Did you know that the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi likes mangoes? Yes! He likes mango and he accepted it during an ‘apolitical‘ interview with Bollywood Journalist, Oops! with Bollywood Actor Akshay Kumar. Well, this might not be a piece of big news for most of the people as mangoes are commonly loved by almost all Indians. But for our media, this was something different, something which had the immense potential to be all over the headlines and something which was extremely important for every Indian. Just like the results of CBSE toppers, it grabbed the headlines. PM Modi likes mangoes and former American President Barack Obama is so close to him that he prefers to call him “Tu”, not “Aap”. The significance of these stories is not debatable at all!
Meanwhile, the most powerful person in the Supreme Court or we can say after the President(in the country) is accused of sexual harassment. A former employee of Supreme Court alleged CJI Ranjan Gogoi for harassing her. Now, the woman who accused CJI of sexual misconduct pulls out of probe by SC’s panel. The complainant alleged that she was not allowed to have the presence of her lawyer in the in-house committee and felt that she was not likely to get justice.
Well, this wasn’t the issue to be discussed in Prime Time debates or to be presented in front of the viewers. But, PM talking to Akshay Kumar and noticing Twinkle Khanna’s tweets criticising him on social media was an issue that big that it was shown on prominent news channels. An affidavit was filed against CJI, which was easily ignored by the media and they kept reporting trivial issues like, rhetorical speeches of politicians and who is going to win the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, etc.
This behavior of negligence tells a lot about the situation going on in the media. Well, Bilkis Bano, a victim of 2002 Gujarat riots who was gang-raped, won her case in the Supreme Court. SC also ruled that Bano will get 50 lakh rupees and a government job as compensation by the Gujarat government. Before this, she denied a compensation of 5 lakh rupees and took the matter to the Supreme Court. Who is Bilkis Bano and how she struggled while fighting for justice? No one cares and no media house has the time to cover it.
Well, farmers from Tamil Nadu protested in Delhi for months and did everything to draw the attention of government from eating grass to drinking their own urine. There was no prime time debate and no one paid heed to their struggles. It felt as if they were invisible; politicians and media houses weren’t able to see them. 50 farmers from Telangana are going to contest from Varanasi against the Prime Minister in an attempt to highlight their demands and make their voices heard. But who cares?
Real issues like, mango, Obama’s “Tu”, winner of 2019 elections and who abused whom are more important than the death of farmers. ‘Aam (Mango)’ surely deserves all the limelight, since the ‘Aam-Janta(the common man)’ can always be handled lateṛ!