A few journalists reporting on the security breach at the Indian Parliament were seen fighting over one of the smoke canisters used by the protestors who successfully entered the Well while the Lok Sabha session was in progress.
A video is going viral on social media platforms where a reporter from news channel TV9 can be seen holding a yellow smoke canister. As he tries to report about it, he is suddenly surrounded by a few other reporters, including Zee News and News18 senior journalist Pallavi Ghosh, who try to snatch the canister from his hand.
Throughout the 3-minute video, the TV9 reporter struggles to report. At one point in time, he requests Ghosh, stating, “Pallavi ji, please don’t do this.” Tensions rise as the senior journalist attempts to seize a yellow smoke canister from the TV9 reporter’s grasp. Finally, he tells her, “Just 30 seconds, promise,” implying he will give it to her after his work is done.
At around 1.49 seconds, Pallavi Ghosh loses her patience and demands the yellow smoke canister from the TV9 reporter. “Har cheese ka ek limit hotha hai (There is a limit for everything),” she is heard saying.
As he continues to report, another news reporter snatches the yellow canister from his hand. At this point, the TV9 reporter looks done and smiles at the camera.
Lok Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm after two people from the visitors’s gallery jumped into the Well with smoke canisters and shouted slogans. They were immediately overpowered and detained.
The two persons—Sagar and Devraj—denied being associated with any organisations. It is reported that Sagar was the guest of BJP Mysore MP Pratap Simha.
“One of them was attempting to run towards the speaker’s chair. They were shouting some slogans. The smoke could have been poisonous. This is a serious breach of security, especially on 13th December, the day when Parliament was attacked in 2001,” Karti Chidambaram told ANI.
It may be noted that today marks 22 years since the Parliament was attacked in 2001 by terrorists.
Internet reacts
The video has gone massively viral, with many taking potshots at the journalists in the video.
Fact checker and Alt News editor Mohammed Zubair said, “**Indian Media Circus** Pallavi ji please… Just 30 seconds.. I promise I promise… Arey bhai bohot dikha liye ab hume bhi do… #Parliament“
Newslaundry Abhinandan Sekhri wrote on X, “Unbelievable!!!! Satire cant match the actual ridiculousness of news”
Anit Tiwari, a journalist wrote, “Outside the #parliament, reporters were battling to acquire smoke canisters. @_pallavighosh and @gyanendrat1 were among those attempting to snatch them. A new low for TV media. #ParliamentAttack.”
TheNewsMinute’s Pooja Prasanna wrote, “So looks like the Zee reporter finally managed to snatch the canister. But kudos to the TV9 reporter for managing to fend off others so spiritedly for so long.”
An X user described the episode as ‘Comedy Nights at the Parliament Today’.
Amock, another X user wrote, “The state of Indian media for smoke canisters. They have nothing to do with #SecurityBreach or #Parliament.”
Another X user named NiAyu wrote, “Indian media is a circus. They should give information about the security and how it happened instead of this they are trying to show how they managed to do so. Ridiculous.”
An X user said, “Me and my siblings fighting for TV remote”
Another user wrote, “#securitybreach wasn’t a big issue, the big issue is the smoke cracker. What a joker Indian media.”
Another user named Narundar wrote, “Security gayi tel lene, Indian media is fighting for smoke canisters.”
