New Delhi: Although the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria that left over 16,000 people dead in its wake made front-page headlines in the Urdu press, it was the ruckus in Parliament over the Hindenburg report on the Adani Group that really kept the papers buzzing this past week.
In its report on 24 January, American short-seller Hindenburg Research accused Adani Group of “brazen stock manipulation”. Since the report was published, Adani Group’s shares fell sharply, with nearly half of the conglomerate’s market value wiped out in just two weeks.
In particular, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statement on the subject and Prime Minister Modi’s counterattack received wide coverage in the Urdu papers.
The Supreme Court’s hearings on hate speech and the death of former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf also featured prominently in the Urdu press.
ThePrint brings you an overview of what the Urdu press covered this week.
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Rahul Gandhi and Adani
The fallout of the Hindenburg report and the faceoff between the government and the opposition was widely covered in Roznama Rashtriya Sahara, Inquilab, and Siasat.
On 6 February, the Urdu papers reported that the Congress was going to ask the prime minister three questions regarding Adani. In its report, Siasat said that finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Ministry of Finance, the Reserve Bank of India, and the Securities and Exchange Board of India had all given evasive answers on the subject, while Modi had maintained a studied silence.
On 7 February, all three newspapers reported that the Maharashtra government had inducted Gautam Adani’s son Karan and Reliance Industries Limited Chairman Mukesh Ambani’s younger son Anant into the state economic advisory council headed by Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran.
In a separate report, Sahara said that with the Hindenburg report, India’s position among the world’s 10 richest billionaires has been eroded.
For context, since the Hindenburg report was published, Adani’s personal wealth has seen an erosion of $44 billion, helping Ambani to overtake him as Asia’s richest billionaire. While Ambani stood at the ninth spot in Forbes‘ rich list, Adani has slipped to the 15th position.
Another column in the same newspaper quoted Rahul Gandhi as saying that Modi would try to wriggle his way out of discussing the issue in Parliament.
The same day, Inquilab reported that the opposition continued to demand a discussion on the subject, even asking for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to investigate Hindenburg’s allegations against the Adani Group.
An editorial in the same newspaper said that the government must adopt all measures necessary to build confidence among the public. If this a subject that has no real impact on the national economy — as government sources have led the public to believe — there should be no hesitation in honourably accepting the opposition’s demand for a JPC.
On 8 February, Urdu newspapers carried Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s scathing attack on the prime minister in Lok Sabha. In his speech in Parliament, Gandhi targeted Modi over his alleged connections with Adani Group chairperson Gautam Adani, and accused him of crony capitalism. Portions of the speech have since been expunged from Parliament’s records.
Siasat reported on its front page the same day that opposition parties once again rallied for a debate over the Hindenburg report. The report said that the protests had stalled the Rajya Sabha till 2 pm and that, as a result, Question Hour and Zero Hour could not take place.
In its editorial on 9 February, Sahara wondered why — if Gandhi’s allegations were indeed false — neither Modi nor his cabinet colleagues were proving them wrong through a point-by-point rebuttal. Instead, the government questioned the previous United Progressive Alliance government’s performance, which showed that it wasn’t in a position to give a clear and categorical answer to these allegations, the editorial said.
The article was referring to the statement that Modi issued in Parliament in response to Gandhi’s allegations. In his response, Modi called the opposition’s allegations unfounded and accused them of running a smear campaign against him.
The same day, Siasat carried Modi’s statement on its front page. Another report in the same newspaper quoted Gandhi as asking why his words were expunged.
In its editorial the next day, Siasat said there’s no attempt to discuss the opposition’s point of view, nor are its opinions ever taken on board. There’s not the slightest hesitation to impose the government’s policies and measures by force and with scant regard fordemocratic traditions, the editorial argued, adding that such a state of affairs isn’t healthy for the country’s democracy.
Turkey earthquake
The devastation caused by three earthquakes in Turkey and Syria on 6 February made the front pages of all three newspapers the next day.
Siasat carried the news with three photos of rescue operations and also reported that India would send humanitarian aid as well as National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel to help.
Inquilab, meanwhile, gave a timeline of the earthquakes, all of which struck within a span of 24 hours. The first tremor was felt for a minute, the report said, adding that a second one of nearly the same intensity struck 11 minutes later. The report also said that the Modi government had promised all possible assistance to Turkey.
On 8 February, Sahara wrote that hours after the announcement of assistance from the Prime Minister’s Office, India had sent two batches of earthquake relief materials to Turkey.
Siasat reported that the death toll caused by the earthquake had crossed 5,000 and that rescue work was still underway. The paper also reported Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s announcement that he was going to visit Turkey.
An editorial in the newspaper the same day said that for Syria, a country already reeling under a decade-long war, the earthquake was particularly devastating and that in light of this, the world should set aside its political differences and help both countries tide over this trying time.
On 9 February, Siasat reported on its front page that the earthquake had claimed over 11,000 lives in Turkey and Syria. It also quoted Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar as saying that two planes of the Air Force had arrived in earthquake-hit Adana in south Turkey and that the Army was setting up a 30-bed field hospital there.
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Anti-encroachment drives
The Supreme Court’s hearings on anti-encroachment drives also garnered prominent coverage.
On 8 February, Sahara reported that the Supreme Court had given the Uttarakhand government and the Indian Railways eight weeks’ time to rehabilitate residents of the colonies built on the land that the Railways claims as its own. The court was hearing appeals against the Uttarakhand High Court ruling that ordered the eviction of 4,000-odd families living in the colonies.
Another report in Sahara discussed how the Jammu and Kashmir administration’s anti-encroachment campaign had snowballed into a massive controversy.
The controversy began on 9 January, when the administration issued a circular directing district authorities to remove all encroachments on state land by the end of the month. Protests continued as bulldozers rolled in, with the opposition now accusing the administration of targeting the poor and displacing people.
SC on hate crimes
The Supreme Court’s strong stance against hate speech also featured prominently on the front pages of the Urdu press.
On 8 February, Siasat quoted the Supreme Court as saying that there’s no place for religion-based hate crimes in a secular country like India. Hardening its stance, the court said that incidents of hate speech were growing in the country and that it was the responsibility of state governments to act against such cases.
In an editorial the next day, Siasat said that the political climate in the past eight years had allowed hate crimes to thrive. While such incidents snowball, it argued, what’s surprising is that law enforcement agencies are not registering cases against the perpetrators of such crimes, and are instead targeting victims. All this is the result of hate, the editorial added.
Musharraf’s death
The death of former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf was also prominently covered, with all three newspapers carrying the news of his death as their front page lead on 6 February.
Musharraf died on 5 February after a prolonged illness at a hospital in Dubai. He was 79.
On 6 February, Sahara carried former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti’s statement describing Musharraf as the only Pakistani general who tried to solve the Kashmir issue honestly.
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