1. 바카라Yogi model apraadh or apraadhiyon ko rokne ka sabse bada ilaaj hai바카라 (Yogi model is the biggest remedy to crime and criminals)
2. 바카라Surrender karna hi aakhri rasta hai kyunki surrender na karne ka natiza aaj sabke samne hai바카라 (Surrendering is the only option. The result of not surrounding is there for all to see)
3. 바카라Aur kaun chahta hai Atiq Ahmed ka encounter?바카라 (Who else wants Atiq Ahmed바카라s encounter?)
4. 바카라Ab Don ki begum ka number바카라 (Now it바카라s time to get the don바카라s wife)
5. 바카라Yogi ji ne kaha tha mafia ko mitti mein mila denge, mila dia바카라 (Yogi ji had said we will destroy the mafia, he did it)
These were some headlines made on prime-time news shows after the deaths of jailed gangster and former Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Atiq Ahmed and his son Asad. While Asad, 19, was gunned down by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) in Jhansi on April 13, two days later, Atiq and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range in Prayagraj. Both were accused in the February 23 murder of Umesh Pal바카라a key witness in the 2005 murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal.
Ahmed and his brother were shot dead by three persons who posed as journalists and the murders happened in the presence of police and media. The visuals of their shootout were shown 바카라live바카라 and played in loop. A few hours later, some TV channels blurred the disturbing videos, however, by then, unedited versions were all over the social media.
바카라There are certain rules and international reporting guidelines that every news organisation needs to follow when reporting on violence and other sensitive issues,바카라 says Geetartha Pathak, Indian Journalists Union president. He adds: 바카라Showing dead bodies, blood and gore can exacerbate tensions and hate, especially when the news involves people from two communities.바카라
The rating-driven media has lapped up the recent encounter-murder stories. However, a year ahead of the General Assembly elections, the media frenzy over the killing of powerful Muslim gangsters and former politicians in UP바카라an important state for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)바카라seems to be going beyond the usual TRP-driven voyeurism and setting the narrative template for media coverage in the upcoming poll season.
The daylight murder and extrajudicial killings of gangsters have been hailed as a success for chief minister Yogi Adityanath. After Atiq바카라s death, a media organisation commissioned a survey in UP. Responding to a question, a majority said the deaths of Atiq, Ashraf and Asad would benefit the BJP.
The media has not shied away from this narrative as could be seen in the suggestive headlines and character assassination of Ahmed바카라s absconding wife 바카라don ki begum바카라 Shaista Parveen, one of the accused in the Umesh Pal murder case.
Who Sets the Narrative?
On April 14, a day before Ahmed was killed, former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik gave an interview to senior journalist Karan Thapar in which he claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him to stay silent over alleged lapses flagged by him in the aftermath of the 2019 Pulwama attack in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed.
What had the potential of becoming an explosive blow to the ruling party remained largely missing from the news cycle. While it was relegated to inside pages, the fact that it was not slotted for most prime time debates is perhaps telling. However, on April 16, the murder of two Ahmed brothers made it to most front pages. The visuals were played out on TV the next day as well and related hashtags were trending on Twitter.
바카라Encounters바카라 Make a Great Story
On September 20, 2018, local journalists in UP바카라s Aligarh district got a call a 6:30 am from the police asking if they wanted to 바카라watch and film a real police encounter바카라. The police said they had been looking for Mustakim and Naushad바카라바카라wanted in six murder cases바카라. The duo allegedly fired 34 rounds before they were taken down. The journalists바카라who were not wearing protective gear바카라were asked to stay 바카라100 metres away바카라. When asked why journalists were called, Aligarh SSP Ajay Kumar Sahini said: 바카라There is nothing wrong in it. We wanted to provide first-hand information to the media.바카라
Kanpur-based journalist Avanish Dixit, who has been covering crime and encounters in UP for over two decades, recalls a 2005 incident. The Kanpur Police had arrested Rafiq, a key member of Kanpur바카라s dreaded D2 gang, from West Bengal, and had brought him back. The court had granted the cops a one-day remand as Rafiq had allegedly confiscated a firearm that had been used to kill Dharmendra Singh, an STF officer, recalls Dixit.
While Rafiq was leaving the court, he told Dixit he feared he would be killed. 바카라That night, he was killed by three assailants in police custody. Even then, the media had frenziedly demanded Rafiq바카라s encounter. They also portrayed the killing of the STF officer as a moral justification for the police encounter or killing of gangsters,바카라 says Dixit.
Controlling Media Machinery
On May 22, 1987, over 40 Muslim men from a small neighbourhood in Hashimpura, Meerut, were rounded off by the Uttar Pradesh Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and killed in broad daylight.
The incident remained unreported. After a week, only a small regional newspaper called 바카라Chauthi Duniya바카라 carried the report. According to an Outlook report published in 2015 titled 바카라The Cold Blood바카라, the editor of a leading newspaper had reportedly refused to run a story on the incident even after being informed by sources.
It was only in 2015, however, that the case finally became known when all the officers accused in the case were discharged due to lack of evidence. Many at that time questioned the Congress government, which was in power at both the centre and the state.
바카라There is nothing new in the state바카라s attempt to control the media to serve its political narratives. What바카라s new is the way the media industry has changed and become completely corporatised,바카라 says Pathak. 바카라The media바카라s role should be one of asking for accountability from the government. Instead, it ends up celebrating the government바카라s every move. It manufactures consent and applause, even for misdemeanours,바카라 he adds.
Researcher Saroj Kumar Aryal, who teaches at the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies in the University of Warsaw, Poland, also feels that in the modern era of capitalism, 바카라free press바카라 cannot truly exist. 바카라But in the current media environment in India, it seems like a syndicate run by an individual who handpicked the issues based on the instruction given by some supreme body,바카라 says Aryal.
Perfecting The Narrative
In India, crime reportage usually relies on the 바카라institution driven model바카라. Under this, the police or law enforcement becomes the prime source for news and information around developing events. As opposed to this model is the 바카라event driven바카라 reporting of news, which forces media organisations to rely on sources other than official since the suddenness of the event does not allow for planned narrative setting.
Aryal, who has co-authored the paper 바카라Changing The Media Landscape In India Under The Modi Government바카라, explains that most media narratives today follow the 바카라Narrative Policy Framework바카라 (NPF) that shapes and informs content, flow and tonality. He explains that there are four key components of a 바카라narrative바카라바카라 setting, characters, plot, and moral.
Setting refers to a situation that is related to a certain policy problem or context. In UP, the larger context of Adityanath바카라s war on the 바카라goonda raj바카라 and the 바카라Hindu khatrey mein hain바카라 (Hindu is in danger) narrative provides a ripe setting.
Second, it requires at least one character바카라a victim, a villain or a hero. In the Atiq Ahmed case, the victims were Umesh Pal, and his elderly mother who repeatedly appeared on news channels and sought blood for blood. Alleged videos of 바카라villains바카라 Asad and Ghulam gunning down Umesh were broadcast on loop. In the end, UP police and the state government were shown as heroes.
Third, the plot establishes the arc of action in which events interfere with the actions and environments, often structured in the beginning, middle and end sequences, Aryal outlines. And fourth, morality gives the reason for the acts and intentions of the characters.
A Game of Showmanship
A UP-based journalist covering encounters for a national TV news channel says that in most cases, police themselves shoot the videos of encounters and share them with media as they want to become 바카라viral바카라 or are looking for a promotion.
Rajeev Yadav from Rihai Manch, a non-profit that works for undertrials and victims of police encounter, states that it바카라s not uncommon for media persons to be called for 바카라covering바카라 encounters in UP and that police often use such tactics to frame innocent people.
In 2018, a news channel ran a sting operation to 바카라expose바카라 how police officials in Agra accepted bribes to frame innocent people and then 바카라encountered바카라 them. Yadav mentions the case of fruit seller Ikram from Baghpat, who was shot dead by police in Kairana in 2017. Police framed him in a case of robbery but his family claims he was innocent.
바카라Nowadays, when we see media OB vans chasing a criminal, we know that an encounter might happen,바카라 says Dixit. He reminds that when Vikas Dubey, a gangster-turned-politician from Kanpur, had been encountered, media had started following his convoy from Ujjain. It was only after the convoy entered Kanpur that the police were able to put up a barricade and stop the media. Dixit feels that while reporters and independent content aggregators on the ground often cover the news from a non-biased perspective, bigger media channels and outlets buy their footage and add their own agenda to it. 바카라We treat all crimes and criminals the same, just like we treat all police officers neutrally,바카라 says Dixit.
Aslah Kayyalakkath, journalist and founding editor of independent media outlet, Maktoob Media, agrees that media 바카라should prioritise honesty over secularism while reporting on Muslim subjects바카라, including gangsters and criminals.
바카라It is disheartening to see that, in many instances, mainstream media portrays itself as an adversary to minorities, as is evident in the Atiq murder case,바카라 Kayyalakkath says.
(Edited by Swati Subhedar)
