Thaindian News

Mumbai, May 4 (IANS) While Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab’s trial was the highlight of the day for most news channels, many newspapers Tuesday led their local editions with the railway drivers’ strike that paralysed the smooth running of Mumbai’s local trains.
For news channels, the strike was an almost ignored affair. They shed some light on it only after the repeated coverage of the Kasab trial and all kinds of analyses and debates ended late Monday.

Barring a couple of newspapers, most of them led with how lakhs of commuters were stranded because of the railway motormen’s strike. Unlike news channels, newspapers had the liberty to publish extensive reports and minute details in the inside pages on the Kasab trial.

On average, most newspapers ran around 10-15 reports on Kasab’s trial, the verdict, survivors’ and victims’ reactions and the background of the case. Meanwhile, there were only three to five reports on the motormen’s strike — but on the front pages.

News channels Monday managed only with news flashes on the strike every now and then. To make up for it, news channels Tuesday have been giving detailed coverage of the situation that has arisen due to the motormen’s strike that began early Monday.

It seemed that the only people worried about the protests by suburban train drivers were commuters themselves. After all, they were the ones who had to worry about how they would get back home.

The Kasab verdict did affect their thoughts, but only for a few minutes. Unavailability of trains remained at the forefront of their minds.