There was no 10 panel member discussion, there was no anchor shouting at the top of his voice claiming to be the conscious of the nation, there was no criminal, no judge, no punishment. There was complete silence.
Yet the message was clear and razor sharp. In response to Narendra Modi government’s move to take NDTV off air on 9 November, the channel’s star anchor Ravish Kumar did what no one has done before. Put his point across through silence. He invited mime artistes on his show to depict the current government-journalist relationship.
Posting Ravish Kumar’s show on its website, the channle wrote: “When did authority and police become free from questions? Authority means accountability. Without it, power becomes something else altogether. When we cannot ask questions, when we cannot speak freely, what can we do? Watch a special episode of NDTV India’s PrimeTime show anchored by Ravish Kumar.”
Just look at this clip, and you would understand the genius that Ravish Kumar is. And hats of to the mime artistes who made an important point with such subtlety.
Journalism Under Threat in India, #RavishKumar takes on “Ruling Power” using Mime in his #PrimeTime show pic.twitter.com/iRw0xGrm96
— Shuvankar Mukherjee (@shuvankr) November 4, 2016
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has decided to take NDTV India off air on 9 November due to its coverage of the Pathankot.
After the primetime, Ravish Kumar became the top trend on Twitter, with many on the micro-blogging site praising him for showing the courage to make an important point.
Just watched Prime Time with Ravish Kumar…Just Brilliant….i have never seen such troll of troll……#RavishKumar
— Om kashyap (@OmKashyap1994) November 4, 2016
This is beyond words. WOW. https://t.co/mZFheUUV85#Genius #RavishKumar
— Prashant Pillai (@phpillai) November 4, 2016
Using mimes to make a point on Prime Time News.
Sounds like it would blow up in your face.
But, then there is the genius of #RavishKumar :).— Sorabh Pant (@hankypanty) November 4, 2016
Narendra Modi Govt trying to Muzzle Ravish Kumar. They will lose the fight. As they say – Jo kate na Aari se, woh kate Bihari se
— Joy (@Joydas) November 4, 2016
Thanks to #DICKtatorship Sarkar; 1st time satire goes primetime!@ravishndtv asking questions to 2 mine artists & not getting any answers
However, NDTV responded by saying that there was nothing in there coverage that was different from other news channel and that the government’s move reminded one of the ‘dark days of emergency’.
