Even during a crisis, DD's National Network dumped news bulletins for 24 hours

Even during a crisis, DD's National Network dumped news bulletins for 24 hours
SONIA TRIKHA

NEW DELHI, JAN 1: If you wanted to know what was happening to the hostages aboard IC-814 and had tuned into Doordarshan's National Network at 2 pm for the news, you would be disappointed. All you'd have seen was old shots from Surabhi. If you tuned into the National Network at 7 pm, you'd see a Muzaffar Ali short film.

While PTV carried on its harangue against India, Doordarshan, mostly, remained oblivious to the plight of the hostages as well as the nation, and went ahead with its 24-hour millennium broadcast on National Network. There was a five-minute headline news at 6 p.m. but only in English, nothing for those who don't understand it.

Anyone who wanted an update on the hijack would just have to tune into DD News notwithstanding the fact that the channel has one of the lowest viewerships. But in case one didn't have access to DD News, CNN could have served the purpose just as well. Since DD was really only showing footage of the hostage crisis by arrangement with CNN. But it didn't stop theState-run media from proclaiming that they were bringing the first pictures to the viewers.

DD News just turned over the bulletin along with the voiceover to CNN news. The channel called it Breaking News. It was hard to tell who was breaking news, CNN or DD, or is it all the same? DD's other scoop was getting the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Brajesh Mishra, to talk exclusively to them. It was another matter that his recollection of events didn't match news records. He claimed that the hijackers' `first' demand was for the release of 36 militants, $200 million and the coffin with the body of a militant. He didn't have anything to say about what the over 50-member negotiating team had done in Kandahar in the meanwhile.

Apart from the news, T. R. Ramachandran moderated a discussion with Muchkund Dubey and Professor Kalim Bahadur. He began by telling the panel that the Government has both served national interest and secured the release of hostages at the same time. He continued that, in thecase of Rubaiya Sayeed, the government gave four militants for the release of one person but here three people have been released for over 150 passengers. Strange mathematics, he meant to say. Dubey at which point held a light to his logic. He said in both cases the principles compromised are the same and it is certainly not a question of numbers.

In fact, we should now brace for an increase in terrorist activities. ``I can't see how any country can serve national interest by compromising with terrorism,'' said Dubey. But there were no takers for this train of thought, certainly not on DD News which seems to think that this is the only way to counter PTV propaganda: by sounding more absurd than them.