic state. Your
"producers and directors of the highest quality" did not mention the above.
-- Is this the "balanced" reporting you promised, Mr. Segaller?
10. There is a common thread of "Jehad of the radical Muslims" between the
9/11 tragedy and the Gujarat riots. The objective of Islamization of the
Americas, Europe and South East Asia by eliminating the "infidels".
With all the above omissions, we did not expect this mention from your
"professional team of highest quality" team, Mr. Segaller.
We are confident, Mr.Segaller, PBS may have succeeded professionally to
collect sufficient sponsorship money for this ‘India slur’,
but you have failed miserably on the scale of "unbiased Journalism".
Thank you for the "Show" on "Soul of India"
-- A mischievous documentary!
-- A blot on humanity!!
-- An insult to one billion Indians!!!
Sincerely,
--------------------------
PBS Email ids :
segaller@thirteen.org, president@pbs.org , viewer@pbs.org,
programming@thirteen.org, Halper@thirteen.org, Fink@thirteen.org,
Friedman@thirteen.org, Chapman@thirteen.org, Mellin@thirteen.org
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