New Delhi: Prime time debates Sunday remained preoccupied with developments in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case. News Nation discussed Rhea Chakraborty’s alleged “black magic” while ABP News crossed all lines — believe it or not, the channel carried out a dummy post-mortem of the actor with computer-generated images and “experts” providing dummy “evidence” on how his death was or wasn’t a suicide, by pointing out how the pressure from hanging leads to mark on one side of the neck.
Meanwhile, NewsX chose to discuss whether Pakistani separatists uniting against the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a sign of bilateral cracks between the two nations. And Zee News went to Ayodhya, literally.
First up, Republic TV, where Arnab Goswami asked if it was time for Bollywood to confront its scandals, “drug problems” and “underworld nexus”.
Social activist Neelam Katara asked why Bollywood is headquartered in Mumbai and “not some other Hindi-speaking state”. While it’s unclear how that would help, Goswami ignored the angle, merely shouting, “Bollywood is the dirtiest industry.”
Times Now‘s Athar Khan debated Rajput’s case by first stating he will not be “pointing fingers” or holding a “media trial”. Okay, then.
“Why did Rhea Chakraborty’s lawyer go to the Supreme Court asking demanding that the investigation stay in Mumbai?” he asked.
We are deeply grateful to our readers & viewers for their time, trust and subscriptions.
Quality journalism is expensive and needs readers to pay for it. Your support will define our work and ThePrint’s future.
Lawyer Sarthak Nayak replied, “A probe by an independent agency is required in this case because there is a lack of cooperation between Bihar and Mumbai [Police]”.
NewsX‘s Uday Pratap Singh chose to focus elsewhere: Baloch separatist groups in Pakistan speaking out against the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Singh asked if this means that “China is fooling no one”, meaning ordinary Pakistan citizens who have started to vocalise their protest against China’s “ulterior motives”.
Defence expert Maj Gen (Retd.) P.K. Sehgal sharply said, “People of Sindh, PoK and Balochistan consider it [CPEC] highly predatory and exploitative…their resources are going to be taken away. They’re not going to be given any compensation.”
Political analyst Sumit Peer was quick to bring the conversation back to India-Pakistan and the Kashmir issue (of course). “CPEC runs through PoK [which] is our land. This land does not belong to Pakistan. How can they enter a contract with China on a land that belongs to us? This should go to ICJ and be contested”.
It was back to Sushant Singh Rajput on India TV, where the anchor talked to various acquaintances of the actor, including his former domestic staff, who claimed that Rhea Chakraborty had “hypnotised Sushant”. One of Rajput’s self-proclaimed close friends, Surya Dwivedi said he was mentally very strong — Sushant and suicide “were opposite words”
The channel also ran a story based on an “off-camera” statement by another anonymous domestic staffer who allegedly claimed that the actor’s life changed completely after Chakraborty entered. He allegedly claimed that she used to do chanting and worship behind closed doors, and claimed that the black magic theory is true. How one would know given the doors were closed, who can say?
On Zee News‘ ‘Taal Thok Ke’, anchor Sachin Arora ran a live debate from Ayodhya amid the chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’. He then attacked the opposition.
“Is Congress’ devotion for Lord Ram seasonal and a political trial?” he asked, referring to Rahul Gandhi’s previous visits to temples and Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath’s Hanuman Chalisa recital programme.
Congress MP Kumar Ketkar, however, questioned the existence of Lord Ram himself. “Valmiki indeed wrote an incredible epic. But there is no historical proof which can establish the existence of Lord Ram”, Ketkar said.
BJP’s Sambit Patra was outraged: “Who are you to question the existence of Lord Ram?” he demanded, furiously. Calling Ketkar a “rice-bag convert”, Patra asked how dare Ketkar take such liberty with Hindus as to question the existence of their God.
Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram
News media is in a crisis & only you can fix it
You are reading this because you value good, intelligent and objective journalism. We thank you for your time and your trust.
You also know that the news media is facing an unprecedented crisis. It is likely that you are also hearing of the brutal layoffs and pay-cuts hitting the industry. There are many reasons why the media’s economics is broken. But a big one is that good people are not yet paying enough for good journalism.
We have a newsroom filled with talented young reporters. We also have the country’s most robust editing and fact-checking team, finest news photographers and video professionals. We are building India’s most ambitious and energetic news platform. And we aren’t even three yet.
At ThePrint, we invest in quality journalists. We pay them fairly and on time even in this difficult period. As you may have noticed, we do not flinch from spending whatever it takes to make sure our reporters reach where the story is. Our stellar coronavirus coverage is a good example. You can check some of it here.
This comes with a sizable cost. For us to continue bringing quality journalism, we need readers like you to pay for it. Because the advertising market is broken too.
If you think we deserve your support, do join us in this endeavour to strengthen fair, free, courageous, and questioning journalism, please click on the link below. Your support will define our journalism, and ThePrint’s future. It will take just a few seconds of your time.