A blast, media, and the right-wing narrative: A reporter’s diary from Kerala

Around 10 am, a phone call from a friend at Kochi’s government medical college hospital shattered this reporter’s Sunday plans of chilling out. The message was dire: an explosion had torn through a religious convention that was under way near the hospital. Slightly alarmed, this reporter immediately made some calls to police sources, solidifying the grim reality that something horrible had taken place. Though the police could not definitively confirm, tell-tale signs hinted that this was far from a small, accidental explosion.

By then, local news outlets had already pulled out all their breaking-news graphic templates, heralding a significant news development: “Serial explosions rip through the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ convention, resulting in one casualty and multiple injuries.” They aired on loop visual content depicting flames, distressed individuals, and evacuations from the auditorium, as the backdrop footage for live reporter stand-ups.

The officers who talked to the media maintained that they were unsure about the cause of the explosion. However, off the record, some of them confided that it was, indeed, a bomb. Around 11.30 am, the news channels caught wind of this information and started reporting the incident as an IED explosion, quoting National Investigation Agency (NIA) sources. They then delved into the specifics, including the use of tiffin box bombs and a blue car that sped away from the convention centre, which had piqued their interest.

Political colours

Political responses began emerging at that point. The first statement this reporter encountered was from state BJP chief K Surendran. As anticipated, he squarely put the blame on the state government, not only for the alleged intelligence failure but also for engaging in appeasement politics towards the minority community. He also pointed out the online participation of Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in a recent Palestine-solidarity event organized by the Jamaat-e-Islami, linking it to the convention centre blast.

On the other hand, the CPI(M) state secretary — very cautiously though — offered that from a political perspective, it appeared to be an act of terrorism designed to divert attention from the support that Kerala was providing to Palestine, not to mention that he was participating in the Palestine-solidarity event in Delhi at the time.

At this point, a man named Dominic Martin arrived at the Kodakara Police Station, 45 km north of the blast site, confessing to carrying out the bombing and turning himself in. Some channels were reporting this development with a sense of reluctance and scepticism, evident in their questioning of his mental stability. Some of the police officers this reporter spoke with shared their scepticism too.

At the same time, taking the cue from top BJP leaders, the right-wing trolls were having a field day, violently accusing the supposed connection between the government in Kerala and extremist groups, creating a “red-jihadi nexus”. They openly drew a connection between the bomb attack and the Israel-Hamas conflict, nonchalantly dubbing the Jehovah’s Witnesses as a “Jewish community”. A prime-time news anchor, who was on the ground with a special live show, was seen asking a Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation member if they had any Jewish connections!

Shift in focus

By the afternoon, the focus of the news bulletins had shifted from a potential terror angle to the surrender and confession of Dominic Martin. Many reporters had begun receiving inside information about the developments taking place within the Kodakara Police Station.

But the real shocker came media mogul-turned-Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who wrote on his X handle around 3 pm: “Dirty shameless appeasement politics by a discredited CM (and HM) Pinarayi Vijayan besieged by corruption charges. Sitting in Delhi and protesting against Israel, when in Kerala open calls by Terrorist Hamas for Jihad is causing attacks and bomb blasts on innocent Christians.”

The man who allegedly planted and triggered the bomb had already confessed by then and the news was out when the minister took to X to write this. There wasn’t the slightest hint of evidence to suggest that the bomb had been planted by any Islamic terrorist outfits or lone wolves; yet the narrative of “Hamas terror in Kerala” was doing the rounds, thanks to top BJP leaders, including Union ministers.

By evening, the police began providing clear and definitive responses to questions about the suspect. It was revealed that he had presented “substantial evidence” against himself, which convinced the police that he was indeed responsible for the act. It is learned that this “evidence” included videos of him planting and detonating the IED.

A bigger disaster averted?

While returning from the Kalamassery police camp near the police station around 7.30 pm, a message popped up in this reporter’s phone from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) media WhatsApp group. The chief minister, who had just returned from Delhi after attending the party’s central committee meeting and a Palestine-solidarity event, was about to hold a media briefing. This reporter pulled over to watch.

Touching briefly upon the condition of the injured and the schedule for the all-party meeting to be held on Monday, he went on to read the X post by Chandrasekhar and commented, “Poisonous creatures always spew venom, and there are many such around us. However, a union minister posting such a venomous message on social media is gross. His remarks are entirely communal. As a minister, he should respect the investigating agencies, including the central ones. How can he target a specific community and attribute a special dimension to this crime? On what grounds is he doing so? This is deeply concerning. Nobody should fall for this kind of communal rhetoric. Hate campaigns and disinformation on social media will not be tolerated, even if they come from a union minister.”

Now with a suspect, who has confessed, in custody, the investigators have many more questions to explore. They will need to piece together numerous details before arriving at a coherent conclusion. However, for the people, it was a moment for relief. It had been a day filled with panic, sorrow, stress, anxiety, and profound worry — for everyone concerned. But at least the bomber had surrendered in time, preventing the eruption of a bigger disaster — a possible communal volcano — in this small southern state.