As the anti-CAA ‘protests’ begins to fizzle out, the “liberal-secular” media seems to be desperate as they are now indulging in bullying and attacking people, especially constitutional heads for not subscribing to their views on the Citizenship Amendment Act. On Thursday, Rajdeep Sardesai, arguably India’s greatest fake news peddler, found an avenue to express his frustration against the Narendra Modi government by inviting Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan to his show to discuss the issue of CAA and the subsequent controversies that have erupted in the state of Kerala.
Kerala is in the middle of a controversy after the Communist-ruled state government bypassed the Governor Arif Mohammed Khan to move to Supreme Court against the Citizenship Amendment Act. As Kerala government had failed to consult him before taking such decision, Governor Khan had slammed the state government for not seeking his advice before filing a petition in the apex court challenging CAA.
Rajdeep Sardesai, premising his show on the Kerala controversy, went on to disrespect Arif Mohammad Khan, who is a constitutional head of the state, by calling him a ‘rubber stamp’. Sardesai then claimed that Khan was angry against the Kerala government for bypassing him to file a petition in the SC.
However, an erudite Arif Mohammad Khan respectfully corrected Rajdeep Sardesai by stating that he was never angry as he only expressed his disappointment towards Kerala government’s decision. Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan said that he is a constitutional head and it is his right to advise the state government. If the state government moves to the SC without informing me, how do I exercise my constitutional right? asked Arif Mohammad Khan
Khan also slammed the Kerala government for passing a resolution against the CAA, a law passed by the parliament of the country. He also said that the Kerala government was trespassing their jurisdiction to pass such resolutions against the law that falls under the purview of the Central government.
“They are using time and money to take a stand against the law, which otherwise should be spent on the welfare of the state and not to fight their political battle,” said Khan while attacking the Kerala government.
A visibly irritated Rajdeep Sardesai then insinuated that the Arif Mohammed Khan was objecting against Kerala government exercising its right to file a petition in Supreme Court against the CAA. Khan responded to the accusations by saying that it was his constitutional right to advise the state government on an important issue and the state government cannot hide information from the governor.
Rajdeep Sardesai continued to attack and disrespect Khan by calling a ‘rubber stamp’ governor. Sardesai then subtly advised Governor Khan to toe the line of the Kerala government by merely agreeing to all the decisions of the state government.
As Khan objected to Rajdeep Sardesai’s ‘rubber stamp’ jibe, Sardesai referred Kerala governor Arif Mohammad Khan as a ‘BJP agent’ and attacked him for taking a different stand on the issue of CAA, which was opposite to that of the left-government.
Responding to Rajdeep Sardesai’s disrespectful comments, Arif Mohammad Khan stated that the language used by the journalist was deeply problematic. Slamming Rajdeep for calling him a BJP agent, Khan stated that he was appointed by the President of India and not BJP.
In the garb of asking questions, Sardesai crossed all the limits by expressing his personal hatred towards Arif Mohammad Khan on a live show by calling him a party agent after the latter sought answers from the Kerala government.
Arif Mohammad Khan said that people like Rajdeep Sardesai has not learnt any lessons even after witnessing violent protests during Mandal and Shah Bano years and the after-effects the country had to face due to such protests as the then government had succumbed to the pressure of street protestors. Khan held Rajdeep Sardesai responsible for polarising and creating hatred in the societies.
Later in the show, Rajdeep Sardesai lamented over the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act and claimed that the law has polarised the country. Rajdeep Sardesai also claimed that the CAA was ‘unconstitutional’ as it discriminates people on the basis of religion and also shockingly defended the violent protests that are taking place on streets.
Khan argued with Rajdeep Sardesai by questioning whether Rajdeep Sardesai wanted people to hit to the streets to protest against the constitutionality of the law and asked people to challenge the constitutionality of the law in the court and not on the streets if they felt that the law was constitutional. To which, Rajdeep Sardesai resorted to false propaganda and claimed that people have been on the streets to ‘peacefully’ protest against the CAA.
In a hurry to discredit Arif Mohammad Khan and his support for the CAA, Sardesai made false claims stating the protests against the CAA were ‘peaceful’. In fact, the Muslims, who are protesting against the CAA has gone on a rampage ever since the law was passed by the parliament. The Muslim mobs have burnt cities and indulged in large scale violence and had unleashed violence across the country to ‘protest’ against the CAA. Unsurprisingly, Rajdeep Sardesai tried to absolve the crimes of these Muslim mobs by calling them peaceful.
On the live show, Khan also schooled Rajdeep Sardesai for creating a religious divide among the masses of the country by using making it a Hindu-Muslim issue.
Rajdeep Sardesai later claimed that he had visited Shaheen Bagh ‘protests’ in Delhi and claimed that their grievances were ‘genuine’. However, Rajdeep Sardesai did not utter a word regarding how Shaheen Bagh protests are a staged protest and causing huge inconvenience to the residents of Sarita Vihar as the Muslim mobs have occupied highways, bus stops and streets. Rajdeep, however, stated that the protestors had the right to be heard and hinted that the Modi government should listen to the Shaheen Bagh protestors regarding their views on CAA.
In fact, Rajdeep Sardesai also deliberately ignored Muslim mobs shouting peaceful slogans of “Jinnah Wali Azadi” during the protestors at Shaheen Bagh.
To which, Khan said that he had only one advice for the protestors at Shaheen Bagh that they should avoid getting mislead by people and asked them to study the CAA law which has nothing to do with the Indian Muslims. As Arif Mohammad Khan tried explaining facts, an angry Rajdeep Sardesai resorted to fear-mongering by speculating on NRC. He claimed that CAA and NRC is a deadly combination which could cause divisions in society.
Khan held Rajdeep Sardesai responsible for the Hindu-Muslim polarization in the country and blamed him for spreading false rumours on NRC. He advised Rajdeep Sardesai not to use Hindu-Muslim terminology to create false community consciousness among the masses of the country.