The Economic Offences Wing of the Telangana Crime Investigation Department has frozen twenty-six bank accounts that belong to Christian evangelical organisation – Operation Mobilisation (OM) India group of Charities. The twenty-six bank accounts belong to a total of seven related charity groups.
According to the reports, the investigation agency of Telangana had filed a criminal case against Christian evangelist Joseph D’Souza, his son Josh D’Souza and others based on a complaint by Albert Lael, the former Chief Finance Officer (CFO) of OM India group of charities and National Director of 103 Good Shepherd Schools run by the Christian organisation.
Following the investigations, it has now been revealed that the accused received large amounts of money through donations from abroad to run various charities in India. The funds thus received were deposited in banks as Fixed Deposit (FDs), which were then diverted and misappropriated by the accused, thus cheating the donors and other patrons of the organisation.
The CID froze the accounts to halt more transactions by the evangelist group, which may lead to the accused misappropriating and diverting more of the charity funds. The CID is also investigating alleged violations of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA).
Meanwhile, the prime accused Joseph D’Souza has challenged the Telangana High Court’s CID order to remove the restrictions on the multiple accounts.
Christian organisations Operation Mobilisation India and Dignity Freedom Network and Operation Mercy India Foundation, have partner-organisations and affiliates in Canada, UK, USA and Australia.
The names of 20 soldiers, who were martyred in action during the violent Galwan Valley clash with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China, have now been engraved on the National War Memorial in New Delhi.
Names of soldiers who lost their lives in the Galwan valley clash on June 15 last year have been recently engraved on the National War Memorial in New Delhi. 20 soldiers including Colonel Santosh Babu had lost their lives in clash with Chinese troops in the Eastern Ladakh sector. pic.twitter.com/wB1qMCoRAL
On June 15, the Chinese troops had attacked the Indian troops along the LAC near Ladakh border. The clashes had resulted in India losing 20 of its soldiers. Although no bullets were fired, the Chinese troops pelted stones and attacked the security personnel with rods and clubs.
The fallen Indian soldiers were honoured by the government and their last rites were performed in the presence of government representatives, accorded them the due status of martyrs. PM Modi and the COAS had also visited to meet and speak to the injured soldiers.
Fallen Indian soldier awarded Maha Vir Chakra posthumously
The government of India has decided to honour Col Bikkumalla Santosh Babu of the 16th Bihar Batallion, who had laid down his life in the clash between Indian and Chinese forces in Galwan Valley on June 16, with the Maha Vir Chakra this Republic Day. “Col Babu is likely to be awarded the Maha Vir Chakra posthumously on this Republic Day,” government sources told ANI.
According to reports, the government’s decision came after the Indian Army top brass recommended that soldiers who took on Chinese troops in the Galwan valley clash should be awarded the war-time chakra series awards at this Republic Day.
On Friday, an IED Blast was reported outside Jindal House near the Israel Embassy in Delhi. According to the forensic teams, three cars were damaged, and black powder was used to carry out attacks on the Israel Embassy.
A letter in an envelope addressed to “Israel Embassy Ambassador” was found on the spot during the investigation. The letter contained a threat which says that the blast on Friday was just a ‘trailer’. As per the report, the threatening letter also contained a reference to two ‘Iranian martyrs’ – General Qassim Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, and Nuclear Scientist Dr Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian commander who commanded the Quds Force of the IRGC, was killed by the US forces in January 2020 in Baghdad. In November 2020, Iranian nuclear scientist Fakhrizadeh was assassinated on Tehran’s outskirts by a 62-member squad.
This is not the first time that the Israel Embassy in India has been attacked. On February 13, 2012, a sticky bomb was placed on Tal Yehoshua Koren’s car, the Israeli diplomat’s wife, in which she had received injuries. Incidentally, the Quds Force, also known as Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was then accused of carrying out attacks on the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi. Four people had suffered injuries after a bomb explosion on an Israeli diplomatic car in New Delhi.
The assassination attempts of Israeli diplomats had come after the killing of an Iranian scientist. Iran and blamed Israel for the assassination and had vowed to take revenge for the scientists’ killings. The attacks had also coincided with the anniversary of the killing of Iran-backed Shiite Lebanese group, Hezbollah leader, Imad Mughniyeh.
Indian journalist accused of playing a key-role in aiding Iranians to carry out attacks
Following the attacks on Israel embassy, the Delhi police had also concluded that attack was a handy work of IRGC. Upon further investigation, the Delhi police had revealed that IRGC members had discussed the plans to carry out attacks on Israeli diplomats in India with an Indian journalist Syed Mohammad Ahmad Kazmi. Further, the investigations had also disclosed that Kazmi was in contact with the members of IRGC for nearly 10 years.
After a detailed investigation, the Delhi Police arrested journalist Syed Mohammad Ahmad Kazmi for aiding bike-borne bombers. In 2012, the special cell of Delhi had arrested Kazmi and charged him with being part of a conspiracy and booked him under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. During interrogation, it was revealed that he was privy to the conspiracy to target Israeli diplomats.
Another interesting fact is Seema Mustafa, the current chief of controversial Editors’ Guild of India, had then jumped into the support of the accused Kazmi to proclaim his innocence in the Israeli Embassy bombing case.
Who is Syed Mohammad Ahmad Kazmi?
Syed Mohammad Ahmad Kazmi, who hails from Meerut district, Uttar Pradesh, began his journalism career in 1983 with Delhi office of Iran Republic News Agency (IRNA), Iran’s national broadcaster. Kazmi, who had a command over Arabic and Persian languages, helped him translate and interpret news emanating from Gulf countries.
In the later years, Kazmi developed an interest in West Asia, particularly Iraq, Iran and Israel. After seven years of serving Iranian media, Kazmi started his own media venture ‘Media Star’, a news agency specialising in West Asia. After a brief stint, he joined Doordarshan as a news anchor in 1993 and became an Urdu newsreader on DD News.
During his days in Doordarshan, Kazmi was part of the team that produced ‘World View India’- a weekly foreign affairs show on Doordarshan. According to Saeed Naqvi, a journalist and father of Saba Naqvi, Kazmi had a ‘fantastic insight’ into the region and the reason was his impeccable contacts and network. Naqvi co-produced the weekly show with Kazmi and has travelled with him on various foreign assignments.
According to the police, Kazmi had a deep network in Iran, which worked against him during the 2012 Israeli Embassy bomb blast case. The then Delhi police commissioner B K Gupta had disclosed that Kazmi had also confessed to having helped the Iran nationals conduct a recce of Israel embassy.
“He also disclosed that at the insistence of Syed Ali Sadr Mehndi, a person of Iranian origin, he was introduced to Houshan Afshar and along with an Irani recced the area around the Israel Embassy. They used a scooty for this recce, which was procured by Houshan Afshar. During this recce they decided to target Israeli diplomats,” Gupta had said. Interestingly, Kazmi’s pro-Iran stand has not been denied even by his family.
Kazmi was granted bail by the Supreme Court of India in October 2012 but restrained from going abroad. As of today, Kazmi is still out on bail. He continues to host a show on his YouTube channel ‘Media Star World‘ where he discusses West Asia and the region’s issues.
As per his LinkedIn profile, he is also Editor of an Urdu paper ‘Qaumi Salamati’. He was made editor of the paper after he secured bail in October 2012. Then also it was rumoured that Iran had funded the paper. Senior Congress leader and the then Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit was also present at the launch of the paper as chief guest.
Bomb blast in Israel Embassy in New Delhi
On Friday, a low-intensity explosion occurred near the Israel Embassy in the national capital. The explosion took place near the Jindal House on APJ Abdul Kalam Road in the heart of the city.
According to the Delhi Police, the explosives were reportedly not very powerful. In a statement, the Delhi Police had said that no injury has been reported during the Jindal House blast. “Initial impressions suggest mischievous attempt to create a sensation,” the Police said.
The blast is being investigated as an attempted terrorist attack, and the Israel Ambassador has been assured security to the mission and all diplomats.
A letter in an envelop addressed to “Israel Embassy Ambassador” was also found on the spot as per police sources. The letter contains a threat which says that the blast on Friday was a ‘trailer’. As per the report, the threatening letter also contained a reference to two ‘Iranian martyrs’, Qasem Soleimani and Dr Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
Following the incident, Israel released a statement saying that they considered the Friday attacks as an act of terrorism. A team of investigators from Israel is also expected to reach the national capital to assist the Indian agencies in the investigation.
In the first episode of Mann Ki Baat in 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish over the Red Fort incident of January 26 and said that the nation was shocked to witness the insult of Tricolour. The visuals of so-called farmers standing and raising slogans next to the flag post were projected on Doordarshan when PM Modi talked about the incident.
PM Modi further said that we have to fill the coming days with hope and novelty. “We need to work hard to fulfil our resolutions. We have to take our nation forward with fast speed, “he added.
President on Red Fort incident
On January 29, the President of India had also criticized the incident during his address to both houses.
The recent acts of dishonouring the National Flag and showing disrespect to the auspicious occasion of the Republic Day are unfortunate. While the Constitution gives us the right to freedom of expression it is also expected that we abide by the laws and rules with equal sincerity
He said, “The recent acts of dishonouring the National Flag and showing disrespect to the auspicious occasion of the Republic Day are unfortunate. While the Constitution gives us the right to freedom of expression it is also expected that we abide by the laws and rules with equal sincerity.”
The January 26 Red Fort riots
On January 26, while the Republic Day parade was going on at Rajpath, the protestors started their tractor rally before the time allowed by Delhi Police. Agitators broke the barricades and damaged police vehicles and busses to enter in Delhi. They took the routes that were not permitted by the Delhi Police. When the police tried to stop them, they got violent and started attacking police personnel.
There are videos where protestors can be seen trying to mow down the police officers. Some protestors had batons, swords and even guns that they used to attack the police officers. The tractors were allegedly modified to breakdown the barricades. Amidst provocative speeches by the farmer leaders, the protestors reached Red Fort.
At the Red Fort, the so-called farmers became hooligans and broke down the gates. They entered the premises in large numbers and destroyed the equipment, windows and furniture. They urinated on the premises and raised provocative slogans against the government and PM Modi.
Amidst all the violence at Red Fort, the so-called protestors hoisted a flag, purported to be the Nishan Sahib, on the flag post where Prime Minister hoists National Flag on August 15. They also hoisted the same flag next to the National Flag and on the dome of Red Fort. The incident of raising the flag on Red Fort was in lines with what banned terrorist organization Sikhs For Justice had demanded and promised a cash prize too.
Cases against rioters and journalists
Delhi Police has registered several cases against the rioters including actor Deep Sidhu who was present at Red Fort. Farmer leaders including Yogendra Yadav, Rakesh Tikait and Darshan Pal are booked for provoking farmers. Some journalists, including Rajdeep Sardesai, are also facing legal action for spreading fake news during the riots.
A lot has been said about the controversy over the flag hoisted at the Red Fort on Republic Day during the tractor rally riots. Most mainstream media channels claimed the flag was the Nishan Sahib, the Sikh holy flag. However, here is how they played a little mischief.
Twitter user Rosy on 27th January 2021 shared a video of the rioting mob taking siege of the Red Fort and hoisting a flag.
Visuals speak more than words. See for yourself. See the Flag being hoisted AT Red Fort & “Raj karega Khаlsa” slogans being raised pic.twitter.com/znCabDu1nu
In the video, one can see that along with the Indian national flag, the rioting mob hoisted a saffron triangle flag with the holy Sikh symbol and a yellow rectangle flag with the same symbol.
Twitter quickly marked her tweet as ‘manipulated media’.
When you click on the information card, it takes you to a page on basis of which it marked the tweet as manipulated.
Twitter’s explanation of ‘manipulated media’
Twitter relied on India Today, NDTV and ThePrint’s reports to claim that the above video is manipulated. Here is how these media houses have described the flags hoisted.
India Today
The India Today report Twitter has used for flagging the above video as manipulated does not mention the shape of the Nishan Sahib. In fact, the report only states matter of factly that the Nishan Sahib was hoisted. It does not specify the colour of the shape of the flag. The report is from 26th January 2021 and it states the ‘farmers’ hoisted the Nishan Sahib on the Red Fort.
India Today report on flag hoisted at Red Fort
If one sees carefully, the flag hoisted in India Today report is indeed the Nishan Sahib, which is the saffron triangular flag. The image shown is different from the video uploaded by Twitter user Rosy which also had another yellow rectangular flag.
NDTV
Now in place of NDTV report, Twitter just uploaded NDTV employee Sreenivasan Jain’s tweet which proclaimed that the flag hoisted was the Nishan Sahib.
As per NDTV’s @ghazalimohammad, the flag hoisted by protestors at the Red Fort is sacred to Sikhs, seen outside gurudwaras where it is called the Nishan Saheb. It did not (mercifully) replace the tricolour, which remains aloft at the Red Fort at an elevation.
NDTV, amongst other things, kept itself busy on the Republic Day downplaying violence and painted the rioting mob as humanitarian for making way for an ambulance. NDTV India’s Ravish Kumar also kept giving leeway to rioting mob. In rest of the ‘manipulated tweet’ details posted by Twitter, no one NDTV tweet or article appears.
So essentially, Twitter relied on Sreenivasan’s singular tweet to flag the video as manipulated. Read how Jain spends his time downplaying violence.
Shekhar Gupta’s ThePrint
Now, Shekhar Gupta’s ThePrint explained what a Nishan Sahib flag looks like.
ThePrint explaining Nishan Sahib
ThePrint explains that the Nishan Sahib is a triangular saffron flag, mounted on a steel pole that is also covered with a saffron coloured cloth.
Twitter mischief
As one can see, the three sources Twitter used to flag the tweet as ‘manipulated media’ were either silent about description of the Nishan Sahib or when they did, they only described the other saffron triangular flag as the Nishan Sahib.
These media houses are conspicuously silent on the yellow rectangle flag planted next to the saffron triangle flag and the Indian national flag on the Red Fort.
‘Fact-checkers’ who are allergic to facts
BoomLive ‘fact-checked’ the ‘second‘ flag uploaded by the rioting mob.
BoomLive ‘fact-checking’ the second flag
BoomLive in a bizarre move has actually ‘fact-checked’ a completely different image from the same day. Instead of talking about the main dome where the tricolour is also hoisted, Boom talks about some completely different dome and concluded that the second flag is of a farmer union.
While it is indeed true that farmer unions also brought their own flags and hoisted them, the particular yellow rectangle flag with holy Sikh symbol in blue is not even mentioned in this ‘fact-check’.
When facts are not in your favour, just change the subject and fact-check what suits the narrative. What a genius way to ‘fact-check’.
The Quint
The Quint’s ‘fact-check’ has also played same mischief. In fact, they, too, did not bother to fact-check two flags that are hoisted where the main tricolour flies.
The Quint, too, ‘fact-checks’ the empty pole where the Nishan Sahib and the other farmer union flag was hoisted. However, it does not talk about the second flag which is on the higher level at the Red Fort where the tricolour flies every day.
The Quint’s ‘fact-check’
In the video shared by Twitter user Rosy, she talks about the two flag hoisted where the tricolour (near the saffron semi-circle) was hoisted. The Quint has fact-checked, the empty pole where saffron triangular flag (Nishan Sahib) and yellow farmer union flags are hoisted.
To make things clearer, here is an Indian Express image with the most clear two flags near the tricolour.
Indian Express image
See the second yellow rectangle flag with the holy Sikh symbol? Definitely not the farmer union flag the ‘fact-checkers’ claim, no?
Speaking of selective fact-checking, here is AltNews and propaganda site The Wire which used AltNews’ ‘fact-check’
AltNews and The Wire
If a crime has to be whitewashed, look no further, AltNews will jump in to do the honours. Now, AltNews is ‘fact-checking’ whether the Tricolour was replaced with the Khalistan flag at the Red Fort.
AltNews’ ‘fact-check’
It is not ‘fact-checking’ whether the Khalistani flag was raised or not. It is been well established that two flags were raised next to the Tricolour. AltNews mischievously ‘fact-checks’ something else when the claims are of something else.
AltNews has quoted one ‘writer’ named Amandeep Sandhu who is explaining the Nishan Sahib.
AltNews describing the Nishan Sahib
Now, AltNews, to give examples of the Nishan Sahib, puts up images where all the flags were saffron triangular flags.
Nishan Sahib from Republic Day parade in 2021
The above image was used by AltNews to show how the Nishan Sahib flag was part of the Republic Day parade. As one can see, the flag is a saffron triangular flag, and not a yellow rectangle one.
AltNews’ second example on Nishan Sahib
To prove a point, AltNews shared image of the 2020 Republic Day parade with Punjab tableau. As one can again see, the Nishan Sahib here was also saffron triangular flag, not yellow rectangle flag.
Nishan Sahib
OpIndia went through multiple of resources available online to find out more details on the Nishan Sahib, especially the shape and colour of the flag.
Sikhs.org on Nishan Sahib
Sikhs.org describes the Nishan Sahib as a triangular piece of ochre or saffron coloured cloth with the Khanda emblem in between. The image on the website is also the saffron coloured triangular flag.
Sikhiwiki on Nishan Sahib
As per SikhiWiki, too, the Nishan Sahib is saffron triangular flag.
Sikhnet
Another website on Sikhism, Sikhnet, too describes the Nishan Sahib as saffron-coloured triangular flag.
None of these websites describe the Nishan Sahib as a yellow rectangle flag.
Let us have a look at the flags hoisted at some of the prominent Gurudwaras in India.
Nishan Sahib at the Golden Temple, Amritsar
The Nishan Sahib placed at the Golden Temple, Amritsar, as can be seen, are saffron triangular flags.
Image credit: Rajiv Pillai on Tripadvisor
The Gurudwara Bangla Sahib in New Delhi also flies the saffron coloured triangular Nishan Sahib.
Gurudwara Patna Sahib
Gurudwara Patna Sahib, too, has saffron coloured triangular flags.
Khalistani flags
The flag adopted by separatist Khalistani elements is yellow coloured rectangle flag with the holy Sikh symbol in blue in the middle. It also has the word ‘Khalistan’ written on it. Since Khalistan officially does not exist, there is no ‘official’ flag as such. However, there have been some variants of the same yellow rectangle flag.
Khalistani flag raised in Washington DC outside Indian Embassy (Image: ANI)
This is a rectangle flag with Khalistan written in English underneath.
Khalistan flag variant
Another variant of the Khalistani flag has the word Khalistan written in English and Punjabi around the holy Sikh symbol.
As can be seen, there is no consistency in the Khalistan flag, but the Nishan Sahib has always been saffron triangular flag.
Whether the yellow rectangle flag without the words “Khalistan” falls under Khalistan flag or the Nishan Sahib, is anybody’s guess.
However, the fact that Twitter chose to flag the tweet by Twitter user Rosy as ‘manipulated media’ when there is ample ambiguity and the ‘media resources’ they relied on, too, are silent on the aspect, says a lot about the mischief the social media giant is doing.
On Saturday, the Delhi Police filed a case against journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and 5 others in connection to the violence on the occasion of India’s 71st Republic Day.
As per reports, the First Information Report (FIR) was lodged at the IP Estate police station under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153 (provocation to cause riot), 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace) and 505-1b (intent to cause fear to the public). Besides Sardesai and Tharoor, the FIR names journalists Paresh Nath, Anant Nath, Vinod K Jose, Mrinal Pande, and Zafar Agha.
The tweets had fake, misleading and wrong information regarding death of a tractor driver in an accident, to instigate violence amongst protestors, confirms DCP (Central) Jasmeet Singh.
While speaking about the case, DCP (Central Delhi) Jasmeet Singh said that the FIR was registered for creating disharmony and spreading false information on Republic Day about a farmer dying due to police firing. He added that the post-mortem report has made it clear that the protestor’s death was caused due to haemorrhage and shock, following an accident. The video footage of the incident had also gone viral on social media.
UP, MP Police lodges FIR against Shashi Tharoor, Rajdeep Sardesai
UP Police has lodged an FIR against several politicians and journalists for sharing fake news during the tractor rally in Delhi on 26th January. The FIR under the section 154 of CrPC has been lodged at the Noida sector 20 police station.
The FIR names Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, India Today journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, National Herald’s Senior consulting editor Mrinal Pandey, Quami Awaz editor Zafar Agha, Caravan magazine’s editor and founder Paresh Nath, Caravan editor Anant Nath and its executive editor Vinod K Jose, and one unnamed person. Through the FIR, charges under sections 153(A), 153(B), 295(A), 298, 506, 505(2), 124(A)/34/120(B) of the Indian Penal Code, and under section 66 of the Information Technology act.
The Madhya Pradesh Police, too, had filed an FIR against Tharoor and six others for fake news on the death of the rioter who died after his tractor turned turtle.
In a display of intolerance, the Turkish police have detained four students on Saturday for supposedly insulting Islam’s holiest site at Boğaziçi University in Istambul.
As per reports, the development comes after student protestors exhibited an artwork that showed a rainbow flag (LGBT symbol) alongside a picture of Islamic building ‘Kaaba’ in Masjid-al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. They had hung the artwork opposite the office of the rector on Friday. The protestors had also hung another artwork featuring mythical half-snake and half-human character, Shahmaran.
Condemning the artwork as an ‘ugly attack’ on Islam itself, the cops detained four students on the ‘suspicion’ of denigrating religious values. While arrest warrant was issued for two students, the other two were put on house arrest. The students had been protesting against the appointment of a new rector, Melih Bulu, at the Boğaziçi University by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Criticism of artwork by the Turkish govt officials
In a tweet, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu labelled the four student protestors as ‘LGBT deviants’ and said that they have been detained. His tweet drew fierce criticism from several activists and prompted France to block his tweets for hate speech.
Screengrab of the tweet by Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu
The official spokesperson of Turkish President, Ibrahim Kalin, also tweeted that ‘disrespect’ towards Kaaba did not constitute freedom of speech or the right to protest. “This deviance will receive the punishment it deserves both before the law and in the righteous conscience. Your bankrupt intentions and abusive actions are heedless, deceitful, and disappointed,” he warned.
Screengrab of the tweet by Ibrahim Kalin
Earlier in January, Erdogan had referred to the student protestors as ‘terrorists’. It must be mentioned that homosexuality is legal in Turkey but LGBT members are often subjected to abuse and harassment. However, the society is conservative and the woes of the community have increased since the rise of Erdogan to power. The government had banned the Istambul Pride March for 5 years till 2019. At the same time, the march could not be carried out last year due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Criticism of Turkish govt’s high-handedness
While speaking about the student protests, lawyer Levent Pişkin said, “The government has been criminalizing LGBTI+ individuals since 2015 when it put a ban on İstanbul Pride. This situation has become more frequent for the last year.” He also criticised a statement of İstanbul Governor’s Office for the homophobic language used against the detained students. “It is wrong to use the phrase ‘seized’ for something that is obvious and which everyone is proudly carrying,” he added.
The Delhi Police have detained a person named Mandeep Punia, claiming to be a ‘journalist’ from Singhu border on Saturday night after he misbehaved with a station house officer (SHO).
According to the reports, Punia, who works with website ‘The Caravan’ and Junputh, was moving through roadblocks and trying to remove the barricades when he misbehaved the police.
A video has gone viral on social media platforms in which one can see how the alleged journalist was trying to cross the barricades forcefully. He was soon nabbed by the Delhi police and detained him.
Another person claiming to be a ‘journalist’ – Dharmender Singh was also detained by the Delhi Police. However, he was later let go after he showed his press ID.
Speaking about the arrest, a senior police officer said Punia was standing with the protesters and he did not have a press ID card. He was trying to move through the barricades which were kept to segregate and secure the area. An altercation broke out between police personnel and him.
The police said that Caravan ‘journalist’ misbehaved with the police and was soon detained.
Caravan peddles fake news on rioters death, complaint registered
An FIR has been registered against the far-left propaganda website – ‘The Caravan’ and a few other journalists for sharing fake news during the Republic Day violence in Delhi to cause unrest and riots.
Six ‘journalists’, including India Today’sRajdeep Sardesai, Mrinal Pande, associated with Congress mouthpiece National Herald, Zafar Agha, far-left rag Caravan’s Ananth Nath, Vinod Jose, and Paresh Nath, were booked by the Noida Police Thursday for sedition for trying to incite violence by sharing misinformation.
All of them have been booked for spreading the fake news that one protestor was shot dead by Delhi Police during the tractor rally on Republic Day, who had actually died due to an accident.
The far-left outlet – Caravan had also spread the fake news, claiming that “An eyewitness told The Caravan that he saw the police firing from behind the grills of the Andhra Education Society.” They had also reported that eyewitnesses said they saw police personnel fleeing from the spot after Navreet was shot.
However, the post mortem details had proved the rioter died during the tractor rally succumbing to the antemortem injuries he received after his tractor turned turtle as seen in the incident’s viral video, and there was no bullet injury on his body.
A complaint has been registered against The Wire Editor Siddharth Varadarajan of the leftist propaganda outlet ‘The Wire’ for publishing and circulating false propaganda with intent to cause violence after he had tweeted an article void of any facts pertaining to the death of a rioter during the tractor rally.
On Saturday, a complaint was registered against Varadarajan under Section 153B and 505 of the IPC in Rampur police station for trying to instigate the crowd by peddling false information about the death of a rioter named Navreet Singh, who had died during the tractor rally after his tractor turtled.
FIR details against Siddharth Varadarajan
As per the FIR, after reading the article, people in Rampur were angered and created a tensed situation. “This post was done with under a conspiracy to create unrest and and stoke violence,” the FIR stated. The FIR stated that this post was done despite the fact that the 3 doctors carried out autopsy and submitted their findings in sealed envelop to concerned authorities.
“The three doctors have denied all insinuations and allegations in the post but Varadarjan has still kept the tweet up. This was done deliberately to stoke tension,” the FIR states.
The Wire in its article had contended that the rioter’s kin were ‘informed’ by the doctor who conducted autopsy, that he had died due to the bullet injuries despite contrarian post-mortem reports.
A complaint was registered by a person named Sanju Turaiah in the Civil Lines police station in Rampur accusing Siddharth Varadarajan of trying to create a tense situation by tweeting an article devoid of any fact.
The Wire distorts the claims of doctors, attempts to false propaganda on rioters death
TheWire on Saturday published an article insinuating that the protester who died during the Delhi tractor rally on Republic Day, had died of bullet injuries and not because of the injuries he sustained from the overturning of the tractor. The article further claims that the victim’s relatives spoke to the doctor who carried out the autopsy who claimed that while there was bullet injury, ‘his hands were tied’, thereby insinuating that the UP government is trying to coverup.
And while the Rampur District Magistrate clarified that all these statements are false, The Wire has stuck to its report. It has only updated the report while the headline still continues to be provocative.
The article titled “Autopsy Doctor Told Me He’d Seen the Bullet Injury But Can Do Nothing as His Hands are Tied” quoted the grandfather of the deceased to cast aspersions on the cause of the death of the protester and allege that the administration is hiding his real cause of the death.
The Wire published an article casting aspersions on the cause of death of a protester during the tractor rally
The Wire report impugns the validity of the post mortem report released by a medical officer at the District Hospital, Rampur, after a 2 am autopsy on January 27, which concluded that the protester, Navreet Singh, had died because of “shock and haemorrhage as a result of antemortem head injury” which has also been consistent with the Delhi Police’s explanation.
The Wire invents quotes from doctors to allege that rioter had died of bullet injuries
However, the report published by Siddharth Varadarajan’s website quoted Hardeep Singh Dibdiba, the grandfather of the deceased, who said that a doctor had confided in him that the real cause of Singh’s death was a bullet injury.
“We were told by the doctor that they have clearly seen the bullet injury, and then we cremated his body peacefully. But we were cheated as the [post mortem] report that came out did not say that. The doctor even told me that even though he had seen the bullet injury, he can do nothing as his hands are tied,” The Wire quoted Hardeep Singh Dibdiba as saying.
Vikramjeet Singh, Navreet’s father, also raised suspicion over the autopsy report of his son’s death. Vikramjeet alleged that all those who saw Navreet’s body claimed that he died of a bullet injury. He also added that one of the doctors who did the post-mortem report allegedly confessed to him that Navreet died of a bullet injury but he could not do anything to mention the same in the postmortem report.
Uttar Pradesh police refutes false claims made by The Wire
But the claim of doctors being railroaded to prepare a false autopsy report was refuted by the senior-most police officer quoted by The Wire. According to ADG Bareilly Avinash Chandra, the police had no reason whatsoever to suppress or distort such a document because the matter is of Delhi Police.
Relevant portion from The Wire article
Besides, the report also added a video of the deceased to buttress the claims made by the family. Referring to the video, the family stated that the gash over Navreet’s ears was an exit wound of a bullet. But, Manoj Shukla, deputy CMO and doctor at the district hospital in Rampur where the post-mortem report was prepared, said this was not the case. Repudiating the claims of a bullet wound, Shukla told The Wire that it might be possible that something else might have hit his right ear or the leftist portal might have gotten the wrong document.
Despite the refusal of the Uttar Pradesh Police and the deputy CMO of the hospital where the autopsy was conducted expressly denying that Navreet died of a bullet injury, The Wire did not bother to mention the same in their headline. Instead, it went ahead with a misleading headline to raise aspersions on the authenticity of the autopsy report.
However, the District Magistrate, Rampur, shared a signed declaration of the three doctors who had carried out the autopsy that the above allegations were false.
We ardently request you to please let’s be sticking to facts and facts only. We hope our request will be sincerely taken up by you. Thank you. Here is the official declaration. pic.twitter.com/2dowcoMriM
The signed declaration states that none of the three doctors who were involved in the autopsy had spoken to any mediapersons or any other persons. The autopsy was video-recorded and the findings were given in sealed envelop to the officers.
Subsequently, The Wire has updated the article to include above information.
Pro-AAP propagandist Dhruv Rathee has taken to YouTube to peddle misinformation regarding the Republic Day insurrection. In a video published on the platform on the 28th of January, the YouTuber insinuated that the government had on purpose allowed the Khalistani mob to run riot at Red Fort.
During the video, Dhruv Rathee completely endorses the version of events peddled by the Republic Day insurrectionists and used their statements to insinuate that the government had permitted it to happen. He peddles an entirely one-sided version of events to slander the Delhi Police.
“Some videos have also emerged which show that the Delhi Police personnel are sitting in chairs and watching the ‘tamasha‘ unfold at Red Fort. Flags are being hoisted there and no action is being taken,” he said.
Then Dhruv Rathee proceeds to say, “A huge question arises here, did the Police intentionally permit the protesters to go inside the Red Fort? Secondly, the Police has used tear gas and lathi charged the protesters but people like Dhruv Rathee and his supporters reached the top of the Red Fort and returned as well but they did not suffer so much as a scratch.”
Dhruv Rathee spreads conspiracy theories regarding Red Fort violence
He goes on to add, “Maybe this is the reason that the SKM (Samyukta Kisan Morcha) has alleged that the whole incident is a conspiracy by the government to allow it to happen and then use the media to defame the protesters.”
He concluded saying, “Think a little. If the peaceful protests on Republic Day turn violent, who benefits and who loses? Towards whom will the public support turn to if the protests turn violent?”
In the video, Dhruv Rathee downplays the violence by the rioting mob and instead, placed the blame on the government and the Delhi police. He further draws a false equivalence between the violence unleashed by the murderous mob and the action taken by the Police to halt the rioting to claim that violence flew both ways.
In reality, the Delhi Police has made it abundantly clearly that they refrained from using great force on the rioters because it could have led to unparalleled bloodshed which they were trying to avoid. The propagandist uses the Police’s noble desire to avoid bloodshed to claim that the Red Fort siege was allowed to happen to defame the protesters.
Dhruv Rathee is infamous for his tendency to peddle fake news and has spread numerous fake news in the past to whitewash the deplorable conduct of the Tablighi Jamaat among other things. Previously, he has gone to the extent of claiming that India was not partitioned on religious grounds.
