Ambanis targeted in T country

RETROFIT

Mischief mongers at work in volatile T land

Over the weekend, it was a veritable rumour fest. And in the endpretty much a slam dunk by the lumpen proletariat. It all began when Ireceived a SMS saying that a Russian website had allegedly linkedMukesh Ambani to Andhra PradeshCM YS Rajshekhar Reddy's untimely death. Moments later, I receivedanother SMS saying that Telugu channels TV 5 and Sakshi were runningriot claiming that the Ambani brothers were allegedly responsible for YSR'sfatal chopper crash. I said, what the hell, don't these news wallahshave anything to do, why are they running these absurd conspiracytheories? Soon, both channels were going ballistic and images oftorched outlets of Reliance and ADAG were being shown on the telly. Myfriend Pankaj Vohra had alerted me by now on how the Telugu channelswere spawning the violence. I switched to TV5 and Sakshi myself andsaw the public vent its anger, destroying property of both groups.According to the channels, theKrishna Godavari gas was at the kernel of YSR's death. This tiradecarried on well past midnight. The next morning I saw the dailies pickup on this theme and the role of the Russian website and local TVchannels was highlighted by some of them. However, there was no realclarity as to what triggered the spate of violence. A malicious rumouron a website couldn't have done so much damage.
On Tuesday, the Indian Express did a story on the entire issue which Iwould like toreproduce. It says, "Linking Larry Summers to YSR death via MukeshAmbani...That's what Mark Ames did on his website in report that waspicked up by Andhra TV channels; he now says it was `speculative."Interestingly, the post on the website goes back to September 3, theday after YSR's chopper went missing. It took over four months forthis startling piece to be picked up by Andhra media. The fact thatSMSs were doing the rounds only throws into stark relief the unsavouryrole of vested interests who were hell bent on playing mischief. Thequestionthat begs an answer is - was it a politician playing mind games in asimmering cauldron called Andhra or a business rival as is beingspeculated? Or was it a business rival hand in glove with apolitician? Who knows? What is important is that the role of theelectronic medium has once again been shown for what itis. A vacuous, superficial media which can do immense damage if notregulated and controlled. A rottweiler if it is in the wrong hands.
Express has traced the author of the website report. And this is his story.A web posting linking Reliance Industries to Y S R Reddy's death thatsparked off arson and violence against Reliance outlets in AndhraPradesh on January 7 had little to do with either Reliance or Reddy.In fact, the post was written by Mark Ames, US journalist and editorof a satirical webzine, and its headline was telling: "Enemy of LarrySummers' Ex-Boss Dies In Mysterious Helicopter Crash." The conclusion,even more so: "Oh, and by the way, don't forget this one little funfact: Larry Summers, the guy appointed by Obama to run America'seconomy, worked for Mukesh Ambani right up until he took his WhiteHouse job. We're in good hands, folks."
"That post, dated September 3, the day after Reddy's chopper wentmissing, alleged that Reddy died after he publicly criticised MukeshAmbani -- calling him Summers's "oligarch friend" -- and his motherfor their ongoing family feud involving Krishna-Godavari gas basin."Ah, Y.S., you shouldn't have attacked their mother. Next thing youknow...Reddy's deady," Ames said in his blog.Ames now says he was merely speculating on the "mysterious" death offormer chief minister. In response to an email sent by The IndianExpress, Ames said he was "flattered by all the attention" his articleon the web site (exiledonline.com) has got.
"In a subsequent entry on the site, he said: "This has to be the singleweirdest episode in my journalism career...I caused a mass riot inIndia...the class war is on..." So who is Ames? He launched abi-weekly English newspaper in Russia in 1997 that focused onpolitical gossip and criticism of pop culture. It was forced to shutdown in 2008 because of its consistent criticism of the Russiangovernment and its policies.
"After the closure, Exiled moved online and while it has contributorsfrom various part of the globe, Ames has largely shifted his focus onwriting against the US. Last August, Ames kicked off a series focusingon people close to Larry Summers, the director of the NationalEconomic Council of US President Barack Obama, and this followed adetailed post on Ambani, on whose company's board Summers served as aninternational director. In his post, Ames claimed Summers was paid$187,000 by Ambani for doing "nothing".
"In his email to The Indian Express, Ames said: "So tell me what thehell is going on in that state politically that could cause afour-month old blog entry on Larry Summers' evil friends to spark anight of wild rioting in Andhra Pradesh?" TV5, the Telugu channel thataired the report based on this post, demanded a probe into the allegedAmbani hand in Reddy's death. "One of our crime reporters wasresearching on a story when he chanced upon this post. We checked thehistory of Exiled and found out that it was once a well-known Russianpublication. So we decided to do a report based on the suspicionraised by them," said B Surendra Nath, vice chairman, ShreyaBroadcasting, the company behind TV5.
"Nath, though, clarified that the channel did not make any allegationson its own account. "We merely quoted what the Exiled said." Thereport provoked attacks on personnel and property of RelianceIndustries. The company, immediately, issued a statement condemningthe incident and said it would seek a criminal enquiry into theincident. It also alleged "the dirty handiwork of our business rivalsin cahoots with TV5". The police, meanwhile, arrested several peopleincluding two TV5 editors who were released on bail later."
So, even as TV5 is in the doghouse, nobody is bothering about the roleof Sakshi TV. Yes, I Know what you are curious to know. Who ownsSakshi TV? Wild shot in the dark will tell you that the owner ofSakshi TV is YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, the late YSR's son. YSR had arunning battle with Ramoji Rao of Eenadu and Jagan architected Sakshithe newspaper and TV channel to take on the mighty Ramoji in AndhraPradesh. YSR and Ramoji fought a pitched battle over private equityfirm Blackstone's investment in Eenadu. Things got so bad that finallyBlackstone had to retreat. The man who emerged as White Knight in thatscenario was investment banker - Nimesh Kampani - known as one of thethree kings of Mumbai's D Street along with Hemendra Kothari and UdayKotak. Soon after Kampani was caught between a rock and a hard placewhen he found himself implicated in a Nagarjuna Finance chequebouncing case. Then with a arrest warrant against his name, Kampanihad to flee India. Incidentally, Telugu superstar Nagarjuna hadlaunched the Sakshi channel along with then minister for informationand broadcasting Anand Sharma early last year. Jagan owns JagatiPublications which runs Sakshi newspaper.
When the fur was flying and both the Ambani brothers were beingtargeted over the weekend as the spiral of violence saw their outletsin the line of fire, in a statement, the Anil Ambani-led Reliancegroup said: “A malicious and criminal disinformation campaign has beenengaged into by our corporate rivals leading to substantial loss anddamage to several offices and businesses of Reliance ADA Group inAndhra Pradesh on Thursday evening. We are shocked to see ourcorporate rivals stoopingdown to new levels of desperation by engaging in such imaginative andbaseless rumour-mongering.” Strangely, the corporate rival couldn'thave been elder brother Mukesh Ambani whose RIL is engaged in a bitterlegal wrangle with Anil Ambani's RNRL in the Supreme Court where thejudgement has been reserved.
For Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail outlets were equally in the lineof fire. Mukesh Ambani-owned RIL said, “We are shocked and outraged atthe false, malicious and motivated news on TV5 channel concerning thefatal mishap of YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s helicopter. We condemn, rebutand reject the allegations with the contempt it deserves. It is thedirty handiwork of our business rivals in cahoots with TV5.” Now, Iwonder who the common business rival of both warring Ambani borthersis? Or was it a politico who wanted to create greater consternation toa volatile maelstrom?
Finally I leave you with this IANS report which is also illuminating:The Andhra Pradesh police on Sunday filed a case against a formerminister for allegedly inciting violence against Reliance outlets inthe state after a televisionchannel telecast an unsubstantiated story about the “conspiracy”behind the death of the then chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ina chopper crash.
"Police in Kurnool town filed the case against Congress leader andformer minister M. Mareppa, who participated in a debate on TV 5,which was the first channel to telecast the story based on a report bya Russian website Thursday night.
"Two editors of the channel were already arrested and sent to jail by amagistrate for two weeks for telecasting the story. The story led to aseries of attacks on Reliance stores throughout the state, since ithad alleged a role by the company in the helicopter crash that killedYSR. Cases have also been filed against two other channels, includingSakshi, owned by Rajasekhara Reddy’s son and Kadapa MP Y.S.JaganmohanReddy. Police said they registered 114 cases and arrested 289 people inconnection with the attacks on Reliance properties. "
What this unfortunate episode once again proves is that the tinderboxthat is Andhra Pradesh today due to the T word can see facts twistedand turned. The malleability and ductility of select regional medialent itself to jumpstarting a wave of indignation against two businesshouses on the basis of a four month old web post. As Mark Ames, theauthor of the post asks - what the hell is happening in the state thatsomething like a webpost could be used with such devastating impact?Just who benefited by fanning these fires?

(exchange4media)