What does one make of prime time TV’s treatment of ‘Mumbai dhamaka’, women and cobras ?

Mithun Chakraborty got away lightly after equating himself with a pure ‘Cobra’. I was surprised the ‘Kobra’ community did not slam him for hijacking their identity. Koknastha Brahmins in Maharashtra have been called KoBras because of their light eyes and possibly sharp tongue. But no news channel took the trouble to discuss how language used by politicians has degenerated into a mafia-like code-language.

One of the channels did discuss how Cobras faced extinction following depletion of forests. This programme included statements of two prominent leaders of the BJP. Nitin Gadkari spoke of the party purifying human beings. A clip from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech in which he compared himself to a snake charmer was also shown. Such is the political discourse in India these days.

Now compare this to an analysis of the interview given by Harry and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex on Al Jazeera. Oprah Winfrey’s interview of the couple was discussed with journalists and authors in UK and the US. They pointed out that Oprah was the most sympathetic interviewer the ‘royal’ couple could have got. They dissected the tabloid culture of UK and also the relevance of monarchy in 2021. Not all of them agreed with each other but the discussion on racism, misogyny and sexism was sensible.

Another controversial member of the British royal family Prince Andrew’s ‘friendship’ with a paedophile, Jeffery Epstein, and charges against him of soliciting sex outside marriage was not buried by the British media. The relative differences in the reaction of the Buckingham Palace to Meghan’s interview and to Prince Andrew’s dalliances were not glossed over either.

On the International Women’s Day anchors who indulged in tokenism were largely women anchors themselves. A refreshing change was Ravish Kumar who brought out the strength of ‘Basantis' walking/driving and congregating at Delhi’s Tikri border in support of protesting farmers. The sea of yellow along the highway of Punjab converging to Delhi was a pleasant sight. The importance of women in the farming community made the viewer misty eyed. The theme was ‘Mera rang de Basanti …’ with yellow duppatas flying in the air. One saw only women on this channel’s prime time news, anchored by a man.

The women provided a historic perspective of Bharatiya Kisan Kamgar Union and highlighted that 30% of the farmers in Punjab were landless. The protests are still on and the issue is still alive, they said. If they did not participate, the protests would not have survived. Their involvement means families and homes are NOT broken. Now did we hear any of this on any other channel? Why not, is the question citizens need to ask.

Immediately after Mamata Banerjee alleged she was attacked and shoved at Nandigram, prominent English channels slammed it as a publicity stunt. The Election Commission did concede that there was a “serious breach in the security of the CM” but added that it was only an accident and there was no conspiracy. So, a serious security breach led to an accident? Why didn’t the anchors and channels ask who pulled out her security? But then some answers we are never likely to get.

Back home in Maharashtra one watched the political ‘stuntbazi’ by a former CM who has not got over the sadma of being ousted from office. Devendra Fadnavis dramatically went after an encounter specialist Sachin Waze, who was said to be close to Shiv Sena and was suspended till last year. He is an accused in the encounter killing of Khwaja Yunus but after Fadnavis linked him to the death of businessman Mansukh Hiren, he has been arrested by NIA.

Suspiciously specific and suitable leaks to the media by the NIA helped build the narrative. The ease with which a Scorpio vehicle was stolen, used to carry gelatin sticks and then abandoned outside the house of Mukesh Ambani is yet to be explained.

A few days after Hiren is called for questioning, he disappears and his body is found days later at a creek in Thane. The wife of the deceased raises doubts on his death and BJP not surprisingly went ballistic in demanding action. But even as channels described the drama as a potboiler-Koi Bollywood Ki film se kam nahi”-- too many questions remain unanswered. Why is the NIA leaking information? How did the stolen car land opposite Antillia, where the Ambani family resides? Loose gelatin sticks with a printed threat? This so-called sinister plot sounds and reads just like the threat issued loudly by Parambir Singh on TV when Elgar Parishad activists were arrested. Except this time Singh, now the Bombay Police Commissioner, is under the radar.

May be time to see ‘Maqbool’ again? Also, possibly time the courts reviewed custodial death of Khwaja Yunus, wherein all these key policemen played a role and know a lot.

Some justice is never meted out; some truth we citizens are never told.

( The reviewer is a commentator based in Mumbai. Views are personal)