as Reported by the Media

23.In the student anti-reservation protests the media showed very cheap portrait of politicians and the central ministers in power in an effective way. They again and again published these cartoons. 24. The Indian media that was always taking the politicians views in all matters failed to highlight their views about reservation. Very surprisingly the politicians were united and were all for reservations so they went all the way to project only the few anti reservation protests made by the students! 25. Youth for equality advised the authorities for the improvement of school education when the reservation for

OBC were talked about. Now over these years have they ever talked about the improvement of school education? 26. In Indian history the politicians so called elite or educated ones and above all the NKC and the policy makers have always been against any social change that too when it pertains to OBC/SC/ST. In that situation when the politicians have unitedly come to give reservations for OBC in the govt. run institutions how come the media had the courage to speak against it. That is why for thousands of years India has never seen any change towards the real development of the majority. This is one of the main reason why the students were made to protest and it was covered by the media says the experts. 27. In the institution of AIIMS they cannot protest in campus as per the law, but with the help of the authorities, for they could put a shamiana and air cooler and carry out anti reservation protests. Do they respect law or law gives way to them?

4.1.2 Pro Reservation Protests of Students as Reported by the Media

We in this section analyse how the media has carried out the pro reservation protest. The main discussions and arguments given by the experts were OBC/SC/ST students, socio scientists, doctors, politicians,

lawyers, public and some OBC/SC/ST union leaders are as follows are as follows:

1.The students said neither the T.V media nor the print media ever did any justice in reporting the pro reservation protests by them. 2.The anti reservation protests on the other hand was given the most prominence by both T.V and print media. 3.The main false reporting by the media was that pro reservation agitation was supported by the govt. but in truth no one ever supported them. 4.The real number of participants reported by the media and the disciplinary action taken by the police as claimed by the media was always false. The photograph never carried our total mass or number. 5.T.V. never telecasted our agitations or protests. 6.Our protests were never carried out under the shamiana with air cooler and our arrival was never by car or hired cab. We were left to the mercy of sun or rain. We cannot even afford for an auto fair and we travelled by bus or cycle to the place of protest. Our banners were our shouting with no mike. 7.As we have no backing from any one or party our protests were built on poverty and not on prosperity. 8.We were not even interviewed for our views as in case of anti reservation protestors. 9.The media tried to split us form SC/ST students. This only resulted in our (OBC) intimacy and most of the SC/ST students participated whole-heartedly in pro-reservation protests. 10.Only a few print media run by D.K and PMK covered our protests. 11.We did not receive encouragement even from our parents as the Brahmin students, even the authorities did not support us, they only found fault with us; said the students “Then how will we get the support of the media asked the desperate OBC/SC/ST students. We don’t have AC rooms or temples to discuss how to carry out our protests we did carry out our meeting under the sun in the corporation play grounds.”

12.The experts said if the media worked really for the uplift of the socially deprived and for the real nations improvement it should have carried out both the protest and should have shown to the world real differences between economic and social conditions of the anti reservation protestors and the pro reservation protestors and hence the real need for reservation. But on the other hand the media only showed the anti reservation protests and tried to project that reservation would harm the nation but in truth reservation alone can develop the nation and above all the majority.

This biased way of projecting views has only shown the fact that the media being owned by the upper caste is against reservation and nothing more so only the importance of pro reservation was not-taken up as they viewed it against their own development. 13.Some of the pro reservation protests by law college students did not even appear in the print media but the legal views and consequences to protect the students who made anti reservation protest was repeatedly given importance in the print media claimed the experts. 14.Some of the experts said that medical students pro reservation protests in south was never given any media coverage. Some dailies reported it in few lines; some did not even make a mention. 15.Almost all pro reservation protests photos were very small in size or did not find the photos in the inclusion of news items. This was the biased action of the media claimed majority of the pro reservation protestors. 16.Even weeklies, bimonthlies and monthlies failed to include the pro reservation protests said the experts. 17.Some of the pro reservation students claimed as they were not glamorous the T.V. media did not take their protests into account. For who want non-glamorous rural poor, our very appearance irritates the upper caste how will they not protest our reservations though it is not their any right protest for they are not givers said some of the frustrated youth. 18.Some of the OBC/SC/ST youth said after all we are a burden to our parents as we are unemployed or