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This is an archive article published on September 1, 2012
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Opinion Language Barrier

English news TV talked Modi,while Hindi obsessed over Kasab

Pratik Kanjilal

September 1, 2012 10:55 PM IST First published on: Sep 1, 2012 at 10:55 PM IST

The Gujarat experiment is over,leaving the laboratory in a shambles. The Naroda Patiya ruling of Wednesday morning,which took down Narendra Modi’s associate Maya Kodnani and the unspeakable Babu Bajrangi of the Bajrang Dal,should have ruled television news all day. The same morning,the Supreme Court predictably declared that Ajmal Kasab had run out of legal options and must hang,so that was a minor distraction. Kasab’s tale is ending while the Naroda Patiya ruling opens up the story of the Gujarat experiment all over again,like a badly-healed wound. But the two stories split TV news right down the language line. English channels seemed to be more interested in Naroda Patiya while Hindi channels focused on Kasab’s case.

Who chose to highlight what is revealing because there was no real choice. Naroda Patiya is a developing story which brings the legacy of the riots damagingly close to Narendra Modi,and he will fight back politically and legally. It was a day when one could safely reaffirm faith in the judiciary,but the story will continue to play out in appeal. Meanwhile,Kasab’s options are down to a mercy petition. Taking his story forward can only be speculative. Would he petition or seek martyrdom? Would a petition be entertained,rejected or put on ice forever?

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Zee News chose a dangerous path to pursue the story. Like some other Hindi channels,it led with Kasab rather than Naroda Patiya. The graphic said,“Kasab Ka The End”,but the real question was,“Is Kasab another Afzal Guru?” After speculating about the relative merits of hanging versus keeping mercy pleas in suspended animation,it moved on to its correspondent Amit Prakash,who had some “people of Delhi” at hand. They were asked leading questions focused on the huge cost of trying Kasab. Was the expense justified,or is natural justice more justified? That was the burden of the questions. The show went dreadfully wrong when one interviewee used the opportunity to send out a public appeal to the NSG,begging them to “disobey officers and shoot suspects on sight.”

That plea should not have been aired. It amounted to inciting an elite force to mutiny. Had the NSG been a military force,this would have attracted prosecution under Section 505 of the IPC. If Afzal Guru casts such a long shadow,the media can address it by reopening the debate on capital punishment. To stridently demand the heads of the guilty,to generate pressure on the President even before a clemency plea has been filed,is as unnecessary as the obsession with Kasab.

Narendra Modi’s reaction will be more interesting. A clever politician,he may cite this ruling as evidence that courts in his state are untrammelled. He may scoff at the transfer of communal cases out of Gujarat — the Sohrabuddin case may now go to Maharashtra. And if higher courts overturn the Naroda Patiya ruling,which is not impossible,he will score on all fronts. That’s the real story.

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The Hindi-English TV divide is an impression,a hunch acquired while surfing channels rapidly. You can lay newspapers side by side,compare story placement,count column centimetres and create accurate coverage data. But TV doesn’t hold still to be measured,not for a viewer armed only with a remote. Besides,I have referred here only to early coverage until noon on Wednesday. Balance was restored as coverage proceeded and talking heads weighed in. However,initial editorial reactions are more revealing than premeditated responses. If this hunch were investigated with academic rigour,we might learn something about linguistic divides in the Indian polity.