On Wednesday early morning, Islamists, self-proclaimed ‘fact-checkers’ several trolls sympathetic to the Congress party, took to Twitter to share a short clip of Republic TV Prime Time show to claim that he was called out by a foreign panellist for taking an ‘anti-Indian’ stand in the ongoing Ukraine-Russia clashes.
In a Republic TV debate show on Tuesday, Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami had launched an attack against the western countries, including the US, the UK, Germany, and others, for not making an effecting intervention in the ongoing Ukraine-Russia crisis. Arnab Goswami opined that the west could not just be sermonising others as it was an inflexion point and civilians were being killed amidst threats of a nuclear war.
In the show, Arnab had called the west and the NATO nations to either negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin or directly intervene to stop the bombardment of Ukraine.
Hours later, an edited clip of the show that has gone viral on the internet is being used by detractors of Arnab Goswami to ridicule and abuse him on the internet.
A short clip of Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami being subjected to a diatribe by a Portuguese panellist as they discussed the west’s approach to the ongoing clashes in Ukraine is all over the social media platforms.
In the edited clip, Gilbert Doctorow, a Portuguese strategic affairs expert, was seen lashing out at Arnab Goswami for not allowing him to convey his point of view. The enraged panellist asked whether Arnab Goswami would be allowed to speak or was there just to watch. The Portuguese panellist further said that he would like to tell Arnab that he needs to de-escalate his own language.
The Portuguese panellist said Arnab Goswami was simply repeating the accusations coming out of Ukraine President Zelenskyy’s office and amplified by Washington. He also claimed that the words Arnab used were not suitable for this discussion. The panellist from Lisbon also added that Arnab interrupted his Chinese speaker in a brutal way which does not help for the exchange of opinions.
“This is a war against NATO. The end game of Mr Putin is to show the shambles that NATO and to take the American knee out of the European neck. You, India along with China will be the major beneficiaries if Putin succeeds,” said Doctorow, adding that the editorial position of Republic TV on the ongoing Ukraine conflict would harm the country and the show that he is airing is against the interests of his own country.
The less-than two-minute accusations by the Portuguese panellist turned out to be a joyful moment for the Islamists, left-liberals, who aggressively shared the video to claim that Arnab Goswami was humiliated on his own network.
Mohammed Zubair, a notorious fake news peddler and co-founder of the propaganda website Alt News, was ecstatic as the video went viral. The Islamist troll shared his glee by saying that Arnab was called “Anti-national” on his own channel. Interestingly, the panellist never used such words to target Arnab Goswami.
The angry rant by a foreign panellist against the Indian journalist also caused a sense of joy in the Congress party as senior leaders were seen making fun of Arnab Goswami.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said that it took an expert from Lisbon to tell “ex-journalist” Arnab Goswami that his programme was actually anti-India.
Rana Ayyub, an Islamist accused of tax fraud, posted a tweet saying Arnab Goswami got schooled in journalism and journalistic ethics by a panellist from Lisbon. “A crying shame for the Indian media that is seen cheering war and amplifying state-sponsored propaganda,” Rana Ayyub claimed in her tweet.
As the one-sided propaganda videos have gone viral to tarnish the image of Republic TV chief, the full un-edited videos have appeared on the social media platforms in which Arnab Goswami was seen giving a befitting response to the Portuguese panellist for his bluster on national TV.
Arnab Goswami gives a befitting response to panellist
In his response, Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami said he thanked the panellist for giving a speech despite not asking for one. Asserting that he has independence over choosing an editorial position, Arnab Goswami slammed the Portuguese panellist saying, “You are sitting there in Lisbon and giving me a lecture. Kindly lecture yourself and ask yourself whether the straightforwardness of the question has begun to hurt you.”
The Republic TV chief also pointed out his bias, saying that the panellist, being a man of many years of own position, was very prejudiced in your views. Arnab Goswami cautioned the panellist by saying he would not accept a single line of unnecessary lecturing to anyone and asked him to desist from making any outrageous remarks as it was an Indian student who was killed in Kharkiv.
“So, I will not have you sit there and give me any lectures anymore. If you can answer the question, answer me. I will ask you a geostrategic question answer it as a geostrategic expert. Since you have chosen to run away, that is your problem,” Arnab Goswami responded to the panellist.