Going gaga over Noor

BY rewati rau| IN Media Practice | 29/08/2003

Rewati Rau

From July 11 to August 1, Noor Fatima was the Indian media’s reigning queen. This two and a half year old Pakistani child who had travelled with her parents in the newly resumed Delhi-Lahore  bus service for a heart surgery in Bangalore, captured the front pages of all the leading newspapers as well as the headlines in the electronic media. The recent initiatives taken by India and Pakistan to restore their ties found expression in the media the Noor way and in no time at all  she  became the embodiment of  friendship between the two countries.

 The hype started from July 11  when all  newspapers carried  detailed coverage of the renewed bus service between the two cities. From that day on, Noor shot to the  front pages of almost all  newspapers and proceeded to stay there. The whole process of her admission to the hospital, her successful operation and her road to recovery was reported faithfully and at length in newspapers every day. Noor and her family were almost treated as Pakistan ambassadors to India. The mother’s nervous preparation for the operation, the father’s statements every day, and Noor’s condition were featured on  front pages till August 1 regularly.

 On July 16, The Hindu carried the photo of Noor and her parents being given fruits by a Minister of  Karnataka, Allum Veerabhadrappa. The parents themselves became celebrities overnight just by  bringing their child to India for an operation. Instead  of  focusing on other vital issues related to India-Pakistan relations, the media centred its attention on this kid and made her the symbol of the ties between the two countries. It   repeatedly mentioned in all  news stories that " little Noor has to deal with intense media attention," making her a celebrity even though she had no clue to what was happening. 

Undoubtedly the  Narayana Harudalaya hospital in Bangalore where the surgery was conducted  became a major beneficiary of the whole episode. This hospital, which had never earlier been noticed, became known throughout the country along with the doctor, Rajesh Sharma. It seemed as if the media here had forgotten that such open heart operations are successfully performed here regularly and the photographs and comments from the doctor appeared daily in the newspapers. 

 " Her heart mended, Noor will head for home in 6-10 days" headlined The Hindu on July19. The story carried all the details of Noor’s condition after the operation going to the extent of talking about the ‘sparkle’ in her eyes and saying that it was probably " the glint of unexpected flashes from the camera". After the operation, Noor’s condition every day was reported in the newspapers word by word. From her appetite to the tentative date of her discharge from the hospital, our media did not miss out on anything. Each and every detail of the little girl’s life during those days were open for the public. People were also not deprived of the details of Noor’s family. Thus the media kept the public updated on the well being of Noor’s  two brothers and the family’s correspondence with each other.

 One of the newspaper reports carried  the hospital CMD, Devi Shetty’s statement on Noor’s case in which he said  that perhaps "Noor evokes a feel good factor." The problematic question remains is,  why has this particular case evoked such a feel good factor?

.While there was an almost crazy coverage of the Karnataka government offering Rs 10,000 to the parents for the operation, the media failed to encourage such steps for the needy children of India. The Indian government’s offer of free treatment of 20 Pakistani children  instantly became a major  story  for the media, but there was not even a single mention of the thousands of poor children dying not only in India but other Asian countries owing to lack of finances for such operations. For this comparatively more privileged family, this renewed bus service came as a blessing at the right moment. As a front page report on July 16 in The Times of India mentions,  "Some more days more and the parents would have had, it appears, to take her to some western country, at a vastly greater expense."

The Indian media  tends to lose its sense of   proportion in such matters. We have a lot of "do-gooders" among our midst, if only for the reason that we have such a large and open media, unlike in the case of Pakistan. In a different context, that was best exemplified during General Musharraf’s trip to Agra last year. It was the manner in which the Indian media hyped the whole thing up that probably could have caused problems ultimately. But so what?

 While this particular case was exaggerated in the Indian press, it failed to make am impact in the Pakistani media. Well, that is probably the price we have to pay for a free and vibrant democracy and the sort of press which goes with it. An open coverage also means an openness about issues, even if they are as small as the medical treatment of a patient from Pakistan.

 Hence, so what if the  Indian Express published a report on this decision of the government on July 24, titling it in red bold letters as ‘The Noor effect’ This story in the Express  began by saying, "The smile on Noor Fatima’s face is now increasingly symbolizing the change in India-Pak relationship." Leave alone Noor, her parents also became the media’s favourites. Her father Nadeem Sajjad and  mother Tayyaba Nadeem were interviewed almost every day and their photographs in the print media became a regular feature during the second half of July.  The Times of India carried a story on July 18 titled ‘ Noor’s father calls for peace’. .  The story talked about things as trivial as Tayyaba Nadeem stressing on the similarity of fashion trends in the two countries.

 The little girl and her parents were given a warm farewell by the country with the media’s devoted assistance. The family’s arrival in the capital and their subsequent departure for Lahore were reported at length in print as well as the electronic media. " She cries if someone talks about doctors but ‘boti’ and burgers put the smile back on little Noor Fatima’s lips," was the opening line of the story in The Times of India on the day of the family’s departure to Lahore. 

   The Indian media’s hyped coverage of this particular case highlights  the biased way the  media presents the world to its readers and audience. In all the fuss about Noor’s operation, never once did the media mention  those children, be it Pakistani, or India, who can never afford such a surgery. It portrayed Noor as the bridge between India and Pakistan but it failed to talk about that strata of society of both the countries who were never involved in the rift between the two countries, but who cannot avail of such facilities, on either side.

 Rewati Rau is a journalism student. Contact: rewatir@rediffmail.com