Leftist propaganda rag The News Minute is back with another episode of Let Me ‘Exaggerate & Whitewash’. Pooja Prasanna is adept at whitewashing flaws, mistakes, and even speaks lies that feel like truth.
In the latest episode covering the Cockroach protests, Pooja and TNM present a one-sided narrative of the protests and the ongoing aftermath while completely absolving the rioting protestors of whatever they did. They first make unverified claims and then also ensure to omit important information that led to the situation that we saw on 20 July 2026.
Declaring Police Actions “Illegal” Without Any Judicial Finding
The video opens by asserting, “The Delhi Police, its Special Cell, and the Rapid Action Force violated well-established rules governing the use of force…”
It goes even further by stating, “Some of what you see in these videos isn’t just excessive; it appears clearly illegal.”
These are opinions, not facts. At present, there has been no judicial determination, commission of inquiry, or official investigation concluding that the police violated the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita or the Supreme Court’s guidelines on crowd control. Whether the force used was proportionate, necessary, or unlawful is precisely the question that requires investigation. Presenting this as an established fact from the very first minute is proving that a narrative is in motion.
Selective Use Of The Supreme Court Judgment
Pooja relies extensively on the Supreme Court’s 2012 judgment arising out of the Baba Ramdev incident. It correctly notes that peaceful protest is constitutionally protected and that police must use minimum force. However, it omits equally important legal principles:
- Article 19 does not create an unrestricted right to protest. The Constitution expressly permits reasonable restrictions in the interests of public order, security, and sovereignty.
- The Supreme Court has consistently held that the right to protest is subject to maintaining public order.
- Crowd-control law applies only after considering the nature of the assembly, compliance with lawful directions, and the conduct of the crowd.
By discussing only police obligations while remaining silent on the legal obligations of protesters, viewers receive only one half of the legal truth.
No Discussion Of Whether The March Was Authorised
One of the most striking omissions concerns the legal status of the march itself. The video never informs viewers that:
The Delhi Police had explicitly stated that no permission was sought or granted for the “Sansad Chalo” march.
Prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita were imposed across the New Delhi district.
Under these restrictions, gatherings of five or more people and protest marches were strictly banned in the high-security zone surrounding Parliament.
Protests were legally permitted only at the designated Jantar Mantar site with prior approval.
By leading over 50,000 protesters past Jantar Mantar toward Parliament, the CJP leadership deliberately violated these lawful orders. The News Minute makes no mention of this fundamental legal violation thus making it seem as if the permission was already in place and the rioters were innocent.
Violence By Protesters Is Reduced To A Passing Reference
Pooja spends several minutes documenting allegations of police excesses. By contrast, violence committed by sections of the protesters receives only a brief acknowledgement, “…the crowd did retaliate.”
That single sentence replaces discussion of several significant aspects of the clashes, including how
118 police personnel injured, including senior officers of the ranks of Special Commissioner, Joint Commissioner, Additional Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, and women police personnel
During today’s violent protests, more than 118 police personnel from Delhi Police and Central Police Forces, including Special Commissioner, Joint Commissioner, Additional Commissioner, and Deputy Commissioner rank officers deployed on duty, sustained injuries.
Delhi Police… pic.twitter.com/DF5re1OtK2
— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2026
- Attacks on security barricades.
- Vandalism of 15 to 20 government and police vehicles.
- Damage to public property.
- Attempts to breach security cordons.
If Pooja wanted to analyse police response at a microscopic level, she must have considered the conduct of the crowd to determine whether the force used was proportionate. Removing that context creates a distorted picture – exactly what they wanted.
Rhetorical Questions Presented As Evidence
She asks, “What act of terrorism or organised crime was this protester committing?”
This is intended to question why officers from the Delhi Police Special Cell were present. However, she offers no evidence that officers from specialised units are legally prohibited from assisting in major law-and-order deployments. Special Cell officers can be deployed for law-and-order duties when required. This is only for insinuating the viewer.
The Video Whitewashes Protester Violence
The News Minute’s coverage presents protesters as helpless victims while erasing their agency. By omitting the fact that:
- 118 police personnel were injured.
- 15 to 20 government vehicles were vandalised.
- Multiple FIRs have been registered for rioting and assault on public servants.
TNM has presented a selective narrative that serves to delegitimise law enforcement while absolving protesters of accountability.
The Story Is Framed As A Police Story Rather Than A Riot Story
Right from the get-go, they frame the police as the villain and affix ‘victim card’ stickers on the protestors faces. The issue is presented entirely as a story of police violence, examined through the narrow lens of police conduct, Supreme Court judgments on police accountability, colonial policing history, lathi drills, tear gas deployment, and the need for police reform.
It is not examined as a confrontation involving two actors – the police and the mob. Viewers hear very little about the unlawful assembly that necessitated police action, the prohibitory orders that had been imposed across the New Delhi district, the attempts by protesters to breach security cordons, the vandalism of government vehicles, the damage to public property, the 118 police personnel who were injured in the clashes, or the legal responsibilities of protesters under the Constitution.
This fundamentally shapes audience perception, presenting the events as an act of state aggression rather than a law-and-order confrontation involving two parties, both of whom bear legal and moral responsibility for their actions.
Overall, the almost 12-minute video presents only one side of the entire story – this is not what journalists do. This is what propaganda peddlers do and thus TNM is not a journalistic platform but a propaganda peddling platform. May they stop pleading for support in the name of ‘independent journalism’.
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