Pollution isn’t the only thing in the air over Delhi. There’s an unusual sound out there too. It’s the sound of protests, and attacks, on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Hey, what’s going on here? Did you just hear “protests against the BJP”?
Yes, on air, in television news studios, and on the streets. Across news channels, from Times Now and India Today to News 18 India and ABP News, we have witnessed live coverage of protests — not just in Delhi, but in other cities too, such as Udaipur — over claims that a new definition of the Aravalli range would allow large-scale mining.
News anchors such as Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami are not only criticising the government but actively opposing the move by running a campaign. Goswami alleged it would allow “big, big billionaires… very big business to destroy a mountain range”.
There is equally strong coverage of the AQI crisis in Delhi and north India. India Today has seemingly pledged to take the lead in making air pollution a “national issue”. Other news channels run daily AQI stories from New Delhi’s India Gate, where visibility barely allows you to see India Gate.
Hindi news channel News 24 ran a public opinion programme on the outrage in Delhi, in which the anchor reminded viewers that the city is where Prime Minister Narendra Modi lives — and yet the air quality was so poor.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s comment that he felt sick after spending two days in Delhi went viral on TV news — “Gadkari holds a mirror to the truth” in a “bold admission”, said CNN News 18.
The Aravalli protests and the AQI outrage come on the back of the IndiGo flight cancellation crisis, during which news channels openly demanded government accountability.
Making it about India’s Hindus
Before you start thinking there’s change in the air, think again. The news TV coverage of the current violence in Bangladesh and protests in India against the killing of Dipu Das there follows all the familiar fault lines.
The narrative has been framed in a way that says this is all about “Hindus”. Note: this is an important distinction. Channels were not saying the violence in Bangladesh was anti-India; they were saying it was anti-Hindu.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal orchestrated the agitations in cities across the country, including Delhi, Kolkata, Bhopal, and Siliguri. And so, the focus of television coverage revolved around familiar formulations: “Murder of Hindu” (Times Now Navbharat), “Violence against Hindus” (Aaj Tak), “Hindus up in arms” (India Today), “Outrage over Hindu man’s death” (Times Now), “Hindu par atyachaar” (ABP News), “Hindus hit the streets” (CNN-News18), and “Hindus on the boil” (News 24).
Television reporters spent all of Tuesday reporting from the ground on this story. They spoke of the “brutality” of Dipu’s killing, which they said had aroused Hindus in India, and interviewed protesters described as deeply agitated over the treatment of Hindus in Bangladesh.
“People are not stopping from mincing their words,” said an India Today reporter. That’s a mild description for the aggression heard on the streets of Delhi and Kolkata.
Protesters demanded “stern action” to protect Hindus, said India Today. “We won’t tolerate it,” one protester told Times Now Navbharat. “Otherwise, there could be similar deaths in India,” he warned darkly.
“Save Hindus in Bangladesh,” another man said to Zee News.
“Yunus government, you had better listen,” said an India TV reporter after raging against the “injustice to Hindus” in Bangladesh.
“The Indian Army went into Pakistan and taught them a lesson; we can do the same in Bangladesh,” another agitator said to India TV.
Pakistan and China also featured on television news channels as alleged instigators behind the turmoil in Bangladesh. TV9 Bharatvarsh favoured this narrative and discussed “Pakistan’s strategy” at great length.
India TV said the Yunus government was not in “control”; instead, it claimed, Jamaat-e-Islami wielded real power.
In contrast, leading English-language newspapers were far more restrained in their reporting. “Bangladesh missions in India witness protests,” read the Page 1 headline in The Hindu (24 December).
“Delhi, Dhaka summon envoys as protests on both sides test ties” was The Indian Express’s Page 1 headline the same day.
Arnab’s new Republic act on TV
Republic TV is on a mission of its own these days. It has begun taking strong positions on many issues. At the moment, its focus is on the Aravalli hills, where it is opposing new mining developments.
Since Monday, the channel has been campaigning against the move, thereby opposing the stance of the Narendra Modi government. On the basis of a government affidavit running into 2,334 pages, it accused the government of batting for mining in the Aravallis. By Wednesday, it was airing maps to show what it claimed was “illegal activity in Haryana”.
Arnab Goswami interviewed former Chief Justice BR Gavai, who had headed the Supreme Court bench that allowed the redefinition of the Aravalli hills. Goswami questioned the bench’s conclusion, adding that “the government is trying to institutionalise mining”.
In his 9 pm debate, Goswami lashed out at what he described as the Aravallis being “legally killed”. On several occasions, he even took a swipe at DD News anchor Sudhir Chaudhary, saying that “the Rs 15 crore anchor, paid by the government of India, cannot ask this question.” How’s that for a drift?
Goswami has also criticised politicians of all persuasions for ignoring the pollution crisis. “Politicians don’t care for you,” he said.
Next, he attacked the BJP’s ostentation, after a BJP MLA from Madhya Pradesh reportedly spent Rs 70 lakh on fireworks at his son’s wedding. This, Goswami said, was “not what they [BJP] had promised”.
What’s going on here? Why is Republic TV, why is Goswami suddenly upset by the government or the BJP?
As the lyrics from Buffalo Springfield’s 1966 song ‘For What It’s Worth’ put it: “There’s something happening here / What it is ain’t exactly clear.”
The author tweets @shailajabajpai. Views are personal.
(Edited by Prashant Dixit)