New Delhi: Prime time debates Sunday remained preoccupied with developments in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case. News Nation discussed Rhea Chakraborty’s alleged “black magic” while ABP News crossed all lines — believe it or not, the channel carried out a dummy post-mortem of the actor with computer-generated images and “experts” providing dummy “evidence” on how his death was or wasn’t a suicide, by pointing out how the pressure from hanging leads to mark on one side of the neck.
Meanwhile, NewsX chose to discuss whether Pakistani separatists uniting against the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a sign of bilateral cracks between the two nations. And Zee News went to Ayodhya, literally.
First up, Republic TV, where Arnab Goswami asked if it was time for Bollywood to confront its scandals, “drug problems” and “underworld nexus”.
Social activist Neelam Katara asked why Bollywood is headquartered in Mumbai and “not some other Hindi-speaking state”. While it’s unclear how that would help, Goswami ignored the angle, merely shouting, “Bollywood is the dirtiest industry.”
Times Now‘s Athar Khan debated Rajput’s case by first stating he will not be “pointing fingers” or holding a “media trial”. Okay, then.
“Why did Rhea Chakraborty’s lawyer go to the Supreme Court asking demanding that the investigation stay in Mumbai?” he asked.
Lawyer Sarthak Nayak replied, “A probe by an independent agency is required in this case because there is a lack of cooperation between Bihar and Mumbai [Police]”.
NewsX‘s Uday Pratap Singh chose to focus elsewhere: Baloch separatist groups in Pakistan speaking out against the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Singh asked if this means that “China is fooling no one”, meaning ordinary Pakistan citizens who have started to vocalise their protest against China’s “ulterior motives”.
Defence expert Maj Gen (Retd.) P.K. Sehgal sharply said, “People of Sindh, PoK and Balochistan consider it [CPEC] highly predatory and exploitative…their resources are going to be taken away. They’re not going to be given any compensation.”
Political analyst Sumit Peer was quick to bring the conversation back to India-Pakistan and the Kashmir issue (of course). “CPEC runs through PoK [which] is our land. This land does not belong to Pakistan. How can they enter a contract with China on a land that belongs to us? This should go to ICJ and be contested”.
It was back to Sushant Singh Rajput on India TV, where the anchor talked to various acquaintances of the actor, including his former domestic staff, who claimed that Rhea Chakraborty had “hypnotised Sushant”. One of Rajput’s self-proclaimed close friends, Surya Dwivedi said he was mentally very strong — Sushant and suicide “were opposite words”
The channel also ran a story based on an “off-camera” statement by another anonymous domestic staffer who allegedly claimed that the actor’s life changed completely after Chakraborty entered. He allegedly claimed that she used to do chanting and worship behind closed doors, and claimed that the black magic theory is true. How one would know given the doors were closed, who can say?
On Zee News‘ ‘Taal Thok Ke’, anchor Sachin Arora ran a live debate from Ayodhya amid the chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’. He then attacked the opposition.
“Is Congress’ devotion for Lord Ram seasonal and a political trial?” he asked, referring to Rahul Gandhi’s previous visits to temples and Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath’s Hanuman Chalisa recital programme.
Congress MP Kumar Ketkar, however, questioned the existence of Lord Ram himself. “Valmiki indeed wrote an incredible epic. But there is no historical proof which can establish the existence of Lord Ram”, Ketkar said.
BJP’s Sambit Patra was outraged: “Who are you to question the existence of Lord Ram?” he demanded, furiously. Calling Ketkar a “rice-bag convert”, Patra asked how dare Ketkar take such liberty with Hindus as to question the existence of their God.
