National Award-winning Director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri’s recent flick ‘The Kashmir Files’ has stormed the Internet after its gut-wrenching trailer dropped on Monday. Agnihotri’s last ‘The Tashkent Files’ which was based on the case of Lal Bahadur Shastri’s death, was targetted by left-centred media and a league of entrenched film critics. Vivek Agnihotri has now alleged Film critic Anupama Chopra of trying to ‘sabotage’ his recent movie – The Kashmir Files.
On Wednesday, Agnihotri was seen tweeting his allegation against Film Companion head Anupama Chopra that she is playing ‘dirty tricks’ in the background to target his movie. Vivek Agnihotri asked Anupama, calling her Shoorpankha, “If you have any guts, sabotage ‘The Kashmir Files’ openly. Please stop playing dirty tricks from the background. Your only qualification is that you are married to a Producer who despite being a KP (Kashmiri Pandit), stabbed KPs in their back.”
Dear @anupamachopra, the Shoorpanakha of Bollywood, If you have any guts, sabotage #TheKashmirFiles openly. Pl stop playing dirty tricks from the background. Your only qualification is that you are married to a Producer who despite being a KP, stabbed KPs in their back.
When asked by a user on Twitter as to what the critic has done, Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri announced that he is soon going to expose the tricks of the trade used by Anupama and her team. Agnihotri also took a jibe at supposed film critic and writer Rahul Desai, who is employed at Chopra’s Film Companion. Rahul Desai’s critique of Vivek Agnihotri’s last film in 2019 – The Tashkent files was more of a troubled rant than a serious commentary. While terming the film “A Second-Hand History Lesson In Third-Rate Politics” Rahul’s own political agenda and film appreciation skills were on display.
You will know soon. Will expose her dirty tricks soon. And also her two penny, third rate, irrelevant pawn @ReelReptile the begging parasite who reviews films only to eat free burgers & fries. Join me in this war against Bollywood Oppressors. https://t.co/u4cEJ7seTF
Interesting to note is the fact that Anupama Chopra’s husband, senior producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra had also directed a film on similar lines capturing the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits released in 2019. The movie ‘Shikara‘ was criticised widely for whitewashing the militancy, Jihad, separatism and genocide of Kashmiri Hindus orchestrated by rampant Islamic Radicalism in the Kashmir valley.
Propaganda against The Kashmiri Files has already started while the trailer of the film has become an instant hit among the masses. On the other hand, the left-liberal ecosystem had started to target long ago, and NDTV had called it a propaganda movie even before the trailer of the film was released. The film stars Anupam Kher, Mithun Chakraborty, Pallavi Joshi, Darshan Kumar, Chinmay Mandlekar and Mrinal Kulkarni in lead roles and is set to release in the cinemas on March 11, 2021.
In February 2020, many areas of Delhi were affected by the communal riots instigated by the Islamists under the garb of anti-CAA protests. The Chandbaag-Karaval area of northeast Delhi was one of the most severely affected areas in these riots. The area houses the building of the infamous Tahir Hussain. This place was later identified as the key location where the riots were conspired and planned.
It is the same area in which IB officer Ankit Sharma was brutally killed. A mob of violent Islamists had stabbed him to death. Shops, houses, and properties of Hindus were specifically marked and targeted in order to ensure maximum damage to the Hindu community. Not so far from Tahir Hussain’s home, there was a Shiva Temple in lane number six. The rioters had desecrated the temple.
Two years after the riots, there is no communal tension in this area as of now. But, the memories of the event keep haunting the local Hindu community. A feeling of fear is clearly seen on their faces when one tries to engage in conversation with them, especially about their experiences and memories of the riots and the hardships they had been through, even after the riots were over.
It was this traumatizing fear that Shyam Sahni was initially not ready to talk with the OpIndia. But as the conversations smoothened, he built confidence to express himself and his talks unfolded the reasons for the fear one after the other.
Shyam Sahni would run a tea shop
On 24th February 2020, Shyam Sahni was about to close his tea shop in the evening when he saw a mob of stone-pelting Muslims approaching his shop. Shyam Sahni said, “I was making tea in my tea shop. Muslims in the area were protesting against CAA right from that morning. Meanwhile, I was informed that a mob of thousands of Muslims is heading from Chaandbaag to Karaval Nagar and that they are vandalizing the shops as they march ahead. We immediately closed the shutter and escaped from the back doors. But the rioters broke into the shop and destroyed it. They looted everything they could. After this, the shop caught fire due to the petrol bomb which was thrown from Tahir Hussain’s building.
Shyam Sahni’s tea shop was looted in the Delhi riots of 2020. Shyam Sahni, pained, is seen with his wife.
Shyam Sahni, the tea seller, claims that he has suffered from a loss worth Rs. 5 lakhs in this riot. Being a tenant, he did not receive any great help despite a cheque of Rs. 25000 from an NGO and Rs. 32000 from Kapil Mishra and a few others sources.
Sahni further told OpIndia, “I also had a small Dhaba. Rioters looted that too. The rioters took everything away destroyed everything there including the counter, the furniture, the fridge. They did not even spare the utensils.” After two years of the riots, while showing OpIndia his house, all Sahni had to show was bedding, a small worship place, and a few more things left in the shop that has a photograph of PM Modi.
PM Modi’s photograph in the shop
It has been two years since the Delhi riots and Sahni’s Dhaba has not yet resumed its normal business as before. The tea shop does not work anymore. According to Shyam Sahni, it is so because of the PM Modi’s photograph he has on the walls of the shop that he had placed there after the Delhi riots. When asked about the same, he answered, “We are alive all thanks to him. Come what may, will not remove it.”
PM Modi’s photograph in the tea shop.
To feed a family of six, Shyam Sahni has now started selling ice creams. He sells it in the areas like Chaandbaag, Mustafabad, and Seelampur. It is notable that the rioters allegedly hail from these areas.
In fact, OpIndia had also visited the tea shop right after the riots. At that time, the local people had told, “For four days, Shyam Sahni did not eat anything, nor did he change his clothes. His everything was ruined right in front of him.” Two complete years, but the fear persists even today; which is why Shyam Sahni was initially not ready to talk, as he still avoids any type of media. Clarifying this, he said, “I have to live in the same area. I have to live among these very people. What if anything happens to my family?”
More similar stories
The rioters also destroyed the Giri automobile workshop. Two years later, when we reached the spot, we could not find Dilip, the owner of the workshop; but the marks of the fires were yet clearly seen. People in the vicinity informed that some Muslim man has bought the shop now.
Some Muslim buyer has now bought the Giri Automobile Workshop.
Rioters left Tahir Hussain’s building and reached the Giri automobile workshop. And what they all did there is well summarized in the attached video.
Two years ago, OpIndia had an opportunity to converse with Dilip, the owner of the automobile workshop. At that time he had informed that the rioters had caused him a loss of almost 30 to 40 thousand. Besides, Pradhanji was looted for Rs. 250000.
Aman E-rickshaw shares a similar story. This shop is also located in the vicinity of Tahir Hussain’s building and rioters had very badly damaged the shop. The owner had to leave the area forever. Rioters had stolen so many batteries and other parts of E-rickshaw from his shop and then burnt the shop.
Now the place houses a wholesale shop of clothes. The owner of this shop informed that within months of the Delhi riots, the owner of the Aman E-rickshaw shop left the place forever.
Some wholesale clothes shop has replaced Aman E-rickshaw shop now.
Another shop in this area, formerly called Aroda furniture, has now become Sachdeva furniture. The shop had to bear a great loss in the riots and none of it was reimbursed by any means. The rear side of the house still has the marks of the brutal fire sports played by the rioters.
Aroda furniture has now become Sachdeva furniture.
The victims of the Delhi riots of 2020 are slowly rebuilding their lives and businesses. But small shopkeepers have not yet completely recovered from the traumatic experience they have been through.
On Wednesday, the Enforcement Directorate arrested Maharashtra Minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik. Malik was issued summons to appear before the ED pertaining to a PMLA case related to elements linked to Dawood Ibrahim and the underworld.
After an interrogation that lasted several hours, Malik has been formally arrested by the ED. As per reports, he was taken for a medical examination from the ED office.
#WATCH | Mumbai: NCP leader and Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik being brought out of Enforcement Directorate office, to be taken for medical examination.
He has been arrested by Enforcement Directorate in connection with Dawood Ibrahim money laundering case. pic.twitter.com/UMAVK5ZEVW
The Office of Nawab Malik had confirmed the news and said that the ED officials visited Malik’s house and took him away from his residence. “Today morning the ED had come to Nawab Malik’s residence. They accompanied saheb in his vehicle to the ED office. Advocate Amir Malik, Saheb’s son has accompanied saheb along with”, the tweet read. The minister was being questioned since 8 am.
Today morning the ED had come to @nawabmalikncp saheb’s residence. They accompanied saheb in his vehicle to the ED office. Advocate Amir Malik, Saheb’s son has accompanied saheb along with.
This is after the ED conducted raids in South Mumbai in connection with a money laundering case against underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his aides. Close to nine places in Mumbai and one in Thane were raided by the ED including the residences of Dawood Ibrahim’s late sister Haseena Parkar and brother Iqbal Kaskar. The agency also took into custody Iqbal Kaskar who is imprisoned in Thane in an extortion case and presented him before the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court.
According to the reports, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar criticised the act and said that this was being deliberately done to harass people who have been outspoken against misuse of central agencies. “If there is a Muslim activist who is their opponent, it is their habit to link his name to Dawood. When I was the CM of Maharashtra, they had tried to link my name with Dawood as well. This is an attempt to harass those who are speaking against the misuse of central agencies,” Pawar was quoted.
Shivsena leader Sanjay Raut also slammed the BJP led government and said the ED was being misused. “The way in which Nawab Malik was taken from his home by ED is a challenge to Maharashtra Govt. A minister is taken away by central agencies by coming to our state. After 2024, you’ll be probed too. Keep this in mind”, he added.
Nawab Malik is a sr leader & Maharashtra’s cabinet minister. The way in which he was taken from his home by ED is a challenge to Maharashtra Govt. A minister is taken away by central agencies by coming to our state. After 2024, you’ll be probed too. Keep this in mind: Sanjay Raut pic.twitter.com/hVAd56DPfT
Earlier on February 19, the National Investigation Agency had revealed that Ibrahim was planning to launch terror attacks on India using explosives and lethal weapons. He had formed a special unit with the aim of inciting violence in different parts of the country.
The premier agency also said that he has been transferring funds through Hawala channels to provide financial help to all those involved in a planned attack. He is involved in promoting anti-national activities and is also trying to create a rift between different religious groups, the agency added.
According to the reports, Nawab Malik’s name appeared in the process of investigation after the intelligence inputs directed the agency to look into the hawala transaction while probing a money laundering case against Ibrahim, Iqbal Mirchi, Chhota Shakeel, Parkar and Javed Chikna. The agency traced several hawala transactions linked to money illegally obtained through extortion, drug trafficking, sale of real estate in Nagpada and Bhendi Bazaar area of Mumbai, and other unlawful activities.
Ibrahim and several of his associates have been named by the NIA along with their roles in terror activities, including hawala transactions, against India. A case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) has already been registered against Dawood Ibrahim and his aides.
The Bombay High Court has upheld Maharashtra Government’s decision to mandate Marathi signages on commercial establishments across the state. This came after the High Court quashed a petition filed by a retail traders association against the rule of the state government on February 23, 2022.
#BombayHC dismisses a petition filed by the retail traders association challenging mandatory Marathi signboards at their establishments across #Maharashtra.
HC held that, rule of mandatory Marathi signboards doesn’t violate provisions of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution.
The Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association (FRTWA) had filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court against the Maharashtra government’s rule. In January this year, the MVA government in Maharashtra passed a cabinet proposal asserting that all shops across the state should prominently display a signboard in Marathi. In 2017, a similar law was passed by the state government but its implementation did not go according to the rule.
The Bombay High Court upheld that rule of mandatory Marathi signboards doesn’t violate provisions of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution. The High Court observed, “Marathi is the mother tongue of Maharashtra and a rule for mandatory Marathi signboards outside any shop or other places can’t be termed discrimination,” The Court has imposed a fine of Rs 25,000/- on the petitioners, which is to be deposited in the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. The decision comes a few days before the state celebrates Marathi Rajbhasha Din (Marathi Day) on February 27.
The Marathi signboards rule
In January 2021 the Shiv-Sena led MVA government in Maharashtra approved a rule mandating prominent Marathi typeface on signboards written in the Devanagari script outside all commercial establishments in Maharashtra. This itself was an amendment to the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act passed by the Devendra Fadnavis government in 2017. When the earlier rule was implemented, small Marathi nameplates were put against sized English letters on the boards.
The recent rule demands that letters in Marathi should be equal in size to those in other scripts. State industries minister Subhash Desai said, “The Maharashtra government has taken a decision that all shops should have name boards in Marathi. This should be in a font that is prominently visible. The decision to have Marathi name boards on shops was taken in 2017. But its implementation was not happening on the ground. Hence, the Cabinet today took the decision to implement it effectively.”
Criticism of the move had come from the commercial quarters while it was alleged that the decision was taken in the run-up to the upcoming Municipal Corporation elections in the state. The move has been a long-standing demand from the Raj Thackeray led Maharashtra Navanirman Sena and has been an underlined issuing in the arena of Marathi Politics in the state.
The news of a continued blackout in Siddharth colony in Mumbai’s Chembur has been doing rounds for years until now. The residents of the Siddharth colony have failed to pay their electricity bills since 2006 and their dues have now mounted for up to Rs 99 crore. Adani Electricity has disconnected its power supply for nine hours during the day owing to the non-payment of the dues. The residents of the colony have now taken to protests.
The history of non-payement of dues
Several residents of Chembur’s Siddharth Colony have taken to protests after the electricity supply to the colony was cut by the provider Adani electricity. This came after it was repeatedly realised by the company that the residents have failed to pay their electricity dues for 16 years from now.
The Times of India has reported that the pending electricity bills along with the penalty have mounted up to Rs 99 crores. According to Adani Electricity, electricity connections of the defaulted customers have been disconnected in the past but were later restored on humanitarian grounds. In August 2019, the power supply to the society was restored on an assurance that regular payments will be made from then onwards while past dues will be paid within three months. However, the residents of the society did not budge.
Earlier in 2018 also, the then electricity supplier Reliance energy had to face a similar hurdle to receive the power dues from the residents of Siddharth society. It was reported that the housing society which houses more than 20,000 residents had to face the action of Reliance electricity when the company cut the power supply for three days. In 2018, the dues mounted for 63 crores.
Despite repeated actions and warnings, the residents of Siddharth Society are adamant about not clearing previous dues despite the fact that electricity was consumed by them. Also, the residents have made repeated assurances of unhindered payment of current electricity bills but have failed to do so as well.
What Electricity distributers have to say
In 2018, Reliance Energy, as an electricity distributor, had disconnected the electricity supply to Siddharth Colony for non-payment of dues for 12 years. After repeated notices and warnings, Reliance took the decision of cutting the power supply which was restored later after a protest. An official from the company had said that they are strict at that time about recovering all the arrears. “If the residents couldn’t pay, they had to find a way. Because of Siddharth colony residents, other customers were paying higher tariffs,” he added while responding to the situation.
A similar scenario has prevailed today in 2002 while despite a coercive action of repeated power cuts by the new energy distributor – Adani Electricity, the residents are not ready to pay their dues. The collective dues for the society have now mounted to Rs 99 crores to this day. An Adani official while speaking to the TOI added, “Despite multiple relaxations, several notices and reminders, consumers from Siddharth Colony and Shuddhodhan Nagar have not cleared their outstanding dues and continue to default on their current dues as well. This puts an unnecessary tariff burden on our regular paying consumers and such a situation is unacceptable.” The official further asserted that the company is obligated and constrained to initiate mass disconnection against the defaulters in the interest of their regular paying consumers.
Where mob mentality meets politics
Siddharth Society is often denoted as a slum of lower-middle-class dwellers in Mumbai’s neighbourhood of Chembur. Located between the Eastern expressway and Sion-Panvel Highway, The society has been currently in the news for over 3500 households plunging into darkness after failing to play electricity dues for over sixteen years. When asked a resident about their coercive negligence to pay the bills, it was learnt that many builders had approached the residents for redevelopment, owing to the settlements’ strategic location. Talking about one such builder, a resident added, “The builder who was to redevelop our colony had promised to pay all bills, but now, he is not showing his face,”
While no deal was struck between any builder and the residents, the residents decided to discontinue paying the bills accusing an alleged builder of his promise of paying their dues. Since then, the dues have added to the headache of the electricity suppliers. In 2018, when the supply to the society was discontinued, around 500 protestors gathered around the Reliance Energy office in Tilak Nagar, they had even tried to attack the office. To avoid a law and order situation, police forces were deployed.
In August last year, it was found that 12 residents of Siddharth Colony pilfered electricity for a year after the power supply was cut off over default on bills. It was found that 33,541 units of power were used illegally by these residents which cost Rs. 4,86,635/-. The Chembur Division of Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd (AEML) had filed an FIR against these residents in 2021.
It is learnt that caste politics also has a role to play as many residents who belong to the Dalit community are counted as a major vote bank in the Chembur constituency. A resident named Sunil Sukhdev while alleging about the power cut had gone further to say “We are being harassed for three days. We are planning to approach the court to apply for the Atrocity Act as all of us are Dalits,”
The colony also fetched limelight during the Bhima-Koregoan Protests which spurred from Pune to Mumbai within no time in 2018. It is known that the Siddharth colony was an epicentre of the violence that broke out during the agitations. Chembur-based surgeon Amit Thadani’s clinic was attacked as some residents of the society broke out on streets to vandalise public property, buses and went on rampaging the streets.
Board of my clinic damaged, glass panes broken. Bamboos and stones used in the attack. Also posting more pics and videos sent by other docs in my area as a tweet series. pic.twitter.com/Fqqkt9I6nq
Over 100 Dalit and Leftist protestors agitating in areas of Chembur were arrested for vandalising and creating nuisance on the street at that time. An era of group veto powered by power, politics and caste identities continued at the Siddharth Society in darkness.
On Wednesday, the Indian Embassy in Turkey made deliberate attempts to publicly showcase the bond between India and Greece when External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias to discuss the current global situation on the sidelines of the European Union Ministerial Forum. Jaishankar shared an image of insightful conversation between the duo and said that it was great to talk to Dendias. “Great to catch up with my friend FM Nikos Dendias of Greece. An insightful conversation on the current global situation.
Netizens were amused at tweet by Indian Embassy in Turkey as they mocked the strategic relations between Turkey and Greece. One of the users stated that the the tweet said a lot more than just three emojis. He also comically tweeted that he thought the tweet was made by S Jaishankar himself to deliberately highlight the intense situation between Turkey and Greece.
Another one saluted the Indian Embassy in Turkey for trolling the relations between India and Greece. “Admin, you are a legend, the king, the one and only true emperor of the Internet land. I give you my full respect and honors”, the tweet read.
Mr. Admin, sir, you are a legend, the king, the one and only true emperor of the Internet land. I give you my full respect and honours.
Further, one of the users highlighting India and Greece’ friendship, said that it was time to join the fight together against the injustice and oppression created from states like Pakistan and Turkey.
Lets join the fight together against the injustice and oppression created from states like pakistan and turkey. India ??- ?? Greek ?friendship
It is important to note that relations between Greece and Turkey have been tense over the past few decades. There are many disputes between the two since Greece won its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1830. The two countries have faced each other in four major wars including the First World War and also have shared a decade of positive relations during 1940s. Greece and Turkey are also allies due to their NATO membership and have fought side by side in Korea, Afghanistan, Libya and took part in some other NATO operations.
Following the differences on many historical, cultural, geopolitical, maritime, political and security issues, as of 2022, military tensions have risen again between the two due to conflicts over maritime zones in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean.
According to the reports, the strategically positive relations between India and Greece are bad news for Turkey in the backdrop of Turkey’s territorial claims in the Mediterranean region. Last year in June, India and Greece had also discussed the treat to nation’s integrity as Turkey support to radical groups and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue. The issues of principle of territorial integrity and rise of extremism were part of agenda, EAM S Jaishankar had maintained then.
This is after Anadolu Agency, a state-run news agency of Turkey had published a report alleging that India had issued over 3.4 million fake domicile certificates to change the demographics of Kashmir. The Indian Embassy in Turkey had then refuted the claims and said that the agency was falling prey to Pakistani propoganda. “AA is falling prey to Pakistani Propaganda. Journalistic ethics demand that they should check the basis of issuing of Domicile certificate by the Indian Govt and report that too. Not just become the propaganda mouthpiece of a third country”, it had said.
Prior to that, Turkey had also commented on India’s move to abrogate Article 370 from the state of Jammu and Kashmir. “India has further complicated the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and not served peace and stability in the region”, it had said. India had then slammed the government of Turkey to interfere in India’s internal matters and had called its statement factually incorrect and unwarranted.
EAM S Jaishankar on Tuesday, while on the sidelines of the European Union Ministerial Forum also met his Singaporean counterpart. He while in the diplomatic talks with France maintained that France was among the first country to recognize the strategic geography of the Indo Pacific region and ensured enhanced economic cooperation between the countries.
NDTV has deleted the video from its social media wherein its anchor Sreenivasan Jain was found being schooled by a young girl in Uttar Pradesh during the ongoing state assembly elections.
NDTV deletes tweet
Netizens were amused at how despite leading questions posed by Sreenivasan Jain and his associate, a BJP supporter girl continued to maintain that she will vote for the BJP. However, soon after, NDTV quietly deleted the video.
Journalism, which Thomas Carlyle referred to as the “fourth pillar of democracy” in his book Heroes and Hero-Worship, is more relevant than ever in the current situation when the entire world is more democratic than ever before. The democratic system holds an advantage over any other system is because the freedom to express is the special attribute of this system. In today’s society, when information is everywhere and waiting to be disseminated to the general public, the role of the media has become more important.
Furthermore, the globalized world is significantly more linked, with every piece of information capable of defining numerous aspects in any other area of the world. Especially India, which is the largest democracy and the fastest growing economy, has enough activity happening at any point in time. Different conditions arise in a country that is very active and on the verge of drastic transformation, and these situations might have diverse implications for people and countries all over the world. This is the reason why India has attracted the interest of international journalists and media houses.
Indian metropolitan elite, including prominent columnists, academics, and political analysts, has repeatedly criticized the manner of foreign media’s coverage of India’s political and social dynamics.
According to a research paper published in the Indian Institute of Mass Communication’s Journal Communicator titled “An Analysis of Global Coverage of Events in India,” the global media has produced news that is fully prejudiced and biased to gain from the market while at the same time pushing their agendas.
Amol Parth, a journalist, and media analyst authored the paper, which attempts to explain the purported unreasonable worldwide media coverage of India’s socio-political dynamics using facts and data. The research cites scientific publications, industry experts, and professionals working in conjunction with big Western media outlets to illustrate why there’s a natural propensity to choose clickbait content in an attempt to acquire more audiences, which allows them to gain revenues.
Amol has offered five case studies that clearly illustrate the hypocrisy of the western media, which has resorted to content and coverage manipulation in order to get more reader or viewer engagement.
Case Studies
In the first case, he cites the BBC’s duplicity in a report titled “India coronavirus: Round-the-clock mass cremations.” When lakhs of people succumbed to the Covid in the first wave of COVID-19 in the US, UK, and Europe in 2020, there was no such coverage in the Western media. There were no cries in the headlines to highlight how many people died in these countries at an alarming rate.
The BBC article.
The second instance focuses on a New York Times piece that characterized the Modi resolve to promote the indigenous textile sector as an impediment to the country’s prosperity. As Amol puts it, “It’s ignorance to attack the promotion of local industries of Saree, which has been women’s attire in the Indian subcontinent since Indus valley civilization and continues to be so today as well.” To bolster its argument, the New York Times deceptively claims that people’s wardrobe choices are being imposed on them. The article was written by Asgar Qadri.
The NYT article.
While concluding, he states that “The government’s aim certainly has been to produce a popular fashion aesthetic that matches the broader political program of Hindu nationalism. But the world is more open to cultural change than it ever has been before, so will that effort ultimately succeed?”
However, NYT got befitting replies from Indians shattering its false and non-sensical claims.
Hello @nytimes, whether or not there is communalism in the saree, I think we can all agree, there is plenty in you editorial policy.
Simply shocked that @nytimes now thinks that wearing our tradition clothes is some sort of bigotry. Next up – eating Dosa, biryani or chaat instead of hotdogs is unacceptable. Sickening attack on our way of life:https://t.co/pkw9CiUqQ7
The third scenario mentioned by Amol is an accident that occurred in Manhattan in 2017 in which a truck drove over people, which was dubbed the deadliest terror assault, but the attack on the CRPF convoy in Pulwama, which claimed the lives of 40 security personnel, was labelled an “Explosion.” This was even after the Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the attack.
NYT tweet NYT tweet downplaying the Islamic terrorist attack as ”bomb’ and ‘explosion’
The fourth case study is about the New York Times making fun of the Indian Mission to Mars. It ran a cartoon titled “India’s Budget Mission to Mars.” This was an attempt to downplay India’s achievement of being the first country in Asia to reach Mars and the first country in the world to do it in the first attempt, with a budget one-tenth the cost of any NASA mission.
The cartoon made by NYT for which they apologized later.
In the final case, The New York Times published an editorial On December 19, 2013, praising the detention of Devyani Khobragade, then-deputy India’s consul-general in New York, despite her diplomatic immunity. The New York Times editorial headlined “India’s Misplaced Outrage” in response to Indian protests, adopting the moral high ground regarding upholding American rules and hence the non-applicability of diplomatic immunity. Within a day of killing a father of three whose widow was six months pregnant; an American ambassador and his family were taken away from Kenya by the US embassy. The New York Times did not print an editorial about obeying Kenyan laws.
NYT on left and US Today on Right.
Why India?
A very important question that anyone would ask is why such a thing is being observed in Indian cases only? Or why India is only being targeted as such? The answer to this question is straightforward but nuanced. The solution is already hinted at in the first few paragraphs, however, it can be summed up under three distinct subheadings.
Huge English readership
After the United States, India has the largest number of individuals who can read and write English. In India, the number of individuals who speak English is approximately double that of the whole population of the United Kingdom and nearly half that of the United States.
Exponentially growing Economy
The Indian economy is one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world. This is what piques the interest of all the world’s leading corporations from all industries whether it is Media or social media. The amount of profit that can be made in India is comparably higher to any other market economy in the world which has liberalized its economy and holds the tenets of free speech and expression sacred.
India on road to massive transformation
India is on its way to establishing a solid foothold in the international arena, thanks to its growing economy and a significant democratic dividend. This is the cause of the country’s social and political turbulence. It is an extremely populous country with the most diversified people, languages, beliefs, and geography. This is what makes it a tremendously complicated country with various potential fault points that anybody may leverage to their advantage.
The varying trends in International Media consumption
Data on audience growth over a two-year period underscores how big media companies have cleverly used the stated factors to thrive in India. For the study by Amol, data was obtained from ComScore, an American media measurement and analytics company.
New York Times grew in India
In India, the New York Times had a 22 percent increase in reading, while its global circulation fell by 8%. In March 2019, India’s percentage share in The New York Times’ total global growth was 2.38%. By March 2021, India’s quota increased to 3.17 percent.
Growth of NYT.
The Wall Street Journal expanded faster in India than it did globally.
Between March 2019 and March 2021, the Wall Street Journal expanded twice as rapidly in India as it did internationally.
Growth of WSJ.
TIME witnessed a rise in India and collapse globally
In the two years between March 2019 and March 2021, TIME grew at a pace of over 50% in India, while losing 31% of its global market.
TIME growing in India
Washington Post remained almost stagnant
The Washington Post saw no change between March 2019 and March 2021, with a 7% fall in India and a 3% worldwide growth.
TWP with stagnant readership.
BBC’s growth in India was five times that of the rest of the world.
BBC expanded 173 percent in India between March 2019 and March 2021, about five times its global growth rate of 35 percent.
BBC numbers grew massively.
High growth during CAA protests and unrest
It can be correlated evidently that the audience of these international media houses in India exploded in December 2019, when the CAA protests began and continued to rise until March 2020, when the protests began to wane. This clearly exposes how these companies leveraged the upheaval in Indian society to their benefit.
Month on month growth of publications, image via IIMC paper by Amol Parth
The statistical data clearly demonstrates how excessive and distorted coverage of events in India enabled them to benefit significantly. Cow, Hindu, Muslim, Fear, Violence, Mob, Protest, Hate, Kashmir, Mob were the ten most often used keywords in the headlines of articles published by the mainstream western media. The use of these keywords caught the eye of Indian readers, and these newspapers were able to simply sell the story.
Present status of western media covering India
The research conducted by Amol Parth covers the period from March 2019 to March 2021. The present state of the west’s coverage is similar to that of the past. Despite the fact that we lack the necessary data to display the latest numbers, the position remains the same.
The coverage of these publications still continues to be biased significantly. In November 2021, when India was running the largest successful vaccination campaign, The New York Times published a report titled “India Eased Its Covid-19 Disaster. Fears of Complacency Remain.” This shows their resolve to keep India always in bad books.
NYT article. November 2021.
Howsoever complacent they say, India still leads the vaccination campaign against the coronavirus and has sailed well through all waves of the infection way better than any country in the west.
In another report by The Washington Post, a report got published in December 2021 titled “In India, as the virus abates, a hunger crisis persists”.
TWP article. December 2021
This report was skewed since it forgot to include the aid that the Indian government offered to its citizens. According to a UN estimate, India has brought a record 271 million people out of poverty in the last ten years. Unfortunately, TWP never used this as a headline.
The UN report.
Recently Rana Ayyub, a TWP columnist who is accused of financial fraud and is being probed by Indian authorities, has received support in the publication, claiming that she has been the focus of misleading investigations and receives threats of assault and death.
TWP showing support for Rana Ayyub.
This support for a person accused of serious financial fraud underscores the commitment of western media to portray the Indian state in a bad light. Using words such as death, assault, threat, and prejudice, these publications are laying bricks to manufacture dissent in India and then leverage that for their own benefit.
Conclusion
Analyzing the reporting of these foreign news organizations, it is clear that they are attempting to capitalize on India’s perceived schisms, looking for disputes and politically heated aspects. Furthermore, this not only generates civil instability in the country but also tarnishes India’s international image, putting India’s diplomatic relationships and commercial interests in jeopardy.
Despite such a distorted portrayal of India in the international community, the country continues to function with complete independence and more diligence to its citizens. As the External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar rightly pointed out during an interview, “They don’t say that not because they don’t know that, they don’t say that because that doesn’t suit them to say that. My reputation is not decided by a newspaper in New York.”
At last, putting it directly so that everyone knows what Amol has concluded from the report, “The study highlights a multitude of doomsday prophecies on India by Global Media–Suggestive of using cynicism and fear to grow in India. Global media’s limited understanding of India is partly by ignorance and partly driven by their business model. Their ignorance is because of their arm-chair journalism as they report on complex issues/developments in India while sitting in New York/London/Mumbai/Delhi! Rest is all about making money, which they do while riding on the back of their deep-seated prejudice against India. Readership data analysis confirms the pattern of using human tragedies as business opportunities. To sum it up, their choice of words, issues and prejudiced views in almost every other article on India under the garb of freedom of expression is a result of their desperate need to expand their footprint among the huge English-speaking population of India. Hence, driven by revenue, market share, editorial prejudice and limited understanding of Indian democracy, diversity, demography and governance structure, most of the global media’s news reports and opinion columns on India are at best half-truths.”
Leftist portal The Wire has now given legitimacy to Islamist apologist and serial fake news peddler CJ Werleman for a writeup by its Founding Editor Siddharth Varadarajan to fear monger and insinuate that BJP hates Muslims and would want them all dead. In an article titled “For the BJP, the Muslim is Not Just the Message, It is the Only Message”, The Wire’s Varadarajan shares image posted by BJP Gujarat on conviction and subsequent death sentence to terrorists in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blast case.
BJP Gujarat had shared an image which showed the representative caricature of the terrorists hanging to death, symbolising that terrorists will meet their rightful end.
BJP Gujarat tweet on conviction and sentencing of terrorists
One of the convicts, Safdar Nagori, had said that Quran is above all and that the Indian constitution holds no value. He had said he had no regret for killing the innocent people.
Terrorism has no religion, they say, but get triggered when terrorists are shown as getting punishment for their deeds – of killing innocent people.
Varadarajan then compares the above terrorists who killed innocent in the name of their religion and ‘holy book’ to the Jews who were killed in Nazi Germany. An image of a cartoon where Jews and other enemies of Nazis were shown as hanging was juxtaposed to show how the terrorists getting death sentence was akin to Jews being killed by Nazis.
Further, to give legitimacy to the fear mongering that the BJP and its supporters, majority of whom are Hindus, want all Muslims in India dead, The Wire and Varadarajan give legitimacy to CJ Werleman who had indulged in similar fear mongering on the Turkey state media, TRT world.
The Wire fear mongering
The Wire shared a random image it claimed was made my Hindutva groups in 2020 where it showed the coronavirus riding on shoulders of a Muslim man. The Wire made assumptions that it was created by Hindu groups. It also assumed the bearded man was a Muslim man, thereby playing to stereotypes itself. While there is no basis for the same, The Wire again compared Jews, victims of The Holocaust to Muslims, without any evidence that the bearded man was a Muslim.
Further, to give credibility to his insinuations, The Wire’s Varadarajan uses Werleman’s propaganda piece from Turkey state media. Referring to Werleman as ‘several analysts’ The Wire link takes its readers to the TRT World article from April 2020.
CJ Werleman also decided to share The Wire article by pointing out how The Wire cited his article.
“CJ Werleman and others have noted the parallels between the 'corona jihad' campaign and Nazi propaganda blaming Jews for typhus.”https://t.co/GWi3upppqR
In an article published on Turkey state media website, titled “Yesterday, Jews were demonised for spreading disease. Today, it’s Muslims”, Werleman had indulged in similar hate and fear mongering and likened the genocide of Jews by Nazis to the incident of Muslims, a lot of them foreign clerics on violation of visa rules, bring found in hiding at the Nizamuddin Markaz.
Many of these were foreign return and a lot of them had tested positive for COVID. Subsequently, a lot of them had refused to get tested, claimed COVID was a Modi conspiracy and even misbehaved with healthcare workers, including doctors, and assaulted them. There were reports of Tablighi Jamaat members having misbehaved with healthcare workers and even defecating in open at quarantine centre. Naturally, there was anger at the people who were putting public health at risk. However, instead of calling out the ones who were indulging in criminal behaviour, Islamists like Werleman and others chose to paint them as victim only because of their religion.
However, The Wire decided to toe the line of an apologist of Islamist behaviour, who had recently even indulged in spreading Taliban propaganda only to make PM Modi, the BJP and its supporters in poor light and further the anti-Hindu rhetoric.
A video of a young girl from Uttar Pradesh giving a befitting response to NDTV journalist Sreenivasan Jain has gone viral on the internet.
NDTV news anchor Sreenivasan Jain is on a ‘ground-reporting’ trial in Uttar Pradesh amidst the ongoing assembly elections in the state. In one such ‘ground-reporting’ event, Sreenivasan Jain had to face a hard time, as the voters of Uttar Pradesh expressed their admiration for PM Modi and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and insisted that they would vote for the BJP in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.
A few days ago, far-left news anchor Sreenivasan Jain and another NDTV reporter had met a family in one of the constituencies in the Varanasi district. The NDTV anchor went on to enquire the family on various issues such as job, inflation, development, etc. Jain can be seen putting out several leading questions to the innocent members of the family as they assert that they will be voting for the BJP in the ongoing elections.
In the video, Jain can be seen asking the family whether the wages they get is sufficient for their sustenance. Responding to Jain’s questions, the villager says they have been getting enough assistance from the Yogi Adityanath-led government to carry out their livelihood. He also says that the government has provided them with a “laal (red) ration card” – a ration card that has been specifically provided under the Antyodaya scheme for the destitute and the ultra-poor.
Strangely, Sreenivasan Jain has no clue whatsoever regarding the Antyodaya ration card as he turns to the fellow NDTV reporter to know what that specific ration card exactly meant.
Well, the dismay does not stop there.
Jain then goes on to interview a young lady who echoes the same sentiments as her father. She says that everything has been good for them ever since Modi became the Prime Minister. Jain, who is visibly agitated now, asks what good has come to them after Modi became the Prime Minister.
“There is no shortage, farmers are getting assistance every month, rations are being given twice a month,” says the young lady.
“Do you get the ration,” asks Jain, to which the lady confidently replies in English, “Yes”.
The NDTV journalists then enquire the girl about her education. The girl says that she is a student in ‘intermediate’. Both the NDTV employees are caught being clueless as they are oblivious to the term ‘intermediate’. Jain and her associate see each other’s faces and tend to agree that ‘intermediate’ means 12th standard, as they get a hint from one of the other family members.
“What will you do for a job? Do you have jobs here?” asks Jain, as he ridicules the young girl for praising the Prime Minister.
The young girl shoots back at Sreenivasan Jain, saying, “What if we do not have jobs here? We will go to Varanasi. We will find the jobs somewhere, and we will work”.
Another young man of the family noted that the jobs are available in Uttar Pradesh, however, one must be ready to do whatever employment opportunity he/she gets. “The government has given us food grains, salt, oil. But, even after receiving all these, if people do not vote for the BJP, then they are fools,” says the young man leaving the NDTV employees in disquiet.
The video of the young girl confidently responding to “elite” NDTV anchor Sreenivasan Jain has gone viral on the internet. Social media users not only hailed the conviction and the confidence of the young girl but also slammed the NDTV anchor for his condescending tone.
Update: The video shared by NDTV on its social media platform now stands deleted. You can watch it here:
