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Chandigarh University video leak case: Himachal Pradesh police arrests 23 years old accused from Shimla district

OpIndia Staff
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Chandigarh University video leak case: Himachal Pradesh police arrests 23 years old accused from Shimla district

In the sensational Chandigarh University video leak case, Himachal Pradesh police arrested the 23 years old collaborator of the accused girl from his hometown in the state. The arrested youth belongs to Rohru in Shimla district and he was arrested from there. The girl involved in the case also belongs to the same place.

Earlier, Sunny Mehta, 23, was named as the suspect in the case after the girl from Chandigarh University shared his name. Himachal Pradesh DGP Sanjay Kundu said that a request was received from Punjab Police DGP Gaurav Yadav to arrest the accused named in the case.

After obtaining his personal details, the Himachal Police arrested him from his hometown in Rohru. The accused has been kept in custody at the Rohru Police Station and he would be handed over to the investigating Punjab Police team from Mohali once they reach there.

Commenting on the matter, even Himachal Pradesh CM Jairam Thakur had said, “I have instructed police officers to cooperate with the Punjab Police. According to the information received, the boy who made the videos viral is from Himachal. Legal action will be taken against him.”

Chandigarh video leak case

On September 17, a shocking incident occurred at Chandigarh University, Mohali, Punjab, where a female student allegedly leaked nude videos of over 60 female students taking baths in the hostel. There were several reports of students attempting suicide as well after the leak, but police and the university administration denied any such reports.

SSP Mohali Vivek Soni said, “There were some rumours that multiple videos were made by the accused. We are investigating the matter. There are no reports of any death so far. I would like to urge everyone not to spread rumours.” When asked about the leaked videos on social media, SSP said the Police are collecting evidence, and he would brief the media once he has more information on the matter.

AAP using party workers disguised as common people to claim that public wants a change of government in Gujarat, alleges journalist

OpIndia Staff
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AAP using party workers disguised as common people to claim that public wants a change of government in Gujarat, alleges journalist

On Saturday (September 17), journalist Vijay Patel accused the Aam Aadmi Party of using paid YouTubers and party workers to falsely claim that people in Gujarat want to get rid of the incumbent BJP government in the State.

In a Twitter thread, he exposed how the Arvind Kejriwal-led party has started a campaign to mislead people and change public perception about the outcome of the upcoming Gujarat Vidhan Sabha elections. “AAP is spreading lies here. They are not common people. They are AAP politicians and volunteers. Let me show you the proofs,” Patel stated.

He shared the screenshot of a video, which claimed that Hindus had broken the silence about the BJP government in Gujarat. “This YouTuber is misleading people by writing this type of heading in the name of Hindus. They won’t tell you the reality that this person is an AAP politician,” Vijay Patel said.

The journalist pointed out how AAP workers were disguised as random people in the video posted by ‘Public Reaction Bank’ Youtube channel, which boasts of 17.4 lakh subscribers. “AAP and Kejriwal think that it is very easy to fool Gujaratis!” he wrote.

Vijay Patel further stated that the AAP team, which impersonated common Hindus, belonged to the Kheda district of Gujarat.

In a tweet, he said, “AAP will never use interviews with common people as they know there is nothing on the ground. They are the best at manipulating minds on social media.”

In another tweet, Patel showed how one of the men who frequently appeared in the video was earlier seen with AAP and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

In November last year, Arvind Kejriwal had dinner at the residence of an autorickshaw driver in the Ludhiana district of Punjab. He claimed that the auto driver also invited Bhagwant Mann and Harpal Singh Cheema to his house. The alleged feel-good story, ran by AAP’s leadership, had a twist. According to the Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar, the auto driver, identified as Dilip Kumar Tiwari, was associated with the party. As such, the act of modesty and benevolence pulled off by the AAP supremo turned out to be staged.

Swara Bhasker’s “Jahan Chaar Yaar” sinks without a trace at Box Office, gets 1.1 rating on IMDb

OpIndia Staff
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Swara Bhasker’s “Jahan Chaar Yaar” sinks without a trace at Box Office, gets 1.1 rating on IMDb

Swara Bhasker’s latest film “Jahan Chaar Yaar” was released on Friday (September 16, 2022), however, neither the viewership nor the ratings on IMDb would have excited the film’s makers. The IMDb rating of the movie is 1.1, making it one of the worst films of all time. Furthermore, the status of the film’s box office receipts is such that industry specialists have not even bothered to provide any information on it.

The film also stars Maihar Vij, Shikha Talsania, and Pooja Chopra in lead roles, in addition to Swara Bhasker. Kamal Pandey directed and wrote the film. Swara Bhasker was very active in the film’s promotion, however, the first-day box office collection is reported to be around 15 lakh rupees only. The film’s collection reduced even further on the second day. If it continues the same way, it isn’t hard to predict that the movie would be a box office disaster and may not even cross 50 lakhs in total box office collections.

At the same time, reviewers have strongly criticized the film, noting that it has disgusting dialogues and bizarre humour. It is shown in the movie that four women enjoy their time together after abandoning their lives as housewives. Critics have also panned the film’s writing, claiming that a brilliant topic was squandered. In several theatres, it is reported that those who purchased the tickets were sent to see ‘Brahmastra.’ 

Swara Bhasker recently stated, while promoting the film, that the trend of ‘Boycott Bollywood’ is being pushed in a planned manner, with an agenda being promoted on social media. She said that Brahmastra’s revenues had silenced everyone. Swara Bhasker claims that Bollywood is being attacked by a nerdy elite just because it has served as a symbol of secularism and fraternity. According to her, Bollywood embraces India’s variety and pluralism.

Even before the release of Jahan Chaar Yaar, OpIndia reported the mood of cinemagoers and they labelled the film as cringe as the trailer of the movie was released. The movie’s trailer was so lackluster that it was almost neglected following its launch on August 22, 2022.

Delhi BJP leader accuses AAP MLA Somnath Bharti of trying to grab Deer Park land for a Muslim graveyard and to build a road to benefit a builder

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi BJP leader accuses AAP MLA Somnath Bharti of trying to grab Deer Park land for a Muslim graveyard and to build a road to benefit a builder

On September 16, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Shailender Singh Monty accused Aam Aadmi Party MLA Somnath Bharti of attempting to grab land in a park in Hauj Khas allegedly to build a graveyard for Muslims. Terming it as ‘Land Jihad,’ Singh alleged that Bharti wanted to convert the Deer Park and the adjacent District Park in South Delhi into a graveyard for the Muslim community, and also alleged that the AAP MLA is trying to open a road through the forest area to benefit a Muslim realtor.

He also accused Bharti of trying to give away DDA land to allegedly benefit his partner named Liaquat Ali, who is a property dealer by profession. He said Bharti wants to build a 25 feet wide road inside the park from Hauz Khas to RK Puram so that Ali’s flats could be sold at a better price.

Singh alleged that people from RK Puram had been seen burying dead bodies inside the park. Shailender Singh Monty shared a video on his social media accounts where he made the accusations against AAP MLA Somnath Bharti. In the video, he said, “AAP MLA Somnath Bharti, who is also a DDA Board member, is trying to build a graveyard inside the 200-hectare reserved forest park. It is the largest park in our Hauz Khas area.”

He added, “Somnath Bharti first placed a board of graveyard inside the park. Later his men came and cleaned the park. Then, on September 10, a few people came and buried a body inside the park. Not even a single person was local. Now Somnath Bharti is pressurizing the DDA officers to declare the park as a graveyard. He wanted to present it as an old graveyard. In reality, the old graveyard has been encroached upon by one family. They have constructed buildings at that graveyard.”

Shailender Singh Monty said that while the old Muslim graveyard has been covered with buildings, now Somnath Bharti is trying to convert the Rose Garden Deer Park into a graveyard for the Muslims.

Photo of Somnath Bharti and Liyaqat Ali displayed by Shailender Singh Monty

He said Somnath Bharti now wants to give them a path via the park so that people from RK Puram can come and use the alleged graveyard. He said that the path for the graveyard is only an excuse, as in reality, he wants to build a 25 feet road to benefit a builder named Liyaqat Ali who is his close friend. He said, “The truth behind all these efforts made by Bharti is that he wanted to provide a path for his close aide builder Liyaqat Ali’s building. With the new path, his building will fall on the main road which will increase the price of the flats.”

Monty displayed photographs showing Somnath Bharti and Liyaqat Ali together.

Shailender Singh Monty also said that if the planned road is built through the park, 200-250 trees will be cut. He appealed to people in the area to write to the Lieutenant General and DDA officials saying that they will not allow the building of a Muslim graveyard or a road in the park.

Sattelite image of Deer Park-District Park in South Delhi (Source: Google Earth)

Deer Park along with District Park and the Rose Garden in South Delhi form a continuous green area with thousands of trees around the Hauz Khas lake. Collectively they form one of the largest green areas in Delhi, used by people for walking, jogging, picnics etc. The park has a large number of deer, giving it the name Deer Park. Shailender Singh Monty said that this is the largest green area in South Delhi spanning 200 hectares, and is also a reserve forest.

OpIndia has contacted Shailender Singh Monty for more details. We will update the report when and if further details on the matter are received.

PFI terror-funding Case: NIA raids 40 locations in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, 4 arrested, cash and documents seized

OpIndia Staff
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PFI terror-funding Case: NIA raids 40 locations in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, 4 arrested, cash and documents seized

On Sunday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided multiple locations across several districts in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in connection with terror funding and related activities. The central agency seized incriminating items such as digital gadgets, documents, two daggers, and Rs. 8,31,500 in cash. Four people associated with the PFI have been arrested as well.

According to media sources, the NIA conducted this raid in connection with the operation of a terrorist training camp in disguise of the Karate Training Center by the organisation Popular Front of India (PFI). The NIA got information concerning foreign funding for this purpose. The NIA arrested Karate instructor Abdul Qadir during the course of this raid. Abdul Qadir, associated with PFI, is accused of instructing Muslim teenagers to plot riots under the pretense of teaching Karate.

The NIA has also searched the suspects’ homes and business sites in Kurnool, Nellore, Cuddapah, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, and Nizamabad, Telangana. The investigation agency had received information regarding questionable actions in all of these locations, which prompted the raids. The main accused in the case is PFI District Convener Shadullah. His residence was also searched.

The NIA team had stormed the premise of a person named Ilyas in the Nellore district town of Buchi. According to reports, Ilyas has been missing for three months. He is suspected of participating in terrorist activities. He earlier used to own a tiffin service in Khaja Nagar.

According to media reports, more than 150 people were being trained for violent operations in a terrorist training camp organized by PFI under the guise of these karate training institutes.

“The accused were organizing camps to provide training for terrorist acts and to foster hostility between various religious communities,” the NIA said.

A case of sedition was registered against Abdul Qadir, Sheikh Shadullah, Mohammed Imran, and Mohammed Abdul Mobin. Nizamabad Police Station in Telangana filed a complaint against PFI members in July of this year under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and section 13(1)(b) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Chandigarh video leak case: Girl confessed to recording videos, deleted them after getting caught, screenshot from receiver confirms it: Report

OpIndia Staff
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Chandigarh video leak case: Girl confessed to recording videos, deleted them after getting caught, screenshot from receiver confirms it: Report

Though police denied a case of recording videos of girl students in the Chandigarh obscene video leak case, a Bhaskar report has claimed that the girl admitted to recording multiple filthy videos of girls and sharing them with a man she knew. As per a report by Dainik Bhaskar, the accused girl student confessed to recording several videos to the manager of the hostel.

According to the report, which cites the FIR, a group of female students approached the hostel warden around 3 p.m. on Saturday. They told her that a girl was filming pornographic recordings of six female students in the bathroom. Rajwinder Kaur, the hostel warden, then proceeded to question the girl. Meanwhile, the hostel manager was notified of the situation, and ordered the girls to convene at a place.

During the meeting, the accused student was questioned if she had filmed and sent videos, to which she answered in the denial. There were no videos found on the accused’s phone when it was examined. Suspicions were aroused since the accused continued to receive calls and messages from a person throughout the episode.

The manager asked the accused to receive the call and put it on speaker. The accused was then asked to ask the caller to send screenshots of their chat. As the caller sent the screenshots of the chat, it became evident that videos were sent to the person, and subsequently, she confessed. The accused then said that she made the videos and then sent them to her friend Sunny in Shimla. It is after this confirmation that the manager reached out to the police.

Now, questions are raised over the claims made by Mohali SSP that only a single video has been filmed. Mohali SSP recently refuted reports that a female student at Chandigarh University leaked various recordings of female students taking showers.

The Chandigarh University video leak case

On September 18, it was revealed that a female student of Chandigarh University allegedly made nude videos of fellow female students of the University while they were taking baths and sent them to a man from Shimla. Furthermore, media reports suggested that the University administration allegedly tried to suppress the matter and did not inform the Police or take any action.

Irked by the University authorities, the students started protesting, following which Police were called. The Police used lathi-charge to disperse the crowd after some students allegedly overturned PCR vans. The matter is under investigation, and the exact details of the case will be revealed once the Police finish the probe.

First conviction under UP’s anti-conversion law: Afzal who posed as Arman Kohli to kidnap a minor Hindu girl sent to jail for 5 years

OpIndia Staff
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First conviction under UP’s anti-conversion law: Afzal who posed as Arman Kohli to kidnap a minor Hindu girl sent to jail for 5 years

In the first case of conviction under the anti-conversion law of Uttar Pradesh, a district court in Amroha sentenced a 26-year-old man named Afzal on Saturday to 5 years imprisonment for the abduction of a 16-year-old girl.

Afzal had introduced himself as Arman Kohli to the victim girl, and that’s why he was booked under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, which came into force last year. The development was confirmed by Ashutosh Pandey, the Additional Director General (Prosecution) of the Police.

Besides the jail sentence, a fine of ₹40000 has been imposed on the accused. The matter was heard by Kapila Raghav, the Additional District Judge (POCSO court) in Amroha, and a total of 7 witnesses were examined in court.

A carpenter by occupation, Afzal was taken into custody immediately after the court verdict. He hails from the Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh. Apart from the relevant sections of the anti-conversion law, Afzal was also booked under IPC sections 363 (punishment for kidnapping) and 366 (kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her marriage.

The Background of the Case

On April 2, 2021, the father of the minor girl approached the police and informed them that the victim did not return home for 2 days. Citing two local residents, he informed that his daughter was last seen with a man.

The father also told the police that the underage victim was in touch with a man named Afzal, who frequented his nursey to buy new plants. On the basis of his complaint, a case was lodged against Afzal.

The police nabbed the accused on April 4 that year from Delhi while he was en route to his relative’s house in the National Capital. On interrogation, Afzal revealed the whereabouts of the victim, following which she was recovered by the cops. During questioning, the minor girl told police that the man “lured” her by saying that his name was Arman Kohli, and he was a Hindu. She also said that Afzal tried to convert her, the police had said at that time.

Special counsel (Amroha) Basant Singh Saini had told the court that Afzal used an alias while introducing himself to the girl. “Afzal had introduced himself to the girl as ‘Arman Kohli’. His real identity came to light later,” he had remarked. The accused was booked under the anti-conversion law after the victim’s father alleged that Afzal abducted her to change her religion. He has now been sentenced to 5 years imprisonment and fined ₹40,000.

Vadodara: Wife files complaint as she discovers her husband was a woman, used male organ made of silicon to deceive her

OpIndia Staff
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Vadodara: Wife files complaint as she discovers her husband was a woman, used male organ made of silicon to deceive her

In a stunning incident, a 40-year-old woman from Vadodara, Gujarat, learned that the person she married in 2014 had concealed the fact that he had a sex change surgery to become a male and was previously a woman. The woman accused her husband Viraj Vardhan (earlier Vijaita) of cheating and having unnatural sex using a male organ made of silicon in a complaint that she submitted at the Gotri Police Station in Vadodara on Wednesday.

According to the FIR, the woman met her husband through a matrimonial website about nine years ago. This happened after her first husband passed away in a car accident in 2011, leaving her with a daughter who was then 14 years old. The police confirmed that they married in front of family members in February 2014 and then went on a honeymoon to Kashmir.

The man did not, however, consummate the marriage and continued to make excuses for several days. When she pushed him, he said that a previous accident he experienced while in Russia had made him incapable of engaging in sexual activity. The accused assured the victim that everything would be fine after minor surgery.

In 2020, the accused travelled to Kolkata for treatment under the guise of minor surgery. He allegedly informed his wife that he wanted bariatric surgery to help him lose weight but did not go into greater detail. The lady stated that he had surgery to put masculine organs in his body.  The woman said that her husband started making an inappropriate and unnatural sexual relationship with her.

According to authorities, the man tricked the woman by using a silicon male organ and making her feel it whenever she expressed reservations. When she discovered his identity, he warned her of grave repercussions if she did not keep silent about the matter. 

He also allegedly purchased a home for another woman after obtaining a loan in her name. M K Gurjar, the Station House Officer of Gotri police station, confirmed that the accused had been apprehended and transported to Vadodara from Delhi. Police are now investigating the case.

Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha inaugurates cinema halls in Shopian and Pulwama ending 32 years of intermission

OpIndia Staff
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Jammu and Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha inaugurates cinema halls in Shopian and Pulwama ending 32 years of intermission

On Sunday, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha inaugurated two cinema halls in Kashmir, one in Pulwama and the other in Shopian. This was not an ordinary event, as it marked the return of the big screen to the region after more than three decades.

“A historic day for J&K UT! Inaugurated Multipurpose Cinema Halls at Pulwama and Shopian. It offers facilities ranging from a movie screening, infotainment and skilling of youth,” tweeted Office of LG Manoj Sinha.

The cinematic history of Jammu and Kashmir came to a halt 32 years ago, when Fatwas from Islamists shut down theatres and banned movies, labelling any such audio-visual entertainment “Haram,” which means something against Islamic principles.

LG Manoj Sinha inaugurated a multipurpose cinema hall each in Pulwama and Shopian on Sunday, and said that the administration will build such multipurpose cinema halls in every district of Jammu and Kashmir. Apart from screening movies, the multipurpose theatres will also be used for various other purposes like infotainment and skill development programs.

Before the onset of Islamic terrorism in J&K in 1990, the valley had 19 film halls in Srinagar, Anantnag, Baramulla, Sopore, Handwara, and Kupwara, however, these have either become ruins or are being used for various commercial purposes. Srinagar alone had ten cinema halls screening Bollywood films, including Firdaus, Shiraz, Khayam, Naaz, Neelam, Broadway, Regal, and Palladium.

In 1999, the Farooq Abdullah government attempted to revive cinema theatres by allowing Regal, Neelam, and Broadway to begin filming movies. However, a terrorist attack occurred during the first show at the Regal Cinema, killing one person and injuring twelve others. Terrorists had attacked the cinema hall with three powerful hand grenades, and as a result, the theatres were once again locked.

The CRPF used the ruins of the historic Palladium Theatre in the centre of Srinagar as their camp at Lal Chowk. Terrorists set fire to the cinema hall.

Another attempt to restore cinema halls was attempted two years ago during the BJP-PDP rule when then-chief minister Mehbooba Mufti applauded crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s decision to reopen movie theatres in the Islamic Republic of Saudi Arabia. However, Hurriyat leader Sayyed Ali Shah Geelani and other Islamists in the valley were opposed to any attempt to reopen cinemas.

The Jammu and Kashmir government released its first film policy in August 2021, months after the Jammu and Kashmir Film Development Council (JKFDC) was established to encourage filmmakers. The key objectives of the policy are to reopen closed cinema halls and set up multiplexes in the Valley.

While today the LG opened smaller multipurpose theatres in Pulwama and Shopian, multiplexes are also being opened in Kashmir. A three-screen INOX with a total capacity of 520 seats will be opened in Srinagar next week.

Jawhar Sircar’s tryst with fake news, life and times of the TMC MP

Anurag
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Jawhar Sircar’s tryst with fake news, life and times of the TMC MP

There was a time when Jawhar Sircar was best known for his tenure as the Chief Executive Officer in Prasar Bharati from 2012 to 2016. Born in March 1952, the 70-year-old retired Indian Administrative Service officer started his career in 1975. From 2008 to 2012, he was Secretary to the Government of India. During his tenure in different departments, he held some of the most important portfolios.

After retirement, Sircar joined Trinamool Congress and is currently serving as a Rajya Sabha member on an AITC ticket. If someone introduces Sircar with the achievements listed here, he will look like a decent fellow with an impressive career. However, his life is full of controversies that need a deeper examination.

Sircar’s curious relationship with fake news

Being a senior leader and an experienced Administrative Service officer, Sircar should be aware of how to differentiate between real news and fake news. On top of all, he was CEO of Prasar Bharati, the state-owned broadcaster that runs Air India, and Doordarshan, two of the most authentic sources of news reports in India. However, as we will see below, Sircar is a regular peddler of fake news online.

The lens cover saga

Sircar has had a good run with fake news and is often left deleting his tweets when netizens expose his fake social media posts. The most recent one is the tweet that he has deleted where Sircar shared a photograph of PM Modi, claiming he was trying to click a photograph with the lens cover on. Soon after he published the tweet, Netizens pointed out how he was wrong, and the photograph he posted was morphed.

On September 17, two photographs of PM Modi went viral, where those who published the tweets claimed PM Modi was shooting with a lens cover on. While one photograph was with a lens filter, and people got it confused with a lens cap, in another photograph, someone went ahead and added a lens cap. However, the person who did it was not aware that the Canon lens cap would not fit a Nikon lens. Sircar had shared the latter one and deleted the tweet once he got exposed by netizens.

Fake image of PM Modi with Ambanis

In June 2021, Sircar published a heavily-edited photograph of PM Modi to insinuate that he goes out of his way to be polite to ‘his friends’. Sircar tweeted, “Wish fellow parliamentarians and others in politics also received such courtesy and bonhomie — from their permanently-scowling PM. In a mature democracy, we would know the two-way relationship, favors, and transactions. Some day, history will tell us,” with an image of PM Modi bowing down politely to Nita Ambani, wife of Reliance Group chief Mukesh Ambani. The image was, however, fake and photoshopped.

The image is actually of PM Modi meeting Deepika Mondal, who runs an NGO, “Divya Jyoti Cultural Organisation and Welfare Society.” In fact, the above image shared by Sircar has been in circulation since 2015 and has been made viral with claims that the lady in the image is Preeti Adani, wife of Gautam Adani. When netizens called out his fake tweet, he started hiding the replies that exposed him. Later, he deleted the tweet.

Sircar shared a doctored video to attack PM Modi and CM Yogi

In December 2021, Sircar shared a doctored video to suggest that PM Modi and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath were greeted with anti-Modi and anti-Yogi slogans during the inauguration ceremony of the Kashi Viswanath Corridor. He was called out by the netizens who published the original video of residents cheering for PM Modi and CM Yogi.

In the doctored video published by TMC leaders, including Sircar, the original audio was removed, and audio from some other event was added to it. The audio track with the crowd cheering PM Modi and Yogi Aditynath was edited and replaced by “Modi hai hai” and “Yogi chor hain” slogans, as can be seen in the clip shared by the TMC leaders.

Sircar shared the fake video coupled with a Tweet that read, “Wow! Protests during Modi’s midnight Kashi Parikrama. Some guts. The Godi Media will not show this.” After OpIndia reported that the TMC leaders posted a doctored video, Twitter added the ‘manipulated media’ tag to the tweet posted by Jawhar Sircar.

Sircar’s rant against PM Modi’s secure vehicle

Again in December 2021, Jawhar Sircar went on a rant over the price of the modified Mercedes-Maybach 650 used by PM Modi. He tried to assert that a state-of-the-art car is not used for fortifying the security of the head of the state but for satisfying the vanity of PM Modi. Contrary to what he said, the armoured vehicle is for the post of India’s Prime Minister and not for the person who is currently occupying the post. The Prime Minister is not going to inherit the car when he retires from public office or when he is replaced by another one.

A heavily armoured vehicle is an absolutely essential security prerequisite for the head of a nuclear-armed state, especially for a country like India, which has two perpetually hostile nuclear neighbours. The security detail of the leader must include a high-security car that can protect him or her against the eventuality of a conventional, nuclear, biological, and chemical attack launched against the leader.

DD under Sircar had edited the interview of PM Modi

On April 27, 2014, Doordarshan aired a 30-minute-long interview with the then Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in the runup to the Lok Sabha elections. Upon its release, a controversy broke out about how chunks of the 54-minute-long interview were edited out by broadcaster Prasar Bharti at the behest of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB).

At that point in time, Jawhar Sircar was the CEO of Prasar Bharati. Questions were raised about his integrity and the lack of autonomy of India’s largest public broadcasting agency. The interview, featuring former Gujarat CM and BJP’s PM candidate Narendra Modi was shot on April 26, 2014, and it aired a day later on April 27. It was followed up with a re-telecast of the interview on April 28. When the video was aired, the BJP raised objection as to how a 54-minute-long interview was cut short to just 30 minutes.

Following a public backlash, the then Prasar Bharati CEO had acknowledged that chunks of the interview were edited out for failing to get a ‘balancing interview’ with rival political leaders despite best attempts by DD News. Jawhar Sircar had blamed the then I & B Minister Manish Tewari for failing to grant ‘operational autonomy’ to the public broadcaster. He had pointed out how not giving in to the government’s demands resulted in transfers and punitive actions.

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