This is the story of a blast foretold and forewarned. So when we saw the first images of a car explosion near Delhi’s Red Fort on Monday, 10 November evening, which killed at least 13 people, we were not entirely surprised.
Why? Because all of Monday, television news channels had ‘exclusive’ ‘breaking news’ about the arrest of the so-called “doctors of terror” — as several Hindi news channels called them.
These medicine men and women, some from the Al-Falah University, Faridabad, along with others recruited by the Jaish e Mohammed (JeM), were reportedly planning a series of attacks “to shake up the country” (NDTV India).
They had allegedly hidden up to 2,900 kg of explosive substances, as well as ammunition and guns, in Faridabad. India Today said the alleged “white collar terror module” had “enough explosives to blow up Delhi markets”.
Throughout the day, the photographs of the accused flashed across the screen: Dr Muzammil, Dr Adeel and Dr Shaheen, who had been detained in Faridabad, Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh.
The Bihar elections were forgotten.
And then came the car explosion in Delhi’s busy Red Fort area, which also killed its driver, Dr Umar Nabi. It was as if all the day’s arrests and discoveries had been leading up to that ‘foul blast’ (CNN-News18).
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Remains of the blast
The most striking aspect of the television coverage of Monday night’s deadly incident was correspondents, photographers, other reporters, or bystanders aimlessly wandering through the debris. It was as if they were picking their way through a Sunday pavement market.
Without a care in the world, or a by-your-leave to the police, these TV reporters handled pieces of evidence, such as car parts, touched anything they liked at the crime scene and happily pointed out to “severed limbs, charred bodies” strewn on the ground (CNN-News18).
“Oh, there a person’s hand,” said a Times Now reporter. He also found a human “lung” among the remains of the explosion—just like that.
Why and how Delhi Police and other security agencies allowed some of the news media to trample through what might have been crucial evidence – and in the middle of their own investigation—is a mystery the National Investigation Agency might like to probe along with the ‘10/11 Delhi Terror Attack’ (India Today).
Meanwhile, the reporters, camerapersons spent hours on Monday playing detective: they breathlessly ran after each eyewitness, ambulance, and policeman to understand what happened. “I carried three dead bodies into a scooter,” said one man to News24. “I felt the tremors in my shop, a kilometer away,” said another to Republic TV.
Terror or not?
CCTV footage was television news channels’ best friend. Social media came second. Again, the authorities generously shared videos of Dr. Nabi and his car at the red light before it went up in flames.
The car’s chronology on Monday was another favourite visual on TV news. We have been watching the car’s movement into Delhi, to the Red Fort, and then onto its fateful end for the last two days.
Social media has been scoured for any shots of the blast, too. Together, the CCTV and the social media bytes give viewers a pretty good idea of Monday night’s events.
TV news coverage stood out for one more reason: there was a constant ding-dong, should-we-should-we-not dilemma over outrightly calling the incident a “terror attack”. Most TV channels found the perfect solution—they began by saying there was a “car blast” and then used the ‘T’ word without explicitly saying it was a T attack— ‘Terror angle being investigated,’ read the Times Now headline.
The absence of a crater in the road and of nails from the explosion made TV news cautious. Also, the police were being unhelpful by refusing to call a ‘T’ a ‘T’.
“Delhi mein dhamaka” on Hindi news channels told us everything without saying it. Or, as they say in Hindi, “Samajhane wale samajh hi gaye”.
By the way, Tuesday morning’s newspaper headlines and reports were equally non-committal. Here’s one example from Hindustan Times: ‘Delhi on alert: 8 killed as car explodes in front of Red Fort’.
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Interrogating parents
The families of the accused soon became persons of interest to TV news channels. Whether they knew or didn’t know about their sons’ or daughters’ alleged involvement in terrorism was impossible to tell from their demeanour or conduct during interviews.
From the father of doctors Shaheen, to the families of Dr Umar and Dr Muzammil in Kashmir, all of them were polite, soft-spoken and answered every question without evasion. None of them ran away from the inquisitive TV reporters.
Shaheen’s father stood in the doorway of his home, calmly answering all questions. The reporters badgered him, but he replied without losing his temper.
The women in the families were seen huddled together, but there was no hysterical crying.
It’s interesting that the Indian public has taken to TV cameras comfortably. Be it eyewitnesses, the authorities, or families, they are happy to talk. You see the same thing at election time when voters speak out clearly and often frankly.
Story, not sorry
Wednesday, the dust had settled around Red Fort, but our intrepid TV news channels were still out there, ‘Tracking Delhi blast links’ (NDTV 24×7). This went on throughout the day.
Just read these midday headlines: ‘Tracing terror i20 route’ (CNN News 18), ‘Eyes on Al Falah University’ (Times Now), ‘Al Falah University Terror Factory’ (Aaj Tak), ‘Lady doc of Jihad sings in custody’ (India Today), ‘What all was ‘Dr Evil’ planning’ (News X), ‘In Delhi, Doctor terror module bust, why is Munir nervous in Pakistan?’ (India TV), ‘All India Terror’ Times Now Navbharat. Expect more of the same in coming days
Last words: On Monday night, several TV news channels announced actor Dharmendra’s death — prematurely. To date, no channel has offered a public apology. At least, none has shown up on a Google search.
The author tweets @shailajabajpai. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)