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12 hours after Maha Kumbh stampede, TV news back to ‘unshakeable faith, excellent arrangement’

Watching television on Wednesday morning you would have thought that nothing had happened just six hours earlier.

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Within 48 hours, we went from a display of faith to scenes of distress and back to the dubki of devotees at the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj.

In a sea of calm, Home Minister Amit Shah took a dip in the waters at the Triveni Sangam on Monday, while fully-dressed photographers and video journalists stood in the water to record his holy dip.

Television news channels broadcast live footage of the home minister’s entire programme: from his arrival at the Prayagraj airport and boat ride to his ‘dubki’, prayers, and meeting with seers.

Two days later, in the early hours of Wednesday morning, a stampede killed a number of people and injured many others when a human wave rushed toward the river on the auspicious occasion of Mauni Amavasya.

Just twelve hours after the tragedy, we were back to the “unshakeable faith” of devotees immersing themselves in the river, the joy of faith on their faces (India Today). “All the arrangements were excellent,” said one woman to News18. “So good,” said another.

Within minutes, television news anchors had switched from describing the stampede to celebrating the spectacle before their eyes: “Three crore people had taken a bath before 8 am,” exclaimed the ABP News anchor in wonder, “Ten crore are expected to take a dip today—that is more than the population of some nations.” But no mention of casualties earlier that morning.

This was bizarre, unreal. Amit Shah and the millions who are in Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh overshadowed the loss of life during the rituals. “Stampede at Maha Kumbh…. Devotion trumps death and fear…. Crores take the holy sangam… stage set for the snan by the akharas…”, is how India Today described it. Even as they said this, twitter handles of the channels were putting out videos that told another story. Here is an ABP News report

Lack of transparency

It took the Uttar Pradesh Police till Wednesday evening to announce that 30 people had died and up to 60 had been injured.  

During the day, there was complete confusion: From 8 am till 4 pm, authorities were speaking in riddles, and there was no official count on the number of people who had died or been injured in the stampede.

In the morning, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said some devotees had suffered serious injuries. The Officer on Special Duty at the site, Akanksha Rana, said some had been injured. No mention of any deaths.

Then, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other cabinet colleagues offered condolences to those who had lost their loved ones. Huh? 

The news media was also circumspect: The Hindu said in its online report, “Multiple casualties were feared after a “stampede-like” situation broke out at the Sangam…” 

Others differed on the number of deaths: from 10 dead on India Today and Times Now, to 20 dead, according to Dainik Bhaskar and TV9 Bhartavarsh.  

By the way, the Dainik Bhaskar photos and videos are distressing but sum up what appears to have happened after the stampede.

In the foreign press, news agency Reuters said, “Dozens of people” had been killed, while the BBC reported that “at least 30” died, citing authorities. 

The New York Times wrote, “…Festival organizers had yet to release any casualty figures, but local news reports suggested that dozens had died.”

The administration’s lack of transparency is puzzling: while it remained silent, Dainik Bhaskar reporters claimed that ambulances kept arriving at the hospital for three hours. They said they had counted more than 10 bodies inside the Emergency. But, the authorities would not allow the media into the hospital, a reporter said. 

Why did the authorities want to hide the fatalities? And the number of the injured? Was it because the show must go on, regardless? That they believed revealing the exact numbers of dead or injured would lead to public panic and possibly more problems in crowd management at the riverside?

TV9 Bharatvarsh wasn’t convinced: “The administration should come forward and tell us the correct picture,” said its reporter, “ I have seen the bodies…. But there is no information for the families or media standing outside.”


Also read: I saw a Maha Kumbh stampede in the making during the first Shahi Snan


‘Situation under control’

Whatever be the reason, it doesn’t make sense: You can’t have the PM publicly mourning the deaths that you don’t admit took place. Very bad media management.

Also, what’s the point of CM Yogi Adityanath, the police, the administration and the media asking the public to ignore “afwah” (rumours) when you don’t share reliable information?

Some channels, like Republic TV, India TV, News 24, and TV9, did talk to relatives of the injured. They showed us grainy videos of strewn clothes and bodies, but between them, the administration and television news channels acted as if the “stampede-like situation’’ was a blip on the radar.

On Wednesday morning, watching TV news, you would have thought nothing had happened just six hours earlier. Listen to this report

Listen to TV reporters on how the authorities were in control of the situation. ‘Breaking news’ was how many times the PM had spoken to Yogi, once, twice, thrice. “… six times since the morning,” said CNN-News18.  

“The situation is calm… and there are no serious injuries,” said the Bharat Express correspondent. “To a very large extent, the crowds have moved out,” said India Today. “Everything is under control,” claimed the News18 reporter.

Channels were all praise for the akharas too: “They have shown a big heart,” said Times Now, “by allowing the public to bathe before they do.”

By lunch time on 29 January, the akharas were on the move in the midst of the thousands around them: “I have never seen such a crowd of people….” said the CNN-News18 reporter, “It’s unbelievable.”


Also read: TV news covered religion with no Hindu-Muslim angle this week


The ‘mandatory’ coverage 

Equally unbelievable was the live, non-stop coverage of Amit Shah’s holy dip, on Hindi and English news channels. What were they saying? Here is one example from India Today: “What you see on your screen, is Home Minister… Amit Shah taking a dip right now at Triveni Sangam…. On your screen right now, Amit Shah…Alright finally, the holy dip of the Home Minister… on your screens at the Triveni Sangam… taking a holy dip is the Union Home Minister…right now offering jal is the Union Home minister…”

Was it necessary to show us live footage of Shah’s snan? Why did we have to see him with an uncomfortably seated Yogi Adityanath in the boat, or his dhoti-clad descent into the water? And the seers with Baba Ramdev entirely naked but for their langotis, and CM Adityanath in his saffron vest join him for the dip and sprinkle handfuls of water on him?   

What news value did this have?

The author tweets @shailajabajpai. Views are personal.

(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)

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