In yet another attack on the religious minorities in Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Multan Bar Association has passed a resolution which prohibits non-Muslim lawyers including Ahmadis, sect of Islam whom Pakistan state has declared ‘non-Muslims’, from participating in the Bar Council elections. As per reports, the resolution presented by the lawyers of District Bar Association also stated that those willing to contest elections and vote must also submit an affidavit to prove their faith in Islam.
Such news from Pakistan comes at a time when Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is giving tips to India on how to protect the minorities in India in the backdrop of passage of Citizenship Amendment Act which ironically looks at providing Indian citizenship to persecuted religious minorities in neighbouring Islamic countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The int community should wake up before RSS on the move leads to genocide of Muslims that will dwarf other genocides. Whenever militias like Hitler’s Brown Shirts or RSS are formed, based upon hatred of a certain community, it always ends in genocide. https://t.co/bnxJknIbO6
Earlier this month, Muslim mob had surrounded Nankana Sahib Gurudwara in Pakistan, which is the holy site where Guru Nanak was born, and had pelted stones at the holy shrine while shouting that they won’t let Sikhs live in Pakistan. Shockingly, two days after the attack, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, instead of condemning the attack on Sikhs in Pakistan, had blamed PM Modi and RSS on attacks on India.
The nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has firmly backed the Modi government’s Citizenship Amendment Act and has vehemently opposed opposition parties’ demand for withdrawal of the historic legislation.
According to the Sunday Guardian report, the RSS has communicated its 100% support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on the issue of CAA. The RSS has stated that the CAA is a much-needed step towards uniting the Hindu community and the legislation which was passed by two Houses of Parliament does not discriminate against any religion.
The issue of the CAA was the main focus during the three-day-long RSS informal talks held in Indore from 5 January to 7 January on the “conditions prevailing in the country”. The meet was attended by top RSS functionaries, including its chief Mohan Bhagwat and general secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi.
The RSS functionaries also closely analysed the anti-CAA protests that are taking place across the country. According to the RSS, the protests do not represent the sentiments of the majority of Indians, who are in support of the CAA.
As per the Sunday Guardian report, senior RSS functionaries said that the consensus that emerged during this three-day meet was that the reasons being given by the protestors against the CAA do not hold any truth, which was evident in the way that the CAA was branded as anti-Muslim as soon as it was passed by Parliament, even details regarding the implementation had not been announced.
“The whole anti-CAA movement is based on poisonous propaganda that Muslims are being targeted. There is nothing in the Act that proves this false contention. The Opposition parties including private individuals have been successful, to some extent, in spreading this false notion. A lot of discussions happened on the CAA and there is nothing wrong in it and it should be implemented across the country. The government should not retreat because some vested sections are against it,” an RSS leader said to Sunday Guardian. The deliberations were held in detail and with an “open mind” and discussed all the points that the protestors were raising against CAA.
The RSS believes that neither the Jharkhand elections nor the upcoming Delhi elections, were or will be a mandate on the CAA. “State elections are decided on local issues. CAA is a national issue. The win or loss in Delhi will not be the right parameter to gauge the mood of the people on CAA,” he added.
On Sunday, the RSS will take out a massive rally in support of the CAA in Indore, in Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh. It expects close to 2.5 lakh people to attend the rally. The RSS has asked its cadre to start spreading awareness among the people on the ground about the benefits of CAA and not to wait for the Union government’s push for the same.
According to the RSS, there is a lot of misinformation spread with mala fide intentions against the CAA, which is an Act necessary to identify illegal migrants.
“If you negate the argument, which is prima facie false, that CAA is against Indian Muslims, on what grounds will the protesters speak against the CAA? That is what the RSS wants its cadre to do—annihilate this false bogey that the Act is going to target Indian Muslims,” a senior RSS functionary reportedly told the Sunday Guardian.
According to senior RSS leader, a difference of opinions was something that the RSS believed in and it sees the anti-CAA protests in the same light. “Nowhere is it written that people cannot oppose or speak against government policies. We also oppose government policies many times; some of our opposition is taken into consideration, some not. Dissent is one of the main ingredients of democracy,” he said as he dismissed the notion that the anti-CAA sentiment was a “pan India-all pervasive” protest.
The Citizenship Amendment act seeks to give Indian citizenship to the members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from three neighbouring Islamic countries – Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh after facing religious persecution.
The Act states the refugees of the six communities will be given Indian citizenship after residing in India for five years, instead of earlier requirement of 11 years. The Act also proposes to give immunity to such refugees facing legal cases after being found as illegal migrants. The cut-off date for granting citizenship will be December 31, 2014.
In a recent interview, Indian Army chief General MM Naravane said that the Army will take appropriate actions to take back the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir if the Parliament issues instructions.
#WATCH Army Chief on if PoK can be part of India as stated by political leadership: There is a parliamentary resolution that entire J&K is part of India.If Parliament wants it,then,PoK also should belong to us. When we get orders to that effect, we’ll take appropriate action pic.twitter.com/P8Rbfwpr2x
“As far as PoK is concerned, years ago, the Parliament passed a resolution that entire Jammu and Kashmir, erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir, is part of us. There is a parliamentary resolution. And if the Parliament wants that that area should also be part of us, and we are given instructions for it, then we will definitely take appropriate action,” General MM Naravane said.
A resolution was adopted in the Parliament in 1994 which said that the entire erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. On feasibility of military operations in PoK, General MM Naravane said that the Indian Army has forces deployed across all borders and have various plans. If required, these plans can be put into action and successfully carry out the tasks they’re asked to do.
As the misconception surrounding the Citizenship Amendment Act appears to be diminishing, some of the left-leaning intellectuals are going overboard to fan falsehoods and distortions about the recently legislated act. One such intellectual is the former IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan, who brazenly indulged in fueling fear among people with regard to the act that intends to grant citizenship to the persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
Speaking at an event in Bengaluru, Kannan tried to imply that the Act has several loopholes which might be exploited by the central government. He argued that the Citizenship Amendment Act has not declared who an “illegal immigrant” is.
The relevant section from the News Minute Article
However, it appears that Kannan Gopinathan himself has not read the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 as well as the original Citizenship Act, 1955, or he has no idea about acts and their amendments. The CAA is just an amendment to the existing Citizenship Act 1955. The CAA becomes part of the Citizenship Act by providing fast-tracking of the citizenship process for the persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, and it is not an independent act.
The Citizenship Act 1955 clearly states the definition of an “illegal immigrant”. The act mentions that “illegal migrant” means a foreigner who has entered into India “either without a valid passport or travel documents and such other document or authority as may be prescribed by or under any law in that behalf or with a valid passport or other travel documents and such other document or authority as may be prescribed by or under any in that behalf but remains therein beyond the permitted period of time”.
Citizenship Act 1955
This is the case with any amendment, they define words only if they are newly introduced, the amendments do not define terms which are already defined in the original act, as there is no need to do that. By alleging that the amendment does not define the term ‘illegal immigrant’, the former IAS officer displays a shocking ignorance about the Indian legal system.
However, Kannan did not stop there. Continuing his fear-mongering about the Act amongst the Muslim population of the country, Kannan said in the interaction that the Citizenship Amendment Act does not “clearly say how Indian Muslims will be spared during the process”.
The relevant section from the News Minute article
By alleging that there is nothing in the Act that states Muslims will be spared, Kannan is not only conveniently brushing aside the assurances provided by PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah that the Act in no way affect the Indian Muslims, but also adding fuel to fire by alluding that Indian Muslims might lose their citizenship due to enactment of the CAA. However, the Act applies to persons only belonging to three foreign countries-Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and not to the Indian citizens.
Notwithstanding PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s repeated assurances that the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 has no bearing on the Indian Muslims, Kannan continued inciting misgivings about the Act in a desperate attempt to keep alive the wilting anti-CAA protests.
As a large number of social media users are demanding apology from India Today host Rahul Kanwal for passing off a JNUSU activist as an ABVP member to allege that ABVP had planned the JNU violence, it has now come to light that senior journalist from the same channel Rajdeep Sardesai has issued an unconditional apology for airing a fake news item in 2007.
The former NDTV and CNN-News18 journalist was accused of spreading fake news on Sohrabuddin encounter case, and a case was filed against him at the Metropolitan Sessions Court in Hyderabad. The original case was filed in November 2007, and it was still going on. But in November last year, Rajdeep Sardedai and few others named in the case submitted an unconditional apology to an IPS officer, after which the case against them was dismissed by the court.
An affidavit tendering an unconditional apology to IPS officer Rajiv Trivedi and submitted to the Metropolitan Sessions Court in Hyderabad was posted by social media user Alok Bhatt today.
Rajdeep Sardesai had to apologise to Rajiv Trivedi for a program titled “30 minutes – Sohrabuddin, the inside story”, which was aired on CNN-IBN (now CNN-News18) channel on 13 May 2007. In the program, it was accused that Hyderabad Special Investigation Unit SP Rajiv Trivedi had helped the Gujarat police in nabbing Sohrabuddin. Rajdeep Sardesai had reported that Rajiv Trivedi had provided cars with fake number plates which were used to transport Sohrabuddin to Ahmedabad.
After the report, officer Trivedi had filed a Criminal Complaint against Rajdeep Sardesai and others involved in the news report, saying that it had tarnished his image. Accordingly, Hyderabad police had initiated criminal proceedings against the journalist.
After the case was filed, the Additional Metropolitan Magistrate, Hyderabad had passed an order summoning Rajdeep Sardesai & others to face the prosecution as accused. After that Rajdeep Sardesai had challenged the said summoning order by filing a petition in AP High Court, praying that the summoning order of the lower court be set aside & the criminal case against him be quashed. However, the High Court had found prima facie merit in the criminal case & accordingly dismissed Rajdeep’s challenge.
Several other persons from CNN-IBN and accused in the case tendered the same apology
After that, Rajdeep Sardesai and others had approached the Supreme Court of India seeking to quash the criminal proceedings against them, but the apex court also had rejected their applications, saying that the case against them had merit and the trial should go on in the sessions court. The Supreme Court order issued in May 2015 said that the high court judgement rejecting the petitions for quashing the initiation of criminal proceedings against the appellants was perfectly valid.
It was argued by Rajdeep’s counsel in Supreme Court that criminal proceedings will hamper the “freedom of press”. Supreme Court had rejected the said argument by observing that individual reputation is equally important & cannot be trampled in the name of freedom of press.
The Supreme Court had said that the respondents are required to prove the allegations against the appellants by adducing valid and cogent evidence. The apex court had lifted the stay on the case in the trial court, and its last hearing took place on 15 November 2019 in the sessions court. But perhaps realising that they are fighting a long and losing battle, Rajdeep Sardesai and others from CNN-IBN channel named in the case decided to end the case by submitting unconditional apology to Rajiv Trivedi.
Sessions court order accepting apology of Rajdeep Sardesai
In the affidavit, Rajdeep Sardesai writes, “there is nothing to substantiate the allegation that Vanzara and Pandian nabbed Sohrabuddin and Kauserbi in Bidar with help from S.P. Rajiv Trivedi from Hyderabad, Special Investigation Unit and hence it was a false news telecast about Shri Rajiv Trivedi, IPS.” The India Today journalist further writes that “there is nothing to substantiate the allegation that Rajiv Trivedi provided cars with fake number plates in which Sohrabuddin was brought to Ahmedabad and killed in a fake encounter which new telecast by about Shri Rajiv Trivedi, IPS was also false.”
“Realizing out mistake, I offer my unconditional apology to Shri Rajiv Trivedi, IPS for telecasting such false news about him and sincerely express my regrets for the irreparable, loss, pain and agony caused to him, his family and friends,” Rajdeep Sardesai wrote in the affidavit submitted with the court.
Accordingly, the Metropolitan Sessions Court of Hyderabad accepted the affidavit and dismissed the case against them.
After getting caught that India Today passed off a JNUSU member as an ABVP member in a dubious sting operation aired on January 10, the channel’s anchor Rahul Kanwal continues his lies.
Yesterday after ABVP had claimed that the JNU student shown as ABVP member does not belong to the students’ organisation, Kanwal had posted a news clipping with a photograph of the student Akshat Awasthi in a students’ protest, saying that it was an ABVP rally. But in fact, the very news report used by Rahul Kanwal had reported that it was a JNUSU protest against the fee hike, and this news was published by several media outlets, including India Today.
In the meanwhile, Akshat Awasthi himelf has come forward to declare that he does not belong to ABVP, and he made false claims in the India Today sting video for boasting. But Rahul Kanwal refuses to accept all the evidence presented before him, and keeps insisting that Akshat is an ABVP member. Today again he posted a tweet, asking to watch India Today for videos of Akshat at an ABVP march. He said that he knows it was ABVP rally because it was shared on social media by the presidential candidate of ABVP.
Akshat Awasthi can clearly be seen behind the left
activists from 6 sec to 9 sec in the video while AISA’s Dolan Samantha can be
seen assaulting ABVP karyakartas. Police is bordering ABVP and Left. Does @rahulkanwal
have the guts to show this on air? #LeftBehindJNUViolence pic.twitter.com/mkDhb72icR
Akshat Awasthi can clearly be seen behind the left
activists from 6 sec to 9 sec in the video while AISA’s Dolan Samantha can be
seen assaulting ABVP karyakartas. Police is bordering ABVP and Left. Does @rahulkanwal
have the guts to show this on air? #LeftBehindJNUViolence pic.twitter.com/mkDhb72icR
Refuting the claims of Rahul Kanwal, the ABVP has posted a video showing that Akshat Awasthi was actually with left-wing students on January 5. In the video, Awasthi can be seen with Dolan Samandha, an AISA leader, who was assaulting ABVP members. Police were keeping the left and ABVP students separated by standing between them in a row, and Akshat can be clearly seen in the left side.
This video again proves that Akshat Awasthi is actually a left-wing member, and he appeared in the India Today sting video with the malicious attempt to malign ABVP. In police investigation also it has been found that it was the left-wing students who had started violence in JNU in an attempt to enforce a boycott of classes protesting against fee hike. They had physically prevented students from registering from the upcoming semester, and had disabled Wi-Fi in the campus to prevent students from registering online. But Rahul Kanwal continued his attempts to blame ABVP for the violence in JNU, and he came up with more lies to defend his lies.
After the video posted by ABVP, Rahul Kanwal seemed to have backtracked a bit, as he tweeted that even if Akshat Awasthi was a left plant into the ABVP, his role should be investigated by police, as he has made confessions on camera.
Here’s the moot point. You have on camera students admitting their role in violence. This is what the police needs to investigate. On priority. Even if Akshat & co ‘actually left plants into ABVP’ as a former police commissioner claimed, their role needs to be investigated. pic.twitter.com/IsCvXJueqE
But even here the India Today journalist is making false claims, as Akshat was not a plant in ABVP, as he was never an ABVP member. He is a left member, who was passed of as ABVP member by Rahul Kanwal. Both ABVP and Awasthi himself has said that he is not an ABVP member. And Delhi police is already investing the case and named several persons in the case, based on videos and photos of the violence. If Akshat is seen indulging in violence or any other evidence is found, police will take action against him, regardless of what he had boasted in the dubious sting video by India Today. And if he is found guilty, it will be another left member found guilty in JNU violence, not ABVP.
The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration has issued a notice to all hostel wardens requesting them to have a security audit of their respective hostels to check for any stay of outsiders/unauthorised students/guests residing in the hostel and informing the SHO Police Station Vasant Kunj North immediately.
Dean, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU): In case, any outsider/an unauthorized student/guest is found staying in the rooms (of any hostel at JNU), necessary action will be initiated against the resident student, as per administration rules. pic.twitter.com/HMZcjBYBE9
Referring to the letter no. 60/SHO/Vasant Kunj North dated on 07/01/2020 received from the SHO Police Station Vasant Kunj North, New Delhi, the notice read that the Police SHO had advised the Registrar of the JNU to have an audit through the Hostel Wardens of JNU to ascertain presence of unwarranted intruders in the hostels and inform about the same to the SHO.
The circular further instructed the wardens to post the notice that read:- “All the hostel residents to follow the rules regarding having guests in the hostel room as per the procedures and the rules of the IHA and provide the necessary details in the forms accordingly”.
“In case any unauthorised student/outsider/guest is found staying in the room, necessary action will be initiated against the resident student as per the IHA rules and details of such guests will be forwarded to the Station House Officer, Police Station, Vasant Kunj North, New Delhi”, the circular said further.
Recently, JNU was hit with violence as masked leftist goons barged into the University and started attacking the students who were registering themselves for the winter semester. The incident was used by left-leaning intellectuals to allege that ABVP and other right-wing activists have unleashed the violence against students.
However, according to the preliminary investigation of the Delhi Police, the role of 4 leftist organisations in engineering the violence has come to fore. FIRs have also been registered against JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh.
The Lallantop, an online Hindi news portal of the India Today group, was in news a few days ago. Its editor Saurabh Dwivedi tweeted an unpalatable image urging BJP supporters to were condoms because he didn’t want any more of their kind. Not just that, he wanted this image to go viral with a hashtag campaign on Twitter. After there was an outrage over it, Mr. Dwivedi apologized and dismissed his hatred in what can be called a poor man’s Chunkey Pandey’ signature style, “Imaaaa jokinngga.”
The Lallantop, with its acquired taste of Left, didn’t reveal their acrimony just once. In their very recent articles on the incidents of violence at the JNU (violence has become synonymous to JNU), they tried their utmost to vilify ABVP, a right-leaning student organization. Even when no solid proofs were produced they tried to paint ABVP as the villain. However, their willingness to project the right wing as the perpetrator of gore speaks much about the media portal, which Saurabh Dwivedi vouches, is unbiased.
On 5th January, 2020, the website published an article on one of IIT-K’s staff members, Vashi Sharma, the guy who raised objections to Faiz’ nazm, Hum Dekhenge. The adjective or should I say the expletive used for his opinions is, “ghinahe”, loosely translated as repulsive. The Lallantop is just an example of the hatred that the left is spewing these days. With cipher viable agendas and two consecutive, humiliating defeats by the Right-leaning Government, its frustration is for everyone to see. An Urdu poet in my friend list, renamed Ajeet Bharti, the editor of OpIndia Hindi, a right-wing media portal, “Ajeeb Bharati”, while condoning the most atrocious expletives used for the man by those in his friend-list. Comedian Kunal Kamra depicts Zee News editor Sudheer Chaudhary as “Modi ka Kutta.” Another poet, who was erstwhile a friend on Facebook but blocked me because I practised my right to dissent with his political ideologue, claimed that the people who had objections to Faiz’ nazm are uncouth and downright stupid. Sadly, this whole patronizing act is performed by mad monkeys who tear their lungs out on the right to dissent. Hypocrisy howls like a hyena.
These incidents bring us, the non-left leaning people, also called, the Sanghi, Chaddhi gang, to ask a pertinent question: Why So Much Hate! I knowingly asked a rhetorical question. For the answer is simple. Hate is the legitimate progeny of the Communist-Left marriage. The highly revered Guevara says, “Crazy with fury I will stain my rifle red while slaughtering any enemy that falls in my hands. …. Hatred as an element of struggle; unbending hatred for the enemy, which pushes a human being beyond his natural limitations, making him into an effective, violent, selective, and cold-blooded killing machines. This is what our soldiers must become.” How peaceful, no?
The 1997 book, “The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression” by Stephane Courtois et all holds Communism responsible for 65 million deaths in the People’s Republic of China. 20 million in the Soviet Union, 2 million in Cambodia, 2 million in North Korea, 1.7 million in Ethiopia. In fact, the Nazi State in Germany (which communists and brainless bimbos of Bollywood claim the country is turning into) killed 25 million, while communism killed approximately 100 million. Back home, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), killed innumerable tribals in Morichjhapi, several others in Nandigram and some more in Kerala. But guess who’s the biggest killer of democracy, in the history of mankind? The R.S.S!
The very recent violence by Leftist goons in JNU is again a desperate attempt to create some stir and play the victim card, while bullying those who dissent. Aishe Ghosh, who was crying with a bloodied head on camera telling all and sundry that she was attacked by goons, was caught on camera mobilizing those same goons. In another incident she is seen, with her entire fanfare, blocking a professor’s entry into his lab. All in the name of protest. The very reason that violence broke out on JNU campus was that the Leftists didn’t want other students to register themselves for the upcoming semester. In the name of protest against fee hike, they wanted to lock down the university. Like they wanted to lock Prof. Anand Ranganathan out of his lab. Like Kim Jong Un locked up his uncle, Jang-Song Thaek with a pack of hungry dogs who devoured him in no time.
The recent Hinduphobia is yet another example of the Left’s seething rage for the majority which has chosen for itself a right-leaning Prime Minister. So vitriolic is loath, that we see Mr. Rajdeep Sardesai tweeting his article with a cover that declares the Saffron as a Nazi Symbol. So rancorous is loath that we see placards that demand one to “Fuck Hindutva,” as if Hindutva is the same as Islamist terror which has killed… well … a lot of people. Mordaciously, more placards are held that want to scare the ‘Hindu Rashtra’, “The cow ate my papers. So I ate the cow.” These placards are quite the placards of inanity if they did not have the word hate written in their subtext. In Bold.
Abhinandan Verma, a student of J.N.U wrote on Quora in 2016 , “Yes, I am eyewitness. It is true that Godess Durga was insulted not just only one time but every year during Navaratri. …. This was first started in 2010 when during Durga puja AIBSF posted an article of “forward block” magazine in the form of a poster on JNU hostel walls and alleged Devi Durga as a prostitute.”.
Time and again these insulting narratives are hurled at Hindus but the common Hindu, right-leaning brushes it off his shirt. Unlike the guys who painted Charlie Hebdo’s office Red. To such arguments Javed Akhtar, a lyricist comments, “So do you want to turn Hinduism into rabid Islamism?” “Like an Islamist Pakistan, do you want to turn India into a Hindu Rashtra,” Mr. Akhtar would apparently ask. Sir, with every bout of selective uproar, with each nasty insult to the Hindu Gods, with every malicious attempt to lock drown an academic campus, with every sly apology for its barbarism and vandalism, the Left is giving more strength to Right. It is laying the very foundation of a Hindu Rashtra. Thank you for such methods. Disgusting though they are.
Ajay Devgn and Kajol starrer Bollywood movie “Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior” which released this Friday across the country is roaring at the box office and has impressed the audience with its visual grandeur and cultural pride. The historical movie has received positive reviews from most of the movie critics and audience. However, the usual suspects comprising of “liberal-secular” forces have yet again found discrepancies in the movie and have resorted to nitpicking in the movie.
A historical drama set in the 17th century and directed by Om Raut, Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior is based on the Battle of Sinhagad, fought between the Maratha army led by Tanhaji Malusare, the trusted commander of Shivaji, and the Mughal forces led by Uday Bhan Rathod, the Mughal fort-keeper of Kondhana fort.
The Wire:
The ultra-left wing rag – The Wire, taking a break from its anti-India propaganda on Saturday strangely decided to review the movie “Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior”. Unsurprisingly the reviewer has not liked the Ajay Devgn starrer historical drama.
The most bizarre part of the movie is not the anti-Hindu propaganda but the mastery in which the reviewer has managed to correlate the movie with PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah as he declared the movie to be a ‘propaganda and mediocre’.
Wire reviewing movie Tanhaji
Tanul Thakur, who reviewed the movie for the Wire seems to have kept his masters happy as he described the movie as ‘less of a feature film and more of a presentation to Modi and Amit Shah’ to realise their deeply egregious ideas about India. ‘Tanhaji’ tells a deeply divisive story when the country is on the brink of getting torn, he wrote.
Thakur declared that Om Raut’s Tanhaji, starring Ajay Devgn, Saif Ali Khan and Kajol is a thinly veiled tribute to Hindu Rashtra.
The Quint:
The Quint also reviewed the Tanhaji movie and also went an extra mile to put out negative reviews for the movie. Interestingly, the Quint members seem to have got two free tickets, as they have reviewed the movie twice and discredited the Ajay Devgn, Kajol starrer historical drama both times.
The first reviewer outrightly rejected the movie by claiming that the movie is the latest in the slew of Islamophobic period films. Similar to the Wire reviewer, the Quint reporters somehow manages it to link it to the ruling BJP.
This Hindu-Muslim narrative for the war has been repeatedly reinforced through the film, both subtly and overtly, the reviewer claims.
“The underscoring of the characters’ religion, however, occurs most prominently during the songs. From ‘Maay Bhawani’ to ‘Shankara Re Shankara’, the songs picturised on Tanhaji and his wife Savitribai Malusare (played by Kajol) seamlessly integrate religious positivity with the side of the protagonists. By association, therefore, Tanhaji and those fighting with him receive divine sanction in the minds of the viewers. They are righteous. They are the ones fighting the good fight,” wrote Quint.
Another review Stutee Ghosh, who seems to be a historian too, claimed that the movie was another period drama that does not vouch for its historical accuracy. Ghosh, who plays the role of the historian in her movie review opines that if we make peace with the ‘creative liberties and some not-so-well hidden biases and prejudices’, Tanhaji is actually visually stunning.
Indian Express:
The reviewers at the national daily Indian Express, who is habituated to low budget movies of Swara Bhaskar, for which they often throw six stars out of the five, seems to have felt uneasiness after watching high-budget movies like “Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior”.
After watching the historical thriller, perhaps for free, Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express wrote, Tanhaju was just ‘A simplistic, dressed-up slice of the past’. Gupta wrote that she enjoyed Saif Ali Khan’s maniacal bad guy, which according to her came off as yet another variant of the flesh-devouring, diabolical, ruthless enemy that Bollywood currently delights in.
Live Mint:
Uday Bhatia. the movie critic too suffered a meltdown similar to other ‘liberal-secular’ creative icons after watching “Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior”. Bhatia called the movie Tanhaji as a ‘cartoon history’. The reviewer claimed that its view of history by the makers is ‘slanted and broad’.
NDTV:
A treat for the eye, if not for the mind, wrote NDTV – the bible for leftist ragpickers, as it reviewed “Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior”. Perhaps, out of the whole movie, NDTV seems to have got impressed with one line, which they have quoted in the first paragraph. The line reads, “The makers of the film do admit as much in an upfront disclaimer upfront to cover their tracks and assuage any outrage that might be caused by the liberties that they have taken”.
“The proto-nationalist is Hindu, a pious, God-fearing family man who thinks nothing of putting the empire (equated facilely with the nation) before self. The antagonist is Hindu, too, but fights on the side of a Muslim emperor, which makes him worse, a traitor beyond redemption,” Saibal Chatterjee wrote for NDTV.
The big-budget historical drama “Tanhaji – The Unsung Warrior”, despite facing contempt from a certain section of influencers has scored big on the first day of its release. The Ajay Devgn movie released alongside Bollywood entertainer Deepika Padukone’s Chhapaak on Friday. As per a Boxofficeindia report, Tanhaji has scored big on the first day of its release while Chhapaak despite the PR stunt faltered at the box office.
Reportedly, Tanhaji – The Unsung Warrior starring legendary actor Ajay Devgn has done well on day one at the box office as it has collected in the Rs 16 crore on an opening day.
However, Chhapaak – the film starring Deepika Padukone, has faltered on day one itself as compared to Tanhaji. Chhapaak managed to rope in merely Rs 4.75 crore on day one even after her PR stunt at the controversial JNU.
The JNU violence that broke out on the evening of the 5th of January rocked the country, but more importantly, discredited the deeply motivated and partisan media. Today, OpIndia debunked a so-called sting operation by India Today where they tried to pass off a JNUSU activist as an ABVP member who had purportedly mobilised other ABVP workers and indulged in violence in JNU. Earlier, NewsLaundry and Barkha Dutt had touted one Dr Harjit Singh Bhatti as the representative voice from AIIMS. We had revealed that they were being rather stringent with the truth.
NewsLaundry and Barkha Dutt had quoted Dr Bhatti as an AIIMS doctor to allege that ABVP members received only superficial injuries during the JNU violence, however, the Left students had been injured grievously. It was, however, revealed that Dr Harjit Singh Bhatti is not a doctor at the AIIMS. His Twitter profile says he was president of the Resident Doctors’ Association at AIIMS but does not inform about his current medical practice. The Alumni page of AIIMS says that he is working at Manipal Hospital in Delhi. But the website of the hospital lists no doctor by that name. Moreover, when defence analyst Abhijit Iyer-Mitra called the hospital, he was informed that they have no doctor by that name.
As it turned out, Dr Harjit Singh Bhatti is the National Convenor of the All India Medical Cell of the Congress party. In February last year, he was appointed to the post in the Congress party. Not just the Congress party, he is also close with the Bhim Army. He claims to the doctor of Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad and has been very vocal in demanding medical care for Azad who is currently in jail, claiming that he is extremely unwell. He is not just a healthcare provider for Azad, but also a supporter, as he has been seen posting tweets with the hashtag #AzaadiForAzad.
Clearly, Dr Bhatti has no authority in AIIMS, has no right to comment on the medical care of the students, whether ABVP or Left students and is being used by the media as an independent voice, while he has deep political links and is a formal member of the Congress party.
Recently, several students from ABVP also claimed that AIIMS ended up discriminating on the basis of ideology and gave sub-standard care to ABVP students after the JNU violence. To a video posted by Swarajya journalist, Dr Bhatti proceeded yet again to misrepresent himself as an individual who has the authority to comment on the behalf of AIIMS.
This is false claim. AIIMS never discriminates anyone. I was present at the scene and can vouch that all the students were getting the best treatment possible. In fact, when Brinda Karat went to check up on the ABVP students, she was shouted at and forced to leave by them. https://t.co/AoufIhx3aX
As it turns out, the romance between the established media and Dr Bhatti is not new. From as far back as 2017, the media has been publishing comments by Dr Bhatti without any indication of his political affiliation. In fact, this phenomenon has continued well into 2020, almost a year after he became a post-holder in the Congress party.
Here are some instances that detail the raging romance between the partisan media and a Congress leader masked as an independent doctor.
National Medical Commission Bill issue
On July 24th 2019, the Statesman carried a news article about “Delhi doctors” protesting against the National Medical Commission Bill.
The Statesman article
The article quotes Dr Harjit Singh Bhatti extensively, who trashes the National Medical Commission Bill extensively. While we are not getting into the merits of his statements, it is pertinent to note that the article fails to mention that Dr Bhatti is a post-holder in the Congress party.
The Statesman Article
The article was published in July 2019 and Dr Bhatti was appointed as the Congress national convenor of the All India Medical Cell in February 2019. It is dishonest on the part of the media to not identify him by that affiliation and let their readers decide whether his opinions are coloured by his political affiliation or not.
CAA protests
Left-leaning rag The Caravan too published a report quoting Dr Bhatti recently but without identifying him as a Congress functionary.
The headline of the article by The Caravan was “How the police prevented medical volunteers from working at the CAA protests”.
Article by The Caravan
The entire article by The Caravan is based on what Dr Bhatti claims without once mentioning that Bhatti is, in fact, a Congress post-holder.
The first instance when Caravan quotes Bhatti, they write, “At around 10.30 pm, one doctor and one lawyer was allowed inside to meet the detainees. The doctor was Harjit Singh Bhatti, a 33-year-old who is also the national president of the Progressive Medicos and Scientists Forum. The PMSF is a collective of around a hundred doctors from all over the country, which was initially formed to fight the perpetuation of pseudo-science and superstitions. Inside the police station, Bhatti found that the detainees, including the minors, were “wreathing in pain” and in need of medical assistance”.
While Caravan introduces him as the PMSF president, they fail to mention the Congress connection.
Caravan article
The Caravan further prints outlandish claims solely by Dr Bhatti, emphasising on so-called police brutality on the rioters, without any independent verification whatsoever. In doing so, Caravan paints Bhatti as an independent doctor instead of a Congress leader with a political motivation to fan anti-CAA protests and discord.
JNU violence again
On the 6th of January, Indian Medical Association released a statement about the attack on doctors and nurses who were trying to treat patients. Moneycontrol while covering this letter, embedded a tweet by Dr Bhatti. The article was headlined, “JNU violence: ‘Is this civil war’, asks IMA, claims attack on doctors reaching out to injured students”.
In quoted Dr Bhatti, this is how they introduced him.
Moneycontrol article
Nowhere in the headline, do they mention Dr Bhatti as a Congress functionary.
Doctor of BHIM Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad
During the anti-CAA riots, when BHIM Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad was detained, it was alleged that his health was deteriorating in prison and that he was being denied medical care.
Scroll and several other media portals identified Dr Bhatti only as Azad’s doctor without mentioning that he was also a Congress office-bearer.
The Scroll article
The romance between Media and Dr Bhatti started way back in 2017, at least.
Kafeel Khan is one of the accused in the BRD Medical College and Hospital children’s death case in Gorakhpur. He had taken to social media to spread false news that he had been given a ‘clean chit’ in the 2017 case in a departmental inquiry. The Uttar Pradesh government had in October initiated a fresh inquiry against him for spreading misinformation in the media and forcibly entering a hospital and trying to treat patients during his suspension period.
While the debate was raging on, the one Doctor to categorically come to Kafeel Khan’s defence was Dr Harjit Bhatti.
He was at that time serenaded by fake-news peddlers NDTV.
He was also quoted by Hindustan times which in turn was even quoted by Dailymail.co.uk.
Article by dailymail.co.uk
Conclusion
The media has been using Dr Bhatti and publishing his comments for years now. However, the most shocking case of media irresponsibility is when even after his appointment as the National Convenor of the All India Medical Cell of the Congress party, they continue to project him as an independent voice with no political affiliations.
The media generally shies away from mentioning political affiliations because they would want their readers to believe in what the subject is saying unequivocally without questioning his motives. Had the media mentioned Dr Bhatti’s political affiliation to Congress, the agenda against the Modi government would perhaps not be as easy to sell as the readers would evaluate his comments with the prism of his political affiliation to Congress.
While one can’t blame Dr Bhatti for doing what a politician does, one certainly wonders what motivates the media to hide vital and relevant information from its readers in order to push a political narrative.
