What Makes Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee So Furious With ABP Ananda? Is It Because ABP Asks Questions?

CM Mamata Banerjee recently slammed ABP Ananda and Anandabazar Patrika over Hanskhali 'gang rape and murder' coverage, and asked people to boycott the publication.

Suman De, Senior Vice President at ABP Ananda, has said ABP will not pull back under any kind of pressure and will continue to discharge its duties as a responsible media organisation

Kolkata: West Bengal is on the boil again. Allegations of gangrape and death of a minor girl at Hanskhali in Nadia district have rocked the state, with political parties making accusations and counter accusations, leaders making fiery speeches, and the efficiency of the police and the administration being questioned.

Making the matters worse, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday raised questions about the “gangrape”, and gave a “love angle” twist to the Hanskhali incident, saying the minor had relations with the accused, who incidentally is a Trinamool leader’s son and in police custody now.

While this is not the first time that the CM has been accused of trivialising a case of sexual assault (she faced similar allegations after her comments on the 2012 Park Street rape case and the 2013 Kamduni gang rape and murder), what caught all by surprise was the way she attacked ABP Group, namely ABP Ananda and Anandabazar Patrika, and asked people to boycott the publication. She even said advertisers should rethink before dealing with ABP Group.

So, what made the honourable CM of West Bengal so furious with ABP Group?

The answer may lie in the fact that ABP Ananda, as also Anandabazar Patrika, raised serious questions about the law and order and security situation in the state after the Hanskhali incident, which might have left her embarrassed.

Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the Biswa Banga Mela Prangan in Kolkata on Monday, Mamata Banerjee said: "The police are yet to understand the cause of the death. I had asked them, will you call it rape or was she pregnant? Was it (the fallout of) a love affair? Have you inquired about these? This is an unfortunate incident." 

She continued: “Even if a chocolate bomb explodes somewhere in the state, Trinamool Congress is held responsible for it. The incident is shown again and again throughout the day. And Anandabazar is unparalleled in this. They always present negative news."

The CM even mocked the ABP Ananda catchline of being “limitless”. 

“You talk about your limitlessness. But you also should have a boundary,” she said, and added: “How many debates have you arranged on price hike? How many ‘Jukti Takko’ (a famous and popular debate show hosted by ABP Ananda) have been held on this?” 

She accused the publication of not covering the Ukraine conflict or the Sri Lanka crisis properly, and went on to ask people to watch entertainment programmes, instead of news. 

The CM also threatened to take legal action, and warned that women of West Bengal who are getting benefit from her government’s Laxmir Bhandar project, which gives them Rs 500 per month, will question the media house and its policies.

ABP Responds

Suman De, Senior Vice President at ABP Ananda, responded to the attack and threats coming from the CM. 

During his popular Ghantakhanek Sange Suman debate show on Monday night, he said politicians are scared of liberal and unbiased media organisations. He gave the examples of two very recent incidents — one in Madhya Pradesh and the other in Odisha — where journalists were harassed, and even beaten up, for reporting news. 

De also ruled out the CM’s allegation that the Ukraine conflict is not being covered properly. “Our representative Soumik Saha is giving hourly updates of the Ukraine war from ground zero, risking his life,” he said. 

“When the Ukraine war broke out, West Bengal was stirred by the Anis Khan death case, and we, as a responsible media house, realised the importance of standing by the victim’s poor family for justice. And this must be the responsibility of every media organisation to mirror the truth when the police and administration themselves are being accused.”

Suman De specified that local incidents always get priority among the common people rather than international news. “Ukraine war, Pakistan issue or Sri Lanka crisis are some of the big international incidents at present. But still, in cases like Anis Khan death, Jhalda, Aliah University, Hanskhali or Rampurhat, it is the prime and foremost responsibility of a Bengali news channel to cover them rigorously rather than focusing only on international news.” 

He added: “We have not been getting any government advertisement for the last one year, and I’m not willing to mention this. But we will not pull back from the duty and responsibility of the media, even if we are threatened in whatever means.”

In the recent past, gruesomel murders and arson cases in which either Trinamool leaders or the state police or both were involved directly have taken place  in the state one after the other. ABP Ananda relentlessly pointed out serious loopholes in the role of the local police and the investigation conducted by them in these cases. The Calcutta high Court handed over at least six such cases to the CBI in the last couple of weeks, setting aside the state government’s plea for police investigation, which has definitely embarrassed the local government a lot. It added more fuel when a few ghastly rape cases took place where once again Trinamool leaders or their relatives were found to allegedly involved.