In this episode of South Central, hosts Dhanya Rajendran, Pooja Prasanna, and Leena Reghunath are joined by NewsLaundry’s Manisha Pande, along with TNM’s Sudipto Mondal and Jahnavi. 

On the Kumbh Mela Stampede, Manisha Pande discusses NewsLaundry’s ground report, highlighting how the official death toll is significantly lower than the actual numbers. “We accessed hospital records that show at least 79 bodies were brought in from the Kumbh stampede, while the government’s count remains much lower,” Manisha says.

Dhanya questions the lack of mainstream media coverage: “But why have more people not demanded these numbers? That is what really puzzles me.

Pooja adds, “Governments want to set world records for attendance at these events, but basic crowd control measures are missing.”

The conversation moves to the alarming case of the Chennai Police summoning journalists and seizing their phones over their coverage of the Anna University sexual assault case. “Downloading an FIR in itself is not a crime. Justice Madan Lokur, who wrote the Supreme Court guidelines on how to report on rape has said if the police have uploaded the FIR on the website and reporters have downloaded it, that itself is not a crime. It becomes a crime if a reporter gave away the detail of the rape victim.

Leena highlights the broader legal implications: “Courts have given mixed rulings on the seizure of journalists’ phones, but this raises serious concerns about press freedom and police overreach.”

On the Telangana caste survey, Jahnavi breaks down the findings of Telangana’s recently conducted caste survey. “The government claims they’ve enumerated 97% of the population, but the numbers don’t match Aadhaar or voter ID records,” she points out.

Sudipto critiques the lack of transparency: “A caste survey is supposed to reveal the socio-economic status of different groups, but this government has only released broad percentages. Without real data, how can policies be made?”

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Audio Timecodes 

00:00:00 - Announcements

00:01:45 - Introduction

00:03:21- Headlines

00:07:11- Kumbh Mela Stampede: Cover-up?

00:22:56 - Delhi Elections: AAP’s Toughest Battle?

00:33:20 - Chennai Police vs. Journalists

00:46:59 - Telangana Caste Census: What’s Missing?

 01:02:37 - Letters

01:07:36 - Recommendations

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Produced by Bhuvan Malik, edited by Jaseem Ali

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