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By Ranjona Banerji​
Just as television news was my target last week for its various sins, I have to applaud it for taking some issues head on. Gender equality, whether the rights of women to be allowed into temples and mosques or the discrimination inherent in menstruation taboos, the needless criminalisation of homosexuality in Indian law and police brutality against students were some of the subjects which were debated on most English news channels.
In all cases, the TV anchors and reporters on the scene stood against the entrenched views of patriarchy and discrimination. As is as their wont, they gave more than ample space to the various regressive elements in our society in an attempt to appear “fair†– why is this gentleman Rahul Eshwar everywhere? But ​​they also brought to public attention a wide variety of new voices to speak about women’s rights and the sexual rights of Indians.
Perhaps I am being unfair to our TV debate shows. Perhaps allowing these regressive voices to share their views only reiterates the irrationality and hatred in their positions. It is also very amusing to watch them squirming – the ubiquitous Eshwar for instance – when menstruation, bleeding and sanitary pads are mentioned. It is even funnier to watch them running for justification when asked to explain why religion discriminates against women.
Unfortunately there are deeper points in all these subjects which TV debates, discussions and screaming matches cannot cover. This is where print comes in and print seems more focused on the various political shenanigans going on, which have their own need for ample space! Websites luckily will give you a bit of both.
So should TV news debates have focused on the Supreme Court asking the Gujarat government if it was planning to secede from the Indian Union? Or on The Case of President’s Rule in Arunachal Pradesh, which is getting curiouser and curiouser?
All things considered, social issues are well-suited to TV. As we saw with the khap panchayats or when the 2012 gang-rape case shocked the nation, TV worked extremely hard and effectively to expose and rigorously question the worst ideas and elements that thrive in society. The nuance of politics unfortunately gets lost in TV debates which as we all know and have mentioned often enough, become nothing more than slanging matches.
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Since Delhi is the centre of the universe for Indian news television (barring Times Now), the thrashing of students protesting the treatment of Dalits after Rohith Vemula’s suicide by the Delhi police, got national coverage. The Delhi police is run by the Union Home Ministry which of course means the BJP-led government at the Centre. Thus even pro-government journalists were full of outrage – a staple of a media-driven world.
Meanwhile, in Mumbai, the same problem prevailed of political sympathy versus public need. The killer smog that has engulfed the city over the past few days and the fact that some members of the municipal corporation were on a junket to the Andamans which Mumbai spluttered took up much TV time. Both the state government and the municipal corporation are controlled by the BJP and Shiv Sena, in various combinations of power.
It is too early to come to any conclusions but seemingly, lathis and smog in big cities may sometimes outweigh political loyalties?