New Delhi: The violence in Bengaluru dominated prime time Wednesday. NDTV 24×7 had an exclusive interview with WHO’s Dr David Nabarro on Russia’s Covid vaccine. And on ABP News, anchor Romana Isar Khan brought up the new “twist” in the Sushant Singh Rajput case with a discussion on the “honey trap gang.”
First up, the Covid vaccine that has raised the doubts of experts across the world. On NDTV 24×7, Vishnu Som asked Dr Nabarro, WHO’s special envoy on Covid-19, about Russia’s announcement.
“The Russian vaccine compounds sound promising, but there is a succession of tests that each vaccine candidate has to go through,” Nabarro warned. He added diplomatically, “It is really good news to hear that there is another vaccine candidate”.
Explaining the current stage of the Russian vaccine candidate, he elaborated, “The design of Phase 3 trials is meant to look at how people of different ethnic and race groups react to a vaccine.”
“It could be 2-2.5 years before everybody in the world has an opportunity of being immunised with a vaccine that works and is readily available,” he believed.
On to violence in Bengaluru, where three people were killed and several others injured when a mob attacked a politician’s house in the area after an allegedly offensive Facebook post. On Mirror Now, anchor Tanvi Shukla asked, “How did things go so terribly wrong?”
“This incident is deplorable. Such sort of violence being resorted to, is something that deserves action and condemnation,” said Congress spokesperson Aiyshwarya Mahadev.
Turning to Dr Tasleem A Rehmani, National Secretary SDPI (Social Democratic Party of India) and President, Muslim Political Council, Shukla asked, “Two of your party members were found linked to the Bengaluru violence and four were accused of inciting violence at protests in January. Is this a conspiracy or are your workers inciting people?”
Rehmani chose brevity for his response: “We condemn it, we denounce it.”
The Bangalore violence was the hot topic on CNN-News 18 as well, with the ticker reading “A planned attack?”
“Arson is not the solution to any problem,” said the Janata Dal (Secular) party’s Tanveer Ahmed. “What happened is absolutely condemnable and law should definitely take its own course,” he added.
“Every time there is communal violence of any sort, the people who are largely benefitted are those from Sambit Patra’s party,” he boldly stated, referring to the BJP spokesperson.
Congress general secretary Hari Prasad meanwhile was banal: “We should extend our condolences to the people who died in police firing.”
“The cause and effect story is the reason why terrorism in the world has not gone,” noted BJP’s national spokesperson Nalin Kohli.
On News Nation, anchor Deepak Chaurasia’s rather odd question of the hour was if “violence in the name of religion should be tolerated in our country.” Does this question have more than one answer?
“BJP says with a lot of pride that riots don’t take place in our states: Delhi riots, UP violence, anti-CAA clashes. After the Bengaluru violence, the CM is saying it was a pre-planned conspiracy. How did it happen right under the nose of the police? How could the rioters burn down an MLA’s house?” Chaurasia asked the BJP’s Nalin Kohli, who clearly had a busy evening.
Kohli replied that in the photographs and videos of the violence, no BJP supporter could be seen. “If I say bluntly, this was communal violence,” Kohli said.
Things soon turned heated as Chaurasia proceeded to tell SDPI’s Waseem Ahmed, “I have been an eyewitness to how Muslims kill Muslims in Lebanon, Baghdad and in Syria, don’t explain to me.” When Ahmed tried to reply, Chaurasia didn’t let him.
And ABP News continued with its breathless coverage of the Sushant Singh Rajput case, with anchor Romana Isar Khan’s new “twist”.
“Sushant’s family has given a statement that a ‘honey trap gang’ is trying to dilute the matter,” the anchor said. “For the family this is a murder. Sushant’s father’s lawyer also said in the Supreme Court that the marks on his neck look like that of a belt,” she continued. She also read out excerpts of the nine-page letter issued by Sushant Singh Rajput’s family on the investigation as well as the slander they are facing.
“The family has alleged that expensive lawyers are aiding the ‘honey trap gang’,” Khan said.
