Disgusting: We didn't know until now!

There is quite a buzz going around in the Indian blogosphere about reporting of the gruesome rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl Priyanka Bhotmange, her mother Surekha and two brothers by an upper cast mob in Khairlanji, near Nagpur in Gaurav Sabnis' own state Maharashtra.

Shivam Vij had published a few photographs of the dead bodies of the victims that showed their mortal state in horrific detail. This has led Gaurav Sabnis to come up with some moral policing that he often does.

He has to say the following about Shivam Vij;

So it is unfortunate to see that one blogger - Shivam Vij, who could not have fallen from my estimation further than he actually has, has followed the same Aajtakian mindset. Under the garb of reporting the suffering of Dalits and proving his "enlightened credentials", he has plastered pictures of naked and half-naked blood-splattered dead-bodies on his blog. I wonder if he considers this Faustian decision of his to rob the dead of their last shred of destiny, a price worth paying for increased attention, more hits, and maybe a few more writing assignments.

'Aajtakian mindset' is very welcome. Aaj Tak has brought in some fresh air in the monochromic world of news channels, and if it had to take the help of some melodrama, it is ok. This is despite the fact that I still believe that Aaj Tak thrives on yellow journalism. Gaurav Sabnises of the world might play the suave urbane character and talk about Goethe's Faust or Lenovo laptops, but they can never resist the temptation of checking out on 'Aajtakian mindsets' whether it is the Aaj Tak channel itself or Shivam Vij's blog. However, they would never ever admit it just as most Indian females would never admit to masturbating.

Oh, one more thing that I noticed about Gaurav is that he is very finicky about linking posts! He does not allow comments either. That goes on to show what an insufferable snob he is. I guess he has to learn something from my great mate, Chartreuse a.k.a King Campbell.

During the US invasion in Iraq in Gulf War v2.0 (now Gulf War v3.0 beta is going on), Al Jazeera showed pictures of mutilated bodies of civilians including children killed in US air raids that the Western media never ever dared to. BBC went on to acknowledge the fact that the pictures were too graphic and gruesome to be broadcasted and that the fact that Al Jazeera by doing it was making the Arab world boil with anger.

A picture tells you a thousand more stories than a flowery post with a thousand words. The truth must be presented as it is, and if a shocking incident like the Khairlanji massacre takes place then the society should know how shocking it was. The greatest respect for the deceased who had been paraded naked, raped and murdered would be to show the world what the victims were made to undergo so that the collective conscience of the society is awakened and the perpetrators of the crime is brought to justice.

We all read news about women being branded as witches in rural India, beaten, paraded naked, most often raped, made to eat human excreta and often killed. If you saw a video ever, you would know how horrific the practice is. Just reading the story in a newspaper might stir your soul a bit for sometime, but by the evening, it would escape your thoughts. I have seen a couple of such videos shot in Nepal and I know how it felt and still feels.

Gaurav Sabnises of the world can go and flog themselves.

Also read Shivam Vij's post on his motives.

Image credits: Atrocity News and Shivam Vij