When Rahul Gandhi’s tantrum trumps charred toddlers

In a ghastly incident in Faridabad district, two kids were burnt alive, allegedly by some upper caste people of the village. And as it always happens, some cops got suspended, the ministry ordered an inquiry, politicians flocked to the scene, and we are waiting for some compensation to be announced.

That's what usually happens every time when such an incident takes place. But, India Today TV came up with something different this time. In a race for exclusive content with the 'exclusive' watermark running across the screen, there is a severe crunch of quality content as well as the often demanded 'angle' these days. Well, angle is very important as there are 360 of them!

What do they do? Every channel is doing the trending story of two 'Dalit kids burnt alive in Haryana'. Where is the innovation?

Enter Rahul Gandhi – seemingly 'unhappy' with some reporters asking whether it is just a photo-op or does it hold some meaning as well – who took them head-on with a vicious use of sentences with 'poverty', 'death' and 'insulting' in an angry vein.

As if it was not all for the usually calm Rahul Gandhi, while he tried to gain access to the aggrieved father, he had an altercation with an India TV group reporter. That was not even an altercation as he merely asked her that he wanted to talk to the victim family and if she wanted to do so, she could go ahead. Later, he even apologised and entreated her to go for the interview with the victim.

Here is the 20-minute video of 'exploding' Rahul Gandhi from India Today TV YouTube channel:

What's important?

What is lost among all this is the charred bodies of two toddlers, so young and innocent. The news channel does not talk about it as the main issue. Rahul Gandhi and his 'supposed' attack on the fourth pillar of democracy becomes the prime concern of the nation instead.

This is not just one instance. It happened in the Delhi rape of two kids earlier this week when the rapes were sidelined amid Kejriwal's verbal attack on central government and Modi.

The same happened with Dadri lynching where the family was asking the people to stay calm, but the media chose to keep fanning the fire of communalism to suit its agenda of squeezing the last drop of a trending news.

This is a sad situation when media becomes a milkman to squeeze the last drop of newsy milk and then adulterates it with its agenda and 'sells' it as a premium product.

In present times, it is seldom the political parties that play the politics of hate or death. Rather, the media channels have emerged out as the biggest polarisers and sell-outs to various political parties singing their tunes on their convenience, in the name of serving the society.

Communal death did not stop with Dadri lynching of Akhlaq, rapes did not stop with Nirbhaya, farmer suicides did not stop after the media hue and cry… But media makes it appear so. Media has the power of keeping an issue alive for its advantage in the garb of being the 'watchdog'.

If media was any dog, it won't be the watchdog; it is a savage beast that tears apart its prey to satiate itself.

Here, the prey is any news that has a shock value. Any news which some editor, smoking cigars in his bathtub or yelling at a panel of guests, decides to make a national cause of concern, becomes the 'most shocking event that shames the nation and humanity' every single time.

Clearly, India Today TV could have played it down even if a reporter had some altercation with Rahul Gandhi as the issue was 'two kids burnt alive' and not the anger of the Gandhi scion. But alas, in these turbulent times, Rahul Gandhi's anger has more news value than roasting of two little angels in a house.