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HomePlugged InPrimeTimeHey, Mr postman — Aaj Tak praises 'daakiya,' Zee News on dangers...

Hey, Mr postman — Aaj Tak praises ‘daakiya,’ Zee News on dangers of being a Hindu in India

A quick take on what prime time TV news talked about.

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New Delhi: Prime time debates Sunday began with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann ki baat, went on to what would happen after the lockdown ended on 3 May, and then moved to the government’s plans to bring back Indians stranded abroad. On the other hand, some channels were left worrying about the “dangers of being Hindu” in today’s India.

A few anchors continued to sing the same old refrain: News 18 India’s anchor Prashant Churhe spoke of a “hungama” from a hospital in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh Saturday. “The administration of a hospital in Kanpur has alleged that people from the Tablighi Jamaat who were tested positive for coronavirus are creating trouble,” said Churhe.

Tablighi Jamaat se jude logon ne medical staff ki maar peet kar di. Unhone khane mein non-vegetarian bhi maanga,” (People from the Tablighi Jamaat beat up the medical staff and demanded non-vegetarian food), he added.

He wondered out loud, “If they beat up the medical staff, how will they get treatment?”

Aaj Tak featured videos of postmen cycling and delivering mail to their designated places while the song ‘Daakiya Dak Laya’ played in the background.

Anchor Sweta Singh brought a ground report of post offices that were delivering medicines to rural areas — “Sadiyon se log patron ke intezaar mein dakiya ka intezaar karte the… Lekin ab, dak vibhag ne corona kaal ke sankat ko dekhte hui apne kirdar mein tabliyan ki hai taki door door gaon tak insaan ko dawayi ki kami na ho” (For many years people wait for their letters and their postman… But now, owing to coronavirus the postmen have brought about a change in their practises so that far off villages have access to medicines), she said .

Zee News’ Aditi Tyagi was angry and claimed that it was now a crime to be a Hindu in this country. This was in reference to an incident in Jamshedpur in Jharkhand where the police removed banners from a fruit shop that said ‘Hindu fruit shop’ Sunday, Tyagi continued, “Agar aap khud ko Hindu kahenge toh aap secular gang ki aankhon mein khatengei,” (If you call yourself a Hindu, then the secular gangs will be triggered).

She added, “Aapke khilaf police FIR darj karegi, aur aapki jaan ko bhi khatra ho sakta hai” (An FIR will be filed against you and your life can also be under threat)

NDTV 24×7’ s anchor Nidhi Razdan was in conversation with Ashwath Narayan, deputy chief minister of Karnataka who wasn’t feeling very optimistic about the 3 May deadline. “This virus is going to stay with us for a long time. Probably, the government of India is going to come out with a state-wise relaxation policy. At the same time, we need to contain the virus. The main solution of coronavirus lies in prevention,” he said.

India Today’s Geeta Mohan was in conversation with Jaideep Mazumdar, Indian ambassador to the Philippines. Mohan asked him about the situation of Indian students in the Philippines.

Mazumdar replied, “There are 16,000 Indian students in the Philippines and a few hundred thousand stranded tourists. All of them would like to return to India at the earliest, we have been able to rescue Indian tourists from different islands in the Philippines. We have put them up in hotels and those who have run out of money have been put up in gurudwaras.”

Republic’s anchor Arnab Goswami was also not very happy about the lockdown coming to an end, “There is no better time than today to discuss this. We are a week away from 3 May. We have seen drastic improvements in some states like Goa, Manipur, Tripura, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh. Kerala has flattened the curve.”

Goswami explained his worry, “A sense of ease has stepped in but this is exactly my worry.”

“With over 26,000 cases we can’t get complacent. We can’t be casual about this. Even now people are walking around like there is no problem… The economic, corporate and political concern, can any one of them outweigh the threat of the pandemic?” he wondered out loud.

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