Just for fun, now and then I check the opening pages of the websites of our esteemed “news” TV channels.
At 10.39 am, Times Now is apparently very worried about the terror attack on Moscow. Russia being contiguous to India’s borders, it is vital that our top TV channels keep track of our neighbours and what’s happening in their lands. Global and so on. O sorry, my mistake. We do not share a border with Russia. We do with China, and there’s something happening in Ladakh but, umm, well maybe another time or maybe…
Times Now also gives us a peek into channel owner Vineet Jain’s Holi Party. Is furiously angry with Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate for her unsavoury X post on BJP Lok Sabha candidate Kangana Ranaut. And something about a passenger on Indigo Airlines. And some sundry stuff.
Electoral Bonds? Missing.
Latest economy figures? Missing.
Stock Market? Missing.
The arrest of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal? Missing.
Looking back at the pandemic? Missing.
Israel, Palestine, Gaza, UN Security Council resolution on a ceasefire? Missing.
And Ladakh? Where did you say that was? Near Russia by any chance. Okay, no so no.
News 18 at 10.33 am has a slightly better handle on the news than Times Now. AAP and Kejriwal feature as lead. The UN resolution on Gaza gets a peep in. But obviously Shrinate versus Kangana also gets top billing. The controversial Janardhan Reddy’s return to the BJP is presented minus context: he’s so happy to be home, yaay!
Electoral bonds, the economy, the pandemic and of course Ladakh, missing.
Why am I going on and on about Ladakh I wonder. The fingers type before my mind kicks in, I think. Must be age.
India Today TV is very excited about Kejriwal and the elections and a bit about Israel. All their top star news readers are presented with their various expressions of their own self-importance.
My patience has now run out with these Tv websites. It is 10.39 am.
What is happening in Ladakh, though?
Magsaysay award winner and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk has been on a fast for the past 21 days. His demands include statehood for Ladakh, Parliamentary seats for Ladakh and Kargil and a movement to save Ladakh’s fragile ecology from rapacious “development” from private sector entities.
Wangchuk is something of a hero because he was inspiration for one of the main characters for the popular film 3 Idiots, loosely based on a Chetan Bhagat novel. When Article 370 was repealed by the Narendra Modi government in 2019, Wangchuk was widely covered by all these same “news” channels for his approval of the repeal and his hope that some benefit would now come to Ladakh.
Wangchuk may have since realized that his state was cheated and his own expectations were unrealistic; the Indian mainstream media of course can never acknowledge that. And so, they must now ignore Wangchuk and his fast. The best updates are from Wangchuk’s own social media posts as he and his followers brave the cold to continue with their demands.
https://scroll.in/video/1065713/watch-sonam-wangchuks-fast-to-demand-statehood-for-ladakh-enters-day-19-others-join-him
https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/kargil-residents-stage-fast-to-press-for-ladakhs-special-status-in-sonam-wangchuks-support/cid/2009031
We have already entered election season. This is a very important election for Narendra Modi. He has stated that the BJP will win more than 400 seats. It is evident that the mainstream media has been instructed to work as hard as it can to make Modi’s dream a reality. Thus, inconveniences like Wangchuk have to be ignored.
How this affects the people of India is clearly of no concern to media owners, top star news readers and whoever else in the mainstream media imagines that they are still journalists.
Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal.