In this episode of Hafta, the big question that the panel discusses is whether sting journalism is real journalism. BJP’s bypoll losses and the violence that erupted in Shillong is also discussed. Al Jazeera‘s sting operation on match-fixing in cricket is another issue that engages the panel in a heated debate. The panel also discusses arrests made in connection with Bhima Koregaon violence and the water crisis in Shimla.
The panel consists of Abhinandan Sekhri, Madhu Trehan, Manisha Pande, Anand Vardhan and our guest, NDTV‘s Sunetra Choudhury.
BJP’s evident loss in the bypoll is critically considered by the panel, when Abhinandan asks, “Is it something that needs the kind of coverage that it did? Is it any indication of who the people will vote for?” Madhu feels the 2019 elections are going to be the “dirtiest elections”. She suggests not to make much of these bypolls and adds, “In politics, things can change on a dime.” Sunetra Choudhury talks about the excitement built around the bypoll results. She says, “We are looking at each and every bypoll with bated breaths saying, ‘okay whats going to happen here’…interesting to see how people are getting involved’.” Manisha agrees with Madhu and adds, “I wouldn’t read too much into bypolls.”
Abhinandan moves onto the sting operation carried out by Al Jazeera to expose match-fixing in cricket. He says, “I lost interest in it.” He wonders, “What was so great about this sting operation?” Anand, despite being a cricket fanatic agrees that the sting was “low on substance” and says it didn’t come up with a conclusive outcome. He, however, also feels that the sting had “good production values”. Madhu talks a little about the Cobrapost and Al Jazeera sting in relativity. She feels that the Cobrapost sting is “not journalistically correct”. Sunetra talks about the two Bengali newspapers that refused to engage with Acharya Atal (Cobrapost’s undercover reporter) and how those organisations are a “benchmark” for journalism.
The panel shifts their attention to the communal clashes between the Khasi tribe and the Punjabi settlers in Shillong. Known to many as the ‘musical town’, Sunetra shared her anecdotes from Shillong and tension that has spurred over the years. She adds, “I spent every summer there, for 21 years of my life, …curfews were very very common because of this kind of tension between various communities.” Manisha informs the panel of Shillong’s long-standing history of tension. She says, “The first major riot was in 1979 by Khasi mobs directed at minorities.” Abhinandan feels, “Northeast is a little more complicated because in any case they feel let down by the rest of India.” Anand restrains his views and says, “Any tribe (from Shillong) can…say you don’t know much about our tribe.”
The Ugly Indian Tourist, an article published by Open magazine is next on the panel’s agenda. The article is discussed because Abhinandan feels it has created a lot of flutter. “I think it is an interesting article because I see both sides.” The controversy is about the article having racist content.
Moving on, the panel discussed the unrest in Kashmir. Manisha said that many [news organisation] have used the headline “mows down”, which she felt was problematic. She thought that in this case, the CRPF personnel in the vehicle had to just “negotiate its way through this violent”. She says, “And you must also remember…some men were saying they were upset they could not pull him [the driver] out of the jeep,” adding, “you must remember it was exactly a year ago that a policemen Ayub Pandith was lynched to death in the same area and his eyes were gouged out. It was a brutal gruesome lynching. I mean it is this kind of pressure that officers are operating under. Mob fury is very scary even if you have a gun. You have like 50 people approaching…I think it is really this situation where the driver was trying to negotiate through.”
Abhinandan, looking back at his podcast, Let’s Talk About Kashmir, says that it’s just another case of propaganda working successfully. “I spoke with a few in their early twenties — they are journalists, they are smart kids. They actually said Kashmiri Pandits’ exodus did not happen. [They] have questioned the whole rationale behind it. You cannot undo twenty-five years of brainwashing. Which is why you should not watch channels like Times Now or Republic.”
Madhu says, “I think the only way it [Kashmir issue] can really be solved…is the way China did with Tibet. Allow rest of the country to go in, people from other states to go in, people to open the business, create jobs and also intermarry. That’s what they did in Tibet. Today you don’t have anyone pure Tibetan.”
Recommendations:
Atlanta
Books recommended by Madhu
The Ugly Indian Tourist
Let’s Talk About Kashmir
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