TELEVISTA
Aftermath of the attack
AMITA MALIK

For some days now we have been watching on the small screen the horrific events which began taking place in Mumbai from November 26. One would have liked the agony to have subsided. But that has not happened. If anything, the postmortem of the events makes us feel worse. Debates have been held in detail on how the country was not prepared to take on terrorists, and on the bravery shown by our gallant defence personnel, who fought with outdated weapons and outdated bullet-proof jackets.

Lately, we have been shown the backgrounds of those who fought valiantly and lost their lives at the call of duty. We see the shattered lives of many once happy families. It goes on and on. The anger with politicians also continues to dominate the small screen, with both groups of angry citizens and individuals expressing their anger and anguish at, what are continually described as, inept politicians, whose love of power seems to have dulled their sense of responsibility.

CCTVs have picked up almost every step of the disaster, even those chilling shots of our under-equipped police chasing the terrorists, who were armed with far superior weapons

In fact the whole debate has turned into assessing the quality of our politicians, and the need for those who vote them into power to do so more carefully. Some heads have rolled in both the Central and state governments. It seems major reshuffles will continue at both levels. Looking at it more positively, perhaps out of this outpouring of popular discontent, our entire democracy and the way it functions will be held up to public debate.

In that sense, a visible medium like television is giving ordinary citizens, even those who cannot read and write, a chance to get their priorities right. As for the assessments of the dreadful events, CCTVs have picked up almost every step of the disaster, even those chilling shots of our under-equipped police chasing the terrorists with far superior weapons and clothing.

Also under scrutiny is the shocking state of our defence of a long and highly vulnerable coastline. Fingers are also being pointed at the gullibility of some who fish in, what are now truly troubled waters, or at those who live along the coast to betray the country for the proverbial pieces of silver.

They say that out of evil comes good. If what happened to Mumbai, our most modern metro city, opens the eyes of our authorities to what has been horribly wrong with our entire defence system, it would certainly have done some good to our whole public affairs system.

Meanwhile, the small screen is offering a different type of excitement, and a more pleasant one, of the elections which have taken place in the Capital and several states. While the victory of Sheila Dikshit and her team in Delhi was more or less expected, one or two of the states have provided some surprises, adding to the excitement on the small screen for those of us who are not directly involved, and can watch the drama sitting comfortably at home or office.

In that sense, whether it is politics, sport or plain daily happenings, one can blame TV for many things, but we must concede that it keeps us informed and, at times, even educated about what is going on around us.

But once again, a note of caution has been sounded about exercising discretion when reporting or commenting on events. Sometimes, valuable information is divulged too early, giving the terrorist or whoever is endangering our lives, a dangerous advantage. The rat race among channels and, therefore, their reporters, producers and anchors needs to be kept under constant scrutiny so as to protect society in general. A voluntary code of conduct for emergencies between channels, and not enforced by the government or any other authority, is long overdue. If it exists in any form, it is certainly not visible.