New Delhi: The India-China standoff doesn’t seem to be abating on the border or on news channels. Hindi new channels were out there contributing to the `war’ between the two countries, on prime time Sunday night.
Meanwhile, coronavirus? That’s taken a backseat, but the 15th consecutive hike in fuel prices found debating time on Times Now.
At Republic TV, Arnab Goswami very confidently asserted — “We have focused on facts, arguments, logic and reason. We listen to the counters of those we disagree with.” However, within 15 seconds of his monologue, he resumed his attack on the “Vadra-Congress”, and attacked the Opposition for questioning the government on the India-China clash.
Sourabh Shukla, editor-in-chief of News Mobile, was all for trusting the political leadership on the Galwan valley encounter — “We need to have faith in our country’s bureaucrats, leadership and leadership.”
“China is cornered today because of the Covid outbreak,” he added.
Labelling Shukla’s argument as “khichdi” (muddled), political analyst Bhai Baldeep asked, “Are we not affected by Covid or the economic blockade? Our industry is as hit as any other country?
The debate between the two heated up, both accused each other of twisting facts.
Goswami then had to wade in to calm them down.
On Aaj Tak’s Dangal, anchor Rohit Sardana also discussed Rahul Gandhi’s tweet taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi by calling him ‘Surender Modi’. Sardana asked, has PM Modi weakened in front of China’s army or is it “China ka dhokha, Congress ko mauka” (China’s betrayal and Congress’ opportunity).
Congress’ spokesperson Supriya Shrinate argued that according to the rules of engagement mentioned in the 1996 agreement between India and China, the commanding officer can use firearms in case of border tensions.
“Why were the rules changed during the night of 15 and 16 June?” she asked.
BJP’s Sambit Patra attacked Rahul Gandhi by way of response, “If somebody has surrendered something, it is Rahul Gandhi, who has surrendered his intellect and patriotism”.
In an exclusive interview with India Today, former Army chief Gen. V.P. Malik narrated the precise sequence of the Galwan valley clash and how Col. Santosh Babu lost his life.
“Everything spiralled after the PLA pushed Colonel Babu who questioned the Chinese Army as to why they had erected a construction despite talks of de-escalation,” said Malik.
“This is a bigger game plan, it’s not limited to a particular area. As far as the PLA leadership is concerned, they have become aggressive and proactive and that is coming down from the president’s level,” he added.
Elaborating on what India’s response should be, Malik said, “I don’t think PLA has learnt any lesson with how our response is — with Kargil and Pulwama. Indian Armed Forces are not what they were in 1962, and that is the mistake China is making.”
Times Now discussed the hike in fuel price with anchor Athar Khan asking, “Crude prices are down but there is no relief, as aam aadmi is feeling the pinch. What’s fuelling this price spike?”
Khan took on the ruling party: “How is what the BJP doing any different from what the Congress did when they were in power?”
BJP’s national spokesperson Syed Zafar Islam said, “It’s very different. It was necessitated by the pandemic which has had a severe impact on the government’s revenue. The government has to collect money from somewhere to ensure the livelihood of the common man, especially the poor.”
Khan hits back, “The only entity making money out of this hike is the government.”
Viewers from across the country called in and asked BJP’s representative the same question: “Why are you pinching the common man?” To which, Islam seemed to have no answer.
Zee News anchor Aditi Tyagi, on its ‘World Exclusive’ show, shared the datasheet of India’s bravery during the India-China standoff.
She then claimed that Indian soldiers broke the bones and spines of Chinese soldiers. However, Tyagi also could not stop herself from mentioning the ‘tukde-tukde’ gang here as well.
“Ye tukde-tukde gang sena se sawaal pooch raha tha” (the tukde-tukde gang was questioning the Army), she said.
BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP G.V.L. Narsimha Rao thanked the anchor for sharing this ‘valuable information’ to boost the morale of the Army.
The anchor asked Lt Gen K.J. Singh if this incident will clear China’s misconception since 1962?
“Saying that Chinese soldiers are more capable, are technologically advanced, is not correct. In fact, our soldiers are much more capable and composed”, he said.
On India TV, anchor Pankaj Bhargava revealed the steps taken by India to “finish China’s game”.
‘Cheen ka khel khatam’ (China’s game over), ‘Cheen se na ho paayega’ (China can’t do it) — it seemed like the newsroom was declaring victory on a war that never happened.
The report then went on to describe the five stages of war against China — psychological , cyber war, diplomatic, economical war and military warfare. According to the channel, India has already instigated these five types of war against China.
But it becomes difficult to take India TV seriously after they carry a funny picture of Chinese President Xi Jinping with an umbrella in the midst of all this war talk.
