New Delhi: It seems TV news no longer thinks coronavirus is news. Instead the Delhi riots have become a major preoccupation—huh?
Oh yes, Cyclone Nisarga was also made its presence felt on prime time Wednesday night.
Times Now’s Madhavdas Gopalakrishnan focused on the chargesheet filed by the Delhi Crime Branch against AAP MLA Tahir Hussain, naming him as a conspirator in the Northeast Delhi riots of February this year, and held him responsible for the death of Intelligence Bureau officer Ankit Sharma.
More than once, Gopalakrishnan raised his voice to shut down Islamic scholar Atiq Ur Rehman, who defended Hussain.
Gopalakrishnan asked, “If tomorrow the Delhi Police acts against those members who are not Muslims and were carrying out riots, will you then give Delhi Police a certificate of credibility? Is that what you are waiting for? … Why is it so hard to believe the…police?”
Why do the protests in the US over the killing of George Floyd come to mind?
CNN-News18 was also interested in the chargesheet against Hussain. The debate, led by anchor Anand Narsimhan, was set to dramatic music, with a flashing headline — ‘NOOSE TIGHTENS AROUND EX-AAP COUNCILLOR’. Looks like the channel had already convicted him.
Yashovardhan Azad, former IPS officer, said, “The details emerging point out to a real conspiracy… It looks like Tahir Hussain is booked and cooked.”
However, Azad was skeptical of a larger conspiracy regarding the riots because of the lack of evidence but said the external funding that anti-CAA protesters received makes things fishy.
Narsimhan was more concerned about the intelligence failure and asked BJP spokesperson R.P. Singh — “If this build up of [Hussain’s] arsenal was happening, what was the local intelligence doing. They were smoking pipe, is it? Sitting on the beachside somewhere…?”
On News Nation, Deepak Chaurasia declared almost with delight— “Shaheen Bagh ne karwaye dange” (Shaheen Bagh instigated the riots). Recall, Chaurasia was turned away by the women of Shaheen Bagh when he tried visiting the area during the anti–CAA sit in.
He then added, “We are not saying this, Delhi police’s crime branch is saying this in their charge sheet”.
He asked Maulana Sajid Rashidi, President, All India Imam Association — “You used to claim that it was a constitutional protest. Then why these people instigated the riots”
“I’ll start my commentary with a ‘sher’ (couplet),”, Maulana said.
“Yes please because now all your sherni (referring to the women of Shaheen Bagh) have been exposed”, exclaimed Chaurasia rather nastily.
Maulana continued, “Vahi qatil vahi shahid vaha munsif , thahre aqraba mere karen qatl ka daava kis par” (He is the murderer, he is the witness, he is the judge, who shall be held responsible for the murder).
“Tahir Hussain”, said Chaurasia, almost jumping in excitement.
NDTV 24×7‘s Sanket Upadhyay gave credit where it was due. In a conversation with Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general of India Meteorological Department (IMD), Upadhyay tipped his hat to him — “I must say that the Indian Med department seems to be doing some spectacular work in predicting these phenomenons well and accurately.”
Mohapatra was pleased: “It has been a combined effort of all agencies and I wish to congratulate the disaster management authorities at all levels, general public and media, who have all cooperated and heeded to the early warnings,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, ABP News featured live coverage of Cyclone Nisarga from Mumbai with its reporter and camera person standing right in the middle of the road a few kilometres away from the Arabian sea.
“The wind is so strong that I cannot even stand still”, the reporter claimed as he danced with the wind. However, the camera was nearly still and a person walking in the background did not seem to be much affected by the wind — was the reporter perhaps carried away?
Baba Ramdev was back on India TV, or atleast his ‘immunity booster kaadha’ (herbal concoction) was. Anchor Rajat Sharma was seen endorsing Ramdev’s concoction as a means to avoid coronavirus — “This is made with tulsi (Indian basil), dalchini (cinnamon), mulethi (licorice), adrak (ginger), haldi (turmeric) and kali mirch (black pepper)” and declared that the viewers will find the recipe of the kaadha on the TV channel’s app exclusively.