The lane outside Vinay Narwal라이브 바카라 family home resembles a busy marketplace during peak hours. People who are not his friends, not his family, who did not know he existed till 12 hours earlier throng at the gates.
“We’re standing outside the home of deceased Lieutenant Vinay Narwal, who was on his honeymoon in Pahalgam when a terrorist shot him in the head in front of his new bride,” one man speaks into a large black mic. Around him are scores of others, both women and men, speaking to cameras and the people beyond. Behind him, listening to the cacophony of reporters, fighting back tears of grief and rage, are Narwal라이브 바카라 college mates who learned mere hours ago that their friend is dead.
It's 6 pm and Narwal라이브 바카라 body is still on its way home—it라이브 바카라 been through Srinagar, Delhi and is now riding inside an ambulance on the highway that leads to Karnal. The 26-year-old Lieutenant라이브 바카라 family looks worried. They’re looking up at the sky, with the setting sun. They’re afraid there won’t be enough time to carry out Hindu last rites, which must take place before dusk.
Vikas Malik steps out of the gate holding a steel table with two muscular arms. He eyes the crowd outside his friend라이브 바카라 home, silently imploring them to move to make way. On this table, the family will place Narwal라이브 바카라 corpse for prayers and adulations before taking it to the crematorium. All the reporters turn around and watch Malik with curiosity. No one moves. Then, photographers rush to Malik라이브 바카라 side to take pictures of the empty table; reporters surround him to ask how he feels having learned his friend is dead.
Earlier in the day, before Narwal라이브 바카라 own mother and grandparents knew he had passed, local media lined up outside his home. “There were so many people that there was no place to stand. They were so squashed against the outside wall that they broke some planters and parts of the boundary,” says Agrima Verma, a 31-year-old filmmaker and Narwal라이브 바카라 neighbour for the past 18 years.
Verma looks tired, “I’ve been fighting with journalists since morning—in person and online,” she explains. She라이브 바카라 been correcting misinformation online and keeping wandering media out of her house.
On April 23, the day after news of the Pahalgam terror attack broke, one image went viral. A young woman, a new bride by the looks of her red, white, and gold bangles, sitting next to the body of a tall, burly young man wearing a black hoodie and pants lying face on the ground. Crimson blood is splattered on the young woman and flowing from the man라이브 바카라 body. This is Vinay Narwal and his widow Himanshi, the pair who had gotten married a week before the attack that killed him.
This image became a symbol of grief for the nation. And, just hours later, another image, another video surfaced. This one purportedly showed Narwal and Himanshi waltzing against the backdrop of Pahalgam라이브 바카라 snowy peaks and the man copying the famous spreading of arms that is known as the Shah Rukh Khan move. The 19-second clip juxtaposed to the popular Coke Studio track Jhol, is shared across India as the “last video” of the Lieutenant and his wife before the terror attack.
Narwal라이브 바카라 family is incensed as is Verma. First, they are informed that the only son in their family—whose marriage reception they celebrated at this house just four days ago—is killed in a terror attack purportedly orchestrated by Pakistan, and now they’re being told there is footage of his final moments against the backdrop of the Pakistani song.
Shristi Narwal, who has not said more than a few words since she learned of her brother라이브 바카라 passing, speaks up to clarify that the video is misinformation. Hours later, travel influencers Ashish Sehrawat and Yashika Sharma come forward and set the record straight.
UK-based journalism watchdog IMPRESS released guidelines on reporting death and terror attacks in 2022. The IMPRESS Standards Code tells journalists that to responsibly report on loss of life and respect the privacy of individuals and their families, one must "take all reasonable steps not to exacerbate grief or distress through intrusive newsgathering or reporting."
Narwal라이브 바카라 father Rajesh looks dazed with exhaustion. He doesn’t know when to mourn the loss of his only son—his home isn’t just filled with well-wishers and relatives as would be the case normally. He is also playing host to 100 journalists all brandishing cameras in his face.
The senior Narwal is a private man. Occasionally— when yet another mourner says to him: can’t believe this happened—his face starts to crumble and the grief he라이브 바카라 feeling peaks through. Then, he looks around at the cameras, and the reporters with their notebooks and phones. At that time, his face takes on an expressionless countenance. He goes back to making sure everyone, mourner, or media, has water; organising a white canopy outside his lane to shield waiting journalists and police officers who have been parked outside since noon from the scorching summer heat.
When Narwal라이브 바카라 body arrives, there is a rush. The family wants to complete prayers before the sun sets; the media, having climbed on to neighbours’ roofs, wants their money shot—a family grieving over their lost loved one.
Even on the way to the funeral home, cars chase Narwal라이브 바카라 convoy. Not just the ministers and politicians who have shown up to offer their condolences, but media rushing to get to the spot before even the body. Photographers and camerapersons are invested in lining up the perfect image to capture the sorrow, reporters want to find a quote that is just right to convey the story of lives lost in a terror attack.
“The images and video of Vinay라이브 바카라 cremation will be forever on the internet, for everyone to see. His family will see them again and again. How must they feel? Who does this help?” asks Verma.
It's said that terrorism is like a theatre. “While the terrorists may write the scripts and perform the drama, the “theatre of terror” only becomes possible when the media provide the stage and access to a worldwide audience… Terrorism is aimed at people watching, not the actual victims,” says Gabriel Weimann who has studied the subject for decades.
But, the question remains: is reporting on the aftermath of a terror attack also theatrical? While reporters are told, repeatedly, to be sensitive and empathetic while on the field, the new age of social media, with its emphasis on breaking the news and having the visuals first, sends a different signal. In the rush to be the first, as seen with the incident of the fake Narwal video, are we as reporters forgetting to be accurate? More importantly, are we forgetting that we are talking to vulnerable victims who simply want to carry on with their lives without their grief and raw emotions being aired on primetime making them unwitting spectacles.
Narwal라이브 바카라 home is quiet—neither his sister nor his father have cried yet. Shristi, his sister, broke down once during the past two days. According to close friends, Shristi has been in shock since learning the news of her brother라이브 바카라 death. They were Irish twins, studied in the same grade throughout school, and exceptionally close, said the Vermas, their neighbours. “She라이브 바카라 like a shell—she hasn’t cried. Neither has Rajesh ji (Narwal라이브 바카라 father.”) says Seema Verma.
The one time Shristi showed emotion in those first days, she faced the Chief Minister of Haryana and in a voice breaking under the weight of her anger she asked: “Where were the army officers? My brother could’ve been saved—no one came to check on the site till one and a half hours later.” The heart-breaking video, taken inside the crematorium while her brother라이브 바카라 body was burning, is all over the Internet.
The Code also states that when reporting on loss, "journalists should be particularly careful to avoid making any approaches that may result in the harassment of a person who is suffering from grief or shock, or towards their friends, colleagues or wider families."
According to the PIB, Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah paid his last respects to the deceased of the terror attack in Srinagar. Shah alighted from his car and walked a red carpet to where the 26 coffins were placed.
“Bharat will not bend to terror and the culprits of this dastardly terror attack will not be spared,” Shah had vowed. At the time, no one in the media questioned security lapses, nor asked what the government라이브 바카라 plan was. The same day, in Kathua in J&K, Dainik Jagran senior reporter Rakesh Sharma was beaten up by BJP party workers, including MLAs, because he asked them about security lapses which could have led to the attack.
On April 24, the government called for an All-Party meeting to discuss the attack. The Prime Minister did not attend. Outside the meeting, the only questions about the outcome were directed at the Leader of Opposition Mallikarjuna Kharge and other Congress leaders. The Home Minister was in attendance but the media directed no queries towards him.
Over in Kanpur, a chubby-cheeked child stands alone facing mics held to his face in a semi-circle. The kid saw his father shot by the terrorists on April 22, just a day ago. Now, he라이브 바카라 at the centre of a media maelstrom. “Tell us what happened, son,” one journalist is heard asking the kid. After faithfully narrating the details of his father라이브 바카라 death, the boy looks around at the people. And another journalist is heard asking the 10-year-old: “what do you think went wrong here?”
