The last 24 hours has seen a social media storm over the ugly public fracas on Sunday between India Today’s Consulting Editor Rajdeep Sardesai and a group of Modi supporters outside New York’s Madison Square Garden. The incident and its aftermath played out like a dream sequence on Twitter. On a less dazzling level, it is a record of how a media story unfolds, is dissected, carved up between people and ideologies, and customised to every affiliation, idiosyncrasy, alliance or coalition, some truthful, some false.
Let’s start at the beginning
On Sunday, Sardesai was talking to people outside the venue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech, asking them questions about why they believed in Modi, what made Modi tick, do Indian-Americans really contribute anything for their country of origin. It was routine but had revelatory moments. For example, one spirited Indian-American replied that he could vouch for all who stood there that though they earned their money in America, they sent funds back home, thus contributing to the India economy.
Suddenly a gang of Modi supporters in trademark saffron tees and kurtas marched down, chanting “Down With Rajdeep” and “Bharat Mata ki jai.” An amused Sardesai went to them (even warning them that they were on live TV) and tried to set the ground rules about democracy and the need to value differing views. He wasn’t allowed to go a sentence further before they started shouting pro-Modi chants. Sardesai then castigated them, asking who had taught them to behave so badly? Was it Modi or America?
The ground rules
As a reporter on the ground, what should Sardesai have done when his show was interrupted by a band of Modi worshippers who were there expressly to heckle and intimidate him? Should he have continued with the show, not only putting himself and his team at risk, but also the people who were spontaneously chatting with him? Should he have moved on and called the police?
Sardesai need not have admonished them for their lack of manners on camera. It was not central to the story. He could have spoken his mind freely after the broadcast. Over the years, some TV journalists have made the distinct effort to put themselves at the centre of the stories. Star anchors have jeered, sneered, sermonised, scolded and castigated the parade of guests who are invited on their shows, making decibel levels the norm of superior journalism, instead of content. But Sardesai is by no means the top nominee for the prize for Most Sermonising Journalist.
As for the Modi fans, it was clearly not an action-reaction incident (a favourite Hindutva rationale for violence). Sardesai was not offensive nor did he say anything objectionable. He was, at the very least, repetitive. The hecklers came to disrupt and disturb, even getting personal.
It was only to be expected that the social media would erupt with video clips purporting to show the truth of the incident, even as hashtags like #Sardesaislapped and #StandwithRajdeep threatened to beat #ModiAtMadison for a full 24 hours. The Modi supporters were up against every liberal worth their picket.
The usual arguments were trotted out: Fascists rule the country. Intolerance for dissent and suppression of truth runs common between the leader and disciples.
Mixing up emotions
But the liberal anger was a conflation of two elements: the attack on a journalist, but also the ghastly, gushy broadcasts of the Modi visit that every channel was responsible for. Apart from a cursory acknowledgement that there was a US court summons for Modi because of the Gujarat carnage of 2002, most channels blacked out the anti-Modi protests round the corner from the prime minister’s rally.
Despite this, it’s clear that there was no provocation from Sardesai; it came from the Modi hecklers. They came for a fight and Sardesai must make a police complaint for the sake of other journalists. There is no question he’s being targetted specifically and that’s a dangerous trend for the media.
The clips circulating about the fisticuffs comes from personal cameras and it’s a post-broadcast scuffle.
The argument now is not about who pulled the first punch: it is the orchestrated attack against Sardesai that must be examined.
Until then, there’s always #Libtards vs #Fekus.
