Throwback to the Shaheen Bagh protests we covered in the winter of 2019–20. Back then protesters had made a conscious decision to disengage from sections of the media that branded them tukde tukde gang and questioned their patriotism.
The consequences of this vilification went far beyond TV studios. The protests were followed by the Delhi riots, arrests and terror cases, including that of Umar Khalid, who remains behind bars facing UAPA charges. Media hounding has real-world consequences. The mistrust today has a history.