SIGHT & SOUND
An outcry of rage
AMITA MALIK

THERE is never any lack of excitement on TV. The last week just overflowed with crises, discussion on justice and injustice and a popular outcry on many of them, supported by damning evidence on TV as well as the print media. The Jessica Lall story has outraged public opinion in India and dismayed even Indians overseas, judging by the number of e-mails to the media. Indeed, the media has played a major role in exposing the shameful manner in which the so-called investigation by the police was conducted.

There is, indeed, truth in the saying that in India, there is one law for the rich and another one for the poor. Keeping pace with it was a more positive story of how justice denied has been set right. The conviction of the culprits in the Best Bakery case and the way in which the Supreme Court intervened to move the case out of Gujarat and all local political pressures were removed to ensure the flow of justice.

The dismay over Jessica’s murderers getting away, literally with murder, because of lacunae in the law was somewhat soothed by justice overtaking injustice after four agonising years. All these popular emotions came through powerfully on TV, not only with visuals but the sentiments expressed by everyone, from lawyers to common people and the indomitable human rights activist, Teesta Seetalvad.

At the time of going to Press, some faint hope is also reviving with the High Court in Delhi asking the police for an account of their investigations which, according to senior police officers themselves, had been both faulty and biased. One can only praise public opinions, so forcefully conveyed particularly by the electronic media and every channel chipped in, for asserting itself and moving the court to act. Let us hope there will be as favourable an outcome as in the Best Bakery case.

Accusations often made against the media, that they are indulging in trial by media, cut both ways. When the media are used to settle personal scores or let porn masquerade as moral exposes, it is certainly wrong. But when genuine injustice, deceit or wrong-doing which involve the community are exposes by the media, they are only carrying out their duty and serving public interest.

On a totally different plane, there was another big fight going on. The 10-month effort to find the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa winner in the field of singing had become such a bore that one wondered if it would ever end and how long the sponsors could eke out the fortunes of a by and large mediocre lot of singers and an anchor who made suspense into a joke.

So when it came to the finals between Debojit of Assam and Vineet of Uttar Pradesh, one felt it could not drag on for ever—but it almost did, with the false suspense, the hysterical audiences, the anxious friends and relatives and

by and large arrogant judges enjoying their feet being touched every few minutes— it was almost more than one could bear.

I took to watching the tamasha day by day for a few minutes so that I could get to finally reaching the final (no pun intended). Well, the final had all the irritating qualities of the entire contest. The stadium full of supporters was more like a football stadium than a music contest. And it dragged on for days. I think the only good which has come out of the Indian Idol contest that the more remote corners of India, and in this case the North-East and the North-West have won.

First there was the singer from Kashmir becoming a star. And now Debojit of Assam. Ironically, his Indian credentials were questioned at one stage (by competitors and mercifully not the judges). Even more ironically, the whole of Assam and the North-East rallied round to ensure that Debojit got overwhelming votes. Debojit is from Silchar in the Barak Valley where Bengali is spoken and has not particularly interested the fiercely Assamese ULFA. In this case, ULFA, keeping North-East and Assamese pride and honour in view, also asked everyone to vote for Debojit. Nothing like music to united people.

The cloning of NDTV which goes on non-stop in the two new English channels which seem singularly lacking in original ideas was brought home shamelessly last week. NDTV announced that it was collecting petitions from viewers to take to the President to reopen the Jessica Lall case.

This happened on Friday and by evening NDTV had SMS signatures running into over 80,000. And lo and behold, on Saturday, CNN IBN made an identical appeal to carry to the President. In our school days we used the not very elegant term copy cat. Well, it certainly applies here.