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How media created fake controversy about BJP calling for a ‘ban on Momos’

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News had broken in various media outlets yesterday about BJP legislator Ramesh Arora of Jammu and Kashmir calling for a ban on Momos due to the health hazards associated with them. Arora has reportedly been demanding a ban on Momos in J&K for about 5 months.

A section of journalists soon latched on to the news reports and proclaimed this demand to be in line with their accusation that the BJP wishes to regulate the food habits of Indians.

A couple of them also attributed the demand of a single BJP legislator as the view of the whole party:


A few media outlets too decided to go hyperbolic and wrote reports titled:

The poison is not in the Momo but BJP’s food politics

Going by the reactions it looked as if the BJP legislator Ramesh Arora had some personal grudge against the Chinese, and thus ‘their food’, and had based his demand on some loony logic. But by just reading the whole article, people would have come to know that the legislator’s demands were backed via a strong scientific logic.

As it turn out, the BJP legislator has since long been a strong advocate against all Chinese food available on Indian streets which use the unhealthy mono-sodium glutamate (MSG) or Ajinomoto as an ingredient. According to the legislator, the MSG’s regular consumption was known to cause serious diseases including cancer and was deadlier than psychotropic drugs.

The news report also cemented Arora’s claims by stating that the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Cancer Institute in a 2007 study had concluded that MSG caused cancer and the WHO too had declared it unsafe. The report also had made it clear that Arora was not against Chinese food and was all in favor of their consumption, provided they were cooked safely.

Even though the BJP was being ridiculed for wanting a ‘ban’, the critics had failed to mention that the Congress too had called for a ban on Chinese street food containing MSG in 2015 and had pressurized the Mumbai Municipal Corporation to ban the sale of Chinese food outside Mumbai schools.

According to distinguished scientist Anand Ranganathan who brought the whole episode to outraging people’s attention, the ban on MSG containing Chinese food won’t be logical as the Indian Food and Drug Administration has not yet banned MSG but all the food items which make use of this ingredient should have a disclosure regarding them using this ingredient.

He also commented on how even though the FDA hadn’t yet banned the ingredient, the Congress still got Chinese food banned in Mumbai using its pretext.

On a lighter and healthier note, amidst this all outrage created by a headline-and-BJP-hunting media, one guy summed up the media reporting:


Congress leader who threatened to kill Modi warns of ‘joint action’ by Dalits and Muslims

Imran Masood, the Congress leader from Western Uttar Pradesh, who had threatened to chop off Narendra Modi into pieces, has now threatened of forceful agitations by Dalits and Muslims against Yogi Adityanath government.

Masood issued this warning while reacting to the arrest of Chandrashekhar, chief of the militant outfit Bhim Army, which was one of the parties to the recent caste clashes between Thakurs and Dalits in Saharanpur, which left a Thakur dead and houses of dozens of Dalits burnt.

Sniffing an opportunity to widen the caste conflict and exploit the social fault-lines – which incidentally is the declared official policy of Pakistan with respect to its internecine war against India – Masood announced support for Bhim Army. It should be noted that Mayawati’s BSP, which openly indulges in Dalit politics, had distanced itself from Bhim Army after Saharanpur violence.

But it looks like Congress has now decided to align itself with the outfit, with Masood warning the local administration and Yogi government of ‘dire consequences’ if Chandrashekhar was ‘denied justice’. Masood openly communalised the issue and declared that the issue was now about Muslims being with the Dalits.

Masood is reported to have warned that if Chandrasekhar was ‘mistreated’ by police, there would be serious and unpleasant consequences. It should be noted that Masood has been booked for rioting and attempts to murder in various cases earlier.

Congress too has supported Masood’s stand on the issue. “Imran is our leader and we support the stand that he has taken locally,” Uttar Pradesh Congress President Raj Babbar is reported to have said.

It is worth recalling that Masood was given an important role in the Congress party ahead of the last assembly elections despite his controversial past and Islamist streak. It appears that now he has been given the responsibility of being the architect of ‘Dalit-Muslim unity’.

The proverbial Dalit-Muslim unity to defeat ‘caste Hindus’ has been one of the longest running project of anti-Hindu ecosystem. This was tried during the independence struggle as well with some Dalit leaders supporting creation of Pakistan thinking Dalits will be better off with Muslims.

However, the reality of this ‘unity’ was soon exposed after Dalit leader Jogendra Nath Mandal, an associate of Bhim Rao Ambedkar and the first Law Minister of Pakistan, resigned from his post and migrated to India as he discovered that the only way an Islamist can live in peace with a non-Muslim is if the latter converts to Islam.

How Pakistan is using Sufi shrine donations to fund terror in India

Recent findings have made it clear that Pakistan funds various activities in India – from terror apologia in Delhi to stone pelting in Kashmir. Now it has come to knowledge that Pakistan’s ace intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) have set up donation boxes at places of worship in the border villages of Rajasthan and using the money, donated by devotees, to fund terrorist activities in India.

According to a Times of India report, intelligence agencies of Rajasthan police have unearthed this new funding network while interrogating ISI spy Deena Khan.

During the interrogation, it was revealed that Khan was in charge of a Mazar in Chohtan village of Barmer district of Rajasthan. The money offered at the Mazar were being provided to the spies while Khan used to keep some share from the offerings. Reports suggest that a few people associated with the Mazar stay abroad and work as handlers of Pakistani spies.

“Deepa Khan has admitted that he had distributed Rs 3.5 lakh of Mazar’s donation to his fellow spies like Satram Maheswari and Vinod Maheswari,” a senior official of Rajasthan Police’s intelligence and security wing was quoted as saying.

“It is difficult to distribute money through hawala network as it can be traced. Hence, the donation boxes are easy way to collect money and distribute it among the spies,” the official said.

It could be noted that there is a sudden spike in make-shift places of worship in the border areas of Rajasthan. It is suspected that ISI must have set up several such donation boxes at multiple locations to fund terrorism in India.

“The district superintendents of police have been directed to keep a close vigil at such places. With enhanced coordination and strategic planning, we have traced the network of foreign intelligence,” R Suhasaa, a DIG of Rajasthan Police was quoted as saying.

Rajasthan Police had arrested Deena Khan, along with two of his associates, from a remote village of Barmer district on 2 June under Official Secrets Act and Section 120B of IPC. Intelligence sources suggest that, Khan – a resident of Talsar village in Barmer – had not only helped Pakistani smugglers, but also sent information to Pakistan via Facebook. Reports suggest that Khan was paid handsomely by ISI for passing on the confidential piece of information.

Three months ago, Rajasthan Police had arrested two spies – Santram and Vinod Maheshwari – and based on the leads obtained from them, it had arrested Khan. During the interrogation, Santram and Vinod admitted sending confidential information of Indian Army, war exercise and other important informations to Pakistan via Facebook. The two spies further revealed that Khan used to provide them funds from time to time.

Last month, a 37-year-old hawala operator named Altaf Qureshi was arrested from Masjid Bunder area in South Mumbai for funding an ISI agent. Aftab, booked under the Official Secrets Act, had reportedly passed on information about the Indian Army’s movements in Faizabad, Lucknow and Amritsar to officers posted at the Pakistan High Commission and also to the ISI.

Mandsaur protests – what led to the current mess in Madhya Pradesh

The week-long protests in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur on famers’ rights issue is refusing to simmer down. The Centre has rushed contingents of Rapid Action Force (RAF) to the violence-hit Mandsaur to help restore peace. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has asked Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to take “strict action” against those spreading unrest.

Pipliamandi of Mandsaur district in Madhya Pradesh – the ground zero of protests – has turned into a virtual war zone. According to eyewitnesses, the rioters attacked police officials, pelted stones, beat up district collector, torched vehicles and warehouses and looted shops and toll booths.

Five people were killed as police resorted to firing during the protests on Tuesday (6 June). Dozens of police personnel also have been injured in the violence. The state government has imposed curfew in sensitive areas of violence hit Mandsaur. Internet services have been suspended in Mandsaur, Ratlam, Neemuch and Ujjain districts.

What are the issues/ demands?

The farmers in Madhya Pradesh have largely two demands. First, they want better crop prices to cover their input costs. Second, they demand compensation package and debt relief in the lines of Uttar Pradesh. In addition, the cattle farmers demand that they should be given a price of Rs 50 on per litre of milk bought from them stating that they spend Rs 37 on production costs.

How does Madhya Pradesh fare in agriculture?

Madhya Pradesh is an agrarian state with agriculture being the mainstay of state’s economy. As much as 49 per cent of the state’s land area is cultivable. According to available data from state government sources, for the last four years, Madhya Pradesh has been witnessing a whopping 20% agricultural growth per year, which is said to be the highest in the world.

How did the current flare up happen?

Police said those indulged in violence and riots are not farmers. “It is unfair to call it even a famers’ movement. They are hooligans with a clear intent to destabilise the law and order situation in the state,” said a senior police official.


Many of the protesters are alleged to be Congress workers. A number of Congress leaders are reportedly fueling the protests.


DP Dhakad, a local Congress leader from Ratlam and a self-styled farmer, is said to a key player in instigating the violent stir. Dhakad is missing since the firing incident took place.

Today Rahul Gandhi is visiting Mandsaur, which has made BJP claim that this whole controversy was ignited by Congress to re-launch Rahul Gandhi.

Response of Shivraj Singh government

While the political response has been to attack Congress, the BJP government of Madhya Pradesh has transferred the Collector, District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police of Mandsaur district. Senior police officials have been deployed to oversee the law and order situation in all sub-divisions of Mandsaur district. Ratlam range DIG Avinash Sharma is camping in Pipliamandi to take stock of the situation.

In a bid to cool the tempers of the protesters, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced certain measures, including a loan settlement scheme for the cultivators who had defaulted on repayment of farm loan borrowed by them earlier. The scheme will cover around six lakh farmers with accumulated dues of Rs 6,000 crore.

Farmers’ issues – Always politically hot

In electoral politics and economic policy, farmers’ issues assume a great significance. Year in and year out, various political parties have used farmers’ issues to drum up their support base. In the recent times, AAP has used farmers’ issue in Punjab, Congress tried Kisan Sabha in Uttar Pradesh and the BJP literally beat everyone by executing its loan waver promise in Uttar Pradesh. Given that Madhya Pradesh is moving towards an election year, this farmers’ issue and politics embedded in it will take some time to get resolved.

Tarek Fatah should not be allowed in Aligarh – Congress & SP back AMU students’ demand

Leaders and student organisations affiliated to Congress and Samajwadi Party have opposed the arrival of Pakistan born Canadian author Tarek Fatah in Aligarh and demanded that the event where he is supposed to speak be cancelled.

Tarek Fatah, who is known for his outspoken views on radical Islam and for his views against Pakistan, is slated to attend and address an event at local DS College on 11th of this month. Fateh has been invited as a keynote speaker at the event which is titled “World peace and Islam—a Dialogue”.

The event first attracted opposition from AMU (Aligarh Muslim University) Students Union, which took the matter with district administration and asked them to repeal the permission given to hold the event.

The AMU Students Union President claimed that the event will ‘hurt the sentiments of Muslim community’ in the holy month of Ramzan and it could further vitiate the city’s atmosphere as Aligarh is Muslim dominated.

“A large number of Muslims detest Fateh’s mindset and are opposing his arrival to Aligarh, a sensitive city,” the AMU Students Union President was quoted as saying.

It seems that the local administration did not succumb to these veiled threats by AMU Students Union, so now Congress and Samajwadi Party have joined the bandwagon in opposing Fatah. Leaders and students belonging to outfits affiliated with both the parties are now putting pressure on the college administration to cancel the event.

However, the college administration has clarified that it only rents out the space and it cannot cancel the event of its own. The event is to take place on a Sunday when college is not operational.

This failed to satisfy the Congress and Samajwadi Party supports who reportedly got into altercation with the college officials. They have threatened to carry out further protests if the event is not cancelled.

This is not for the first time when groups claiming to respect Muslim sentiments have opposed Tarek Fatah’s presence at any event or any city. An anti-Pakistan event in Kolkata, West Bengal was cancelled after similar protests and pressure in January this year, while Fatah was physically manhandled at an Urdu poetry event at Delhi in the following month.

The enemy within – how the out of power ‘ecosystem’ is trying desperately to get back

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India has fought four big wars in its 70 years of independence. One with China and three with Pakistan. The reasons for war were mainly territorial, and cross border aggression was duly met with the valour of our forces.

While the outcome of each war was different, there was an identifiable enemy in sight. Thus, clear and concrete strategies could be devised. These wars were fought within a short time frame and the country limped back to normalcy after each war.

The war this time is different. The absence of an external enemy makes it more sinister and the task at hand more difficult. At 3 years, this is the longest war India has ever fought. The enemies can be easily identified, but unfortunately no action can be taken against them, for these enemies do not come from across the border. They fester within the country and gnaw at it from within.

The Grand Old Party (GOP) and its ecosystem had spent the better part of the period 2002 to 2014, going after one man. Having failed miserably, this attack, directed at him, has seamlessly transformed into an attack on the nation.

It is almost as if they believe that a nation which is not governed by them deserves to be destroyed from within. An analogy can be made here with acid attackers, who disfigure the women they desire. Unable to get them, they ensure that the women are destroyed and pay for the mistake of rejecting them. Currently it would seem that India is paying the price for rejecting the GOP.

Very soon into Modi’s tenure, the bogey of Church attacks was created. That this was done prior to the elections in Delhi was indicative of the agenda. Predictably the attacks died down soon after the elections. In some cases, pure mischief mongering in reporting by media had been proven too.

Riding on these attacks came the Intolerance bogey. Stalwarts from civil society lined up to return their ill-gotten awards. Not to mention sob stories by Film stars about the rising intolerance and its impact on spousal well-being.

Soon after that, farmer agitations were encouraged to stall the Land Acquisition Bill, which was predicted to have a far-reaching impact on infrastructure and manufacturing. One of these agitations organised by AAP led to the death of a farmer Gajendra Singh. Senior AAP leaders including Arvind Kejriwal were all present at the site but for reasons best known to them, they could not prevent Gajendra Singh from lunging to a completely futile death.

Next came the ‘student’ agitations. JNU saw the Bharat tere tukde honge performances, cheer led by the likes of Rahul Gandhi, Kejriwal, Yechury, and Lutyens media. A truly shameful episode in the history of this country where for the first time Breaking India forces found open support among the intelligentsia in the garb of Freedom of Expression.

Simultaneously, there has been an ongoing attempt to incite Dalits and exploit caste fault lines. The Rohit Vemula episode saw a relentless hounding of Smriti Irani. Once again, politics of voyeurism was witnessed as Kejriwal, Rahul Gandhi and the likes thronged to agitations organised for allegedly “bringing justice” to Rohit Vemula.

Like Church attacks before Delhi elections, Dalit attacks were seen to rise before elections in Bihar and UP, and miraculously ebbed once the elections were done with. Though some in the media are religiously, nay, castesistly, pursuing it without interruption.

How insidious this attempt to exploit the fault lines is, can be gauged from the fact that the same bleeding hearts who feign to care about Dalits don’t mind supporting agitations by Marathas protesting against the SC/ST act. Suddenly the OBCs, who are referred to as ‘upper castes’ or ‘dabang’ when news about atrocities on Dalits are concerned, become weak and vulnerable when they hit the roads demanding reservations – be it Patels in Gujarat, or Jats in Haryana and Rajasthan. There is just one mission – exploit the fault lines at any cost.

Kashmir has been on a boil ever since BJP formed government with PDP. Attacks from across the border also curiously seem to increase every time GOP is not in power. That the Vajpayee led government had to face a war in Kargil does not seem like a happy coincidence any longer. This is further corroborated when you see Congress leaders like Mani Shankar Aiyer implore Pakistan to remove Modi and get them back to power. Not to mention his recent, highly public dalliances with the Hurriyyat leaders.

Not to be satisfied with merely attacking the government of the day, attacks on the Army have been initiated by the same ecosystem.

Initially it was done by dressing it up as concern for the Army. There was an underhand attempt to politicise the Army through OROP where AAP affiliated cadre openly incited some among the forces to rebel against the Government’s offer. In spite of resolving OROP, the government was painted as anti-soldier.

But perhaps they soon realised that it’s not easy to paint the government as anti-soldier or anti-army, so it’s better to attack the army itself.

Soon, opposition and its cohorts in media were seen standing up for the human rights of stone pelters as opposed to the safety of our forces in Kashmir. The attempt to demonize the Army reached its crescendo when a certain publication even went to the extent of comparing the Army Chief with General Dyer of Jallianwallah Bagh massacre fame!

The insidious agenda does not end here. After exploiting caste and religion fault lines to further their agenda, appallingly, attempts are now being made to encourage States to break away from India. One of these is in the form of Dravidanadu, which calls for Southern States to break away from India. Though it is more of an online activity right now, what is worrying is that Indian Youth Congress leaders are espousing the cause of this break-away group.

Rahul Gandhi is incidentally the Chairperson of the Indian Youth Congress and is known to take keen interest in its functioning. How ironic is it that this is the same political party that attempts to appropriate the freedom struggle at every available opportunity!

Last but not the least, we come to Farmer agitations across the country. Strangely enough, most of these agitations are happening in BJP ruled states. Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are in the throes of agitations even as this is being written. Predictably in Mandasaur, Madhya Pradesh, there is an increasing evidence of the involvement Congress cadres and leaders. Ironically, when it comes to non- BJP ruled states like Tamil Nadu, one witnesses them agitating in New Delhi, again raising anti-BJP slogans while giving their own State governments a free pass!

To the discerning, it is quite evident that there is a deep- rooted conspiracy to create unrest across the length and the breadth of the country employing multiple avenues. It can be recalled that Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge had warned of an ensuing “Raktapaat” (bloodshed) if BJP attempted to amend the Constitution.

Rahul Gandhi has also been caught on record giving an exact number of 22000 people (bizarre as it may sound) dying due to BJP coming to power.

The current scenario seems to be playing out to a script. There is a fear among many right- thinking people that an attempt is underway to create unrest, with an eye on 2019. Parallels are being drawn to 2002, where conspirators of the Godhra carnage had Congress connection, and Congress cadres were involved even in subsequent riots. A second term to Modi will be a bloody blow to the partly vanquished and they are fighting tooth and nail to prevent it from happening.

It increasingly seems that an electorally irrelevant opposition backed by a chaffed media is paying you back for 2014. Unfortunately, the strongest Army is powerless against the enemy within. But thankfully a Democracy offers its citizens a far stronger and much more lethal weapon.

Elections 2019 are less than 24 months away. India is watching.

Bihar ‘sex scandal’ involving Ravish Kumar’s brother set to end with ‘compromise’

The Bihar sex scandal, which was argued by many in the local media as having the potential to rock local politics and unmask many high-profile people in the state, appears to be moving towards burial with the complainant girl ready to marry the person whom she had accused of running a sex racket and sexually exploiting her.

The complainant, who is from Dalit community and daughter of a Congress leader, had also named Brajesh Kumar Pandey – former Bihar Congress Vice President and brother of NDTV journalist Ravish Kumar – as one of the accomplices of Nikhil Priyadarshi, a businessman accused of running the sex scandal. The complainant girl had claimed that she was underage at the time she was sexually exploited.

The complainant had said that Nikhil and Brajesh not only sexually exploited her, but also ran a sex racket where many other high-profile people were involved. Media reports had indicated that such a racket could indeed be being run, with daughter of a top bureaucrat being forced to commit suicide after falling prey to it.

After the case came in public knowledge, Brajesh Kumar had to resign from his post in the Congress party while Nikhil ran away from the state. Arrest warrants against both of them were issued meanwhile. While Nikhil was finally arrested in March this year, Brajesh Kumar still is absconding. Some reports suggested that he was hiding in Delhi even as National Commission for Scheduled Castes had ordered his arrest.

There were reports about political pressure being put on police and investigating agencies to especially go slow on Brajesh Kumar, because he was the brother of an influential national journalist (Ravish Kumar). There were also reports that suggested that the case ‘had to be buried’ as it could expose too many skeletons in the cupboard of many influential people.

These were followed by reports about the complainant girl being harassed, senior official of CID himself raising fingers at investigations accusing the agencies of being lax in their probe, and Nikhil Priyadarshi reportedly claiming that he had ‘objectionable clips’ of many influential people and thus no one can dare touch him.

Now latest reports indicate that the complainant girl has agreed to ‘compromise’ and marry Nikhil Priyadarshi, who is currently lodged in a jail in Patna. Nikhil is son of a retired top bureaucrat himself and his father too is in jail along with him. Now both of them have reportedly been granted bail to attend the marriage of Nikhil and the complainant girl.

This ‘compromise’ is being opposed by the special public prosecutor, who has argued that the case is way too serious to be treated as a private matter between two individuals. The prosecutor is also reported to have claimed that the victim girl failed to get support from his politician father and thus had no option but to agree for the marriage to settle the case.

Media reports quoting ‘sources’ claim that this ‘compromise’ was brokered by a politician in the last week of May. Whatever be the reason, it appears that the case that threatened to derail many careers and rock Bihar politics, has now been successfully buried.

Youth killed in Delhi for trying to stop 3 people from taking drugs in a public toilet

On 27th May shocking news had emerged from Delhi about an e-rickshaw driver named Ravindra Kumar getting beaten to death after he had objected to two people urinating outside the Gate number 4 of the GTB Nagar Metro station. Incidentally the public restroom was only 5 meters away from the spot and Ravindra had even offered to pay for their use. Apparently after the initial argument, the duo had returned a few hours later with 10-15 of their friends and after tracking Ravindra beat him to death with iron knuckles and stones wrapped in towels.

The duo who were urinating have since then been arrested and it turns out that one of the accused was Shekhar, a student in Delhi University, and other was a juvenile. During the interrogation, the DU student apparently claimed that he had felt humiliated after the driver had offered to fund their usage of the public toilet.

This incident had prompted condemnation from even Prime Minister Modi who had directed the authorities to bring the culprits to book and also announced an ex-gratia of 1 lakh for the family of the deceased driver. The Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu has since visited the family of the deceased and had tweeted that the driver was promoting Swaccha Bharat Abhiyan via his objection.

Now almost 10 days later, another such criminal incident has emerged from Delhi.

A 21 years old man was reportedly stabbed to death after he objected to another such illegal activity. The deceased named Rahul and his mother were caretakers of two public toilets in Delhi’s Nangloi area. The mother had reportedly seen three people taking drugs in one of the toilets and had objected to it. The trio didn’t like it very much and threatened her with dire consequences.

They came true with their threat and some time later came back and attacked her. This prompted her son to try and save her which resulted in him getting stabbed repeatedly. The gravely injured Rahul was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival. The two of the accused named Salman and Shahid have now been apprehended by the police.

Such incidents raise very serious questions about the safety of honest citizens who were just doing their civic duty in trying to prevent unauthorized activities from happening in public places. It also remains to be seen as to what deterrents would be placed by authorities in preventing such murderous acts as if these keep continuing any good Samaritan would think twice before prodding any individual to mend his ways.

NDTV hiding behind shield of ‘press freedom’: former editor of The Hindu

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Some voices within the journalistic community have now started to question NDTV’s dubious financial dealings during the UPA period. CBI had raided residences of NDTV founder Prannoy Roy on Monday in case of a financial fraud that involves causing losses to ICICI bank, which is being touted as an “attack on press freedom” by NDTV and its supporters.

On Tuesday night, Malini Parthasarathy, a Director in the company publishing the left-leaning newspaper The Hindu who has also served as its Editor earlier, said that she did not subscribe to the view that the case against NDTV was an attack on press freedom.

She was responding to an article written by S Gurumurthy – the former associate and confidante of Indian Express founder Ramnath Goenka who is also known to have exposed misdeeds by Reliance Industries in the mid 1980s – which detailed how NDTV was involved in a serious of dubious financial dealings during 2004-09, which incidentally is also the period when Congress came back to power at centre.

The article published in The New Indian Express showed how dozens of shell companies were formed by Pannoy Roy and his wife Radhika Roy, also a promoter in NDTV, and money transferred from one to another with unclear motives. The UPA government never asked the NDTV to disclose details of these companies, which finally caused loss to ICICI bank and helped NDTV cover its own losses.

“Media houses should be as transparently open to public scrutiny as any other business in order to retain credibility and public trust,” Malini Parthasarathy posted on Twitter, after saying that the case against NDTV did not qualify as an attack on press freedom.

As expected, she was attacked by NDTV cheerleaders and abusive trolls who tried to malign S Gurumurthy, but Malini stood her ground.

“Wouldn’t dismiss S Gurumurthy so lightly. His anti- corruption investigations have been truly exemplary and rigorous,” she told off a troll.

Her statement was countered by Times of India journalist Sagarika Ghose too – widely acknowledged as having shallow understanding of critical issues apart from indulging in spreading fake news and misinformation lately – who tried to reduce the financial wrongdoings by NDTV to a mere loan repayment issue.

To this, Malini said that NDTV should allow probe and not “retreat behind the shield of press freedom which is too weighty a concept to be invoked for personal issues”.

When one Twitter user pointed out that Malini was a victim of ‘attack on press freedom’ in 2004 when Jayalalithaa tried to arrest her, the former Editor of The Hindu said that there were no similarities between the two cases.

“Specious comparison! The arrests sought then were on the basis of a privilege motion filed for an editorial. No financial wrongdoing imputed!” she retorted.

Malini Parthasarathy is one of the rare ones from the journalistic community who has taken an objective stand on the issue. Most other journalists are preferring to go with the rhetoric of ‘press freedom’ over the facts about financial wrongdoings.

It should be noted that the rhetoric of ‘NDTV being punished for its “anti-establishment” journalism’ falls flat as there is nothing special in NDTV reporting in recent times that should trouble the government (assuming one means ‘government’ when they say ‘establishment’, which is not always the case). All that the NDTV has done “exclusively” recently are interviews of Narendra Modi’s cabinet ministers, which can’t be called “anti-establishment”.

When the government has not even bothered to punish propaganda websites run by various journalists that equate the Army chief with General Dyer of Jallianwala Bagh massacre, it is giving this government too much of credit that it will act against NDTV, which remains a favourite destination with many top BJP leaders.

Essentially, even the cheerleaders of NDTV won’t be able to point out any recent report “exclusive” by NDTV that should bother the government.

The only time NDTV was in news due to its reporting in recent past was when they allegedly put security forces at risk by giving away live information during an anti-terror operation at Pathankot last year. This irresponsible journalism by NDTV earned them a one-day token ban, which was again spun as “attack on press freedom” by NDTV and its apologists.

However, the BJP government chickened out and could not muster courage to impose even the token ban. The victory to indulge in irresponsible reporting was celebrated as victory of press freedom by NDTV and its cheerleaders back then.

Similar victory is being sought again by the channel and its cheerleaders as they claim that CBI raids are against ‘press freedom’.

The Maoist movement on the verge of extinction in Karnataka

In what might come as a blow to Maoists and their sympathizers, the Maoist movement in the state of Karnataka looks to be on the verge of extinction with the left-wing terrorists associated with various outfits choosing to surrender to the authorities rather than carry on with their violent ways.

As reported, three suspected Maoists named Kanyakumari, Suma, Shivu surrendered to the Chikkamagaluru district administration on Monday in the presence of the representatives of a state level committee which oversees the implementation of the surrender policy. So far 13 such extremists have surrendered in the state since 2010 and it is believed that the number of active Maoists has come down to a measly 3. Kanyakumari at the time of her surrender had 33 pending cases against her.

The SP of Chikkamagaluru was quoted as saying that the number of Maoists has come down drastically and fresh recruitment has also been stopped. The SP further stated that the Maoists are choosing to return to the mainstream and the government’s decision to develop the Maoist affected areas plus the surrender scheme is aiding in this regard. Even though the state of Karnataka is almost free of the menace, some Maoists who are choosing not to surrender seem to be moving to nearby Kerala.

The cases of Maoists surrendering seems to be on the rise in recent days. Recently we had reported how Kundan Pradhan a dreaded Maoist leader who had about 125 cases pending against him had surrendered to the Jharkhand police in May. His surrender had also punctured the “oppressed poor tribal becoming Maoist” narrative as it was found that he had joined the movement so that he could reoccupy 1350 acres of his whooping 2700 acre family estate which was illegally grabbed by his uncle.

The surrender is also happening in the so called Maoist bastion of Bastar in Chhattisgarh. In 2016 it was reported that 56 Maoists had surrendered in various parts of the region taking the total surrender tally in the region to 182 since December 2015.