LOKPAL BILL
"The finesse with which it was done shows professionals were at work," S. Nihal Singh, a veteran journalist and media critic, said. Clearly, more than spontaneous outpouring of people's angst against corruption is at work here. It's what political scientists and strategists call information warfare or psychological warfare that is used in combat situations as well as in political and electoral contests.
Information warfare consists of using a set of techniques, including propaganda and misinformation, to influence a target audience's value systems, belief systems, emotions, motives, reasoning, or behaviour with a view to gaining tactical advantage over one's opponent.
Information warfare is being routinely used in politics, said Kuldip Nayar, a veteran journalist who feels that the ruling Congress fanned it by launching a frontal attack on Hazare as "corrupt."
By questioning Team Anna's bona fides, the government is underestimating popular anger against it over a host of issues, including price rise and corruption, said Nayar. "I recall when J.P. Movement began to spread, Mrs Indira Gandhi started calling him a CIA agent," Nayar told IANS.
Besides such overt attacks, e-mail campaigns, allegedly influenced by the government, have been launched to question the credentials of Team Hazare and its key figures, including Arvind Kejriwal, an RTI activist, and Bhushan, a lawyer.
An chain e-mail shows a string of cartoons deflating Hazare's pretensions. "I broke my fast because God came in my dream and asked me to," a cartoon showed Hazare as saying. Another one said Anna saying: "During anshan (fast), I don't mind taking glucose and electral powder."
One such mail, sent by an unidentified sender, seeks to expose Kejriwal and Parivartan, an NGO headed by him. The mail alleges that Parivartan has not paid any income tax after 2007-2008 and claims that funds for Anna Hazare's dharna have been collected in the name of Parivartan.
It alleges that the NGO paid only Rs 6,000 for 2008-09 for its office in in posh area of Sarvodya Vihar. The mail asks dramatically: "What is the truth? Is he drawing some special favors or is he paying in CASH !!P.S. - Any payment made in cash is BLACK MONEY."
"Kiran Bedi's trusts are funded by Walmart, Lehman Brothers and a cigarette co - Why do these MNCs back her? Whom does she really represent," said an SMS message from someone identified as TD-MyIndia
"The finesse with which it was done shows professionals were at work," S. Nihal Singh, a veteran journalist and media critic, said. Clearly, more than spontaneous outpouring of people's angst against corruption is at work here. It's what political scientists and strategists call information warfare or psychological warfare that is used in combat situations as well as in political and electoral contests.
Information warfare consists of using a set of techniques, including propaganda and misinformation, to influence a target audience's value systems, belief systems, emotions, motives, reasoning, or behaviour with a view to gaining tactical advantage over one's opponent.
Information warfare is being routinely used in politics, said Kuldip Nayar, a veteran journalist who feels that the ruling Congress fanned it by launching a frontal attack on Hazare as "corrupt."
By questioning Team Anna's bona fides, the government is underestimating popular anger against it over a host of issues, including price rise and corruption, said Nayar. "I recall when J.P. Movement began to spread, Mrs Indira Gandhi started calling him a CIA agent," Nayar told IANS.
Besides such overt attacks, e-mail campaigns, allegedly influenced by the government, have been launched to question the credentials of Team Hazare and its key figures, including Arvind Kejriwal, an RTI activist, and Bhushan, a lawyer.
An chain e-mail shows a string of cartoons deflating Hazare's pretensions. "I broke my fast because God came in my dream and asked me to," a cartoon showed Hazare as saying. Another one said Anna saying: "During anshan (fast), I don't mind taking glucose and electral powder."
One such mail, sent by an unidentified sender, seeks to expose Kejriwal and Parivartan, an NGO headed by him. The mail alleges that Parivartan has not paid any income tax after 2007-2008 and claims that funds for Anna Hazare's dharna have been collected in the name of Parivartan.
It alleges that the NGO paid only Rs 6,000 for 2008-09 for its office in in posh area of Sarvodya Vihar. The mail asks dramatically: "What is the truth? Is he drawing some special favors or is he paying in CASH !!P.S. - Any payment made in cash is BLACK MONEY."
"Kiran Bedi's trusts are funded by Walmart, Lehman Brothers and a cigarette co - Why do these MNCs back her? Whom does she really represent," said an SMS message from someone identified as TD-MyIndia
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