Death of constable Subhash Tomar...

Too many things to blog about, over the past few days. But first, the need to document the media's coverage on the death of policeman, Mr. Subhash Tomar needs to take precedence. 

On the 23rd of December, Barkha Dutt tweeted this (thanks to mediacrooks for the image): 

Note the words very carefully - "...died as some people in the crowd turned violent"

Sometime later, the tweet was merely deleted. No clarification was forthcoming - the tweet just disappeared! Why? 

Here's the reason: 

That's right - moments after "reports" came in that he died, "reports" came in that he was critical. Rajdeep (and others) found it prudent to clarify. Barkha merely deleted it - no clarification was forthcoming. For someone who likes lecturing people on the need for "nuance" and clarity, it is appalling that she thought it fit not to clarify and merely delete. 

The debate picked up momentum saying, it is because of this violence that he is critical; that he receieved serious injuries as he was "beaten up". 

Unfortunately, Mr. Subhash Tomar expired on the 25th of December. 

Sample this NDTV report first: 

".... who had suffered serious injuries" . In the second para, they write: 

It was initially reported that he had suffered a heart attack after being injured. But top police officials later denied these reports and alleged that Mr Tomar was beaten up by hooligans among the protesters.

Initially reported? By whom? NDTV? Is there even a single report on NDTV where it was "reported" that Mr. Subhash Tomar had a heart attack? None. 

Fellow tweeter (cmmanoj) sent over this link in IE, where it is mentioned that the version of the doctors and the police are very different. No such story on NDTV. 

They don't stop here. They have a 36 minute discussion on this: 

Note the text below the video. "...badly assaulted by protestors". The first question that the anchor Vishnu Som poses is this- "Twitter is abuzz with rumours that Mr. Tomar died of a heart attack and not an assault. Can you confirm this?". He poses this question to the ACP of Delhi, and she says they have proof of him being attacked. After getting another reconfirmation, Mr. Vishnu moves on to some leader of AAP and demands to know "what on earth was Arvind Kejriwal" doing there. 

Do they mean to suggest that Mr. Kejriwal incited the unruly elements? If so, is there any proof? If so, why is  it not being shown? If not, how come such wild allegations are being made left and right?

Now, let's take a look at these "rumours" on twitter. First on 24th December, we were told that the Doctors at the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital told that Mr. Subash Tomar suffered an heart attach and there were no external injuries. But then these were "rumours" only on twitter, that none of the main stream media guys bothered to confirm. 

Then came this picture: 

This picture shows Mr. Tomar lying on the ground. Three people, including one girl who is bandaged on her head are trying to help him. But then the picture is not clear. We do not know for sure if it is Mr. Tomar in the picture. So the "rumours" still stay. 

Next came this: 

Everyone can see very clearly - there is no sign of "serious injuries". No sign of being "badly assaulted". No chance of this being a "rumour" - A "rumour" that the main stream media did not bother to confirm. 

The boy who is seen helping Mr. Tomar came out last evening and refuted the claim of Delhi Police. In his own words, here.

He has made some damaging revelations - that he was the one who took him to the hospital; that the policemen just left him. He also mentioned about the brave girl, who despite being bandaged, has helped him and then rejoined the protests. 

This news was out last night - it remains to be seen how NDTV reacts to this news and issues clarifications. A tweet has been sent to the head of the ethics committee of NDTV. This particular blog piece is "work in progress" - if NDTV comes with detailed clarifications today, the same will be updated here. 

More blogs to follow on the violence, the political response, the media coverage etc... 

PS: Pretty much every news outlet mentioned that Mr. Tomar was "seriously injured". None have clarified so far. But to the extent that I have followed, none have been as brazen about this as NDTV was... hence the concentration on NDTV...

Update 1 (a few hours after the above blog piece was written): 

1. A video clipping of protestors helping Mr. Tomar, is now available. So even if you assume the pictures are morphed - here's the video. 

2. Few folks have even commented below saying IBN Live is now tweeting that the doctor confirmed that Mr. Tomar died of heart attack. 

3. When I mentioned the brazen behaviour of NDTV before, I did not see what was coming. Their group editor, Barkha Dutt has this to say: 

"If Cops version on Tomar's tragic death false it must be reported. If charges framed falsely- that too. But pls lets keep it above politics"

Keep it above politics?? Just what is political about this? This government is shamelessly trying to exploit the death of a policeman, but those who bring out the truth are playing "politics"? The abyss into which NDTV can continue to plunge seems to be unending.