Post May Day thoughts....

The Gujarat fake encounters case has kept all the front front pages buzzing. And the Hyderabad angle to it is also being discussed in the media--except that thus far no major investigative story has been done on the local cops in question and their exact role. Local tv channels keep showing file footage of policemen (from other previous stories) unrelated to the issue in question, shots of the local police control room etc. What any of this has to do with the big story is anybody's guess!
Today's Hindu has an excellent local story (filed by J.S.Iftekhar)on Muslim cemeteries running out of space to bury the dead, with a photograph of a sign on a cemetery that says--'don't bring the dead here'.
The Munsif has a well-written report that deserves to be mentioned, on one of the rankers in the recent Intermediate Public Exam--Rubina, who secured 984/1000 and lives in abject poverty in a one room house (right next to an old graveyard) with four siblings.Talk of 'graveyard silence--'Rubina says that the silence of the graveyard is a big help and helps her to concentrate. That none of the other papers--especially from the English and regional press--have bothered to write about the fifth ranker--when a two-bit rally or function with an MLA or Minister gets front-page attention says something of our media obsessions.