Click to play videoChennai: The attack and murder of Tamil Nadu Police sub-inspector R Vetrivel in Tirunelveli has shaken up the nation.
While the media and the public continue to take on the two ministers who failed to act immediately and save his life debate is also raging on whether the media did right in just covering the event rather than help in saving the policeman.
The video and images of Vetrivel lying severely injured and crying for help gripped the nation on Friday. The sub inspector bled to death after he was attacked by unidentified men.
There was time to capture it on video with two Tamil Nadu ministers and a posse of officers taking up precious few minutes before they reacted.
But by that time all that remained was video footage of Vetrivel's last minutes and his dead body.
Three days later it has become a political issue and has been raised in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.
The politician's have been forced to answer but what about the cameraman who captured that footage.
Should he have filmed the moment or should he have rushed to save a life
"I understand that it's your job to roll the camera, to cover the events and to bring out the truth as well as your politicians. But it's very insensitive not to attend to someone who's bleeding to death," is the common opinion.
There have been very strong opinions on either side. While everyone agreed that saving a life is priority, others point out that the fact that those pictures were captured ensure a larger systemic malice and the death of a policeman is brought into our living rooms.
"Supposing that they'd not recorded it. Nobody would have known what'd happened. The ministers and the officials could have got away with any explanations that they had to offer," says journalist and political commentator Cho Ramaswamy.
But those not in the media believe that the pressure of news has got to sections of the press, who seem to have forgotten basic humanity.
"Sometimes when everyone else is keeping quiet, I suppose he's also yet another person that's why I said there should be a code of conduct to help people," says PUCL National Vice-President Sudha Ramalingam.
The police officials, the ministers and the media all stood watching for those precious few minutes and the question now is had they acted faster would Vetrivel have lived.
Shouldn't the first instinct whether it's a journalist, a politician or a bureaucrat be to try and save a life.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
displayed with permission. Use of the CNN name and/or logo on or as part of CNN-IBN does not derogate from the intellectual property rights of Cable News Network in respect of them.