JNU: Has the overenthusiastic media run trials with a fake video?

Bengaluru, Feb 19: In the epic Mahabharata, honest and truthful Pandava king Yudhisthira had told a half lie to help the plot to kill Dronacharya who fought on the Kauravas' side in the Kurukshetra War. After his second brother had killed an elephant named Aswathhama, which was also the name of Dronacharya's son, the aggrieved father had sought the truth from Yudhisthira and he said Aswatthama, the elephant, is dead with the word 'elephant' so low that Drona couldn't hear it. Heart-broken, he left his weapon and was killed.

Something similar happened in India in February 2016.

While a section of the media jumped to conclude that some students of the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) were acting against their own country by shouting slogans in favour of hanged terrorist Afzal Guru and a 'free' Kashmir, thanks to a viral video of arrested JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar, now another video has come up which shows the story in a completely different light.

'Azadi', but from what?

This new video showed that Kumar and other students were giving slogans of freedom but that from poverty, casteism, feudalism, Brahminism, Manuvad and other things.

The earlier video of February 11, two days after a pro-Afzal event was organised by a student's union in the university, was held as a clear proof against Kumar and others chanting only 'azadi'. One suspects the actual video was tampered with and only the word 'azadi' sounded prominently, drowning the others in the melee that was caused by the mixing of audios. Doesn't it resemble King Yudhisthira's deliberate lie to get rid of an enemy member?

An over-enthusiastic section of the media has been conducting trials of those students. It doesn't bother to verify the videos doing rounds nor wait for the law to take its course. This tendency could be dangerous as those students might have to face serious consequences for this in future.

The media can't just behave recklessly to help its own business flourish and allow people to suffer. Whether Kumar is guilty or not can only be decided by the court. Can we have that minimum patience that makes us responsible?

Oneindia News