New Delhi: Prime time debate Wednesday was one heady cocktail comprising Shaheen Bagh, Ram Mandir, US President Donald Trump’s visit to India next week in equal parts, mixed with small doses of Arvind Kejriwal, the ailing economy and musician Adnan Sami.
On Aaj Tak, Anjana Om Kashyap began her ‘special news bulletin’ with ‘big news’. “The first step in the direction of the construction of Ram Temple has been taken”, she announced in her ever-knowing tone as she named the members of the ‘Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra’, the Ram Mandir Trust.
Then she turned to Shaheen Bagh and commented that every political party has turned away from the protesting women after the Delhi assembly elections were done and dusted.
On News Nation, anchor Deepak Chaurasia ranted about activist Teesta Seetalvad. Throughout the day, she was shown at Shaheen Bagh, speaking to women and was accused of coaching them on what to say publicly. Chaurasia was enraged that Seetalvad, who had “evidence against her in Naroda 2002 case” (Gujarat riots) could be allowed to enter Shaheen Bagh, but not him — last month the anchor along with Zee News’ Sudhir Chaudhary was denied entry to the site by the women.
Meanwhile, the channels cannot get enough of President Trump. News18 India ran a special feature on his ‘6 storeyed air-castle” — the Air Force One plane which will bring Trump to India. Similarly, TV9 Bharatvarsh compared Trump’s security circle to Mahabharat’s ‘Chakravyuh’.
“Now we have understood why Congress names and shames Hindus as terrorists”, said Aman Chopra on Zee News’ `Taal Thok Ke’ as he discussed former Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria’s book “Let me say it now: the book claims how ISI was planning to execute the 2006 Mumbai attack as a Hindu terror attack,” he claimed. What connection this had with the Congress, we couldn’t comprehend.
On Republic TV, Arnab Goswami was overjoyed to host singer-composer Adnan Sami as he applauded him loudly. Then he said, “It is great to see you. You made my day — we have been having a tough time”. Ahem.
Then Goswami lost his composure: “Both of us have been getting into issues which are none of our concern. If you have an opinion, people attack you, if you don’t have an opinion, still people attack you,” he complained almost petulantly but without any specifics. Goswami tapped his fingers on the table as Sami played a piece on a keyboard. We have to give it to Adnan Sami: he was able to silence the anchor and made him listen to somebody else on his own show for a change.
Moving on, Times Now’s Rahul Shivshankar on `India Upfront’ conducted #AAPkaDeshBhaktiTest — a new way to attack the chief minister of Delhi. “Kejriwal had declared himself a nationalist before the Delhi polls, but now, his patriotism is on test as he is yet to take any action in the JNU sedition case”. “Will Kejriwal back ‘desh’ or ‘droh’?” Shivshankar asked.
Anchor Nidhi Razdan on ‘Left, Right and Centre’ (NDTV 24×7), asked if Trump’s visit was more spectacle than substance after he announced that there would be no big trade deal during his India trip. Scholar Seshadri Chari said that the spectacle has always been an important part of foreign policy. However, columnist Rupa Subramanya thought that the absence of the trade deal was the main story.
At last someone is talking about the economy, stupid. India Today’s Rajdeep Sardesai conducted the ‘Big Economy Debate’ to discuss the road ahead. The panelists included former finance minister P. Chidambaram, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council Bibek Debroy, former deputy chairman of the planning commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and former governor Y.B. Reddy. Ahluwalia stated, “There is no doubt that the economy has entered a period of a serious slowdown. High rates of unemployment, among the young, is another cause of the crisis”.
“The patient has just stopped outside the ICU and is being looked after by incompetent doctors,” remarked a sarcastic Chidambaram.
Arnab for once is right”getting into thing that is none of his business.” Stick to journalism you need not have to run a circus. Stick to truth you need not have to be a chamcha of any govt or leader. This applies to almost all the anchors of today’s visual media.