New Delhi: News channels cannot get enough of India-China tensions, and continue to ignore the coronavirus pandemic despite cases surging to 4,56,183 Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Republic TV was on another tangent altogether. It discussed the 2006 ‘Siachen conspiracy’ with Pakistan during the UPA government.
And then there is always Rahul Gandhi. ‘Cheen par sarkar vs parivar’ (Government vs family on China), declared Rohit Sardana on Aaj Tak, referring to BJP President J.P. Nadda’s tweets attacking the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi. According to Nadda, one ‘dynasty’ is not equal to the entire Opposition.
One ‘royal’ dynasty and their ‘loyal’ courtiers have grand delusions of the Opposition being about one dynasty. A dynast throws tantrums and his courtiers peddle that fake narrative. Latest one relates to the the Opposition asking questions to the Government.
— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) June 24, 2020
BJP’s Sambit Patra endorsed Nadda’s statement and said that all other political parties supported the government in the all-party meeting, except the Gandhi family.
Samajwadi Party’s spokesperson Anurag Bhadauria said this has become a battle between BJP and Congress. “Nobody is talking about the family of martyrs, this has become all about whataboutery,” he said. Exactly.
On ABP News, Rubika Liyaquat asked, “Will China backstab again?”
“Jab tak Cheen bhagega nahi, Hindustan chhodega nahi” (India will not spare China until it has left our territory), was the flashing headline of her show.
BJP’s Shahnawaz Hussain said the nation will be relieved today — the supreme sacrifice of our soldiers did not go in vain. He referred to India and China agreeing to de-escalate. “This is the India of 2020, this message has reached China”, he added.
Deepak Chaurasia couldn’t help showing-off his traditional attire on News Nation, yet again. “Desh ki bahas mein desh ke kapdon ke sath aapka swagat hai” (Welcome to `Desh ki bahas’ in traditional clothes) — he said while proudly pointing out his colourful scarf.
The topic here, like on all other Hindi channels, was China. ‘Is China world’s biggest betrayer?’, was its poll question.
He then went on to show how India is planning to crush ‘dhokebaaz Cheen’ (betrayer China) from the border to Beijing, without any actual details.
Forgetting the Galwan Valley clash, Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami instead discussed the ‘Siachen conspiracy’ in 2006, where the Dr Manmohan Singh-led government was allegedly close to signing a peace deal with Pakistan and handing over a portion of the Siachen territory.
He also made it a point to mispronounce the former prime minister’s name every time.
Goswami poked and prodded General J.J. Singh (Retd), who was the Chief of Army Staff back then, to reveal details about the ‘conspiracy’. Goswami told Singh, “Give me the details now. People are watching. Tell us the truth”. Unfortunately, Goswami never really got his explosive truth.
At one point, Goswami said, “This glacier has been won on the blood and sacrifice of thousands of Indian civilians and officers and soldiers”. An untrue claim, since Siachan was only opened up to common people last September.
Singh replied, “There was pressure being built on the government to settle the Siachen issue. It could have been pressure from Americans — at that time America was close to Pakistan and Pakistan may have had a quid pro quo. I assume because I read it somewhere.”
Not everyone forgot coronavirus though, CNN-News18’s Zakka Jacob focused on Delhi’s rising cases.
“We must be very flexible and open to a lockdown and not worry about the optics of it,” said Dr. Rajesh Parikh, Director Medical Research and Honorary Neuropsychiatrist, Jaslok Hospital.
Jacob agreed with Parikh and reiterated the “sharp curve” in the rise of Covid-19 cases in Delhi after ‘Unlock 1.0’.
To which Dr. Sanjeev Bagai, Chairman, Nephron Clinic, reminded, “The purpose of the lockdown was never to eradicate the disease but primarily to get our preparedness in order, be it at government level, state level or medical level”.
With Patanjali’s new ‘Covid cure’ in hot water after the AYUSH ministry’s backlash, NewsX‘s Vineet Malhotra held a debate on ‘Ayurveda vs Science’.
Malhotra asked Dr. D K Gupta, CMD of Felix Hospital, “Do you find it hard to believe such an announcement was made without keeping the proper administrative channels in mind?”
Gupta was visibly angry at the whole situation, “They say this is not a marketing strategy – it is just launching of the drug. But launching is itself a marketing strategy.” He added that the media was helping “promote the name of the medicine”. Ouch.