Media That Framed Rhea Must Pay For It, Apology Is Not Enough

I am sure all those who termed the coverage of SSR’s case and many such fake news as nauseating will agree with me that the media or any other section must be forced to pay for character assassination as this trend must stop somewhere. We cannot allow this kind of hate mongering to poison the society

In (the) Sushant Singh Rajput murder case, (the) CBI has filed (a) closure report. I believe it

is due to lack of credible evidence. No scope for ambiguity, hence it means no case is made out. In retrospect I feel that Rhea Chakarborty was made out an accused by (the) media, led by Zee News through its editor & reporters (at that time). Others followed Zee News. As (a) mentor of Zee News, I advise them to be brave and apologize. Singh I do apologize to Rhea, even with no involvement of mine. I am like ‘एक मुख रुद्राक्ष बाहर और अंदर एक समान।' Call a spade a spade

- Subhash Chandra, founder of Zee News

Any sensational news comes handy for this government to deflect public attention from the real issues that impact us. The Sushant Singh Rajput suicide was no different. In fact, the Godi media went overboard blowing the case out of proportion, conducting a trial of its own and then passing judgements. Don’t we remember the declaration by a TRP-hungry anchor (which anchor is not?) that SSR was murdered and that it was not a case of a suicide. And then the primetime discussions and Breaking News flashes were focused on how Rhea fed drugs to SSR and so on and so forth. They thrived on the leaked information on the basis of the whatsapp chats. The ‘Mujhe Drugs Do, Mujhe Drugs Do’ histrionics of Arnab Goswami will continue to haunt us for a long time to come.

The hate mongering Godi media was left no place to hide its face when the CBI filed the closure report declaring that SSR’s death was a simple case of suicide. The CBI also cleared Rhea of the charges of her involvement in the suicide. Everybody (in Godi media) forgot all the hype that was created and there was a stoic silence on the CBI closure report. There is one Godi media promoter who showed guts and apologised for the embarrassment and harassment caused to Rhea. Subhash Chandra, whose Zee News encourages hate mongering anchors, has won an all-round praise for this very unusual act of publishing an apology on X platform. The news channel must also run the apology as a special announcement in all its news bulletins for equal number of days and nights the platform ran down Rhea.

Subhash Chandra has also asked all other news channels to publicly apologise. Wonder as to how many of them will follow the Zee News founder. Even if they do, it is not enough. They must not be allowed to get away with what they committed, which was nothing short of blue murder. They all must be made to pay compensation of at least Rs one crore each to Rhea for ruining her life. I admit that money cannot compensate for the mental harassment, but that will set a precedent for the victims of such mad-dog type hounding and media trials to seek justice.

Will the News Broadcasters & Digital Association take a lead and ask the channels to pay up the money? Or will the Supreme Court take a suo moto cognisance and ensure justice for Rhea? Remember, Arnab Goswami went to the extent of appealing – sorry shouting – to the Supreme Court to have Rhea arrested.

Here, I must highlight a recent whatsapp message that reads: Rhea is the only person to get a clean chit from the CBI without joining the BJP! More on washing machine politics later.

I am sure all those who termed the coverage of SSR’s case and many such fake news as nauseating will agree with me that the media or any other section must be forced to pay for character assassination as this trend must stop somewhere. We cannot allow this kind of hate mongering to poison the society. One may say that one has the choice of using the remote and skipping the hate mongering news channels and newspapers. But those watching these media outlets will continue to get influenced and permanently block their minds for any reasoning. That is dangerous for democracy as it will lead to mental slavery which in turn will perpetuate elected autocracy.

As it is, the washing machine politics is posing a major challenge to the rule of law and transparency in governance. And if the trend continues, the phrase public accountability will soon be extinct like the dinosaurs.

Talking of accountability, we wonder when will the Election Commission of India act on misleading and false promises that the political parties and candidates make to win elections and then develop selective amnesia after assuming power! Yes, I am referring to a public declaration by none other than Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar that all election promises need not be fulfilled.

As IndiaToday.In reported, Pawar stated at Baramati: "Whether it’s Devendra Fadnavis or Eknath Shinde, the focus remains on working for the welfare of the people. Many citizens have raised concerns about the election manifesto's promise of loan waivers. As of March 28, I want to clearly inform the people of Maharashtra that they must repay their crop loans by March 31. Promises made during elections don’t always translate directly into actions. Considering the current financial circumstances, decisions will be made in the future. However, for now and even next year, loans taken must be repaid".

Trying for damage control, the 2nd deputy CM Eknath Shinde said all promises will be fulfilled as the State’s finances improve. That was the catch. The finances must improve.

The model code of conduct, under the section ‘Guidelines on Election Manifestos’ clearly mentions: “In the interest of transparency, level playing field and credibility of promises, it is expected that manifestos also reflect the rationale for the promises and broadly indicate the ways and means to meet the financial requirements for it. Trust of voters should be sought only on those promises which are possible to be fulfilled.”

The ECI has either glossed over the lofty poll promises or has not taken its own advisory seriously. Almost every political party made promised freebies without explaining the budgetary provisions and the way the financial burdens are to be met. States such as Telangana, Karnataka and Delhi have not yet back-tracked on the promises made by parties to gain power, but they are bound to feel the financial stress. Maharashtra has gone one step ahead with Pawar going back on farm loan waivers.

I think it is time we made the ECI accountable too for the false poll promises that it ignores.

Home Minister Amit Shah has already termed as a ‘jumla’ the PM Narendra Modi’s election promise of crediting Rs 15 lakh to our bank accounts. To be fair to Modi, he said the money will come to our accounts once the black money stashed away in Swiss banks is brought to India. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has already admitted that the government does not have any official estimate of the amount of money deposited by Indian citizens and companies in Swiss banks.

As the Godi media continues to play the safe ball to suit its masters, the independent media must continue to bowl bouncers to uphold the IPL of a different kind – Indian Political Liability.