Trigger Warning: This article contains multiple references to self-harm and suicide, and we would like to advise reader's discretion.
On Monday, Times Now Navbharat's anchor Sushant Sinha presented a segment on his prime time television show News Ki Pathshala, where he addresses the question, "Is Argentine footballer Lionel Messi thinking of committing suicide?"
Sinha ponders over the question multiple times throughout the show, and brings up issues such as the flailing Argentine economy, and struggles Messi faced growing up, and how he overcame those struggles to become one of the top footballers of the world, and eventually win the latest FIFA World Cup in Qatar. After every example he repeats the same question - 'Then why would be Messi thinking of killing himself'?
After dedicating more than 70 per cent of the show's runtime on Messi and Argentina, Sinha comes to his main topic - the alarming number of student suicides in Rajasthan's Kota. He lists down several crucial issues faced by students in coaching institutions in Kota that adversely impact their mental and physical health - such as familial pressure, academic competition, lengthy study hours without break, and then presents an unusual analogy to discourage them from self-harm.
Despite facing critical economic conditions, and hardships, Sinha states, if Messi and the Argentines can celebrate their World Cup victory instead of killing themselves, the students of Kota should also continue and fight through their struggles without resorting to suicidal thoughts
Speaking to BOOM, Sinha defended his choice of analogy, saying, "Why I gave this example - because this match was not a football match, it was an inspirational story." "I thought this is the best time to inspire those students, who think of suicide, when they think their life is over."
Messi, Football, Kota - What Is The Story Here?
In the 20-minute-long segment, Sinha spent over 14 minutes talking about whether Messi should be considering suicide, and repeatedly questions why he is bringing up such a topic.
During this time, he lists down the good things in Messi's life - the great career in club-level football, the World Cup victory after multiple tries, and then goes on to show the negative side - Argentina's crippling economy, and Messi's own childhood hardships. At the end of every example, Sinha asks the readers, why then should Messi be thinking of suicide - and that he shall get to the answer shortly.
At 13:16 Sinha appears to provide an answer - that Messi was actually not thinking of suicide at all. However, he quickly follows it up by saying, "But should he have thought of it? Since his country was being destroyed, he was in pain, he was in a lot of poverty, he did not have money to treat his illness (when he was 11 years old), should he have committed suicide?"
Finally, at the 14:30 mark, Sinha brings up the main topic of his presentation - the alarming issue of the student suicides in coaching centres at Rajasthan's Kota.
"The story was completely on Kota", Sinha tells BOOM, despite dedicating just over 30 per cent of the show's runtime on the topic. He adds that his analogy was being shared out of context on social media with cropped versions.
BOOM could not independently find any report suggesting that Messi has acknowledged thoughts of self-harm. Sinha, also confirms the same to BOOM, and states that the only reason such an analogy was picked was due to the fact that the World Cup victory was still recent, and thus a good example.
Kota's Serious Student Suicide Crisis
Kota is home to a number of training and coaching institutions, where vast number of students come to prepare for some of the most competitive entrance examinations of the country.
Student suicide rates have been consistently on the rise in India in the past few years. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 2021 saw India's student suicides reach a 5-year-high, after the numbers started climbing during the coronavirus pandemic.
Kota itself has seen 14 student suicides this year, with three such deaths of students between the age of 16 and 18, in December alone.
Sinha cites a report by Tata Institute of Social Sciences, to highlight rampant anxiety, depression and stress faced by the students due to the competitive pressure at the coaching institutions, and added pressure from family and teachers, and also talks about continuous study hours students face without a single day of rest.
"Never actually said that Messi has thought of suicide"
While Sinha lists down many mental and physical health concerns, his show does not provide any solutions to dealing with any of these problems. Instead, his message is simple - like Messi, the students too should learn to fight through the adverse mental and physical health conditions due to academic pressure without resorting to suicidal thoughts.
The 20-minute presentation, laden with sensational music and swiftly changing tickers, contained 26 different references to suicide and self-harm in Hindi and English. However, it lacked any trigger warning for the provocative content.
Could the sensational coverage, and repeated references to suicide, have a negative impact on students watching the show?
"No it cannot happen," says Sinha. "Because I never said Messi has thought of suicide. I only keep repeating "does Messi think of suicide?", "I'll tell you about this now". I only kept asking, 'Will Messi think of suicide?'. I never actually said that Messi has thought of suicide."
Sinha also does not believe a viewer would stop his video mid-way and misinterpret his presentation. "Since I kept saying 'I'll tell you soon, I'll tell you soon', why then would they stop the video?" he said.
Monday's News Ki Pathshala show finally ends with the statement, "Argentina is being destroyed. With frightening inflation, unemployment. People don't have money. But they have a dream, football. Argentina will fight, and similarly you have to fight. Life goes beyond IIT, IIM, Medical. It does not end."
"Life is ahead. Football is ahead. The struggle is long," Sinha proclaimed in his final words.
The entire presentation, and the posts by Times Now Navbharat and Sinha, sharing the segment on social media, also lacked the links to any self-harm helpline number.
Sinha acknowledged to us over the phone that a list of helpline numbers were not provided in the show, and that maybe next time it would be provided.
Social Media Trolling
On Wednesday, the segment started gaining traction, with some users started trolling the anchor for his analogy using Messi and suicide. Sinha believes that these posts, sharing cropped videos from his presentation, were taking it out of context.
Note: If you are in need of support, or know someone who does, do not hesitate to reach out to one of the helplines below:
- AASRA: 91-22-27546669 (24 hours) Sneha Foundation: 91-44-24640050 (24 hours)
- Vandrevala Foundation for Mental Health: 1860-2662-345 and 1800-2333-330 (24 hours)
- iCall: (555)123-4567 (Available from Monday to Saturday: 8:00am to 10:00pm)
- Connecting NGO: 18002094353 (Available from 12 pm - 8 pm)
- The Samaritans Mumbai: 91-84229 84528/91-84229 84529/91 84228 84530 (Daily, 3 pm - 9 pm)