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Two terrorists including a top commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba killed in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama

OpIndia Staff
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Two terrorists including a top commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba killed in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama

A top commander of the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was reportedly among the two terrorists killed in an encounter with the security forces in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir today. Among the two terrorists killed in the encounter, one has been identified as the LeT top commander Zahid Nazir Bhat as informed by the official handle of the Kashmir Zone police on Twitter.

According to reports, the encounter started in the Dadoora area after the security forces cordoned off the area and started a search operation after specific information was received regarding the presence of the terrorists in the area. Incriminating material has been seized by the forces from the spot in addition to arms and ammunition including two AK-47 rifles.

Two terrorists killed in Kulgam

In another encounter, two terrorists were killed by the security forces in Kulgam district on after a search operation started on Friday night turned into encounter. The terrorists have not yet been identified. The forces recovered one M4 rifle and one pistol from the site.

Forces foiled Pakistan’s attempt to smuggle along LoC

According to Lieutenant General BS Raju, the Corps Commander of the Army’s Srinagar-based Chinar Corps, Pakistan had attempted to smuggle arms and ammunition through the Line of Control (LoC) in Keran sector of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district which was foiled by the Indian Army. The ammunition which included four AK-74 riffles was being smuggled through a tube across the Kishanganga river in Keran.

Lt Gen Raju told that the situation along the LoC is under control and that the security forces have been able to reduce infiltration to a large extent. He said that less than 30 infiltrators infiltrated into this side this year.

Marathi news organisation News18 Lokmat distorts Rahul Rajput’s murder by a Muslim mob as a fallout of “inter-caste relationship”

OpIndia Staff
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Marathi news organisation News18 Lokmat distorts Rahul Rajput’s murder by a Muslim mob as a fallout of “inter-caste relationship”

Distorting the truth and concealing inconvenient facts are not an exclusive preserve of some of the mainstream media organisations in India. Several vernacular news outlets, in different parts of the country, share an equal blame, if not more, for propagating false accounts of the incidents that threaten to upend their nurtured propaganda.

Recently, an 18-year-old Hindu boy was brutally beaten to death by a group of Muslim mob in Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar area because they opposed his relationship with a Muslim girl. The inter-faith relationship between a Hindu boy and a Muslim girl was the reason which goaded Mohammad Afroz, Mohammad Raj and 3 others to gang up on Rahul Rajput and mercilessly flog him, leaving him fatally wounded.

The young man somehow managed to drag his way to his house after which he was rushed to a nearby hospital. But his injuries were so severe that his life could not be salvaged and he breathed his last battling his multiple internal injuries in the abdomen. One amongst the 5 persons who physically assaulted him was the Muslim girl’s brother. The girl’s family, particularly her brother, strongly objected to their inter-faith relationship. However, the duo continued to meet each other, triggering her brother to unleash a lethal attack on Rahul Rajput.

News18 Lokmat twists fight over interfaith love affair as “inter-caste” relationship

While these are the broad facts of the incident, Marathi vernacular organisation News18 Lokmat chose to disregard them and give a diabolical twist to the incident, describing the death as a fallout of “inter-caste relationship”. In an article published on News18 Lokmat, the Marathi news outlet characterised the death of Rahul as over “inter-caste” love affair.

News18 Lokmat twists Rahul Rajput’s death as a fallout of “inter-caste” relationship

As per News18 Lokmat, Rahul was beaten up by the members of other caste of the same religion and not by the fanatical adherents of other faith. Given the caste stir prevalent in the country in the wake of Hathras incident, where detractors of the Yogi Adityanath government attempted to give the shocking incident a caste flavour, this distortion by News18 Lokmat of misrepresenting a murder committed by a Muslim mob as that committed by Hindus of different sect assumes particular significance as it would feed right into the caste-divide peddled by the opposition parties.

Besides, the article does not even mention the names of the perpetrators, lest it would expose their brazen propaganda of passing off a gruesome murder over the interfaith relationship as a result of “inter-caste” affair. Despite various media organisations listing the names of the culprits involved in the case, News18 Lokmat conspicuously kept their identities under wraps.

Earlier today, India Today was also caught whitewashing the crimes committed by the Muslim mob in the horrifying assault against Rahul Rajput. India Today downplayed the murder and euphemistically characterised a love affair between the duo as “friendship”. Nor did the article reveal the identities of the perpetrators.

Vernacular media, a breeding ground for gross and vile distortions

However, the gross perversion by a vernacular media organisation is even more insidious considering that for a large section of the indigenous population, it remains their primary source of information.

Furthermore, there are scores of beady eyes scrupulously scanning the mainstream media organisations prone to peddling fake news. However, vernacular media organisations may not be subjected to such intense scrutiny by the readers, many of whom are largely unaware of the organisations’ treacherous shenanigans. This gullibility has often led many vernacular writers to brazenly indulge in plagiarism. For example, Girish Kuber of LokSatta who was caught for lifting an entire article by ne Andrew Lilico, a PhD expert and rendering it in Marathi.

It is this lack of acute awareness among the indigenous readers that provides the vernacular media organisations, including Marathi outlets, with a wide latitude to peddle fake news and deceitful narratives with impunity. Most of these vernacular outlets act as mouthpieces of the regional political parties, who in turn have aligned themselves with the Congress party against the growing political heft of the BJP.

With Maharashtra being a stronghold of the Congress party and Sharad Pawar’s NCP, several of the Marathi outlets have, time and again, been sympathetic to the Congress party and its espoused ideology. The Marathi vernacular outlets’ excessive deference to Congress and its allies have led to the growing demands of having a neutral Marathi news organisation that objectively presents the facts without distortion or dilution.

Congress’ minority appeasement propaganda and its recent attempts to undermine the BJP by highlighting the caste-divide within the Hindu society perfectly dovetails with the perversion of the facts by the News18 Lokmat. It is to this end that News18 Lokmat deviously conjures up an inter-caste love affair when the romantic liaison was between a Hindu boy and a Muslim girl.

Former employee of Prashant Kishor’s company threatens suicide accusing the company of harassment, attempt to kill him using drugs

OpIndia Staff
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Former employee of Prashant Kishor’s company threatens suicide accusing the company of harassment, attempt to kill him using drugs

An ex-employee of Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), the political strategy group run by Prashant Kishor, had taken to his Linkedin profile three days ago to publish a suicide note, levelling some serious allegations against the Political strategist and Ex Janata Dal-United member Prashant Kishor and his organisation.

Kiran Patil, who according to his Linkedin profile lives in Mumbai, Maharashtra, and was an associate with the company, claimed that due to the continuous harassment he has been subjected to by his last organisation- Indian Political Action Committee, he was being forced to end his life. Patil, who has resigned from I-PAC, alleged that the organisation was being run by a goon named Prashant Kishor who has big clout in Indian politics and hence police are not even accepting complaint against him.

Screeshot of the suicide note uploaded by I-PAC ex-employee Kiran Patil on his Linkedin profile

The former employee of I-PAC alleged that the company has been after his life since over a year now, and has even tried to kill him by administrating drugs on him which he said could cause a brain haemorrhage.

In his ‘suicide note’, Kiran Patil, alleged that Prashant Kishor’s company hacked his personal mobile and laptop. They also denied him his relieving letter because of which he even lost a chance to go to ISB for further education. He furthered that these emerging situations have compelled him to end his life. He requested the PMO and Home Ministry to take note.

Responding to his above post, Kiran Patil, wrote another post a day ago, in which he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that he was contacted by SP city Jalgaon who has suggested him to take the legal route. As Kiran Patil confirmed that he would now be taking legal action against Prashant Kishor and his organisation, he accused Kishor of running his company on black money. He said that police counselled him to abandon the plan to commit suicide.

Allegeing that the organisation had implicated him in false and baseless cases, Kiran accused the organisation of “using it’s filthy money and political power to pay those indviduals to file those cases”.

He alleged that company is run using black money, and he had complained about the same to the Income Tax department. “The organisation is filthy to say the least, they run entire subsidiaries on black money, I have already complained about that to even income tax department in the past to no avail,” he wrote. Kiran further added, “The organisation is using its filthy money and political power to pay those individuals to file those cases.”

In his note, Kiran Patil reveals that I-PAC’s employee Mr Subhash Tanan even called his parents and threatened them. According to Subhash Chand Tanan’s official Linkedin profile, he works as the engagement manager for I-PAC.

His effort to expose Prashant Kishor and his Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), subjected Kiran Patil to a lot of trolling by his own colleges. While some questioned Patil’s mental health, others suggested that taking names isn’t going to take him anywhere. Some even tried to get him to settle amicably with the organisation.

Shutting up his trolls, Kapil Patil wrote to I-PAC: “Please take care of all of your resources. You are going to need as many as possible to come out clean. It’s good to know that an organisation who perhaps would have silenced many innocent souls who would have dared to speak against their black money dealings is afraid of one individual.”

He also shared screenshots of how many people from the organisation had viewed and reacted to his post, claiming that he single-handedly managed to tyrannize a powerful and influential person like Prashant Kishor, who was forced to use his legion to troll him.

The organisation has responded to Kiran Patil’s suicide note saying that it had received Patil’s resignation on 14th Dec 2019 citing medical emergency. But since the organization had received a sexual harassment complaint against him and since the case was pending against him, as per law, they could not complete his exit formalities. I-PAC said that on 15th Dec 2019 the organization received a sexual harassment complaint against him from one of their female colleagues.

Sadhus protest in Rajasthan against the killing of temple priest, family’s demands not fulfilled by state govt

OpIndia Staff
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Sadhus protest in Rajasthan against the killing of temple priest, family’s demands not fulfilled by state govt

Sadhus in the state of Rajasthan came out in protest against the horrific incident in which a temple priest was burnt alive in Karauli district of Rajasthan. The priest named Babulal Vaishnav was allegedly set on fire by six men who wanted to grab the land of the temple.

BJP leader Ram Kadam has slammed Congress scions Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for rushing to Hathras to show solidarity with the family of the victim but failing to show similar concern for the family of the priest. “Does the sensitivity of Rahul Gandhi and his party members vary depending on the caste or religion of the victim and the state politics”, Kadam questioned.

People are demanding the state government to give assurance in writing and not just verbal assurances. According to reports, the family members of the priest along with a local MP and a former MLA of the BJP had gone to talk to the SP and the Collector of Karauli returned empty handed and the government went back on its promise. The local residents have reportedly alleged that the local MLA is supporting the culprits which raises questions on the assurance of the police that strict action will be taken against those responsible.

The family of the priest had reportedly demanded a compensation of 50 lakh, government job to one family member, security and suspension of the local MLA which have not been fulfilled by the state government.

The victim was the head priest of the Radhagovind temple in the village. He was set on fire by six people who wanted to grab the temple but he was resisting. He was admitted to the SMS Hospital in Jaipur where he succumbed to his injuries yesterday morning.

Protests held in Kolkata demanding action against cops who assaulted and pulled off the turban of a Sikh man

OpIndia Staff
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Protests held in Kolkata demanding action against cops who assaulted and pulled off the turban of a Sikh man

A protest rally was organised by some members of Sikh Community in Kolkata yesterday night against the Mamata government after police assaulted a Sikh man and pulled off his turban during the protest march held by BJYM and BJP workers on October 8 against the rising political killings in the state.

The Sikh protestors demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. “CM Mamata Banerjee please explain why the turban of a Sikh has been pulled by your police. You should explain or leave the chair”, the protestors demanded. Surinder Singh, one of the protestors, said that the cops should be punished. “We are aggrieved over the way a member of our community has been treated by the lawmakers. We demand punishment of the cops who committed such act”, he said.

Giving themselves a clean chit, the West Bengal police said that they respected all religions. Justifying their act, the West Bengal police posted a tweet saying that Balwinder Singh was carrying firearms.

The Sikh man named Balwinder Singh is a former Indian Army soldier and was kept by BJP leader Priyangu Pandey as a private security officer. During the violence unleashed by the West Bengal police on the Nabanna rally, Singh was brutally assaulted by the police and his turban was pulled off. The video of the incident had gone viral o social media in which the cops can be clearly seen attacking Singh and pulling off his turban. The act of police of disrespecting the Sikh turban drew a lot of criticism. However, the West Bengal police had later issued a statement and said that the turban fell of automatically.

BJYM Head and Member of Parliament Tejasvi Surya had said that he would move a privilege motion against the state government officials who manhandled the BJP leaders ho had gone to the police station to file an FIR against the attack on Nabanna rally.

Hinduphobia in Zee5 new movie ‘comedy couple’ promo: Gaumutra jibe by actor Saqib Saleem

OpIndia Staff
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Hinduphobia in Zee5 new movie ‘comedy couple’ promo: Gaumutra jibe by actor Saqib Saleem

Zee5, the Indian video on service demand run by Essel Group, today launched the teaser of its new movie ‘Comedy Couple’ which is set to premiere on 21st October, exclusively on ZEE5 Premium. The promo of the yet to be released movie attackted sharp criticism on social media after the lead actor in the movie Saqib Saleem is seen making a ‘gaumutra’ jibe in what he tries to pass off as comedy.

“Comedy Couple”, co-starring Shweta Basu Prasad, is based in Gurgaon against the backdrop of the burgeoning stand-up comedy scene in the city. The teaser of the movie opens with Saqib Saleem (Deep) and Shweta Basu Prasad (Zoya), as they take to the stage for their comedy act. Saqib begins the act by sharing his theory about relationships by breaking it into three stages. And while doing so, Saqib says: “Get me a cold drink, do you have cold water? Leave the rest-do you have gaumutra? I am even ready to drink gaumutra, at least all my sins will be washed off.”

Twitter handle ‘Gems of Bollywood’, irked by the movie makers for pushing Hinduphobic content and mocking the believers of Hinduism and the sacredness of cow, called for boycotting the movie. It said: “One more behuda (ridiculous) Gaumutra joke after Pulwama suicide bomber Aadil Dhar”, and said that the movie should be boycotted.

In its subsequent Tweet, Gems of Bollywood urged Zee5 to ensure that the Hindu hate does not appear on its platform or else “Comedy Couple may tragically decouple your business gains”, warned the Twitter handle.

It is pertinent to note that Islamists and Hinduphobics have often used the ‘gaumutra’ jibe to mock Hindus and their faith. Last year, in the aftermath of the dastardly attack on the CRPF convoy on February 14, 2019, a video was released by the Jaish-e-Muhammad group in which the terrorist who carried out the egregious attack against the security personnel, killing 40 of them, made a gaumutra jibe as a reference to Hindus.

Zee5 runs into trouble for its Hinduphobic series ‘Godman’

This is however not the first time Zee5 has ran into trouble. Earlier this year, a controversy had erupted over the blatant Hinduphobia pushed by OTT platform Zee5 through its new Tamil web series ‘Godman’. Several Hindu groups, including prominent voices BJP MP Subramanian Swamy, social media users had raised their voices against the anti-Hindu web series claiming that the series aims to cast Brahmins and Hindu saints in a bad light. The uproar had compelled Zee5 to suspend the release of the web series.

India Today group channel Aaj Tak reporter says the priest killed in Rajasthan immolated himself, blames PM Modi for the crime

OpIndia Staff
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India Today group channel Aaj Tak reporter says the priest killed in Rajasthan immolated himself, blames PM Modi for the crime

A priest of a temple in Bokna village, Sapaotra division of Karauli district of Rajasthan succumbed to burns on Thursday night after he was set ablaze by five persons on Wednesday over a land issue. While the family of the priest along with thousands of others have gathered to stage protests against the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan, demanding compensation and strict and speedy action against the perpetrators, Aaj Tak, the Hindi news channel owned by India Today group, uses the brutal killing of the priest as a launchpad to fire salvos of criticism at PM Modi and the central government. And while doing so, it also concludes that the priest was not killed but he immolated himself.

Aaj Tak reporter concludes that priest committed “atmadah”

While reporting from Rajasthan’s Karauli village, an Aaj Tak reporter points to the priest’s thatched hut and says that this is the harsh truth behind PM Modi’s Awas Yojana. Continuing his attack at the central government, the Aaj Tak reporter says that seeing the depraved condition of the hut where the priest committed “atmadah” (self-immolation), it seems impossible that PM Modi’s dream of providing proper housing to all under the Awas Yojana would ever come true.

The reporter does not stop at this. The Aaj Tak report artfully shifts the focus from the Congress-led government in the state of Rajasthan to the BJP and the central government. He questions BJP leader Rajyavardhan Rathore on the duties of the central government. He asks: “Isn’t it the BJP and the central government’s responsibility to provide proper houses to every citizen”. He then goes on to conclude that had the priest been provided with a proper house to live in by the BJP government, he would not have died today.

Basically, what the Aaj Tak reporter attempts to do is, instead of holding the Ashok Gehlot government accountable for a brutal murder in the state which has no link with the condition of the house of the victim, he brazenly shift the entire blame on the BJP government.

But this is something which is not new for India Today, the media giant who is embroiled in a TRP scam lately and is one of the accused in the scandal involving payment of bribes to households with bar-o-meters to watch India Today channel daily, in a bid to drive up their shrinking TRPs. India Today has often been caught twisting and turning incidents to push its own set narrative.

Mob kills a Hindu for being in love with a Muslim girl, India Today whitewashes, yet again

Only today, while reporting the incident, where an 18-year-old Delhi University Hindu student was brutally hacked to death in a savage attack by at least 5 assailants—Mohammad Afroz, Mohammad Raj and 3 others—for being in a love affair with a Muslim girl, the media network yet again attempted to whitewash the crime only because the victim here was a Hindu and the accused were Muslims. A trajectory which these leftist media giants have been following since time immemorial to increase their TRPs.

India Today report downplayed communal angle in 2018 murder of Ankit Saxena

Earlier in 2018, the India Today report had sought to understate the horrifying killing of a Hindu boy named Ankit Saxena when his throat was slit in broad daylight by the family members of his Muslim girlfriend.

Along with state-run Madrasas, did Himanta Biswa Sarma say that Assam govt will be closing down Sanskrit Tols too? Not quite: Read details

OpIndia Staff
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Along with state-run Madrasas, did Himanta Biswa Sarma say that Assam govt will be closing down Sanskrit Tols too? Not quite: Read details

Several media houses published a report by IANS saying that Assam government has decided to shut down the govt run madrassas and Sanskrit tols (school) in the state. The media report quoted state education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma saying that a notification regarding this same will be issued next month, and that the decision has been taken as govt don’t want to fund religious education. Although it is true that govt run madrassas and Sanskrit Tols will no longer exist after the decision is implemented, it is misleading to report that they are being shut down. Because, they are being converted to regular schools, not being shut down entirely as indicated by the media reports. Moreover, the reason for the decision on madrassas and tols are also completely different, which is not mentioned in the IANS report.

“No religious educational institutes will be allowed to function with government funds. We will bring out a notification in November to this effect. We have nothing to say about privately-run madrassas,” Sarma said while announcing the decision. He said that the state government will bring out a notification in November to this effect. The minister also clarified that the only state-run madrasas are being shut, and privately run  ‘Kherasi madrassas’ can run as usual. Earlier the Madrassa Board was dissolved and the academics of the institutions were handed over to the Board of Secondary Education.

The IANS report is misleading because, contrary to the report, the madrassas and tols are not being shut down, but actually they are being converted to regular schools. This was announced by the education minister in February this year, when he had said that a secular country should not allow religious education with public money. 

It was announced by Himanta Biswa Sarma that both the Madrassas and Sanskrit tols will be converted to regular govt schools, and the jobs in those institutions will continue. He had said that the teachers who were teaching religious subjects will continue to draw their salary without having to go to the schools till their retirement, as their subjects will not be there in the converted schools. Teachers of other subjects will continue to teach those subjects.

The reason for converting govt Madrassas is correct as what the IANS report says, as the state govt has decided that a secular government should not be funding religious education. But the decision for Sanskrit tols is different, because, they are language schools, not religious schools.

Clarifying on the decision, Himanta Biswa Sarma had said that there were lots of irregularities in the way the Sanskrit tols were functioning in the state. He had said that 80% of the Sanskrit Tols had become meaningless, and they had become factories to pass the matriculation exam. He had also informed that many such tools have very few students, and there were no candidates for the 10th exams this year from several tools. He had said that govt money was being wasted in the Sankrit schools. “The objection to government-run Sanskrit tols is that they are not transparent. We are taking steps to address this,” he had added.

Therefore, the Assam govt is converting the Sanskrit tols to regular schools for corruption and irregularities, not for the same reason as Madrassas.

Sanskrit Education to continue

Although the Sanskrit tols are being converted to regular schools, it does not mean Sanskrit studies will end in the state. The language is already being taught in regular govt schools, as govt had announced in 2017 that Sanskrit will be mandatory till class 8 in 2017. According, govt schools have started to include it gradually, according to the availability of teachers. Many private schools voluntarily teach the subject in their schools too.

Kumar Bhaskar Varma Sanskrit and Ancient Studies University in Nalbari in the state is offering higher education in Sanskrit language and ancient studies. The University was granted 12-B status by the University Grants Commission (UGC) earlier this year. Therefore, the Sanskrit education in the state will continue in regular schools where it is taught, and with the university that offers higher studies and research in the language, along with ancient studies.

Therefore, govt will continue to fund education of Sanskrit language through regular schools and the university. On the other hand, Assam govt will no longer fund education into Islamic studies.

Decision was announced years ago

The state govt had announced the intention to end religious and separate language schools in 2017 itself. As part of that initiative, in 2018, the Assam government had scrapped the two controlling boards — State Madrassa Education Board and Assam Sanskrit Board. The Madrassas were brought under the Secondary Board of Education Assam (SEBA) and the Sanskrit tols were brought under Kumar Bhaskar Varma Sanskrit and Ancient Studies University respectively. The move to merge two bodies was to introduce modern education to students and to bring them into the mainstream.

Reportedly, there are more than 600 government-run madrassas in Assam and 900 other private madrassas, which are run by Jamiat Ulama. The Assam government spends nearly Rs 4 crore to run these madrassas in the state and about Rs 1 crore on Sanskrit tols annually.

We will re-open madrassas, says AIUDF Badruddin Ajmal

Meanwhile, the opposition has opposed any move to shut down madrassas in the state. The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) supremo and Lok Sabha MP Badruddin Ajmal said that his party would re-open them after winning the assembly elections scheduled next year if the state government decided to close down government-run madrassas.

“You cannot shut madrassas. After we come to power, we will take a cabinet decision to reopen these 50-60-year-old institutions of madrassas if the present government closes them forcibly,” said the AIUDF leader.

The All Assam Minority Students’ Union attacked the Assam government and said that the decision to shut down madrassas is to “harass Muslims and denying them basic rights” guaranteed by the Constitution.

“Madrasas don’t only teach Islamic scriptures and Arabic, they also teach subjects like any regular school,” the AAMSU said in a statement.

TRP Scam: Hansa Research Group complaint, on the basis of which FIR was filed, mentions only India Today, Republic TV not mentioned

OpIndia Staff
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TRP Scam: Hansa Research Group complaint, on the basis of which FIR was filed, mentions only India Today, Republic TV not mentioned

Days after Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, in an explosive statement, accused Republic TV of ‘TRP manipulation’, Republic TV has accessed the 7-page Hansa research Group complaint, on the basis of which an FIR was registered in the TRP scam case. Contrary to the narrative put forth by the Mumbai Police, the complaint categorically mentions India Today on two occasions but does not make any reference to Republic TV or other channels.

The Hansa Research Group Pvt Ltd. had filed the complaint against unknown persons and two of its employees, namely, Vishal Bhandari and Dinesh Vishwakarma. The company informed that they undertake the Panel Home Operations for a metering company MDL to collect raw data of TV viewership for BARC.

Hansa employee asked panel homes to watch India Today daily for 2 hours

On June 17, Hansa Research Group employee Vishal Bhandari had informed to BARC Vigilance Team that he had received a call from one Vinay in November 2019. As per the complaint, Vinay had asked Bhandari to visit 5-panel homes, where bar-o-meters are installed, and convince them to watch India Today news channel for 2 hours every day. He had received ₹5000 to execute the task and was also paid ₹1000 to equally distribute among the 5-panel homes. Bhandari, who had executed the plan on the behest of Vinay, continued it unabated from November 2019 to May this year.

During the 7-month period, Bhandari would meet different people at the Malad railway station to receive his cash reward. During their internal investigation, BARC cross-verified the claims of Bhandari. Several panel homes have admitted to receiving monetary compensation in lieu of watching ‘certain channels’ and ‘influencing the viewership’.

Screengrab of the Hansa Research Group complaint (Page 3)

Whatsapp chat messages reveal all lies of India Today

Hansa Research Group employee Vishal Bhandari had shared several Whatsapp chats between panel home members and his contacts. “Mujhe channel ka cash aata hai. Abb vo bhi nhi lene kaa sakta (I get money from the channel. But, its difficult to get the money now)”, a message from Bhandari read. In another Whatsapp correspondence, Bhandari said to one Vivek, “Mera channel ka pay ayega 11 ya 12 ko trko pura deta hu ( The pay for my channel would come on 11th or 12th of this month. I will pay you once I receive the money)”

Bhandari had also messaged another handler with the name ‘Subhash Lane 1 Nw.’ He wrote, “25 ko naya channel le raha hu
me, toh uska bhi advance payment kar dunga (Taking up a new channel on 25th of this month. I will make an advance payment to you).” In another Whatsapp correspondence, Bhandari corrected a handler who asked him to send the details of the contact in ‘India Tv’. He said, “Ganesh, India Today, Any issue call me I will send him.”

Screengrab of the Hansa Research Group complaint (Page 5)

It is pertinent to remember that Bhandari had admitted to BARC Vigilance Team that he was working on the behest of one Vinay in favour of India Today. Besides his confession, his Whatsapp communication also reflects how he has been coordinating with his handlers and a ‘contact’ in India Today. Interestingly, the complaint finds no mention of Republic TV network but mentions India Today on at least 2 occasions.

The report matches with the FIR registered by the Mumbai Police on the complaint of Hans Research into TRP manipulation. The FIR, which came to hours after Mumbai Police Commissioner had named Republic TV, also mentions the name of India Today, accusing that money was paid to panel homes to watch the channel for 2 hours a day. The FIR didn’t mention the name of Republic TV, contrary to the claims of the commissioner.

Hansa Research group seeks criminal prosecution of Vishal Bhandari and others

“That the above act of tampering with the actual collection of data by interfering and influencing the households. The persons behind these criminal acts have hatched a criminal conspiracy with the intention to interfere with the legitimate collection of Data and thereby cheat other channels, advertisers and finally the public,” the complaint noted. Hansa Research Group also pointed out that the employees defrauded the company, violated the confidentiality clause of their Non-Disclosure Agreement(NDA) and was thus liable for prosecution under Indian Penal Code IPC Sections 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).

Republic TV issues statement

After accessing the complaint by Hansa Research, Republic TV issued a statement, saying that it exposes India Today completely. It says that while the complaint mentions India Today multiple times, Republic TV is not mentioned at all. “The Hansa complaint is what India Today Group was hoping would not see the light of the day. However, the truth always has a way of coming out, and Republic will ensure that it does, in its entirety”, the statement said.

News Release issued by Republic TV

The Arnab Goswami led channel also said that “Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh owes a public apology because the original complaint based on which the FIR was filed also specifically names only and only India Today and not Republic TV, just like the FIR itself”.

Republic TV affirmed that it stands vindicated after the original Hansa complaint has been published, and “the canard of lies propagated by India Today now crumbles in the face of hard evidence.” The network asked both Param Bir Singh and India Today to explain whether there was a burial of evidence, a skirting of the due process of law and and airbrushing of the truth.

India Today admits to data manipulation


Earlier, in an OpIndia exclusive news break, it emerged that India Today had been held guilty of ‘viewership malpractice’ back on July 31st and was asked to pay a penalty of Rs 5,00,000 to BARC by the BARC Vigilance Council. India Today, after several hours of the news break, published a statement where they admitted that they were indeed fined for viewership manipulation but said that they will take legal action against BARC since their involvement in the scam was meant to be ‘confidential’.

From following Rahul Gandhi to dragging CAA: Meet the ‘forensic expert’ cum ‘sister’ cum ‘fake Naxal bhabhi’ of Hathras fame

OpIndia Staff
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From following Rahul Gandhi to dragging CAA: Meet the ‘forensic expert’ cum ‘sister’ cum ‘fake Naxal bhabhi’ of Hathras fame

The Hathras Case witnessed a shocking development on Saturday after it was revealed that an alleged Naxal ‘fake Bhabhi’ stayed with the family of the victim for an unspecified duration of time between the 16th and 22nd of September. Our sources, however, revealed that the person could have stayed for much longer.

In a video that has now come to light, the real Bhabhi has claimed that the woman in question was not an imposter but a distant relative. With a ghoonghat (veil) covering her face and a child in one hand, the real Bhabhi stated, “Her (the suspected Naxalite) name is Rajkumari. She has a 10-year-old son. She has a husband and a family. There is nothing like that (what is being portrayed in the media).” On being asked about the residence of the alleged Naxalite, the real Bhabhi stated, “She lives in Jabalpur and has a job there.”

The suspected Naxalite in question has been identified as one Rajkumari Bansal from Jabalpur. She has admitted to being present at the scene. “I was present there (at victim’s house) and if someone identifies me as fake sister in law of the victim, I can’t help,” she told CNN News18. “Did I say that I am the sister in law of the victim. I am not illiterate, I only talk on the basis of evidences,” she added.

The social media accounts of Rajkumari Bansal have also emerged and details of her accounts have gone viral on social media. She is not very active on Twitter and follows only 6 accounts. She is followed by 17 people in turn (as of the time of writing this report). Most intriguingly, she follows and is followed by E.P. Gautam, the national president of the Bharatiya Moolnivasi Sangathan (BMS). She also follows Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party on Twitter.

Source: Twitter

Her Facebook posts reveal problematic aspects of her political ideology. In one Facebook post on the 3rd of October, Rajkumari Bansal says that those who claim to care for the Hindus of other countries have burnt the Hindus of their own country like garbage. This was an obvious reference to the cremation of the Hathras victim.

Rajkumari Bansal on Facebook

In another Facebook post, she says that if the Hathras victim were buried instead of being cremated, then perhaps another post-mortem could have been conducted. She is perhaps casting aspersions on the forensic reports that said that there was no rape involved.

She has also shared fake quotes by Yogi Adityanath and even after people pointed out that she quote she posted was fake, she did not remove it. It is still available on her Facebook account.

Rajkumari bansal shares fake quote by UP CM Yogi Adityanath

Rajkumari Bansal was also busy emphasising on the importance of caste with regards to the Hathras Case.

Continued emphasis on Caste

Rajkumari Bansal does not appear to be very active on social media. However, from the limited number of posts and other activity, she appears to harbour problematic political opinions. She has also come forward with a statement that she went to Hathras to help the victim family since she has experience in forensics.

There are also seemingly conflicting statements of hers doing the rounds on social media.

Due to the suspicious circumstances of her visit and the manner in which the whole thing has turned out, questions are being asked regarding whether she was there to coach the victim on how and what to tell the media. Speculations are also running rife on whether she was there at the behest of others.

Meanwhile, the real Bhabhi says, “She (the suspected Naxalite) is my Bhabhi’s relative and thus a distant relative of mine. Everyone, who has learnt about the (alleged murder) incident, is coming to our house. We have relatives coming from Bhopal, Ahmedabad and Mumbai. There is nothing strange about this.” Only further investigation will reveal the truth regarding that.

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