Jamia saga — ABP has 5 videos, Times Now has 8 while Zee News has shocking headline

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

The broken doors of new library at Jamia Millia University | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

New Delhi: “My video, your video” played out across news channels’ prime time Monday as upto five videos from 15 December surfaced, which allegedly showed Delhi police beating up students at the Jamia Millia Islamia library, and students armed with stones.

The videos caused a stir in TV newsrooms. Except, of course, at Doordarshan News, which at 8 pm devoted itself to birds. The 13th Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and DD spent much of half an hour describing the plight of migratory birds.

Many news channels became investigative agencies as they minutely dissected the Jamia videos with almost scientific precision. ABP put the the videos through what it called a “forensic filter” in a ‘tehkikaat’ (investigation). It zeroed in on a student holding what it concluded were stones:  “Stones could not be used in a puja, so what are they for? What use are stones in a library?’’ the anchor asked ironically.

Aaj Tak’s Rohit Sardana, showed four videos, of which two were released by the police and two by the Jamia coordination committee. He asked the audience — “Kiska saboot sabse mazboot” (whose evidence is the strongest?). He added, rather piously, that the channel would not take a stance.

Zee News’ Sudhir Chaudhary had no such qualms: zooming in and out of videos, he pointed to a student using a handkerchief to hide his face and asked sarcastically, “Who goes to the library wearing a mask?” He called out the “tukde tukde gang” media, which he alleged supported the students.

After showing videos of protests and stone-pelting that occurred outside campus , he wondered if students inside the library could study with such a commotion outside.

Shockingly, the headline of his ‘DNA’ show stated that violence and stone-pelting are the eligibility criteria for admission to Jamia.

NDTV India interviewed students at Jamia who were in the library on 15 December. One of them explained that they were wearing masks because the police had used tear gas and they couldn’t breathe.

On Times Now, anchor Rahul Shivshankar took a lofty stance: for any reconciliation, he said, you needed to know the truth — and the “truth pinches”. It pinches both sides, in this case, “the protagonists and the antagonists”. Then he asked, will those who “take up cudgels” on behalf of the students “now accept the truth?” Interestingly, he didn’t ask the same of the Delhi Police or the BJP which defended the police.

Later on Times Now, anchor Navika Kumar broke Rohit Sardana’s record — “Ladies and gentlemen, I am about to show you 8 videos which will completely change the narrative in your mind about the incident that took place on 15 December”, she said as the channel claimed to ‘unmask the complete truth’ with the hashtag #JamiaTapeTwist. She resonated with Sudhir Chaudhary, “Who are these students who go to the library in masks?”, she asked while accusing the ‘Lutyens Lobby’ of being selective with the truth.

Moving on, Shaheen Bagh also got some coverage after the Supreme Court Monday said that people have the right to protest but they cannot block roads.

On TV 9 Bharatvarsh, Sumaira Khan asked, “Till when will Jamia and Shaheen Bagh remain a national issue?”

Similarly on CNN News 18, Marya Shakil asked if the Shaheen Bagh protesters run the risk of losing credibility by continuing the road blockage.

On NDTV 24×7’s `Left Right and Centre’, Wajahat Habibullah, one of the three individuals appointed by the SC to talk to the Shaheen Bagh protesters, said that the right to protest “has to be peaceful”. The only way out of such a situation is for the administration to visit the protesters and talk to them. “In this case, that hasn’t happened,” he remarked.

And going where no other channels were, India TV visited the ITBP quarantine facility in Delhi for Indians returning from China – all had been cleared of the coronavirus. India TV’s reporters, sporting masks, interviewed many of them and heralded the first bag to leave the building   — “a red bag!” exclaimed one of them.

India Today moved away from Jamia and Shaheen Bagh and welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision, which said that women officers can be considered for permanent commission in the armed forces. Anchor Preeti Chaudhry called it a landmark decision towards gender equality in the forces.