Sridevi's death should be mourned but Indian news channels made it into a morbid spectacle
News of the death of Sridevi Boney Kapoor, a superstar of Indian cinema of the 80s and 90s, was shocking. She was just 54 and had recently made a successful comeback to the movie industry. The circumstances of her death were indeed puzzling but as she died in Dubai, one expected that her death would be thoroughly investigated. And her death bore an uncanny resemblance to that of Whitney Houston, an American songstress who died a few years ago.
However, Indian news television channels went on a ridiculous hyperbole, speculating the causes of her death and indirectly implying the role of Sridevi's husband Boney Kapoor. Guests were brought into channels who had little or no expertise and asked questions like how a bathtub could fill in 15 minutes. Other people, those that one hoped had some knowledge, took to television to make complete fools of themselves. And then there were the reporters, one in a language channel even jumped into a cheap plastic bathtub and is now immortalised as an Internet meme.
Of course, in India, there is a level of distrust with police investigations. A recent case in Delhi, where a young man was found dead, was casually or deliberately dismissed as a suicide, whereas the evidence is not clinching. There is also the continuing mystery surrounding the death of Sunanda Pushkar which many people still consider a cover-up. And one has seen how evidence is tampered and destroyed to get the guilty off, like in the case involving the murder of model Jessica lal. However, one believes that the Dubai Police did a professional job as did the morticians conducting the autopsy, including the basics of running tests for toxins and drugs. Indeed, once they conducted their tests and cleared the release of Sridevi's body, matters should be allowed to rest and her husband and her two daughters, who must be traumatised, should be left alone to grieve. They should take comfort in the fact that many of us, who admired Sridevi, are with them at this distressing moment for them.
Indian news television in various languages has been an overall force of good. They have put people in their place and asked tough questions and at times conducted important sting operations that have exposed endemic corruption in the country. But this moment is one of infamy. And they should introspect and ask themselves questions about how they acted like vultures do over carrion. Yes, deaths could be mysterious and questions should be raised in such cases but the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drews of television should leave the job to professionals. In a country as vast as India is, it is also puzzling that news television channels have this intense focus on just one thing. There are incredible stories, heartrending and heartwarming, and there are so many more questions to be asked to people in power. But with reporting budgets cut at the altar of profits, maybe we are all better off with newspapers. At least we ensure that our readers are kept abreast with events across the country and the world.