Shame the girls campaign: AP media vs NALSAR students

The fight between students of NALSAR law university in Hyderabad and the regional media has taken a new twist with the Andhra Pradesh television media accusing the students of public nuisance outside the pub in question. The  Electronic Media Journalists’ Association of AP  have also started their own campaign against the students and allege that their side of the story was not reported by any of the mainstream media houses. In an email to Firstpost, Hariprasad, the President of Electronic Media Journalists’ Association (EMJA)of Andhra Pradesh, wrote that, We like to make it amply clear that the electronic media journalists did no moral policing there nor did they behave irresponsibly as you are trying to project. Police was present at the time when media was covering the students nuisance in public and causing disturbance there.  What is strange that in the videos shown by the media channels, we can’t see police members asking the girls to leave. What you see clearly in the video are agitated women who want the cameraman to stop shooting. It begs the question that if indeed the girls were ‘creating a nuisance’ as claimed by the media, why did the police not intervene there and then. If the police did intervene, we don’t see any of that footage in question. Oddly, enough the email is linked to an older party video that was created by NALSAR students which allegedly invited students for a daaru party. The video has been subsequently deleted from YouTube, a fact that the media is also highlighting to bolster their claim that the students are in the wrong. The email by the media group also states about the video,  It will speak about what plans the Nalsar students had for the party at the Pub. The language is in English and you will understand every well.  They say that the video was part of the invite for the farewell party in the pub. [caption id=“attachment_718758” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Screengrab from video made by students.[/caption] The email goes on to ask why the Vice-Chancellor had allowed students to go out for a party. The email reads, Please do focus on how and why the Vice Chancellor and Registrar of Nalsar gave permission to 100 odd students for a DAARU PARTY ( as claimed by the Nalsar students) late in the night outside the campus when all the students were hostelers.   The tone of the email is rather moralistic in nature and one wonders why local media should be bothered about students having a party. The petition itself is on the same lines. It notes at one point, The need is to condemn the students’ action and advise them to concentrate on studies and career rather than losing their temper after a few drinks and abusing people in public. It seems the local media is quick to appoint itself guardians of students’ careers. When we asked Prachi,about the video that the media is referring to, she says “The video was a spoof that was made for the juniors. It had nothing to with the farewell party in question.” In fact, the students have started a blog where they have created their own video showcasing the full visual of what happened that night. They’ve also attached a screenshot of the email invite which states that the party would end at 11 pm. They note on their blog, This video was made by the final year girls of NALSAR, and is in reference to an entirely different occasion than the farewell party that happened at Rain on April 11, 2013. It was primarily made for circulation among the students. On the morning of 12 April, 2013, when we first discovered what the local TV channels had aired about us, we decided it was best that we take down this video from YouTube altogether, just in case the intended humour of the video was lost on them and they used it to malign us further. You can check out the blog here. Mihira Sood, a Delhi-based lawyer who is helping out the students with the case, states that the girls have a pretty strong case of defamation. As far as the other YouTube video is concerned she says, “This is totally not connected to the case. The very fact that these channels have stooped to this level shows that their story was faulty.” She says the media have dug up this video to justify their own story which won’t hold in a court. She believes, the girls have a very strong chance of winning their case in a reasonable court of law. “The footage (shown by media channels) was sliced, edited to add fuel to the situation and to fit the kind of story the media had in mind The evidence is self-explanatory.” Sood also asked why the local media should be asking questions about why the students were given permission to go out for a party and why the media didn’t elaborate on the kind of ’nuisance the girls were creating’. The spat between NALSAR students and the local media has turned ugly with two of the students now alleging physical violence from one Andhra channel, TV5. The students have filed a case against the channel. The television channel has denied the claim and filed a counter complaint as well. You can view the full story here. While the media has the right to start its own petition to present what it calls as its ‘side of the story’, one can’t help but feel uneasy with the tone of its petition which makes it seem that students holding a party or drinking deserve to be shamed.