Atanu Dey On India's Development

Is Karan Thapar an idiot?

March 16, 2009 by Atanu Dey | 16 Comments

I ask if Karan Thapar is a idiot or is he just a clueless retard? You might say that this is a false dichotomy — hardly much to choose from, you’d say. OK. How about if I rephrase that question: Is Karan Thapar a lobotomized cretin or is he a bottom-feeding douche bag? There, now you have a clear distinction. You may still reject the assumption implicit in the question — that he is either one or the other — and say that he is both. OK, I hear you and agree that my question is poorly phrased and so I conclude that he is all of the above.

The Acorn, unlike yours truly, puts the issue more delicately in a post titled “Brains and Thapar“. The juxtaposition of “brains” and Thapar is clearly meant to shock through dissonance, a literary device quite frequently used with satisfactory results. Be that as it may, you have to hand it to KT — he admires General Musharraf. But wait, there’s more. He believes that Pakistani leaders are better than Indian leaders. The Acorn remarks:

It the rarefied world of TV studios where Mr Thapar resides, a telegenic personality might suffice as a quality for being a good leader. But in the reality of India’s democratic politics and constitutional governance, it is insufficient. And perhaps even irrelevant, for there has hardly been a telegenic prime minister since Rajiv Gandhi, and lot of nice things seem to have happened in India since then. As General Musharraf proves, regardless of his actual record, anyone can defend himself on television—provided he has a nice suit, decent wit and good English. It’s quite another thing to convince, cajole, compromise, threaten and force through a political agenda democratically and constitutionally. Guess why General Musharraf retired?

. . .

Mr Thapar forgets that it was an act of great loftiness—and according to this blog, poor judgement on the part of the organisers—to invite a devious and malicious ex-military dictator to India and give him a soapbox. Let’s not forget that Pakistan has been responsible for a proxy-war against India, a war that is ongoing, and General Musharraf was personally responsible for some of the worst bits of it. Instead of calling for his trial as a war criminal, the Indian media dignified him with a place on the podium. Unfortunately, some, like Mr Thapar, are even his fans.

Couldn’t have said it better myself. (Previously we met Mr Thapar in the post “Karan Thapar is Clever.”)

  • Sandy

    These are just ridiculous arguments. Karan just pointed towards a fact that Pakistani leaders try n express their viewpoints on the Indian Media while the vice-versa is not true. All that Pakistanis here is voices from fundamentalists and ex-army or ISI personnel. Zaid Hamid is one such character. Anyone who hasn’t heard about him, please go on youtube and search for his name and you will understand what I am talking about. And most importantly, Karan never said that the arguments put forward by Musharraf are correct. He merely said that there shud b more Indian voices in Pakistani media.

    Karan is a well respected journalist and his show “Devils Advocate” is perhaps the best political show on any news channel. And on top of that he is never biased towards anyone.

    • http://www.deeshaa.org Atanu Dey

      I am sorry that I am not familiar with the fact that KT is a “well respected journalist.” I suppose the reputation matters more than what he actually does. His views have to be respected because he is well-respected, eh?

      Brings to mind what Mark Twain once said: Give a man a reputation of being an early riser, and he can sleep every day till noon.

      In my case, since I don’t know his reputation, I can only go by what he says or does. It looks bullshit to me and I call bullshit.

  • http://honestlynagpur.blogspot.com kaunteya

    thapar is a gigolo

  • jjreddick

    KT’s shows have a large entertainment quotient more than any thing else. Almost all such shows are really fun oriented rather than educational – remember they are in it for the TRP’s and TRP’s only. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.

    Btw, have you seen the recent episode of Jon Stewart’s Daily show where he creamed Jim Cramer and CNBC. Though Jon raises good points, I think he had his show’s ratings on his mind more than anything else.

  • Sandy

    @Atanu
    u very cleverly just responded to my last point thats KT is a well respected journalist. What abt my basic point – are their enuff Indian voices in Pak media. If people in Pakistan keep hearing ex-ISI and Army men, there cannot be an atmosphere where Indo-Pak peace talks can take place.

    Now u decide whether its KT or its u who is an idiot.

  • Sandy

    @jjreddick
    I guess u haven’t watched his shows when u make such a comment. Plz tell which episode was fun oriented?

  • ghost_writer

    @ Sandy – Thapar personifies the intellectual “third-ratedness” that is so rampant in the Indian media. If you are really interested in watching stimulating talk shows / interviews go to these websites (you can watch most program on-line)
    http://www.booknotes.org/home/index.asp
    http://www.charlierose.com

    Both these shows have a few things in common
    1- No commercials
    2- The guest talks more than the host does (you cannot say the same thing about Thapar)
    3- Very little use of catch-phrases, gushing endorsements and fawning; very high focus on content and debate
    If I had the money – I would build a C-SPAN like channel in India. I would simply go to places like the India Habitat Center in Delhi, record seminars and presentations and broadcast them for a small fee. This simple service will raise public discourse in this country to where it should be, and not make every issue a gladiatorial contest where the Cong-BJP-CPI square off in order to entertain the audience and talk show host.
    The programs will not be expensive to produce and most people will be willing to pay small fees in order to hear elevating debate as opposed to loud noise

  • anuragdeepak

    @Sandy – Though Atanu and othes are unnecessarily vehement and wasting there time and energy on KT, I have a one simple question: “why do we need Indian voices in Pak media?”… “why is the presence of pak voices in Indian media a problem for peace talks?”.

    @ghost_writer – There is a channel by the name “Lok Sabha” that is aired.. but I am not sure if you ever stopped at it while playing with your remote. It’s a start. But yes, I agree, that you will not find the same quality of people and decorum when they telecast our parliament. :)

    @Atanu – I was surprised you bothered yourself by writing this post.. (and of crs me following it)

  • kaps

    Find my blog exposing people like Karan Thapar:

    http://www.bloggingbuda.com/2009/03/13/royal-treatment-for-the-adversary/

  • mayuresh

    Sandy,

    We hear Pakistani voices in the Indian media because stupid journalists like Karan Thapar and his ilk give them much more airtime than they deserve, and usually show them in a good light. I do not think any Pakistani publication is willing to show the Indian politicians in a good light.

    Let the Indian Journalists ask all the difficult questions to the Pak politicians and call their bluff in their articles. I can guarantee no Paki politician shall be willing to talk to the Indian media.

    Pak voices are heard in India, not because the Pak politicians are smarter, but because the indian media gives them that air-time (or column space)

  • miter

    I completely agree with what Sandy said. Karan Thapar’s programs are really good.Karan never said that the arguments put forward by Musharraf are correct.
    Atanu, it seems to me that you have a personal dislike towards Karan Thapar or you do not try to understand what he says. Definitely you do have your right of speech and expression but you should not be rude.
    I am really sorry to see the bunch of weak arguments provided by you.

  • http://www.google.com Staunch Indian

    Karan Thapar – is not an idiot — HE HS A RASCAL … but sadly most of the media men are ……. my blood boils when I see them taking interviews. whole disgusting piece of shit ….. look at the latest video with Dr Swami …..

    link here at

    This pea headed doesnt allow the Dr to talk.

  • amit rakshit

    Karan Thapar is a jerk and those who support him are also curse to India.

    Even the managing director of IBN7 has claimed that Karan Thapar is a spokes person of CON party and GOI.

  • Sushant K

    Hello there, In my view, Karan has great vocabulary and excellent delivery. He has worked abroad and gained knowledge of how international media functions. While this is all commendable, there is an undeniable fact that remains to be looked into. He is certainly more mellow towards ‘certain’ guests and very opinionated against ‘some’. I believe the most important ritual of true journalism is never to have a strong opinion in favour of one of the parties before interviewing. I wouldn’t go to the extent of calling him a cheater or a ‘con’, but he is certainly not doing justice to the job. He has bought down the reputation of Indian English media by making people like me believe the negative publicity about him who initially did not.

  • Chirag

    This guy is the biggest idiot I have ever seen. This guy is the best example of an pseudo intellectual.

  • Dinakar Borra

    I agree that Karan Thappar is an idiot. When he interviews, he never listens to what other person is saying. Even before the other person answers the question, Thappar raises his voice to another another question. This shows Thappar is an idiot.