TELEVISTA
Media feeds on tragedy
Amita Malik

Dr Rajesh Talwar and his wife Dr Nupur Talwar at the Sai Baba Temple in Noida. — Photo by PTI

AS I sat down to write this, the Director of CBI appeared on television to announce that the Aarushi case is closed. But is it? Also while I write this, there floats before my eyes the picture of Aarushi’s father coming out of prison after having been wrongly confined there for 50 days. A man mourning the death of his beloved daughter is accused of killing her and sent to prison after an obviously shoddy enquiry. Renuka Chowdhury is not the only one who has suggested that the police be sued for making false accusations against an innocent man and adding insult to injury by keeping him in prison for 50 days. After Dr Talwar was released and greeted by his relieved family, he was asked if he was now going to sue his tormentors. He replied with dignity: "First allow me to meet my family and grieve for the death of my daughter." This is an appeal he made to the media as well, as they ringed him when he came out of jail and clamoured for a statement.

Aarushi has now become a national concern and people all over the country have expressed their sense of outrage, especially on the small screen, about the anguish and humiliation, which Dr Talwar had had to undergo, until the bungling by the Uttar Pradesh police became public. Yet, as happens to employees of the state, otherwise known as government servants, one may be sure that nothing much will happen to those callous policemen, including the one who cast aspersions on a dead child, because these sarkari naukars enjoy a degree of protection against accountability, which is the envy of those who work in the private sector. All said and done, one has not heard the last of Aarushi, whatever the Director of the CBI might say.

Another kind of sensation has gripped the media, this time in the world of sport. The charge of doping in cricket ultimately trickled down to the sub-continent and at the time of writing this column the culprit appears to be Asif, who has delighted many by his skill at cricket, but which is not matched by his attitude to ethics in sport. Also causing controversy is the reluctance of some foreign teams, such as South Africa, to come to troubled Pakistan for playing the Championship Trophy. Fortunately, terrorism has not yet made an impact on sports in this part of the world, but one cannot help worrying. Fuel has been added from another quarter, with a foreign team objecting to the venues chosen by India for their ODIs and Tests. Obviously foreign teams like to play in big cities with which they are familiar and not in small towns where, surely, spectators have an equal right to watch matches first-hand and not on TV only.

Meanwhile, on the international front the Roger Federer-Raphael Nadal rivalry is hoting up before the Olympics in Beijing, with the normally unflappable Federer seeming to lose his cool. It is very difficult for emperors when they see the first signs that their throne is tottering. And the suave Federer is proving that he is human, after all. As his girlfriend sits in the special box reacting with special and varying expressions to his every move, it is intriguing to watch that great champion of all time, Bjorn Borg watching the rivalry with an amused look on his face. After all, he has seen it all and done it all. His cool is rather different from the reactions of Nadal’s family and then the descendants of the Spanish monarchy in the royal box, congratulating him with genuine warmth as he climbs down to receive not only their handshakes but also the national flag of Spain to drape it round his shoulders and wave it proudly as he responds to the cheers of the vast crowd giving him a standing ovation.

As the commentators rightly pointed out, it seems to be the year of Spain what with the World Cup and now Wimbledon, after 44 years. Well done, Spain.