This week, let’s talk about BO.
Or BP.
Unfortunately, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Chandigarh mayoral poll returning officer Anil Masih have suffered from both Bad Optics and Bad Publicity in recent days.
Media coverage of ‘Sandeshkhali Shocker’ (India Today), where women spoke of ‘Assault, Abuse, Torture, Rape’ (Times Now) by TMC members, has damaged Didi’s image as a champion and role model of women.
Visuals of Masih guiltily staring at a CCTV camera and then furiously scribbling on ballot papers — the clip flooded the media after the Supreme Court overturned the poll results — will always be remembered as the perfect example of how not to fix an election in full sight.
And let’s not forget Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami. He is the party pooper of the week. On Monday afternoon, he suddenly appeared in the news studio and very importantly announced that Congress leader Kamal Nath was not joining the kamal ka phool party. “His game is something else,’’ said Goswami, adding that he was leading a revolt against the top leadership of the Congress and would split the party. ‘Kamal Nath to either take over or break it,’ revealed another Republic TV anchor.
Remember, you heard it first and perhaps only from Goswami.
Also read: TV news made you feel little sympathy for farmers. The ‘high voltage drama’ a public nuisance?
The Sandeshkhali story
The protests in Sandeshkhali and the BJP’s efforts to corner Banerjee’s government on the issue, amplified by television news, have shown the West Bengal establishment in a very poor light.
The truth of the women’s claims of violence and sexual exploitation has yet to be established. However, their testimonials on TV paint a cruel picture of exploitation by TMC leaders there.
What makes the TMC look worse are the denials and insensitive remarks by its leaders, beginning with Didi saying that the unrest has been contrived by the BJP. News channels immediately shared such comments so that everyone knew what she had said.
Sandeshkhali has been in news since 5 January 2024 when Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers were roughed up outside TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan’s residence.
However, it became the focus of news coverage when women in the village — ‘Sandeshkhali’s betis’ (Times Now) — came forward with serious allegations of sexual harassment and violence, against Shahjahan and his supporters.
Now, TV news has parked itself in the village to tell us stories of ‘tears, pain and agony’ (Times Now). Reporters tracked down women willing to speak openly — with their faces covered or backs to the camera. ABP News featured several who spoke directly into the camera, talking about late-night phone calls, lewd comments, wives being dragged away, and husbands attacked if the women refused to “party”.
No names were revealed because they ‘live in fear’ of reprisal by Shahjahan’s men, they say (Republic TV).
Aaj Tak/India Today did detailed ground reports on the ‘horror’ and ‘atrocities’ suffered by not only the women but also their husbands and families: ‘9-month old baby snatched from mother’s lap,’ it claimed. One woman said she was abused and physically assaulted; another said that she was attacked in front of her husband. A third spoke of ‘torture’ and no police action. A fourth said rape and violence had been happening for years.
CNN-News18 met women who disguised themselves with other people’s clothes before speaking on the microphone. Headlines spoke of ‘skin-crawling rape’. There were stories of women being detained after TMC meetings, to ‘party’, cook, and eat their the men. They were reportedly called “sexy’’ and asked to “entertain’’ the men.
“Are we lying?’’ asked one woman. “Not all of us can be lying…’’
On Times Now, Zee News, and TV9 Bharatvarsh, women were repeatedly quoted on their anger toward Banerjee. On camera, they made statements such as: “She doesn’t understand our pain’’.
“Where is Didi?’’ was a constant refrain. “Let Didi come here.”
Didi in poor light
Didi’s public responses, which are widely reported in the media, suggest she has no plans to visit Sandeshkhali anytime soon. ‘Didi does not accept truth,’ said Times Now Navbharat. ‘TMC doubts testimonies,’ stated Times Now.
While Banerjee has sent three ministers to the village, where 17 people have been reportedly arrested on charges of land grabbing and sexual harassment and a grievance cell has been opened to register complaints, her comments have not been very sympathetic. She has blamed everything, squarely, on BJP, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and “outsiders”.
Her ministers have gone even further: Partha Bhowmick claimed that actors were hired to play the roles of the victims. Another TMC leader, Kunal Ghosh, said that the problems were only in a small pocket where TMC was “weak’’ He said that BJP leader Suvendhu Adhikari’s visit to Sandeshkhali on Tuesday was all “drama’’, “film shooting”, according to a Times Now report.
We haven’t heard any TMC voice that’s sympathetic to the women or willing to give them a hearing.
That the most wanted man in Sandeshkhali, Shahjahan, is still “absconding’’ — a fact BJP and the media constantly harp on — supports the allegation made by some women that Banerjee is shielding the villains.
The optics don’t look good at all for Didi and the TMC. With the BJP on a war footing in Sandeshkhali, and TV news channels sympathetically portraying a grim situation — channels like India Today are already calling the women “survivors’’ — the Bengal CM and her party are looking insensitive and willfully blind to the allegations.
The ‘truth’ about Sandeshkhali is not the issue — it’s about public perception. That sees Didi in a poor light.
The author tweets @shailajabajpai. Views are personal.
(Edited by Humra Laeeq)