Let’s begin this week with a question: if you were one of the 14 television news anchors blacklisted by INDIA, how should you react?
The most sensible reaction is summed up in one word: ignore. Don’t dignify such censorship with your attention, simply go about your business as usual—invite INDIA to your shows and let them be the ones to say no.
Don’t let them see that you care about being banned, feign indifference even if you are outraged at being singled out and publicly branded. That ought to take the wind out of their actions. Above all, don’t defend or justify yourself because that suggests you believe your behaviour needs to be defended or justified and lends credibility to the Opposition’s action.
Grace under pressure is a measure of your stature.
Back to Emergency
Does anyone listen to sensible advice? Certainly not. No sooner had INDIA released its boycott list, than the anchors came out, mouths blazing. On their daily shows, they raged, ranted, sneered and stopped just short of swearing four letter words. They played martyrs but sounded like victims and managed to conflate India and Hinduism with this “badge of honour” as one of them, Aman Chopra, called it.
Oddly, most of them sounded like they were reading from the same script but using their own words: “Navika refuses to bow down” proclaimed Times Now. Kumar said INDIA was trying to “muzzle my voice” but that she would continue asking “uncomfortable questions”. Chopra of News18 India said his piece with a gesture—he placed his finger on his lips and said the attempt to “seal our lips” would fail and he would continue to ask “difficult questions”.
From Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami and Rubika Liyaquat of Bharat Express to Amish Devgan and Chopra on News18 India, news anchors compared the ban to the 1975 Emergency under Congress Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. “Emergency Mindset Boycott”, said Republic TV. “Is this Emergency 2.5?” asked Chopra. Anand Narasimhan of CNN-News18 wondered if the ban was not a “residue of that sentiment?”.
They went on to claim that they spoke, asked questions on behalf of the public because the nation needs to know the answers. “Mine is the first name in the list (of anchors) who ask questions on behalf of the nation. Tyagi doesn’t get scared,” tweeted Aditi Tyagi of Bharat Express.
Sudhir Chaudhary on his Black and White Show on Aaj Tak claimed this decision was “very dangerous” for the nation, its ‘loktantra’, the media and individual civil liberties. Interestingly, Narasimhan reported the ban but didn’t say that he is one of those banned. He quoted politicians such as Union Minister Anurag Thakur and the National Union of Journalists to defend the anchors. He wondered if INDIA was a “mohabbat ki dukaan” or a “manifestation of hate?”.
Liyaquat took it further: she grandiosely claimed that she was the “fourth pillar of India”. She said, “main hamesha Bharat ke paksh mein hoon” (I am always in favour of Bharat) and that she would continue to question those who were against the country.
Also read: ‘Being targeted, not boycotted’ — what 14 blacklisted anchors have to say about INDIA’s ban on them
A personal attack
Goswami found a unique peg to hang INDIA by: this blackballing somehow became an attack on Hinduism — “to eliminate it”. He went on to talk about how Sanatan Dharma is deeply embedded in us and cannot be uprooted by the ‘tukde tukde’ gang. Other anchors also managed to end up at Sanatan Dharma but don’t ask how.
Another similarity: the anchors were at pains to stress their journalistic credentials and cited the number of years they had been journalists. Kumar said it had been 31 years for her in the industry. She, along with the most of the other anchors, played clips from past shows where they are seen asking hard-hitting questions– mostly, the Opposition, but never mind that.
The anchors took the boycott list very personally. Kumar said it was an attack on her “integrity”, Liyaquat said asking questions was her “oxygen” and INDIA couldn’t take that away from her –nobody could stop her. Goswami insisted the list was “to teach me a lesson… all my life I have lived with threats…” He dwelt on his 2020 arrest in Mumbai, subsequent release and how Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was trying to “get the Rajasthan government to act against me”. Ashok Gehlot, are you listening?
Inventing Opposition
Once the anchors had vented their sense of ill usage and thumped their chests, they got back to anchoring debates. Ay, there’s the problem: how to fill the empty seats left vacant by INDIA?
First, call representatives of other political parties. Aaj Tak’s Chitra Tripathi, one of the 14 anchors, took this route on her show Dangal. Along with guests from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), she had members from the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). Aaj Tak has also turned to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Communist Party of India (CPI), and other journalists.
Narasimhan went for academician and former diplomat-cum-politician Pawan Verma and spiritual leader Swami Dipankar on his show about Sanatan Dharma. He also called up Biju Janata Dal and artiste Sonal Mansingh.
However, they have found another way around this boycott. Anchors are inviting surrogates or people whom anchors like Goswami describe as “pro Congress” or someone who “backs Congress”, “backs TMC” or “backs AAP”.
We have the perfect solution for all of them, offered free of charge: if you can’t have them (INDIA members) on your shows any longer, invent them.
Just follow the example of Anjana Om Kashyap (Aaj Tak) who had a lengthy and perfectly reasonable conversation with her double, courtesy AI. Do the same for INDIA representatives and you can badger them to your heart’s content.
The author tweets @shailajabajpai. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)