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‘Hunka belonged to a unit that did not commit crime’: American news organisation Politico defends Canada for honouring a Nazi in its Parliament

Anurag
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‘Hunka belonged to a unit that did not commit crime’: American news organisation Politico defends Canada for honouring a Nazi in its Parliament

On 2nd October, Politico published an op-ed by author Keir Giles defending Canada in the Yaroslav Hunka Controversy. Giles is the author of several books on Russia, including his latest one titled “Russia’s War on Everybody”. According to him, the Hunka controversy is an outcome of massive Russian propaganda. Giles called the whole controversy a lie; he argued that fighting against the USSR during World War II did not necessarily means that the unit was Nazi.

Giles noted that the outrage stemmed from Hunka’s association with one of the Waffen-SS units. Waffen-SS, where SS stands for Schutzstaffel (Protective Echelon), were the black-uniformed elite troops who self-described themselves as the “political soldiers” of the Nazi Party. Hunka was part of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS that, comprised Ukrainian volunteers.

Giles argued that the history of that time is complicated. As Hunka was in a unit comprised of foreign volunteers, they were, according to him, on administrative rather than ideological grounds. However, Giles said the contention is hard to sell to the audience who “believe” the main objective of the SS was genocide.

Citing several investigations, including the Nuremberg trials, Giles said the unit Hunka belonged to did not commit war crimes or atrocities. Targeting Russia, Giles claimed that Moscow “shouts” Nazis whenever they want despite their own history of aggression and atrocities during WWII. He further argued that Russians were never tried for the alleged “war crimes” they committed during WWII, unlike Nazis.

Giles further claimed that Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center’s statement that the atrocities committed by Hunka’s unit are well-documented was false and “doesn’t seem to have any more substance than the accusation by Russia”.

Citing the 1986 Commission report on War Crimes by the Canadian government, Giles argued that famous Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal himself was found to have made broad accusations against the unit in question, and the commission found them “nearly totally useless” and “put the Canadian government to a considerable amount of purposeless work.”

Source: 1986 Report by Government of Canada on War Crimes

Interestingly, Giles cherry-picked the parts of the report that were accessed by OpIndia as well. Giles cited the second part of the report on page no 258 to make his point. However, In the same report, the commission concluded the division could not be charged with war crimes because of the “absence of the evidence of participation in or knowledge of specific war crimes”. Furthermore, the report only argued about the 217 members of the Galicia division, which was far less than the actual number, which was over 70,000.

Source: 1986 Report by Government of Canada on War Crimes

The The Huta Pieniacka Massacre

Yaroslav Hunka was a member of the First Ukrainian Division, originally named the 14th Waffen-Grenadier Division der SS (Ukrainische Nr 1), also known as the “Galicia” Division, that was created during World War II in the western part of Ukraine. One particular incident involving the 4th battalion of the Galicia division is the Huta Pieniacka Massacre. Giles claimed that there is no “evidence” that the unit in question was involved in a war crime. Assuming his knowledge and understanding of World War II, as he has written book after book and article after article on Russia’s role in WWII, it can be assumed that he has done his homework properly. However, in order to defend Canada and Hunka, Giles conveniently skipped the Huta Pieniacka Massacre.

There is a research paper written by Per Anders Rudling that was published in The Journal of Slavic Military Studies’s September 2012 issue titled “‘They Defended Ukraine’: The 14 Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS (Galizische Nr. 1) Revisited“. The paper provided details of the unit in question in an elaborate manner.

According to the paper, during the OUN-UPA campaign of mass murder in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia, Huta Pieniacka, a Polish village, served as a refuge to the Jewish and Polish survivors. The Waffen-SS Galizien and UPA became aware that the village cooperated with pro-Soviet partisans, leading to a well-orchestrated attack.

The fourth regiment under Sturmbannführer Binz led the Huta Pieniacka massacre, which resulted in the deaths of civilians, mostly women and children. Historians agree on Waffen-SS Galizien’s involvement, but the scale of the massacre is unclear among them. Ukrainian estimates put the death toll at nearly 500, while Polish sources suggest 700 to 1,500 victims.

The massacre occurred after locals in Pidhirtsiv informed Ukrainian police that Huta Pieniacka sheltered Jews, supported Bolshevik partisans, and stored weapons. When the Ukrainian SS arrived to inspect, there was an alleged conflict between the troops and the villagers, leading to the brutal massacre. Testimonies by survivors and UPA members confirm the village’s burning and the killing of its residents, with some accounts linking it to the sheltering of Jews and pro-Soviet partisans.

The paper cited multiple sources narrating what happened on 28th February 1944, the day of the massacre. One of the citations says:

“On February 27, 44 [sic] at 5.00 AM the 14th Division of the Ukrainian SS surrounded the village Huta Pieniacka from three sides, shooting at the houses from a distance, then set some buildings on fire and then entered the village, plundering all the belongings of the inhabitants. The people were gathered in the church or shot in the houses. Those gathered in the church—men, women and children—were taken outside in groups, children killed in front of their parents.

Some men and women were shot in the cemetery, others were gathered in barns, where they were shot. The village was completely burned down. The only people who saved themselves were those who on finding out about the approaching Ukrainian SS, managed to hide in the forests (only men) or those who pretended to be dead or managed to hide in potato holes in the basements. Right now it is difficult to establish how many survived as they spread themselves around the area. Many of the injured with burned arms and legs were being treated—impossible to say how many–by people from surrounding villages who took them to their homes after the SS division left.”

This was reported by Uta WSK from Huta Pieniacka who survived, badly burned. The action of the SS was to be in revenge for the killing of 4 SS men on February 23. “About 60 men entered the village in the evening and began to plunder the houses. Since they wore German uniforms and spoke Ukrainian, they were taken for a disguised group of criminals. Thus the local defense action started, killing two for sure, and wounding several others. Seeing that the Ukrainian SS came to the area, it is possible that such cases may repeat themselves in every Polish village”.

Another citation noted:

“On 28 February 1944 around five and six in the morning Ukrainian nationalists together with troops from the division “SS-Galizien” surrounded the Polish village of Huta Pieniacka in the Ponikovestkii raion of the L’viv oblast, opening fire upon the village. After they entered the village, they gathered all of the residents of said village on the square in front of the church, forced them into groups by beating them, led the groups into the barns, locked the barns, then poured gasoline and burned the barns with the people inside. Anyone trying to escape was shot and thrown into the fire. In this way, more than 700 Polish people were shot and burned, and 120 houses with adjoining structures were also burned. Livestock, bread and other property were taken away by the bandits.

The Huta Pieniacka resident Franko Iosifivich Kobelianskii explained that “early in the morning on 28 February 1944, two rockets were fired upon our village, thereafter our village came under fire. After the shooting, our village was surrounded from all sides by Germans and civilians, emerging from the forest, all of whom were armed with machine guns and rifles. They entered the village and began to gather the entire village population on the square in front of the church. After gathering the men, women, old people and children, the Germans and the civilians drove them into groups of 20–30, chased them into barns, closed the buildings and burned the buildings together with the people inside. Those who tried to run were killed.

In this way 600–700 people were killed and burned, all livestock was taken away, as was footwear and clothes.” The Huta Pieniacka resident explains: ‘On 28 February 1944 our village came under fire, and soon after the shooting ended the SS’ troops and Germans arrived, including many men in civilian clothes on horse carts. The SS men were Ukrainians, they entered all the houses and gathered all the old people, children and youth on the square in front of the church, chased part of the people into the church, and thereafter some sort of Kommendant of the SS men—he spoke Ukrainian—took the old people and the children and in groups sent them into the barn, locked them up and burned the people together with the barn. I was in the church and was afraid to leave, and an SS man called me out of the church.

They gathered us in groups, there were children, old people and women among us, and about 40–50 people marched us into one of the barns, and in it people screamed with inhuman voices—at this point we realized, that they will burn us alive. The people began to run, and the SS men opened fire on them with machine guns. I fell between two rocks and remained alive. Then they gathered us who were still alive and forced us back into the barn, closed the doors and put it on fire. When the barn was burning I broke two planks and ran out of the fire, into the forest. The rest were all burned alive.”

These are just two verbatim citations, and there are several others that narrate the same story. There are enough citations, papers, reports and other evidence to prove that Hunka’s unit was involved in atrocities during World War II. However, the likes of Giles feel that it is more important to ridicule Russia than criticise those who house and celebrate Nazis.

Standing ovation to Nazi soldier in Canadian parliament and the aftermath

On 22nd September, the Canadian House of Commons gave a standing ovation to Yaroslav Hunka, a World War II veteran who fought for “Ukrainian independence” against Russian aggressors. This is how the speaker of the House, Anthony Rota, introduced him. The 98-year-old war veteran, however, was a member of a SS unit established in 1943 by the Nazis. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was also present during the occasion.

The First Ukrainian Division, originally named the 14th Waffen-Grenadier Division der SS (Ukrainische Nr 1), also known as the “Galicia” Division, was created during World War II in the western part of Ukraine. Soon after Hunka’s links to Nazi SS were revealed, Canada faced criticism worldwide.

In the aftermath, on 26th September, Canada’s Speaker of the House of Commons, Anthony Rota, resigned. Rota said he had made a mistake. Interestingly, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and all the Canadian MPs threw Rota under the bus after being globally criticised for celebrating a Nazi in the Parliament despite the fact that Canada has a long history of housing Nazi war criminals.

The funny thing was that Trudeau blamed ‘Russian propaganda’ after Canada’s parliament faced global shame for celebrating Nazis. He called the incident deeply embarrassing and somehow managed to blame Russia for the goof-up his government did by celebrating the Nazis.

He said, “Obviously, it is extremely upsetting that this happened. The speaker has acknowledged his mistake and has apologised. But this is something that is deeply embarrassing to the Parliament of Canada and, by extension, to all Canadians. I think particularly the Jewish MPs and all members of the Jewish community across the country commemorating Yom Kippur today. I think it’s gonna be really important that all of us push back against Russian propaganda and disinformation and continue our steadfast and unequivocal support for Ukraine as we did last week by announcing further measures to stand with Ukraine in Russia’s illegal war against it.”

Yaroslav Hunka is just 1 example of Canada’s Nazi problem: Read how WWII criminals found a safe haven there after escaping Europe

Pragya Bakshi Sharma
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Yaroslav Hunka is just 1 example of Canada’s Nazi problem: Read how WWII criminals found a safe haven there after escaping Europe

Canada has many skeletons in the closet. The standing ovation to Nazi war criminal Yaroslav Hunka in the Canadian Parliament on 22nd September was not an isolated incident. Canada’s Nazi problem is an old one. It has repeatedly disregarded and continues to disregard the values of international justice, law, and rules-based international order. And that has made Canada, historically, a safe haven for Nazis and hunting grounds for Jewish groups and other officials looking to bring them to book.

The honour bestowed by the Trudeau government upon the 98-year-old former member of the Nazi 14th SS-Volunteer Division “Galicia” was a repeat of a similar incident that occurred in 2007. Yaroslav Hunka was previously honoured by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress in 2007.

According to X user and researcher Yuri Deigin, Hunka was one among several other Waffen SS war criminals who were lauded at a ceremony 16 years ago where the then Ukrainian ambassador to Canada, Dr Igor Ostash, was a special guest and also delivered a speech.

Over a dozen former soldiers of the First Ukrainian Division of The Ukrainian National Army were felicitated at an event organised on 21 January 2007 to mark Ukraine’s Independence from Russia in Toronto. They were honoured with “Medal of Merit”.

List of former members of the First Ukrainian Division of the Ukraine National Army, most of whom were Nazi war criminals. Yaroslav Hunka’s name appears in this list (Source: @ydeigin/Twitter)

Safe to say, had it not been revealed that the man being honoured in the House of Commons is a Nazi war criminal, the University of Alberta would perhaps still have been receiving funds in Yaroslav Hunka’s name. The university’s Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies has had a $30,000 endowment since 2019 carrying Hunko’s name.

The university has now reportedly closed the endowment and returned the money to Hunka’s family. “The university recognizes and regrets the unintended harm caused,” read a statement from Verna Yiu, vice-president academics.

That is not all. The co-founder of the Canadian Institute for Ukrainian Studies (CIUS), Peter Savaryn, who also served as the University of Alberta’s chancellor from 1982 to 1986, was himself a 14th Waffen veteran.

Moreover, according to a Journal of Slavic Military Studies article by Lund University academic Per Anders Rudling, in 2011 the CIUS reportedly established endowments in honour of three Waffen SS veterans namely Roman Kolisnyk, Levko Babij, and Edward Brodacky.

A free run to Nazis in Canada

In the 1990s, war crimes investigator Steve Rambam secretly recorded the wartime testimonies of as many as 60 former Nazi soldiers and collaborators living in Canada. This included the notorious Antanas Kenstavicius from Hope, B.C.

Kenstavicius was a former member of a collaborationist Lithuanian police force who told Rambam about participating in the killing of around 5,500 Jews. His was the only case that was reportedly pursued by the Canadian law enforcement but Kenstavicius died of natural causes on the very first day of his deportation hearings.

Kenstavicius was 90 when the then-Canadian government led by the Liberal Party finally decided to begin deportation trials albeit to no avail. “Canada is where the Nazis are. Canada is the unknown haven for Nazis. Everybody knows about Argentina, but nobody knows about Canada,” Rambam told the Los Angeles Times in 1997.

According to the National Post, in 1997, historian and president of Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) Irving Abella cited a conversation with then PM Pierre Trudeau in which the latter said that Canada did not pursue Axis war criminals because “they were afraid of exacerbating relationships between Jews and Eastern European ethnic communities”.

On 23 January 1985, Robert Kaplan, a former member of the House of Commons raised the issue of the suggested presence of Joseph Mengele, infamously known as the Angel of Death, in Canada. Mengele was a Nazi war criminal known to have performed deadly experiments on prisoners in Auschwitz.

In 1992, the Justice Department ruled that it would not prosecute Michael Pawlowski, who was suspected of having helped kill 400 Jews and 80 non-Jewish Poles in the then Soviet Republic of Byelorussia in the summer of 1942.

In 1990, Stephen Reistetter became the third person to be charged under the War Crimes of the Criminal Code but, on the eve of pre-trial arguments, the federal government dropped the charges against him on the grounds of insufficient evidence. Reistetter was charged with kidnapping 3,000 Jews when he was serving as an official of the Hlinka party in war-time Slovakia.

The first person to be charged under the 1987 amendment to the criminal code was Imre Finta, a Hungarian-born former restaurateur from Hamilton, Ontario. He was a member of the pro-Nazi Hungarian gendarmerie during World War II and was accused of deporting and murdering Jews. However, Finta was found not guilty.

Nazi war criminal Imre Finta after being found “not guilty”. (Source: CBC)

Another Nazi war criminal Josef Nemsila died without having to face his sins. Nemsila, a Slovakian Nazi, was protected from deportation by a Canadian court. He helped round up 100,000 Jews to be deported to concentration camps.

Joseph Nemsila, a Slovakian Nazi, helped round up 100,000 Jews to be deported to concentration camps. (Source: Amazon.com)

Despite finding that Peteris Vitols had not concealed his membership in the Latvian Army or Waffen SS during his entry into Canada and that he may not have been asked about his wartime activities, Judge McKeown in September 1998 found no evidence that he personally committed war crimes.

Helmut Oberlander, mistaken as the last known wartime Nazi in Canada, was in between trials to avoid deportation to Germany over WW2 atrocities. The Canadian justice system failed Oberlander’s victims as he died in the “comfort of his family and home” in 2021.

The Canadian government failed to even strip Nazi war criminal Helmut Oberlander off his Canadian citizenship. (Source: CBC)

Oberlander worked as a translator for Einsatzkommando 10a, known as Ek10a, one of the special police task forces that operated in Ukraine when it was occupied by Germany. His squad was responsible for the murder of 100,000 people most of whom were Jews.

In 2012, a group of former prisoners of Dachau and Auschwitz urged the Canadian government to take action against Vladimir Katriuk in view of new evidence pointing to his role in the massacre in Eastern Europe. Katriuk was 90 at the time and had been living a good life in Canada.

Katriuk was part of a Waffen SS unit operating in Belarus and had been living in Canada since 1951. Katriuk in 2012 was implicated in the 1943 massacre of residents of the village of Khatyn, whom the Germans suspected were supporting partisan forces.

In 1995, suspected war criminal Konrad Kalejs, who had been scheduled for a deportation hearing in Toronto, fled Canada just hours before his visa expired. Kalejs was suspected of being a key officer in the notorious Arajs Kommando of the WW2 Latvian Security Police. All Canada managed to do after was add him to a watch list of persons inadmissible to Canada.

Chrystia Freeland and her familial ties with the Galicia Division of the Waffen SS

As far as the grave human rights violation in Canada is concerned, the fault lies at the very foundation. Canada’s deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland’s grandfather reportedly worked for a Nazi newspaper. This newspaper was recruited for the Galicia Division of the Waffen-SS.

A screenshot of pro-Nazi Ukrainian newspaper, Krakivski Visti, which Chrystia Freeland’s maternal grandfather worked for. (Source: Jacobin.com)

Yaroslav Hunka, the Nazi the Canadian Parliament gave a standing ovation to, belonged to this very division. Freeland’s maternal grandfather Michael Chomiak edited a Nazi newspaper for Ukrainian exiles in occupied Krakow called Krakivski Visti. The newspaper was published on a printing press seized from a Jewish owner.

Freeland has often cited her maternal grandfather as a political inspiration. When Freeland’s link to her Nazi grandfather was reported for the first time in 2017, she reportedly called it a bunch of Russian propaganda. Krakivski Visti published articles encouraging young Ukrainian men to join the Waffen SS.

The Galicia Division of Waffen SS and its links to Canada

The First Ukrainian Division was originally named the 14th Waffen-Grenadier Division der SS (Ukrainische Nr 1) and it was also known as the “Galicia” Division. It was a World War II Nazi Germany military formation made up predominantly of military volunteers with a Ukrainian ethnic background from the area of Galicia.

The division was formed in 1943 by SS-Brigadeführer Wächter, a Nazi Party leader and a high ranking high-ranking member of the SS, with as many as 70,000 volunteers coming forward to join.

It is notable that SS was the main paramilitary group under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and was primarily responsible for running Holocaust operations. 14th SS-Volunteer Division Galicia was made up of volunteers, which means that Yaroslav Hunka joined the unit on his own will, and was not conscripted.

The members of the First Ukrainian Division have been deemed war criminals by several experts. However, Canadian inquiry into their history did not recognise them as war criminals. Interestingly, there is clear evidence that Canada housed at least 3,000 war criminals.

Canadian authorities established a commission to look into war criminals, and the commission headed by Justice Jules Deschenes submitted its report in December 1986 titled “Commission of Inquiry on War Crimes”.

According to the commission report, in February 1949, the immigration applications of the members of the Galicia division were rejected by the Canadian authorities on the ground of them being members of the German Wehrmacht or the SS.

However, in May 1950, the Canadian Cabinet decided to give Ukrainians who were lodged in the United Kingdom at that time permission to be admitted to Canada following special security screening. The cabinet categorically said that they should “not be rejected on the grounds of their service in the German Army”. In its report, the Commission gave “clean chit” to the Galicia Division.

Calls for justice continue to fall on deaf ears in Canada

In a recent development, a Jewish advocacy group has called on the Trudeau government to release a 40-year-old report and other documents containing details about alleged Nazi war criminals living in Canada.

According to a report by Ottawa Citizen, the Liberal Party government of Canada has withheld a second part of a 1986 government commission report about Nazis who settled in Canada. Moreover, another 1986 report examining how Nazis were able to get into Canada is also heavily censored.

The Ottawa Citizen report claims that over 600 pages of the said document accessed by it through Access to Information Law have been censored. “We’ve run up against a brick wall,” said David Matas, the honorary counsel for B’nai Brith adding that the organisation was also pushing for the release of RCMP and Department of Justice files on alleged Nazi war criminals in Canada.

And yet, Canada, which has a serious Nazi problem festering in its backyard for decades, is lecturing India about international law and human rights.

Supreme Court imposes cost of Rs 3 lakhs on disgraced former IPS Sanjiv Bhatt for filing repeated pleas in cases against him

OpIndia Staff
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Supreme Court imposes cost of Rs 3 lakhs on disgraced former IPS Sanjiv Bhatt for filing repeated pleas in cases against him

On Tuesday, October 3, the Supreme Court slapped cost of Rs 3 lakhs on disgraced former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt for filing multiple appeals in connection with a narcotics planting case against him. Sanjiv Bhatt was arrested on July 12, 2022, for falsifying evidence in the Gujarat riot case.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Rajesh Bindal ruled that Bhatt had repeatedly filed petitions and imposed costs of Rs 1 lakh for each of the three pleas filed by Bhatt. “How many times have you been to the Supreme Court? At least a dozen times? Last time Justice Gavai imposed ₹10k costs? This time 6 figures? Are you withdrawing? Justice Gavai was kind,” said Justice Vikram Nath while dismissing the plea.

The Court directed that the costs be paid to the Gujarat High Court Advocates Association. The bench was considering the former disgraced officer’s appeals against an August 24 Gujarat High Court judgment that had denied his application, expressing concerns about the fairness of the trial court judge hearing the drug planting case filed against him.

Bhatt’s request for the relocation of the trial was denied by single-judge bench of Justice Samir Dave, who also declined to delay the order’s effect or the trial procedures for a month.

That motion was submitted in response to the trial court’s decision to dismiss three applications previously filed by Bhatt regarding the conduct of the trial processes in the case registered against him under the Narcotics, Drugs, and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS Act). 

Among these applications were requests that Bhatt be granted videoconference access to trial court hearings and that the trial court correct specific remarks made in an interim order.

Bhatt stated that these applications were denied because they were addressed while dismissing a motion to transfer the trial court proceedings. Against this environment, Bhatt expressed worries about the trial judge’s fairness and impartiality. Bhatt claimed that the trial judge had accommodated “disingenuous devilments” by the prosecution, jeopardizing the defense’s case and Bhatt’s rights in the NDPS case.

During today’s hearing, Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat, who represented Bhatt, contended that Bhatt had just requested audio-video recordings and that this was not a crime. He also objected to the High Court’s observation that Bhatt was delaying the trial. The bench was also hearing Bhatt’s request for audio and video recordings of the trial sessions.

However, the Court dismissed the petition saying that Bhatt had repeatedly applied before the top court. “Dismissed with costs of Rs 1 lakh each for the three cases. He has been approaching the court with the best of lawyers, certainly, he can do something for the Gujarat advocates,” the Court noted.

The disgraced former IPS officer was also arrested on July 12, 2022, for falsifying evidence in the Gujarat riot case. Notably, when Sanjiv Bhatt was arrested by the Crime Branch of Gujarat Police in the Gujarat Riots case, he was already lodged in jail in connection with a custodial death in 1990. A Jamnagar Sessions Court had sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Congress, which signed an MoU with CCP and secretly met Chinese diplomats, comes out in support of NewsClick over raids in Chinese funding row

OpIndia Staff
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Congress, which signed an MoU with CCP and secretly met Chinese diplomats, comes out in support of NewsClick over raids in Chinese funding row

On Tuesday (3 October), following the early morning raids by the Delhi Police on several ‘journalists’ and staff of leftist media portal NewsClick, the Congress party came out in support of the portal under scrutiny for alleged links with China. The official X handle of the Congress party said the raids over Chinese funding indicate that PM Modi is scared and nervous. Presenting the developments as an assault on the free speech of dissenters, the grand old party accused PM Modi of harassing opposition leaders and journalists who “speak the truth”. 

The Congress’ party official handle stated, “PM Modi is scared and nervous. Especially from those people who question him on his failures. Be it opposition leaders or journalists, those who speak the truth will be harassed. Today again the raid on journalists is proof of this.”

This comes following the early morning developments as on 3 October, Delhi Police raided several locations in connection with the online portal NewsClick. The home of television journalist turned YouTuber Abhisar Sharma was one of the places seized by the Delhi Police in connection with the Newsclick matter. As reported, the places of several journalists associated with Newsclick, including Sanjay Rajoura, Bhasha Singh, Urmilesh, Prabir Purkayastha, Abhisar Sharma, Aunindyo Chakraborty, and Sohail Hashmi have been raided by the police.

Apart from Congress’ official Twitter handle, several Congress leaders also rallied behind the accused journalists of NewsClick, lamenting that these actions are autocratic.  

The Chairman of the Media and Publicity Department of Congress, Pawan Khera claimed that the raids by the Delhi Police in connection with illicit Chinese funding are being conducted to distract the attention from the Caste Census report released in Bihar. 

He said, “The early morning raids on contributing journalists at Newsclick comes as a fresh distraction from the explosive findings of caste census in Bihar and the growing demand for caste census across the country. When he faces questions from out of syllabus, he resorts to the only counter he has in his predictable syllabus – DISTRACTION.” 

Regarding these developments, the Congress leader Digvijaya Singh lamented, “Sad this is happening in a free democratic country.” 

Senior Congress leader Pramod Tiwari claimed that dictatorship has arrived in the country. 

Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor raised questions on the democratic credentials of India and the moniker “mother of democracy”. He claimed that the arrests of some Newsclick journalists don’t reflect the actions of a “mother of democracy”. He accused the government of being intolerant and disgracing democracy.  

Taking to X, Tharoor wrote, “Shocked to learn of the raids on 30 journalists in Delhi and arrests of several of them. These are not the actions of a “mother of democracy” but of an insecure and autocratic state. Why does a government as strong & authoritarian as this one is, feel threatened by a news website? And that too, one that is not even ranked very high in reach or readership? Intolerance is unworthy of everything that India represents. The government has disgraced itself and our democracy today.”

Following the actions on Newclick for alleged links with China, the old Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between CCP and Congress and similar other instances have begun to surface on social media. 

Congress’ alleged connection with China: MoU with CCP, funds to Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and more

The Congress party’s kid-glove treatment of China and the soft condemnation, that too on rare occasions, against the Communist nation has time and again raised eyebrows as to know why the principal opposition party has been soft towards the hostile neighbour of the country. 

It is being said that the close connections between the Congress party and the CPC may be one of the reasons why the principal opposition party chose to remain mute in attacking the Chinese and instead has been unleashing all its attacks against its government and backing the journalists who are alleged of taking funds from China to do their bidding in India.

One of the main reasons for the Congress Party’s peculiar stance regarding China stems from the 7 August 2008 agreement between the Sonia Gandhi-led Congress Party and the Communist Party of China (CPC).

During UPA1 in 2008, the Congress Party and the Communist Party of China (CPC) signed an MoU in Beijing to exchange high-level information and cooperation between them. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) also provided the two parties with the “opportunity to consult each other on important bilateral, regional and international developments”.

The 2008 MoU between CCP and Congress came at a time when the Left parties in India had expressed a lack of trust in the UPA-1 government led by Congress. 

Not just the MoUs, but the close relationship between the Chinese leadership and the Congress party, especially Rahul Gandhi came to the fore a few years ago during the Doklam stand-off when Rahul Gandhi was caught secretly meeting Chinese officials.

Apart from that, back in 2020, details about the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation’s (RGF) monetary operations emerged. OpIndia had previously published detailed pieces about the Chinese government’s financial contributions of more than Rs 1 crore to RGF since 2006.

Instead of condemning global bully China and its nefarious adventurism, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had on several occasions expressed his admiration for China openly. In his controversial speech at Cambridge Judge Business School in March this year, Rahul Gandhi showered praises on China hailing it as an ‘aspiring superpower’ and ‘force of nature’ adding that China harbours ‘social harmony’. The Gandhi scion had also lauded China’s controversial Belt and Road initiative.

Highlighting the controversial pasts of the Congress party and its connections with China especially the MoU with CCP, social media users have noted that they are not surprised by Congress’ stance on action against Chinese-funded journalists and presenting it as an assault on democracy. 

As Teesta Setalvad gets raided in the NewsClick case, here is her connection to the China-funded portal and how much money she got

OpIndia Staff
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As Teesta Setalvad gets raided in the NewsClick case, here is her connection to the China-funded portal and how much money she got

On 3rd October, Delhi Police detained several “journalists” with links to Newsclicks following raids in a foreign funding case. Controversial activist Teesta Setalvad’s Mumbai house was also raided in the matter. Setalvad has been accused of using funds she collected for the 2002 Gujarat Riots victims for personal use. She is also accused of tutoring witnesses in cases filed against the Gujarat Government and then-CM of Gujarat, Narendra Modi. Setalvad was also accused of taking funds (Rs 30 lakh) from Congress leader late Ahmad Patel for waging war against the then-Modi-led Gujarat Government.

Teesta’s husband and children got funds from Chinese money received by Newsclick

In August 2023, it was reported that during an investigation, the Enforcement Directorate found that the money Newsclick received from China was used to fund NGOs, activists and journalists. Teesta Setalvad’s husband, son and daughter were among the beneficiaries, including Abhisar Sharma, Gautam Navlakha and more.

As per reports, the husband of Teesta Setalvad, Javed Anand, received Rs 12.61 lakh. The daughter of Teesta Setalvad, Tamara, received Rs 10.93 lakh. Son of Teesta Setalvad, Jibran, also received funds, but the amount was not mentioned in the reports.

OpIndia’s report on Newsclick’s foreign funding

In 2021, OpIndia did a detailed investigation about the links of NewsClick and uncovered how it was linked to several individuals who regularly spew venom against India – from Urban Naxals to those like Teesta Setalvad, Abhisar Sharma and several others.

Reportedly, ED found during raids in 2021 that PPK NEWSCLICK Studio Private Limited received Rs 30 crores in three years. According to sources, the funds received did not have any connections with the company’s main business activity. It was further alleged that the funds were disbursed to journalists/activists in the name of salary or consultation fees. The beneficiaries include those associated with Teesta Setalvad. Other beneficiaries include Gautam Navlakha Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, among others.

The arrest of Teesta Setalvad in fabricated evidence case linked to Gujarat Riots 2002

Teesta Setalvad was arrested by the Gujarat ATS in June 2022 in a case of forgery, influencing witnesses, and the investigation of the Gujarat riots in 2002 that occurred in the aftermath of the Godhra Train burning incident, when 59 Hindus were burned to death after a Muslim mob set ablaze a Sabarmati Express bogey carrying passengers from Ayodhya. Teesta Setalvad is accused of coaching witnesses and making ridiculous accusations in several cases related to the Gujarat riots in 2002.

The case against Setalvad was filed after the Supreme Court gave a clean chit to Prime Minister Modi in the 2002 Gujarat Riots case.

Pakistani politician steps up to support Newsclick ‘journalists’ accused of working for China, says they have obligation to stand for Indian Muslims

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistani politician steps up to support Newsclick ‘journalists’ accused of working for China, says they have obligation to stand for Indian Muslims

Amidst the reports of crackdown by Delhi Police on Newsclick ‘journalists’ in connection to the Chinese funding, Pakistani politician and former minister Fawad Chaudhry has come out openly in their support. Taking to X, Chaudhry lamented that India is no more a democracy, instead it is being governed by fascist government.    

The politician from Pakistan, long known as a Chinese vassal state, wrote, “Early morning Delhi police has raided houses of independent Journalists, India is now a democracy only on paper, in reality its a fascist Government in reality.”

When asked not to meddle in India’s internal affairs and mend his own house, the former minister Chaudhry claimed that Pakistan has an obligation to stand for the rights of Indian Muslims. 

In another tweet, Fawad Chaudhry said, “Threat to freedom anywhere is threat to justice everywhere, people of Pak has responsibility to stand for the rights of Indian Muslims this was the promise founders of Pak made to Muslims in India.” 

Interestingly, the action has been taken against journalists accused of getting illicit fundings from foreign sources in violation of Indian laws but the anti-India Pakistani leader mischievously tried to give it a communal colour and political spin when there is none. 

However, netizens lambasted Chaudhry for commenting on Indian affairs and noted that such rantings will be of no use.

Meanwhile, reacting to the ongoing action of Delhi Police, the Press Club of India (PCI) stated that it is concerned about these raids on homes of Newsclick employees. 

Taking to X, the PCI said, “The Press Club of India is deeply concerned about the multiple raids conducted on the houses of journalists and writers associated with NewsClick.”

It added that it would soon release a detailed statement on the Delhi Police’s actions. It also emphasised its solidarity with the alleged journalists while urging the government to provide more information.

Earlier in the day (3rd of October), Delhi Police raided several locations in connection with the online media portal NewsClick. The home of television journalist turned YouTuber Abhisar Sharma was one of the places raided by the Delhi Police in this case. 

Taking to X, Abhisar Sharma said that the Delhi Police showed up at his home and confiscated his laptop and phone.

As per media reports, the places of several people associated with Newsclick, including Sanjay Rajoura, Bhasha Singh, Urmilesh, Prabir Purkayastha, Abhisar Sharma, Aunindyo Chakraborty, and Sohail Hashmi have been raided by the police.

NewsClick Scandal: House of Sitaram Yechury also raided by Delhi Police, here is how he had published propaganda articles in the portal

OpIndia Staff
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NewsClick Scandal: House of Sitaram Yechury also raided by Delhi Police, here is how he had published propaganda articles in the portal

In connection with the continuing police crackdown on the news website NewsClick, the Delhi Police Special Cell also searched the residence of CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday, October 3. 

The raid was motivated by the presence of a graphic artist linked with the news website who was reportedly staying on the premises. Notably, Yechury is the husband of ‘journalist’ Seema Chisti who works as the editor of The Wire, a portal known for spreading fake news and propaganda.

Yechury confirmed the news however denied that the raid was not targeting the CPI-M, but rather the son of a party office employee who works at NewsClick as a graphics artist.

The homes of several NewsClick journalists were raided today by the Delhi Police in connection with a case under UAPA. The Delhi Police Special Cell has filed a fresh case against the news portal under the strict Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), weeks after a New York Times investigation revealed that the news portal had received funds from a promoting Chinese propaganda.

The home of television journalist turned YouTuber Abhisar Sharma was one of the places seized by the Delhi Police in connection with the Newsclick matter. Abhisar Sharma took to X (formerly Twitter) to report that the Delhi Police showed up at his home and confiscated his laptop and phone.

As reported, the places of several journalists associated with Newsclick, including Sanjay Rajoura, Bhasha Singh, Urmilesh, Prabir Purkayastha, Abhisar Sharma, Aunindyo Chakraborty, and Sohail Hashmi have been raided by the police.

The action by the Delhi Police comes after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on the home of NewsClick founder and Editor-in-Chief Prabir Purkayastha. In February 2021, ED found several incriminating documents and suspicious financial transactions from the residence of Purkayastha. 

The crackdown is said to have began after in August this year, a report published by The New York Times exposed the ties of an American businessman with the Chinese government and his financial support to an Indian leftist propaganda outlet, NewsClick. A millionaire named Neville Roy Singham was funding several news publications across the world (including India) to peddle Chinese propaganda, the report stated.

Notably, Sitaram Yechury himself has contributed to the controversial news portal by launching attacks on the ruling government. In one of the articles published in the year 2017, Yechury targeted the BJP of creating ‘communal polarization’ and ‘caste-based social engineering’.

In one of his other articles published in 2017, he wrote that the Hindu groups under the BJP government were ‘harassing the youths’ and targeting the minorities. He also said that the government was busy imposing the ‘RSS agenda’ over the country and trying to make India a ‘Hindu Rashtra’.

Yechury meanwhile failed to mention that the Hindu groups who he called were ‘targeting’ the minority communities actually protect the Hindu girls who are deliberately targeted by the minority communities under the pretext of love relationships. The Hindu girls are trapped in a love affair, then raped, assaulted, and forced to convert their religion to Islam. Several such cases have been reported by OpIndia.

screenshot from NewsClick website

Notably, similar action has been taken in Mumbai against activist Teesta Setalvad, who served as a ‘tool’ in the hands of politicians to defame the Modi government after the 2002 Gujarat riots. She is the director of the think tank Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. The think tank has contributed to Newsclick with articles. 

In a statement, the Press Club of India has voiced worry about the raids, noting that they “stand in solidarity with the journalists and demand that the government provide details.”

Notably, on August 7 this year, the government happened to take cognizance of Chinese funding to NewsClick after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey raised the issue in Parliament. He cited the report published by the New York Times and said, “Chinese goods are being sold at Rahul Gandhi’s nafrat ki dukaan (hate shop). The New York Times has published an interesting report. About Rs 38 crores have been received by organizations such as NewsClick. The report by the newspaper also reiterated the findings of the Enforcement Directorate. NewsClick is a part of the anti-India, tukde tukde gang. (Prabir) Purkayastha is the owner.”

The BJP leader said that funds accumulated by the NewsClick owner were routed to Maoists, Naxalites, and propaganda artists such as (Abhisar) Sharma, Rohini Singh, and Swati Chaturvedi. He added that the Chinese government is also spending money to create an anti-India narrative.

Nishikant Dubey also exposed the ties of the Congress Party with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He accused the grand old party of being in talks with China during the infamous 2017 Dokhlam standoff.

NewsClick also is said to have furthered the Chinese agenda during the COVID-19 spread. The email exchanges dated March 30, 2020, on China’s handling of COVID-19 between Prabir and Singham were shared by Zee News journalist Sudhir Chaudhary, days after New York Times investigation said that Singham was using its network of nonprofits and media organizations spread across the world to propagate Chinese propaganda.

The investigation conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) unveiled that an overseas fund amounting to Rs. 38.05 crores was deceitfully injected into NewsClick over a span of three years.

The received funds purportedly found their way to numerous contentious journalists, among them Gautam Navlakha and individuals associated with Teesta Setalvad.

The individuals being raided were or are connected to NewsClick which is under scanner for taking money from a hostile nation – China – to further their state propaganda in India and gainst the sovereignty of India.

India tells Canada to withdraw 41 diplomats within a week, can revoke diplomatic immunity of those who stay back

OpIndia Staff
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India tells Canada to withdraw 41 diplomats within a week, can revoke diplomatic immunity of those who stay back

India has reportedly told Canada to withdraw dozens of diplomats from the country. According to a report shared by the Financial Times (FT), New Delhi has told Ottawa to repatriate about 40 diplomats by 10th of October. No official statement has been issued by the Indian government yet.

India has sought that Canada reduce the number of its diplomats in India by 41. Canada currently has 62 diplomats in India. The Financial Times has reportedly cited people familiar with the development saying that India has threatened to revoke the diplomatic immunity of those diplomats who stay back post 10th of October even after being told to leave.

Diplomatic ties between India and Canada suffered a jolt after Canada prematurely expelled an Indian diplomat on 19th of September following baseless allegations by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of the involvement of Indian agents in the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

India categorically denied the allegations by Trudeau as “absurd and motivated” while also expelling a Canadian diplomat. While back at home, Trudeau suffered severe backlash. Canada’s Five Eyes allies also refused to meddle in the matter.

Moreover, Trudeau’s allegations against India emboldened Khalistanis in Canada with terrorists like Gutpatwant Singh Pannun, chief of Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) outfit, threatening Hindus to leave Canada. Moreover, Islamist groups like the NCCM also asked the Canadian government to freeze all trade and end diplomatic ties with India.

In view of the same, India suspended visa services in Canada. India’s Ministry of External Affairs has minced no words calling Canada a “safe haven for terrorists, extremists, and organised crime”. The Indian government also said that the Canadian government had not provided any evidence whatsoever over Nijjar’s murder even as India gave specific inputs on criminals in Canada to no avail.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar last week said that the ongoing situation in Canada should not be regarded as normal. Addressing a press conference in Washington DC, Jaishankar said freedom of expression should not extend to incitement of violence. He was hinting at the Khalistani terror activities that have often targeted Indian embassies in Canada.

“I flagged here (in the US), and I flagged this to the Canadians as well. We are a democracy. We don’t need to learn from other people what freedom of speech is about, but we can tell people this, we don’t think freedom of speech extends to incitement to violence. That to us, is the misuse of freedom, that’s not defence of freedom,” the EAM reportedly said.

Delhi Police raids MeToo accused Sanjay Rajoura in Newsclick China funding case: His Anti-Hindu comments, association with portals like NewsLaundry, Quint and more

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi Police raids MeToo accused Sanjay Rajoura in Newsclick China funding case: His Anti-Hindu comments, association with portals like NewsLaundry, Quint and more

On 3rd October, Delhi Police raided several locations in connection with the online portal NewsClick, which had received several crores in funding from China. One of the locations raided was of comedian-cum-satirist Sanjay Rajoura, who has worked for NewsClick in the past. He is one of the three members of “Aisi Taisi Democracy”. Rajoura, who has a history of making Hinduphobic comments, faced a police complaint in 2020 for mocking Hindu deities. In 2021, Rajoura faced Me Too allegations. Rajoura has also appeared on The Quint, Newslaundry and other leftist platforms.

Sanjay Rajoura mocked Hindus especially Brahmins and Rajputs

X (formerly Twitter) user Ankur Singh shared screenshots of a few of his posts of Rajoura on social media that clearly showed his bias towards Hindus, especially Brahmins and Rajputs. In one of the posts from 2017, Rajoura called for beating Brahmins with shoes. At that time, Rajoura used the X handle “UrbanTucchha”. “Tucchha” is a word used in both Hindi and Punjabi that has several meanings, such as “worthless” or “someone with a bad character”.

Source: X/iAnkurSingh

In several tweets, he has mocked the Rajput community and called them illicit children of Mughals.

Source: X/iAnkurSingh

In 2017, Rajoura, no longer on X, got into a feud with another X user, GappistanRadio and threatened to beat him up. Later, he deleted the tweets.

Source: X/alok_bhatt

Sanjay Rajoura mocked Hindu deities

In May 2020, a complaint was filed against Rajoura for derogatory comments against Bhagwan Ganesha and Bhagwan Shiva during the “Azaadi Tour” of Aisi Taisi Democracy. Hindu activist Ramesh Solanki filed the complaint with Mumba Police.

In a video clip, Rajoura can be heard mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement about the advancement of science and medicine in ancient India. “He said the first plastic surgery took place in India. Do you know whose? Of Ganesh. Even if I believe that the world’s first plastic surgery took place in India, at least you could’ve done a good job. This shows how you shouldn’t do such things after smoking up,” he said to an audience roaring with laughter.

Me Too accusations against Sanjay Rajoura

In September 2021, a woman who used an alias, Tara, accused Rajoura of sexual misconduct. She revealed that Rajoura had reportedly coerced her into having oral sex in a public place despite her reservations. She also accused him of requesting nudes from her and posting an unsolicited nude image of a woman, proposing a threesome.

She wrote that she kept overlooking the advances for months since she admired the comedian for his work. His public persona clouded her judgement, she admitted. She was intimidated by the fact that Rajoura knew many influential people from the film fraternity. She alleged that Rajoura would ask her to send him unsafe and naked pictures. Even when she told him it was too soon or made excuses expressing hesitancy, he persisted and found loopholes in her reasons. She further revealed how Rajoura coerced her into performing oral sex at a public place.

Sanjay Rajoura appeared on several leftist portals

Newslaundry started a program titled “Yeh Bhi Theek Hai” with Sanjay Rajoura and Kunal Kamra in July 2022. Eight episodes of the program were released by the portal, where they discussed secularism, comedy, free speech and religion in India. Both Kamra and Rajoura were hired for the program by Newslaundry despite their controversial background.

He appeared on The Quint as well. He has written two articles in The Quint titled “Kanwar Yatra: Are India’s Public Spaces Only for the Rich?” and “The India Vir Das Forgot About: An Open Letter to Comics on Caste”. In the report on Kanwar Yatra, he presented himself as if he supported the Kanwariyas but subtly called them unruly and stated they could become violent anytime.

As Abhisar Sharma gets raided, here is what his link to China-funded NewsClick was and what ED had said about the portal’s funding

OpIndia Staff
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As Abhisar Sharma gets raided, here is what his link to China-funded NewsClick was and what ED had said about the portal’s funding

On Tuesday, October 3, Delhi Police raided several locations in connection with the online portal NewsClick. The home of television journalist turned YouTuber Abhisar Sharma was one of the places seized by the Delhi Police in connection with the Newsclick matter. Abhisar Sharma took to X (formerly Twitter) to report that the Delhi Police showed up at his home and confiscated his laptop and phone.

As reported, the places of several journalists associated with Newsclick, including Sanjay Rajoura, Bhasha Singh, Urmilesh, Prabir Purkayastha, Abhisar Sharma, Aunindyo Chakraborty, and Sohail Hashmi have been raided by the police.

The action by the Delhi Police comes a couple of years after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on the home of NewsClick founder and Editor-in-Chief Prabir Purkayastha. In February 2021, ED found several incriminating documents and suspicious financial transactions from the residence of Purkayastha. Also, 10 more locations related to the PPK NEWS CLICK Studio Private Limited were raided by the ED.

ED raids at NewClick in 2021

According to the sources in ED, NewsClick had received Rs.10 crore under Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from an American company. Interestingly, NewsClick’s owner Prabir Purkayastha has no idea for what purpose the American company transferred the money to his company’s account. He could not give any proof of work that he has done for the particular company.

Further investigation revealed that another US-based company gave them Rs.20 crore and marked it as ‘Export Remittance’. The money was transferred because NewsClick had uploaded content on a portal named People’s Dispatch.

Sources revealed that Purkayastha also took Rs.1.5 crore rupees in the name of maintenance. Interestingly, he had hired a ninth-class pass electrician for maintenance at his office. The money he took was without any documentation, which made it impossible for him to explain the transaction to ED.

Reportedly, the ED raided the premises of the NewsClick founder in the year 2021 when ‘journalist’ Abhisar Sharma was working for the portal.

During the investigation, the ED also revealed that another NewsClick employee had received Rs.52 lakh from an American company. The same person was said to have connections with CPI as he worked in the IT cell of CPI and managed the Twitter accounts of CPI leaders.

NewsClick, is financed by Chinese Communist Party supporter

Recently in August this year, a report published by The New York Times exposed the ties of an American businessman with the Chinese government and his financial support to an Indian leftist propaganda outlet, NewsClick.

A millionaire named Neville Roy Singham was funding several news publications across the world (including India) to peddle Chinese propaganda, the report stated. “What is less known, and is hidden amid a tangle of nonprofit groups and shell companies, is that Mr. Singham works closely with the Chinese government media machine and is financing its propaganda worldwide,” the article read.

The publication pointed out that Singham has been successful in disseminating Chinese government talking points under the pretext of ‘progressive advocacy’ in countries such as India, Brazil, South Africa, and the United States. Neville Roy Singham, who holds strong ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is at the forefront of China’s smokeless war.

During its investigation, the American newspaper found that Neville Roy Singham had financed an India-based leftist propaganda outlet named NewsClick. It noted that the news outlet had repeated the talking points of the CCP in the past.

“In New Delhi, corporate filings show, Singham’s network financed a news site, NewsClick, that sprinkled its coverage with Chinese government talking points. “China’s history continues to inspire the working classes,” one video said,” noted The New York Times.

Abhisar Sharma peddling anti-India narrative through NewsClick

‘Journalist’ Abhisar Sharma whose premise was raided by the Delhi Police this morning is known for spreading fake news and peddling anti-India narrative. In September 2019, he used morphed images of journalists from other media houses to peddle fake news and narratives during the Chandrayaan 2 mission. He had edited images of the content of a show to target Aaj Tak journalist Chitra Tripathi. He had launched a fake connection between the show host, Aaj Tak journalist Chitra Tripathi, and PM Modi when no reference to PM Modi was made in the show.

Also, in that year, Sharma, through the propaganda website NewsClick’s YouTube channel went on a deranged rant against cows. So much so that he even declared that cows had become a cause of ‘terror and fear’ for some in India. He furthered the lies by saying how cows are one of the primary reasons for mob lynching in India. He mentioned that in the name of ‘gau raksha’, minorities and Dalits were being terrorized. 

Recently in May 2022, he in a NewClck’s YouTube video joined the race to demean the Hindu culture of India and praised the country only for the Taj Mahal built by the Mughal Emperor. Sharma in the video further blatantly stated that the country of India was known worldwide because of the Taj Mahal and that there was no Shiv Mandir before the Taj Mahal. 

He slipped by saying that the Taj Mahal was the only identity of India. He forgot that India has been known as the land of temples for centuries and that there are many religious temples, monuments, and marvelous structures other than the Taj Mahal that are the identity of the country.

It must be mentioned that Abhisar Sharma is featured regularly on NewsClick videos wherein he is seen either defending the Congress party or furthering anti-India narratives. The Chinese government is infamous for swaying public opinion in its favour through its propaganda machinery, which ranges from educational institutes to media publications, and NewsClick evidently happens to be one of them.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey raises the issue of Chinese financing of NewsClick in Parliament

Notably, on August 7 this year, the government happened to take cognizance of Chinese funding to NewsClick after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey raised the issue in Parliament. He cited the report published by the New York Times and said, “Chinese goods are being sold at Rahul Gandhi’s nafrat ki dukaan (hate shop). The New York Times has published an interesting report. About Rs 38 crores have been received by organizations such as NewsClick. The report by the newspaper also reiterated the findings of the Enforcement Directorate. NewsClick is a part of the anti-India, tukde tukde gang. (Prabir) Purkayastha is the owner.”

The BJP leader said that funds accumulated by the NewsClick owner were routed to Maoists, Naxalites, and propaganda artists such as (Abhisar) Sharma, Rohini Singh, and Swati Chaturvedi. He added that the Chinese government is also spending money to create an anti-India narrative.

Nishikant Dubey also exposed the ties of the Congress Party with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He accused the grand old party of being in talks with China during the infamous 2017 Dokhlam standoff.

NewsClick was paid to defend China’s handling of COVID-19

During the COVID-19 spread, it was reported how Prabir Purkayastha and the NewsClick team were introduced to Chinese handlers by American businessman Neville Roy Singham for defending China’s handling of COVID-19.

The email exchanges dated March 30, 2020, on China’s handling of COVID-19 between Prabir and Singham were shared by Zee News journalist Sudhir Chaudhary, days after New York Times investigation said that Singham was using its network of nonprofits and media organizations spread across the world to propagate Chinese propaganda.

In the email exchanges shared by Sudhir Chaudhary, Roy is seen introducing the NewsClick team to the Chinese handlers based out of China to provide information that would help them show China in a positive light in handling the coronavirus outbreak.

According to its website, NewsClick is an independent ‘media’ agency dedicated to covering news from India and around the world with a focus on ‘progressive’ causes. It was established in 2009.

Liberals supporting Sharma call raids a ‘threat’ to Freedom of Press

After the current raids, several liberals supporting NewsClick and ‘Journalist’ Abhisar Sharma are crying copious amounts of tears. They are calling the current raids an ‘attack’ on Freedom of Press. Propagandist Rohini Singh, Self-proclaimed Muslim journalist from The Wire, Arfa Khanum Sherwani, Rajdeep Sardesai, Pratik Sinha, the co-founder of Islamic propaganda outlet AltNews questioned the action and declared that the government was “crossing all limits” by conducting raids in the given case.

It is pertinent to note that all the individuals who are being raided currently have been spreading anti-India propaganda for a very long time. None of them were prosecuted for their opinions and views and the raids were not because the government of India willy-nilly decided to prosecute those who are journalists.

The individuals being raided were or are connected to NewsClick which is under scanner for taking money from a hostile nation – China – to further their state propaganda in India and against the sovereignty of India.

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