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Paper-tigers of Bengal: The Telegraph maintains strategic silence over obscene amount of cash recovered from TMC minister’s aide

May be, the Telegraph, which takes so much pride in its headlines except, has no courage at all to hold West Bengal government or Mamata Banerjee into account or report on things that are happening in its own backyard in West Bengal.

The Telegraph, the English-language paper from ABP group published from Kolkata, West Bengal, often hailed by the ‘liberals’ in India for its anti-Modi headlines, has maintained strategic silence on the enormous amount of cash recovered from Arpita Mukherjee’s house. Mukherjee is a close aide of Partha Chatterjee, TMC leader and minister in Mamata government, currently under scanner over alleged involvement in SSC recruitment exams.

The Telegraph front page

In what would have been the biggest news of the day, since it is a locally published paper, likely catering to local people, the sea of cash recovered from Arpita Mukherjee’s second residence is pushed into a small corner ‘in brief’. To put things in perspective, Rs 29 crore cash was found from her house. 6 trucks and cash counting machines were brought in to count the huge cache of cash recovered. This was over and above the cash already recovered from her other residence. A total of about Rs 40 crore cash has been recovered till now.

Earlier on July 22, ED had recovered cash worth over Rs 21 crore, jewellery and foreign exchange from the residence of Arpita Mukherjee in Tollygunge. Reportedly, that flat had been ‘gifted’ to her by arrested TMC leader Partha Chatterjee. It is believed that the recovered money is proceeds of SSC teacher recruitment scam during the time when Partha Chatterjee was the education minister in West Bengal. The Calcutta High Court has ordered a probe in this scam, following which CBI and ED are conducing searches and investigations.

Even on its website, The Telegraph does not even have this piece of news on TMC leader and a minister in Mamata cabinet.

The Telegraph website

The Telegraph chose to put up an ‘interview’ with Alt News’ Mohammed Zubair whose online trolling and dog-whistling has now led to incidents of violence and at least three killings by Islamists.

In fact, when you scroll down the website, the news regarding the cash cache does not even appear – at least till a few miles this reporter scrolled.

In its ‘West Bengal’ section, the first article is about Mamata Banerjee ‘slamming ‘torturous’ Centre’.

The Telegraph West Bengal section

The news regarding the huge amount of cash found from aide of TMC minister is pushed further down.

Partha Chatterjee is a powerful minister in Mamata government. He is also secretary general of the ruling Trinamool Congress. Safe to say he is a close aide of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. On directions of the Calcutta High Court, the CBI is probing the irregularities in the Group-C and D staff as well as teachers recruitment in government sponsored and aided schools on recommendations of West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC). The Enforcement Directorate is following the cash trail.

The Telegraph ‘speaking truth to power’

This, of course, isn’t the first time The Telegraph appears to be terrified of Mamata Banerjee. In October 2020, on a day when the goons allegedly associated with the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC, joined hands with the West Bengal Police and unleashed violence and mercilessly beat up people on the streets of Kolkata, the neutral media ‘Telegraph’ chose to remain a mute spectator against atrocities perpetrated by the West Bengal government. The Telegraph did not have any of its spiteful headlines it passes off as ‘witty’!

The Telegraph is more of an advocacy group than an actual media organization. During the 2019 general elections, its editor had claimed in an article removing Narendra Modi from power was the only hope for India’s redemption. The Bengal-based media house The Telegraph was called out by netizens for a headline that insulted the Dalit community as it compared the President of India, Ramnath Kovind, who is a Dalit leader himself, to ‘Covid19’. The meltdown came after President Kovind nominated ex-CJI Ranjan Gogoi to Rajya Sabha.

“Kovind, not Covid, did it”, the headline read. The Coronavirus pandemic that started from China’s Wuhan province in November 2019 has wrecked havoc across the world with virus mutating, with millions across the world getting infected and lakhs succumbing to the disease. The virus continues to spread, infecting thousands every day in India.

May be, the Telegraph, which takes so much pride in its headlines except, has no courage at all to hold West Bengal government or Mamata Banerjee into account or report on things that are happening in its own backyard in West Bengal. And maybe find its spine buried under the pile of cash found in Arpita Mukherjee’s home.

Ayodhra Ram Mandir special coverage by OpIndia

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Nirwa Mehta
Nirwa Mehtahttps://medium.com/@nirwamehta
Politically incorrect. Author, Flawed But Fabulous.

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