PRESS NI BOLTI BANDH ?

Media Bol, please, Sachchu Bol

It has been more than 7 years now that the intellectual discussions and press communique have become one-sided and the community only hears a narrative that one of the sitting trustees wants the community to hear for which purpose he acquired rights over one of the oldest Parsi Weekly paper. The healthy discussions of a democratic body with a view and a counterview has been gagged, the press has been gagged and the community has been taken to ransom. In essence, Press Ni Bolti Bandh.

In the past, you would only read about the great things done in the BPP in the Parsi Times. This paper as everyone is aware is owned by Kersi Randeria and hence every news reported was a version which Parsi Times wished to portray.

The other community newspaper Jame Jamshed has been non-committal for years on end since the editorial rights were bought over by Kersi Randeria. Even if the other side wanted to give their say in the Jame, they were refused. This was nothing but a very well-planned design to ensure that the truth from the other side never came out.

The Parsi Times week after week only portrayed one side of the story. In reality, there was always another side to the story which never reached the public domain. Many times people were curious why the ‘other side’ was not disclosing its version of any story. But some community elements thought that the media coverage must be their communique and not the truth.

The truth is: THERE WAS NO PLACE or MEDIUM TO PUBLISH ARTICLES to spell the falsehood which the community was hoodwinked to believe. There was no medium available to any person to set the record straight or to state facts that were contrary to what the so-called Parsi media published which was far from the truth. However, the news in the Parsi Times was never plain fact but always a convoluted half-truth with the intent to create a divide within the community.

“The days of gagging the press are over !”

Today, with this minuscule editorial of Parsi Junction, the community is made aware of the facts that dominate the current affairs and controversies. We like to publish article after article on affairs the community needs to know of. We disclose facts many are not even aware of because they only read on side of the story. We disclose figures so that people know what we state is not made up to create disharmony of any kind. Many people don’t like what we say because the truth affects them for they are not used to reading it in the press which was gagged for far so many years.

We once again urge the community to ensure that our Parsi press is a free bird and not a caged one. Remember “Tali ek hath thin nai vage” both sides have a story, here us, before you disregard our point of view that’s all we request.

We are still babies in the game of editorials however we thank you all for your patronage and support. With the assurance of the community, we will grow stronger and continue with our commitment of transparency and honesty. We will strive to provide the correct side of the facts and the rest we will leave for the community to decide.

Source: Parsi Junction