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After Karan Thapar, ‘neutral journalist’ Rajdeep Sardesai promotes his book at Congress party event, lectures on Maharashtra politics

OpIndia Staff
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After Karan Thapar, ‘neutral journalist’ Rajdeep Sardesai promotes his book at Congress party event, lectures on Maharashtra politics

The mutualism that exists between the Congress party and the ‘neutral’ journalists of the country is not a surprise anymore. The cosy relationships that the ‘secular-liberal’ media enjoys directly with the Congress party and its ecosystem is already out in the open with ‘journalists’ openly vouching for the Congress party. This nefarious relationship will yet again be on display, thanks to Rajdeep Sardesai, the Michelangelo of Indian journalism, who has chosen to promote his book – “2019 How Modi won India”, at an event organised by the Congress party’s All India Professional Congress (AIPC).

The ‘neutral’ journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, who is known for his proximity towards the Congress party spoke at an event organised by AIPC hosted by none other than Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha. Rajdeep Sardesai also spoke on Maharashtra politics.


Talented spin-master, Rajdeep Sardesai has a history of having a cordial relationship with the Congress party and its senior leaders. Rajdeep Sardesai rose to prominence in the journalism by promoting Congress propaganda to politicise Godhra incident of 2002 to target PM Narendra Modi.

This is not the first time that ‘neutral’ journalists are indulging with the Congress party to promote themselves. Last year, ’eminent mainstream media ‘journalist’, Karan Thapar had attended a similar event organised by the AIPC to promote his book. In addition to promoting his own book, Karan Thapar had gone to the extent of appealing people to join the AIPC.

Read: ‘Non-partisan’ journalist Karan Thapar appeals to people to join a platform of the Congress party

Interestingly, at the end of the video that promotes Karan Thapar’s book, Rajdeep Sardesai had also made a guest appearance to promote his earlier book “Newsman: Tracking India in the Modi Era.”

Since years, Sardesai has been loyal to the Congress first family. In February this year, Rajdeep Sardesai had even run a show to mislead the public on Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra’s connection with the arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari. He had claimed that the Benami properties which linked both Bhandari and Vadra in London were not even registered in the name of Robert Vadra, despite ED had submitted sufficient documents to the court prove otherwise and his ‘historic’ interview of Sonia Gandhi where he had asked questions about Saas Bahu relationships and cooking practices in the Gandhi household is often hailed as ‘revolutionary’.

Read: Congress leader P Chidambaram and Rajdeep Sardesai spread misinformation about dilution and withdrawal of AFSPA

Just recently, Rajdeep Sardesai had put a better defence for the cause of P Chidambaram compared to the battery of legal luminaries that represented the accused. He had lamented that the action of the CBI and ED was nothing but desperation to somehow arrest the former UPA minister at all cost.

It is rather surprising to see how ‘journalists’ like Rajdeep Sardesai brave to put up a ‘neutral’ and ‘unbiased’ face every day despite having no shame in piggybacking the Congress party to promote their economic interests.

The credibility of the mainstream media is already at a critical low. With journalists claiming to be ‘neutral’ making an appearance at the political events of the Congress party, it does not bode well for the credibility of the media which has already taken a beating following the advent of the social media.

Watch: People in Hyderabad celebrate, cheer for police after the encounter that killed all four accused of rape and murder

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: People in Hyderabad celebrate, cheer for police after the encounter that killed all four accused of rape and murder

Local people were seen raising slogans and hailing the police action following the encounter of the four perpetrators accused of the rape and murder of the veterinarian in Hyderabad last week, reports ANI.

According to the reports, people arrived at the spot where the crime had occurred, incidentally the same place where police had to kill the accused in an encounter. As people assembled at the spot, they cheered and celebrated the police action that occurred earlier today.


Reportedly, the locals also showered rose petals on the police personnel at the spot where accused in the rape and murder of the woman veterinarian were killed in an encounter. The killing of all four accused by the police was hailed by people who were demanding justice for the victim.


Some people even raised ‘DCP Zindabad, ACP Zindabad’ slogans near the spot to express their happiness over the police encounter. Some of them said the police delivered “instant justice” by eliminating the perpetrators of the gruesome crime.


The neighbours of the deceased woman veterinarian also celebrated the police encounter and offered sweets to the police personnel. They even tied ‘rakhi’ to police personnel after the four accused were killed in an encounter.


Earlier today, the Hyderabad police had gunned down all the four accused in an encounter on the NH-44 near Hyderabad place, where they were taken by the investigating officials to recreate the crime scene. Police say that it was in self-defence as they had snatched weapons and were trying to escape.

College girls and women in Hyderabad were also seen hailing policemen from buses in the city.

The police had opened fire at the four accused as they tried to escape. The police had taken the four accused to the spot for recreation of the crime scene. DCP Shamshabad Prakash Reddy informed the media that at the scene, the accused had snatched some weapons from the police personnel and had tried to escape. Two policemen have also been injured in the encounter.

After committing the gang-rape at Shamshabad near Hyderabad on the night of November 27, the accused had dumped the body and set it afire at Chatanpally near Shadnagar, about 50 km from Hyderabad.

Telangana encounter: No right answer

Nupur J Sharma
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Telangana encounter: No right answer

In the wee hours of the morning, the four accused in the Telangana rape and murder case were shot dead in a police encounter. Reportedly, they were taken to the site where the doctor was raped, murdered and charred to death for interrogation, and as they tried to escape, the police shot them dead. The development left most people relieved and with a sense of justice being served. For others, it was despicable vigilantism that broke the law in order to serve justice.

For the most part, in most nations, the process of justice delivery itself often denies justice being served. Theoretically, the process of the law is meant to serve justice to the aggrieved, or closure to the ones who are left behind. But when a crime that shakes the very conscience of the nation by the sheer brutality that was heaped on the victim, the nation’s reaction is often less circumspect and far more frenzied. While some question God, others question the ones whose hands are meant to heal tortured souls.

In the Hyderabad rape and murder case, the frenzied reaction was not only to the rape of the victim, which has sadly become common to a point where even rage seems useless but the sheer Godlessness of the pictures that emerged later. A contorted, charred black body, dumped as if human life was traded in a bargain basement. That frenzied rage where many demanded immediate death to the accused could have only given way to jubilation when perceived justice was finally met with the accused dead. And why not? It has been seven years since the gruesome Delhi gang-rape case where the accused had done unspeakable things to the innocent victim. The brutality was such, that even her intestines were pulled out of her body and she was violated with an iron rod. Seven long years and the convicted monsters are still languishing in the jail, with their death sentence in the last stages of appeal. For the better part of a decade, the family of the victim has got no closure in the knowledge that justice has been served. If the Nirbhaya case was not an example enough, recently, in Unnao, an out-on-bail rapist victimised his survivor again but burning her to death. Where was justice? Where was the rule of law? What does one do when the process of the law ends up victimising the victim and her family?

Read: Uttar Pradesh: Rape survivor set on fire by her out-on-bail rapists in Unnao, victim suffers 90% burn

For those are questioning the encounter, four dead accused without the process of a trial is a democracy’s descent into mobocracy and anarchy. For any civilised nation to work, or at least work to a point of not falling apart, the rule of the law must be followed. When a crime is committed, regardless of the nature of the crime itself, the accused have the right to prove their innocence. And that rule has enough merit to it. Take the Kathua case for example. The Jammu court had ordered to lodge an FIR against six SIT members, who had probed the case, for indulging in custodial torture of witnesses, criminal intimidation and manufacturing of false evidence. It is alleged that the SIT members wanted to implicate Vishal Jangotra in the case by forcing the witnesses to give false statements against him. Vishal is the son of the main accused Sanjhi Ram, who was convicted by the trial court in the case, while Vishal was acquitted.

Read: Jammu court orders FIR against SIT for custodial torture of witnesses and manufacturing of false evidence in Kathua murder case

Both arguments have merit and both are bourne out of the glaring loopholes in the Justice delivery system that has failed to serve the people it is meant to protect. The jubilation at the encounter of the Hyderabad rape and murder accused comes from cases like Unnao or Nirbhaya, one where an out-on-bail rapist murdered his survivor, the other where the ones who dished out inhuman brutality are still stuck in the justice system for the past 7 years. The scepticism from comes cases like Kathua, where an innocent was tortured, intimidated and evidence was manufactured against him, just so the police doesn’t have to go against the popular sentiment of the masses after a brutal crime.

Isaac Asimov said, “people who don’t expect justice don’t have to suffer disappointment”. Both parties are expecting justice to be served, both in different ways, and both suffer disappointment in the justice system at some point of time or the other.

To find the answer to this eternal conundrum, the society must decide what ‘Justice’ means to it in essence. Is Justice the ‘rule of law’ or does ‘justice’ have a more poetic disposition? Is ‘justice’ a long process where the written rule is followed to the letter, or is it the process to assign responsibility.

Domitus Ulpian said ‘Justice is the constant and perpetual will to allot to every man his due’. By that definition, and it is one that is closer to my sense of right and wrong, justice is retribution. When a heinous crime is perpetuated, a society seeks retribution and that sentiment has been seen time and again. Whether it was the cries for vengeance when the Pulwama terror attack happened, or when people split on the roads demanding the victim be done right by in the Hyderabad case.

The Justice delivery system has often failed not only the victim of a crime but often, even those who have been wrongly accused of a crime and with such a broken system, one can only expect the society to be divided when an encounter like this takes place.

However, the societal reaction is to be judged at that given point of time with reference to the case in question. Samuel Johnson once said, “Revenge is an act of passion; vengeance, of justice. Injuries are revenged, crimes are avenged”. When the nation thirsts for vengeance that the Justice delivery system will deny more often than not, it is only natural for the society to seek their vengeance elsewhere and once it is delivered, to celebrate that after decades of injustice, what is right has been done. Does this make them monsters? Perhaps not. Does this make a society jaded and hopeless primarily due to a splintered system? Yes.

Read: Pulwama attack: Justice doesn’t give a tiny rat’s furry posterior about the sensibility of elites who go where the money takes them

A system that focusses overtly on the reformation of monsters is bound to fail a people tired and repulsed by the lack of swift justice. While we can intellectualise and theorise until the pigs are marched to the gallows, one has to accept the fact that Justice is far more than reformation. Justice is often about retribution and vengeance. That the criminal must pay in equal measure and intensity. And unless the criminal justice system delivers retribution to the society, unfortunately, the citizenry will continue to seek it elsewhere.

It is hard to not feel for someone who refuses to take it anymore. It is hard to not cheer when perceived justice has been met outside of the formal system that often denies justice in the process of delivering it. While the fears of a civilised nation descending into anarchy are real, present and relevant, it is the duty of the state to deliver what the society seeks and if it fails, such incidents, however grotesque to the intelligentsia, will continue to inspire cheers.

Ajit Pawar gets clean chit in Vidarbha irrigation scam a day after Devendra Fadnavis resigned: Read details of affidavit by ACB

OpIndia Staff
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Ajit Pawar gets clean chit in Vidarbha irrigation scam a day after Devendra Fadnavis resigned: Read details of affidavit by ACB

The Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has given a clean chit to former Water Resources Development Minister Ajit Pawar in the investigation of cases related to alleged corruption in irrigation projects in the state.

According to an affidavit filed in the Maharashtra High Court on 27 November, the NCP leader has been cleared of all allegations in the Vidarbha irrigation scam by the Maharashtra ACB. The affidavit was filed just a day before the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government (Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress) was sworn in the state on November 28.

“Considering facts and evidence collected during the course of inquiry/investigation, it is observed that there is no criminal liability on the part of chairman of VIDC (minister of water resources department),” said the affidavit, which was filed a day after BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis resigned following Ajit Pawar’s withdrawal of support to the BJP.

The affidavit filed by MH ACB

Ajit Pawar, chairman of the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC), cannot be held responsible for acts of the executing agencies as there is no legal duty on his part, the affidavit stated.

The affidavit filed by MH ACB

The affidavit is connected to several allegations against Ajit Pawar, who was the minister of water resources between 1999 and 2009, including that of escalating costs in 32 irrigation projects in Vidarbha by Rs 17,700 crore within three months.

As per an India Today report, former ACB chief and incumbent Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Barve had filed an affidavit in the court accusing Ajit Pawar of signing extension of tender illegally in the Gosikhurd and Jigaon projects. However, the latest affidavit states that due process of filling through the VIDC was followed and rejected Sanjay Barve’s observations.

The allegations had been a political issue in the run-up to the 2014 state elections. Shortly after his victory, Fadnavis opened the case against Ajit Pawar. In all, 23 FIRs and 5 charge sheets have been filed in connection with the irrigation scam involving 44 projects spreading over Vidarbha and the Konkan region of the state.

Pawar’s role is also under the scanner in the Balganga project in the Konkan, however, he has not been charged in these. He has also not been named in any of the FIRs, with the investigation against him is yet to begin.

According to the new affidavit, the majority of the tender cost hikes were in the range of 5% and were cleared by the executive director of VIDC or in some cases the secretary. The affidavit says that the minister signed note sheets that had no negative remarks on them.

“There is no evidence to show that the secretary had briefed the minister about not accepting liability of the cost escalations,” read the affidavit filed by the ACB to High court.

The affidavit states that nothing adverse could be found in the money trails, nor was there any documentary or oral evidence against the minister. It said that there were procedural lapses, departmental inquiries for which the minister cannot be held responsible.

“This (clean chit) is very surprising. How can one affidavit already filed by ACB be contradicted by another affidavit? I totally oppose this and I am sure that the court will not accept this,” said the leader of Opposition and Former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

On the 10th day of my daughter’s death, her soul must have found peace: Hyderabad victim’s father after 4 accused were killed in encounter

OpIndia Staff
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On the 10th day of my daughter’s death, her soul must have found peace: Hyderabad victim’s father after 4 accused were killed in encounter

The Hyderabad rape and murder victim’s father has stated to the media that his daughter’s soul must have found peace today, after news broke out that all the four accused have been killed in a police encounter when they were trying to escape.

As per reports, speaking to ANI, the victim’s father has thanked the government and police for delivering justice to the perpetrators.


The victim’s father added that today is the 10th day after his daughter’s death and his daughter’s soul must have found peace. It is notable here that as per Hindu traditions, the departed soul’s family pays obeisance and performs rituals of the ‘dasah’ on the tenth day.

Read: All four accused in Hyderabad veterinarian rape and murder killed in police encounter as they tried to escape

Women and girls were seen celebrating and hailing police officials at Hyderabad today.


Early on Friday morning, the Shamshabad DCP Prakash Reddy had stated that the accused were taken to the scene of the crime for a reconstruction procedure as a part of the investigation. The accused, Mohammad Arif, Shiva, Chennakesavalu and   Naveen allegedly snatched weapons from the police and tried to flee. They were all killed in retaliatory police fire.

Apart from this, Indrakiran Reddy, the law minister of Telangana, has also stated that ‘God had punished the rapists’.

Uttar Pradesh: Police detains one Ramswaroop Mishra for organizing Christian Missionary event in Bakewar

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Police detains one Ramswaroop Mishra for organizing Christian Missionary event in Bakewar

Etawah Police has detained one Ramswarup Mishra for organizing a Christian missionary event in Uttar Pradesh without any official permission for a religious event, officials informed a person on social media who brought it to their attention. They also said that Bakewar Police, which detained him, warned him not to engage in such activities again.


The pamphlet shared by Twitterati @ShaileshTewarie showed that the event was organized by one ‘Mitra Susamachar Prarthna Dal’ of ‘Naya Jivan Samiti Matirampur’, which can be roughly translated to ‘Friends Good News Prayer Group’ of ”New Life Society’.

Pamphlet of the event

The ‘Good News’ here refers to the Christian claim of the arrival of the Messiah on Earth. The pamphlet of the Christian Missionary event invited the villagers and guests to the event. The agenda of the event was ‘Illumination of the Invisible Good’ and Ramswarup Mishra was the speaker of the meet. He is apparently a retired officer of the Navy.

Read: UP: Christian Missionaries with Hindu names organised ‘Dharmasabha’ to convert sick people to Christianity, arrested

Recently, three Christian evangelists promoting religious conversion on the pretext of healing diseases were arrested from the Ranipur village of the Mau district. Those arrested by the Mau police were identified as Kapil Dev Ram, Ajay Kumar and Omprakash. The three Christian preachers were reportedly engaged in proselytizing activities in Darora village of the area.

Last month, in order to put a curb on the rampant cases of forcible religious conversions the Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission Chief, Justice Aditya Nath Mittal had submitted a report to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, suggesting a new law to check forcible religious conversions. Forced conversion can attract a jail term of upto 7 years, according to the new recommendation.

All four accused in Hyderabad veterinarian rape and murder killed in police encounter as they tried to escape

OpIndia Staff
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All four accused in Hyderabad veterinarian rape and murder killed in police encounter as they tried to escape

All the four accused in the Hyderabad veterinarian’s rape and murder case have been killed in a police encounter at Shadnagar, reports ANI.


According to the Telangana police, the four accused in the Hyderabad rape and murder were shot dead in an encounter on the NH-44 near Hyderabad, the same highway where the charred body of the 26-year-old was found.

The police opened fire at the four accused as they tried to escape. The police had been taken the four accused to the spot for recreation of the crime scene.

The police have now reached the spot of the encounter for further investigation.


The Telangana police had arrested all the four under charges of gang-rape and murder in less than 24 hours after the crime. The police had confirmed that a lorry driver named Mohammad Pasha from Narayanpet in Mahababub Nagar district was allegedly the main suspect. The other accused were identified as Naveen from Gudigandla, cleaner Kesavulu, and an assistant named Shiva.

As per the media statement given by Shamshabad DCP Prakash Reddy, a police team had taken the four accused to the very spot of the crime early today morning between 3 to 6 am. The accused had snatched some weapons from policemen and tried to escape. They were killed by retaliatory fire in self-defence by the police. Two policemen have also reportedly suffered injuries in the encounter.

On last Wednesday night, a 27-year-old veterinarian Dr Preeti Reddy (name changed) was brutally raped and murdered and her body was set ablaze on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Four people have been reportedly arrested in connection with the case.

Read: Telangana: Main accused Mohammad Ali evaded his lorry being impounded two days before he raped and killed the veterinarian

The four accused had pre-planned the crime after they had noticed that the victim had parked her two-wheeler at the Tondupally toll plaza. The accused assumed that the lady would come to pick it up later in the evening. The accused then deflated the tyre.

As Preeti Reddy was returning home from work a little after 8 pm to pick her vehicle, she noticed a flat tyre. She immediately called her sister, who suggested that she leave her two-wheeler at the toll plaza and take a cab home. Before she could, two men approached her, who offered to take her vehicle for repair.

The woman was ambushed and dragged into the bushes by the accused barely 50 metres from Tondupally toll plaza behind a line of trucks that was parked near the road. Her charred body was found under an underpass later.

Udta Punjab? Ministers in Congress govt seen joking about opium consumption in viral video: Reports

OpIndia Staff
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Udta Punjab? Ministers in Congress govt seen joking about opium consumption in viral video: Reports

The Congress party’s dedication towards curbing the drugs menace in Punjab appears to be as credible as Rahul Gandhi’s leadership. After much hue and cry were raised by the party regarding the drug crisis ahead of the Assembly elections in 2017, all the enthusiasm appears to have run out of steam two and a half years later.

In a video that has reportedly gone viral in Punjab, which was apparently released by the PR department inadvertently, some Cabinet Ministers in the Congress Punjab government were seen engaging in banter while referring to opium (drugs) as “kali dawayi” (black medicine). The video reportedly shows the Ministers casually talking about the drug.

A senior Minister from Malwa is said to be clarifying to Chief Minister Amrinder Singh his position on the use of Opium. Another Minister, also from Malwa, is heard telling the former that he would have to get the drug from Rajasthan. Then a third Minister, again from Malwa, asks him where could he get it from. Then the Minister who initiated the discussion listed the benefits of the drug, which triggered a round of laughter.

Read: Have been warning since day one, Pakistan has hidden agenda: Punjab CM Capt Amarinder on Bhindranwale pic in Pak govt’s Kartarpur Corridor ad

The Congress government in Punjab is now being attacked by both the Aam Aadmi Party and Shiromani Akali Dal over the video. “The casual manner in which the Ministers are seen talking about drugs in the video is unfortunate. It only shows their non-seriousness towards the drugs problem. Also, the talks reveal that Ministers were aware of where opium is available,” Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly and senior AAP leader Harpal Singh Cheema said on Thursday, according to The Hindu.

“The menace of drugs continues unabated in the State while the Congress is in deep slumber. A sitting judge of High Court should investigate the matter related to drugs menace and it should take cognizance of the Cabinet meeting video,” he added. Shiromani Akali Dal senior leader and former Minister Daljeet Singh Cheema said, “They have been exposed before the public through this video and public is the best judge. Such a casual discussion on a serious issue of drugs by Ministers shows that the government is not concerned about eradicating the drugs menace.”

Read: If AAP Punjab is flirting with Khalistani elements, again, it is all Kejriwal’s fault, again

The Drug Crisis in Punjab was the talk of the town ahead of elections, especially after the movie Udta Punjab featuring Shahid Kapoor as the lead was released. The ruling BJP-SAD government had to face a lot of flak for the drug crisis in the state. Since then, however, not much appears to have improved and the drug crisis has apparently been reduced to a joke.

Malda shocker: Charred body of a woman found, rape suspected

OpIndia Staff
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Malda shocker: Charred body of a woman found, rape suspected

Days after the gruesome rape and murder of 27-year-old veterinarian in Hyderabad shook the nation’s conscience, a body of a young woman burnt beyond recognition has been found in West Bengal’s Malda. As per reports, a woman’s charred body was found in a mango orchard in Malda, West Bengal early this morning. Police suspect that she was raped and killed.

According to reports, the body had suffered severe burns because of which it was difficult to ascertain her identity. The charred body was discovered by local farmers who informed the police. While a probe has been initiated, the police believe that she must be in her early 20s.

Read: Uttar Pradesh: Rape survivor set on fire by her out-on-bail rapists in Unnao, victim suffers 90% burn

The police found injury marks on her body and a pair of slippers and matchsticks were also recovered nearby. Citing sources, Times of India says that the police believe the woman was raped before she was murdered and had her body set on fire.

The news comes just days after the Hyderabad horror where 27 year old Dr Preeti Reddy (name changed) was gang-raped and murdered and then had her body set on fire. The incident created widespread outrage demanding stricter laws for women safety.

The New Yorker Report: A work or propaganda created to hurt US politicians as much as Narendra Modi and India

K Bhattacharjee
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The New Yorker Report: A work or propaganda created to hurt US politicians as much as Narendra Modi and India

The American Mainstream Media, in recent times, has made it abundantly clear that Corporate Media is little more than the propaganda wing of the USA’s political establishment. It has led to the coinage of the term ‘Military-Industrial-Media complex’ to describe the intimate relationship that the corporate media in the USA shares with the War Machine in the United States.

The Corporate Media, for its part, has performed in an exemplary fashion to justify the coinage of the term. One of the most obvious examples of it is the alleged chemical attack in Syria by the Assad regime. The War Machine in the US bayed for blood and the entire mainstream media called for Donald Trump to launch a new wave of military operations against Assad. Trump, however, was remarkably restrained in his response and did just enough to get the warmongers off his chest. Now latest revelations by WikiLeaks reveal that the entire thing may have been staged and Assad may have been wrongly blamed for the chemical attack.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsMd3harFO0]

The New Yorker Report: A Work of Fiction

It is under these circumstances that we need to look at the report by Dexter Filkins for The New Yorker titled ‘Blood and Soil in Narendra Modi’s India’. The report is littered with every manner of conspiracy theory under the Sun and indulges in complete distortion of historical facts. For instance, the ‘journalist’ says that Pakistan was created because Muslims of pre-partition India were too scared to live in a Hindu majority country. This is a shameless genocide denial of the highest order.

Read: From ridiculous conspiracy theories to incredulous lies: 12 lies spread by The New Yorker in its anti-Modi propaganda piece

The ‘report’ also gives air to fantastical theories such as ‘The legend of Ram Janmabhoomi grew after independence’. Given the nature of such lies, it can be safely said that it’s completely a work of fiction, not journalism. We have published a comprehensive report detailing all the lies that Filkins has spread in the report but even then, we cannot say for certain that we managed to capture all of them. It can be read here.

The Hatred for Donald Trump and ‘Howdy Modi’

Readers would remember that the Indian Prime Minister during his visit to the US earlier this year heaped praises on Trump, which had raised quite a few eyebrows at the time. Trump, as we are well aware, is loathed by the political establishment of both parties in the US and the mainstream media, with the exception of Fox News, has been plainly hostile to him.

Moreover, the profuse praise for Trump was interpreted by many as an endorsement of the President, which undoubtedly irked many important elements in the US War Machine and their cronies in the Democrat Party. It is pertinent to mention here that Donald Trump has consistently shied away from giving in to the clamouring for war around him. For instance, when Iran allegedly shot down an American Drone, Donald Trump as President called off a military attack at the last moment because he believed that the estimated 150 Iranian casualties were a disproportionately large price to pay for shooting down an unmanned drone.

Read: OpIndia investigation: Tentacles of radical Islam, Pakistan, Khalistan in Houston anti-Modi protests ahead of ‘Howdy Modi’ event

At that precise moment, when the entire military-industrial-media complex (MIMC) was baying for Iranian blood, POTUS Trump demonstrated more integrity and humanity than his predecessors, Bush and Obama, had shown at any moment during their presidency. Thus, it is understandable that the bloodthirsty MIMC is extremely unhappy with Trump and is currently engaged in a coup attempt to remove him from office. It’s also important to remember that Trump’s aversion towards initiating another war is precisely the same reason why US Congresswoman and Democrat Presidential Aspirant for 2020, Tulsi Gabbard, is hated so much by the establishment.

Notorious Allegations against Tulsi Gabbard

Tulsi Gabbard is a military veteran who has made ‘End the Regime Change Wars’ the flagship policy of her presidential campaign. She has a history with the Democrat National Convention as well. In 2016, she had resigned from the DNC to endorse Bernie Sanders as the nominee of her party, for which she incurred the wrath of the party establishment and continues to face. Due to her anti-war stance and her opposition to Hillary Clinton, she has been labelled a ‘Russian Asset’ despite the fact that she is a serving Major in the US Military and a War Veteran.

The Congresswoman from Hawaii, due to her Hindu faith, has also been falsely accused of being hand in gloves with ‘Hindutva fascists’ merely because she wants the US and India to share a warm relationship and is known to share her a cordial relationship with the Indian Prime Minister. However, since she is a Hindu and is dedicatedly an anti-war veteran, her political opponents in the Democrat primaries have slandered her for merely being warm towards Narendra Modi and India. They forget that even Barack Obama displayed great friendship with Narendra Modi during his Presidency and numerous political luminaries in recent times have warmed up the current Indian administration.

Read: Watch: Tulsi Gabbard shuts down ‘Gujarat riots’ lies against PM Modi with one epic reply

The report by Dexter Filkins for The New Yorker, in which he relies greatly on a thoroughly discredited ‘journalist’ Rana Ayyub, comes across as another disgraceful attempt by political players in the American Corporate Media Establishment to use foreign leaders to settle personal scores with political opponents in their own country. Of late, it has almost become a fashion in the United States to slander and demonize leaders of foreign nations so that politicians could score brownie points over their opponents in domestic politics.

Narendra Modi: The Third Leader who was slandered

Narendra Modi is the third leader who is being subject to slanderous accusations by the American Corporate Media so that their friends in the political establishment could benefit from it politically. The first was, of course, Vladimir Putin of Russia. The Russian Collusion Delusion was nothing more than an attempt to undermine the Trump Presidency and in the process, violate the Democratic Will of the American electorate. After spending years investigating the so-called collusion and exhausting huge resources in the charade, Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller failed to produce a single shred of evidence to suggest any collusion between the Russian Government and the Trump Campaign.

That hasn’t stopped the media, however, from continuing to spread the utterly delusional conspiracy theory that Donald Trump is, somehow, a Russian Puppet. The media-political establishment did not stop there and proceeded to label Tulsi Gabbard, a serving member of the US Military and a Congresswoman, an asset of the Russian government. All of this, without a single shred of evidence of course. No less than Hillary Clinton herself accused Tulsi of being a Russian Asset, to which the Hawaiian responded in kind by labelling her the ‘Queen of Warmongers’.

The second foreign leader to be used to settle domestic political scores was Bashar al-Assad of Syria. Tulsi Gabbard was labelled an ‘Assad-apologist’ for the crime of meeting the Syrian President. The principled stance of the Congresswoman has been that she will be always willing to engage even the worst of her country’s enemies diplomatically because the alternative to that is War.

She risked immense political capital by meeting Assad, just as she risked a great deal by endorsing Bernie Sanders in 2016 and meeting Donald Trump after he was elected President in an era of hyper-partisanship. Donald Trump has also been accused of being soft towards Assad because he has always prioritized withdrawing forces from Syria. One could debate the manner in which he ordered the withdrawal of US forces from the country but one cannot argue that it was something the American electorate voted for.

The third in line is our own Prime Minister, Narendra Damodardas Modi. Slandering Modi gives the political opponents of Donald Trump and Tulsi Gabbard another stick to beat them with. It is with this purpose that the American political establishment appears to have renewed its attack on Narendra Modi. Despite the utter lack of factual rigour, Dexter Filkins’ report has been plugged by the usual suspects in the MIMC. Former staffers in the Obama administration, New York Times journalists, BBC correspondents, CNN reporters, WashingtonPost journalists and every other typical establishment media-political figure.

Rana Ayyub smuggled in the reporter, violated Indian Laws

It is rather interesting that Rana Ayyub, who is thoroughly discredited across all sections of the Indian Media, is suddenly finding traction in the United States. One could, of course, attribute it all to coincidence, however, in an age of chaos in the world of Geopolitics, such developments cannot be dismissed as such. Furthermore, Rana Ayyub illegally smuggled in the foreign journalist in Kashmir in violation of Indian laws. The Indian government can afford to ignore such transgressions but it would do so at its own peril.

What are the motivations of the protagonists?

Although we can only speculate about the actual motivations of Filkins, there are some clues to be found regarding Rana Ayyub’s motivations in the report. “Indians have a weakness for being recognized in America,” she told Filkins. “The idea that they would be famous in the United States—it was irresistible to them.” It appears Rana Ayyub was subconsciously projecting her own desires on to others when she made that comment. And it’s the hallmark of the Left that whatever wrongdoing they are guilty of, they accuse others of it.

As for the motivations for Filkins’ work, we can only rely on the conduct of the American Corporate Media in recent times to make satisfactory speculations. The media-political establishment in the US has fanned crazy conspiracy theories about foreign leaders in recent times to settle scores with domestic political opponents. And the discerning would have noticed, it is always designed to attack those who threaten the status quo. Not even a military veteran such as Tulsi Gabbard is spared from vicious accusations of being a foreign asset. Donald Trump has constantly battled such accusations from the first day of his Presidency.

The Churn in American Politics

The two politicians in question, Donald Trump and Tulsi Gabbard, belong to the opposite ends of the political spectrum. But even so, both of them are representatives of populist sentiments that has gripped the American electorate. It is not a surprise then, that Tulsi Gabbard enjoys huge popularity among significant sections of the electorate predisposed towards Donald Trump. Some of them might even switch over to her in 2020 should she become the Presidential nominee of the Democrat party, however, that appears impossible as of now.

Similarly, Donald Trump enjoys significant support among ‘Bernie Bros’ and it is widely believed that a significant chunk of voters, who would have otherwise voted for Bernie Sanders, chose to vote for Donald Trump instead of Hillary Clinton in 2016. Bernie Sanders is, perhaps, the third most hated candidate in the fray for 2020 even though he can boast of great support within the party. Among the three of them, as of now, only Bernie has not been accused of being a foreign asset. However, the way things are currently unfolding, it won’t be long before someone accuses him of working for foreign interests.

The Great Divide in American Media

The divide can also be observed in the media space. For instance, Tucker Carlson and Jimmy Dore, who disagree on a great many things, still agree on the fundamental issue that the status quo is destroying the country. For instance, although Jimmy is a hardcore progressive, on matters such as Syria and foreign wars, he regularly cites shows clips of Tucker Carlson Tonight at Fox News to his audience and says that American citizens can learn more about the authentic reality of the Middle East by watching the Conservative populist’s show than spending their time on MSNBC, CNN or other such establishment media platforms.

Jimmy Dore, despite being a progressive, does not believe that Donald Trump colluded with the Russians or there’s any good reason to impeach him. Similarly, Tucker Carlson recognizes that the status quo is clearly not working for the average American and certainly appears to reserve a special hatred for the political establishment of both parties which is destroying the lives of Americans according to him as well. Under such circumstances, it can be safely said that The New Yorker report by Filkins is an establishment initiative to slander Narendra Modi so that his warm relationship with Donald Trump and Tulsi Gabbard could then be used to undermine the two biggest political threats to the Military-Industrial-Media Complex.

Rana Ayyub: The Chosen One?

In the report, Filkins also laments the fact that there are no ‘aggressive voices’ in the media apart from The Caravan and The Wire that question the government. Quite clearly, he is either trapped in an alternate universe of his own making or is lying on purpose to peddle his agenda.

Read: Supreme Court trashes Rana Ayyub’s Gujarat book, says it is based upon surmises, conjectures, and suppositions

It also appears to be a subtle hint at people abroad that there’s a need to invest in more such ‘aggressive voices’ in the Indian digital space. The manner in which Filkins has propped up Rana Ayyub, the ‘aggressive voice’ of his choice is clearly the Queen of Islamist herself. Therefore, it won’t be too much of a surprise if we see Rana Ayyub running a media venture of her own in the near future. And it won’t be a surprise either if her media venture is heavily funded by money from abroad.

The Establishment Strikes Back?

The Modus-Operandi behind the report on Narendra Modi bears all the hallmarks of the propaganda that was so evident during the Russian Collusion Delusion and the narrative around the Middle East. Filkins level a serious of utterly discredited accusations so confidently that he would even make the most politically aware individual double-check the facts. The report was nearly 10,000 words long, probably even longer, and it was horribly wrong on all the major issues. The purpose of it was, clearly, to organize all the bizarre conspiracy theories against Narendra Modi under one single banner.

There is another distinct possibility that cannot be overlooked. A significant section of the US political establishment is subservient to Chinese interests. It is this faction, of which Michael Bloomberg perhaps is the most popular face after Joe Biden, which stood by silently while China managed to make significant inroads within US interests. Bloomberg, recently, joined the Democratic Presidential Race. Earlier in September, he had declared that Xi Jinping is not a dictator and the Communist Party of China actually ‘listens to its people’.

Under the Trump Administration, ties between India and the US have grown manifold as Donald Trump ramped up his trade war against China. It’s only natural for ties between India and the United States to strengthen at such a time as the US needs India on its side if it wishes to fend off the strategic threat posed by the Chinese. Under such circumstances, it does appear that an organized effort is currently underway to portray India as the ‘Great Other’ so that US-India ties never reach their full potential. Who benefits from it? China, for one, and the faction of the media-political establishment that is in China’s pockets.

Who benefits the most when India is slandered?

The most obvious beneficiaries of the biased report by The New Yorker is obviously the establishment of the Democrat party. It helps them take down two threats simultaneously: Donald Trump and Tulsi Gabbard. It also helps in generating enthusiasm among the Muslim voter-base of the party. Thus, there are great electoral benefits to be gained by slandering India and demonizing Narendra Modi in US soil.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that foreign leaders are being used to settle scores with domestic political opponents and gain electoral benefits in the process. It’s a tried and tested trick in the US. For instance, the grand Democrat plan to defeat Donald Trump in 2020 involves Vladimir Putin to a great degree. Not a day goes by without the US media spreading Xenophobic hatred against Russians and portraying Vladimir Putin as the greatest global threat after Adolf Hitler.

Amusingly enough, China does not receive even an ounce of the scrutiny that Russia or India receives. For instance, Michael Bloomberg did not have to experience much criticism at all for his defence of the atrocious Chinese regime and Xi Jinping. It’s understandable as Big Business in the United States has great financial interests in China and they do not want to risk offending the Communist Party there.

The Indian Equivalent of the Steele Dossier

Dexter Filkins, through his mammoth report on The New Yorker, only attempted to document all the conspiracy theories against Narendra Modi and the BJP at one single place so that the magnitude of it hits his readers with the force of a rampaging truck. From Loya to whitewashing the genocidal nature of Pakistan’s creation, every loony story finds a place in it. Filkins has not even made any serious effort to hide his agenda. He knows that his readers already have a negative perception of India, so they will hardly bother to verify the lies that he spoonfed them.

The New Yorker Report is the most obvious example of a political hit-job if there were any, and its targets are not just Narendra Modi and India but also US politicians who threaten the status quo the most. The report, in fact, reminds one of the now-infamous Steele Dossier that was concocted by political hacks to take down Donald Trump. After an insane degree of political drama, the Steele Dossier was exposed as the work of propaganda that it was. Of course, not even Narendra Modi’s worst enemies could ever be convinced of the kind of allegations that were contained in the Steele Dossier, therefore, what was needed was the traditional approach.

Like the Steele Dossier, the report by The New Yorker too demonstrated an organized effort by all of Narendra Modi’s political opponents in the media. From Rana Ayyub who smuggled Filkins into Kashmir, violating Indian laws in the process, to the likes of Harsh Mander, Ashish Nandy, Pratik Sinha, S. Varadarajan, a lot of the traditional opponents of the BJP in the media contribute prominently to The New Yorker’s work of fiction.

The New Yorker’s report comes across as an organized attempt to undermine the Indian government. Under the current climate of chaos in the arena of Geopolitics, such works of propaganda should be viewed with great suspicion.

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