Amidst a surging Coronavirus wave, India has become the centre of attention for media all around the world. This has led to wider coverage of India in the worldwide press, focusing on the imagery of the customary Hindu funeral pyre as a way to “shock” their non-Indian audience. After controversial journalist Barkha Dutt was seen reporting from crematoriums, now photographs of tragic funeral pyres, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, have now become valuable commodities, bought and sold in the Western press.
The British-American media company Getty Images now hosts multiple images depicting multiple Indian funeral pyres lit ablaze on their website. From here, any potential media group around the world can buy these images, in three different sizes, with the largest size priced at about Rs. 23,000. In fact, most of the large versions of the images are priced at Rs. 23,000.
Here is a tragic image from Delhi which was clicked just yesterday, depicting multiple deceased COVID-19 victims, selling for Rs. 23,000.
Another image selling for Rs. 23,000 on Getty Images.
Aerial pictures of crematoriums are also available. which means the photographers flew drones over the cremation grounds to click photos. These types of images have gotten really popular with Western media, with multiple reports utilizing this kind of aerial shot of a crematorium.
A tragic image depicting an embrace between family members of a deceased COVID-19 victim, now selling for Rs. 23,000 on Getty Images.
It may be noted that the photographs are clicked by various photographers in India, both independent photographers and those associated with media houses. This means, not just Getty, but Indian photographers are also making money out of the pandemic by taking photos and selling in the international market.
Clearly, tragic images from India depicting people losing their loved ones generate clicks, which explains the tendency of Western media in using such images for every article discussing India’s current Coronavirus crisis. So it does not come as a surprise that images depicting the misery of regular Indians are fetching huge prices on Getty images for all the foreign media to use.
It may be noted that the photographs are clicked by various photographers in India, both independent photographers and those associated with media houses. This means, not just Getty, but Indian photographers are also making money out of the pandemic by taking photos and selling in the international market.
Tragedy porn is a good business model for Western media and that is why they engage in it. It’s good for the publishers publishing it, the writers writing it, and the photographers providing the tragic images for the article. It just does nothing for the person actually suffering, who will continue to suffer, his tragedy forever immortalized in some Western media article.
Note: All images in the report are screenshots taken from Getty website and no copyright violation is intended as the report is on the stock image platform
After falsifying the supreme sacrifice made by the 85-year-old RSS Swayamsevak Narayan Dhabadkar, Loksatta silently edited its farce ‘fact-check’ report based on an unverified Tweet.
Loksatta had run a ‘fact-check’ story discrediting the sacrifice of Dhabadkar and his family based on an unverified video which now stands deleted, uploaded by a Twitter handle named ‘rohanrtweets’. The report had claimed that the story of the sacrifice by the octogenarian is false and no such patient was admitted at the Indira Gandhi Hospital in Nagpur.
However, the fact is that Dhabadkar was admitted at Indira Gandhi Rugnalaya run by Nagpur Municipal Corporation, while Loksatta report was seemed to be based on people talking to Indira Gandhi Government Hospital run by the Maharashtra Government, where he was not admitted.
Deleted Tweet of the user who uploaded unverified news
The report received a backlash on social media by users who were quick to flag the discrepancy and falsehood of the report. Loksatta’s English counterpart- the Indian Express itself negated the fact-check carried by the Marathi newspaper by confirming the sequence of events with the hospital authorities.
A video was uploaded by Asawaree Dhabadkar, Narayan Dhabhadkar’s daughter to set the record straight.
Loksatta then quietly edited its report and quickly added a statement by Anil Sambre, the Vidarbha region campaign chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to validate Dhabadkar’s sacrifice. The statement said, “The incident involving our senior RSS volunteer Narayanrao Dabhadkar is true. He begged the hospital to discharge him, give his bed to others, and be allowed to go home. However, Dabhadkar is being deliberately misrepresented on social media by some people.”
Edited article by Loksatta
Loksatta had also quoted the original Tweet from where it had picked up the story. The Tweet now stands deleted with the user apologizing for spreading falsehood.
Here’s the sequence of his Tweets
The Twitter user ‘rohanrtweets’ confessed to Loksatta publishing an article based on his unverified video and requested them to update their story. His Tweet reads, “@LoksattaLive published one article on this story referring to my un-verified tweet. Which I have deleted now so that people will not mislead. I urge @LoksattaLive to update your story. I am deeply saddened for this incidence.”
rohanrtweets confesses to uploading unverified video
Replugging Asawaree Dhabadkar, Narayan Dhabadkar’s daughter’s video narrating the actual incidence, he wrote, “Just saw video of Asavari madam, daughter of #NarayanDabhadkar kaka. She has stated all the facts and confirmed that this story is true. If any news is coming from family member, I believe it. Mr. Narayan Dabhadkar sacrificed all the medical facilities to for other person.”
“It takes immense strength to sacrifice all this in this hard time. In morning I saw one un-verified video believed it as true. But after watching this video from Asavari madam, I regret to share that video without knowing the truth. I can understand the pain Dabhadkar family,” he continued in another Tweet.
The user has tendered an unconditional apology for circulating fake and unverified video.
He also said that many people had shared another fake news that Narayan Dhabadkar’s death was being faked and that he is still alive. However, that is incorrect as Dhabadkar had indeed died, giving up medical facilities for someone else.
As the nation faces the Coronavirus epidemic head-on, stories about good samaritans helping out those in need are not uncommon. However, a clear pattern has emerged as to the boosting of such news stories.
In April 2020, the Times of India had published a story about five Muslim men organizing the last rites of a Hindu man suspected of dying due to COVID-19. However, this story was disputed by the family members of the deceased Hindu, who directly contradicted the TOI report, claiming it was “fake news”.
Fake heroes, fake credit
The TOI report had stated that 5 Muslim men carried out the last rites of Venu Mudiraj, an autorickshaw driver after his neighbor ostracised the family following a heated argument with his teenage children and younger brother Vinod for bringing the body of the deceased home who they suspected had died of coronavirus.
However, a Hyderbad based journalist Sridharan Siddhu contacted Swarajya Magazine journalist Swati Goel Sharma to inform her that the family of the deceased is traumatized because of the false report and it intends to clarify things regarding the falsehoods published about them in the media.
“5 Muslim men, claiming to be my father’s friend, came and requested us to carry the bier for some time. We don’t know them at all. But since they said they were my father’s friends, we allowed them to hold the bier. They then took photos and spread the news in newspapers and on social media that they performed the entire last rites. That’s not true. They didn’t do anything,” Sachin the deceased’s 18-year-old son said in a video statement.
“We lost our mother two years ago and now we have lost our father. And then this misleading report published by TOI is further traumatizing us. My relatives are calling me up to ask ‘Who are these 5 Muslim men who helped you?’ This is very humiliating and they are exploiting my father’s death to gain credit. This is fake news, Muslims did not help us, people in our neighborhood have helped us,” added Sachin.
The deceased’s younger brother Vinod also accused the Times of India of concocting statements and attributing false comments to him. He further added that he spent Rs 35000 from his hard-earned money on his brother’s funeral but it pains him to see that five Muslims took away the credit without doing anything.
Recent case: No, ‘Muslim friend’ did not organize the last rites of Anubhav Sharma
This is not a one-off incident. Just yesterday, journalists like Abhisar Sharma, Ravish Kumar, Mohammad Zubair, and many other so-called ‘secular liberals’ tried to push another viral ‘Muslim hero’ story, claiming that a Mohammad Younis in Muzaffarnagar performed the funeral rites of Anubhav Sharma, along with pushing their cringe ideological talking points attacking the “hypocrisy” of religion. However, Swarajya journalist Swati Goel Sharma got in touch with the family of Anubhav Sharma, who claim they are “deeply pained” by the “fake viral posts”. and that no “journalist” heard the deceased’s family side of the story first before pushing their ideological agenda of boosting a ‘Muslim hero’ narrative.
Journalist boosting ‘Muslim hero’ viral stories without reaching out to the deceased’s family
While talking to Swati Goel Sharma’s deceased Anubhav’s brother has narrated that Anubhav did not even have Covid. The ‘Muslim Hero’ hailed in media and countless social media posts is a mutual friend of the brothers who works for the family and drives their vehicle.
Part 2 – Sharad tells me his family is hurt with the propaganda that they did not come forward or did not do last rites. In the end, I requested him to add Yunus on the line but the call did not go through. pic.twitter.com/jmtBcMweOj
Family performed last rites as per Hindu customs, Md Younis just came along because he is a friend: Anubhav’s brother
Sharad Sharma, the brother of Anubhav Sharma revealed that the family is extremely pained by the baseless allegations that the family refused to perform the last rites of Anubhav. He stated that had their family members, relatives and neighbors had performed Anubhav’s last rites as per Hindu customs. A priest was taken who had presided over the rites at the cremation ground. Since Md Younis is a friend and known to the family, he had come along with too and was present during the last rites. As everyone was asked to offer a fistful of ‘raal’ to the pyre as per custom, Md Younis did too, as a mark of solidarity for a friend.
Sharad further explained to Swati that somebody had clicked a photo of Md Younis offering ‘raal’ to the pyre and later Amar Ujala published a report. Soon the photo went viral, with several social media users claiming that it is a Muslim man performing last rites for a deceased Hindu after the Hindu family refused.
Sharad added that the whole episode is nothing but a social media farce and he had himself performed the last rites of his brother, along with family members and friends.
RSS Swayamsevak’s sacrifice branded ‘fake’ by vested interests on the basis of some unverified claims
But this is not even the most egregious example of mainstream media bias when it comes to covering such stories. Recently, 85-year old RSS Swayamsevak Narayan Dhabadkar gave the ultimate sacrifice by vacating his hospital bed so that a younger patient in his 40s with COVID-19 can occupy it. This sacrifice led to Shri Dhabadkar losing his life. However, in a ghoulish manner, Loksatta, a Marathi-publication under the Indian Express umbrella, published a “fact-check” disputing the validity of Shri Dhabadkar’s sacrifice. Loksatta has now edited their ‘fact-check’, claiming that their report was based on an unverified tweet.
The mainstream media is not only disproportionately signal-boosting ‘Muslim hero’ stories but also denigrating genuine heroes who happen to be from the RSS to serve a political agenda. However, that’s not all. Let us remind you of the bike thief Tabrez news story from two years ago.
In June 2019, incidents of theft took place at the house of three persons named Hemsagar Pradhan, Rajesh Pramanik, and Kamal Mahato in Jharkhand. Three culprits were reportedly involved in the theft, out of whom the locals were able to nab one Mohammad Tabrez Ansari. Ansari was brutally beaten by the locals before the police had reached the spot. After reaching there police rescued Ansari and sent him for medical examination. Ansari was accused of trying to steal a bike. The stolen and a few other items were recovered by the police. Three days after the incident, Ansari’s health had deteriorated and he was admitted to a hospital. He was declared dead by doctors in the hospital.
The news story was picked up by the national media after Tabrez Ansari’s death and was portrayed as a case of mob lynching. The matter was highly politicized and violent protests were carried out by Muslim organizations against Ansari’s death. However, the investigation team set up by the district administration to investigate the cause of Ansari’s death said that he could have died due to stress-induced cardiac arrest.
Vigilante justice or mob justice is illegal, heinous, and should be condemned. Tabrez was not assaulted for his religious beliefs, but for credible accusations of theft. However, the national media, in their thirst for ‘Muslim heroes’ and even ‘Muslim victims’ turned small-time thief Tabrez Ansari into a national figure of supposed persecution against the Muslim community. However, this same media will cast aspersions and ‘fact-check’ the sacrifices of real martyrs like Narayan Dhabadkar, who gave up his life in order to make sure that a person younger than him lives.
It is indeed a remarkable level of bias when these so-called journalists and influencers hail the most common acts of social interactions as heroic, falsely accusing a grieving Hindu family of shunning their son, but go to the extra length and find baseless posts to discredit the genuine and heroic sacrifice of a Hindu man.
Om April 29, the Government of India called out Wall Street Journal’s mischievous attempt to portray that GoI is censoring social media in the country. In a series of posts on the social media platform Twitter, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said that the report was misleading on facts and mischievous in intent.
Quoting the report of WSJ, MeitY said, “A story by Wall Street Journal attributing removal of a certain hashtag by Facebook to GOI’s efforts to curb public dissent is misleading on facts and mischievous in intent. Govt has not issued any direction to remove this hashtag. Facebook has also clarified that it was removed by mistake.”
A story by @WSJ attributing removal of a certain hashtag by Facebook to GOI’s efforts to curb public dissent is misleading on facts and mischievous in intent. Govt has not issued any direction to remove this hashtag. Facebook has also clarified that it was removed by mistake. https://t.co/uzgQ55PNMe
— Ministry of Electronics & IT (@GoI_MeitY) April 29, 2021
It further added that media played a very important role as a force multiplier to the efforts of our front-line workers and medical professionals and urged the media houses to partner with crores of ordinary Indians as the nation collectively fight the pandemic. It said, “Media has a very important role to play in acting as a force multiplier to the efforts of our front-line workers and medical professionals. At a sensitive time like this, we would urge the media to partner with crores of ordinary Indians as we collectively fight the pandemic.”
Media has a very important role to play in acting as a force multiplier to the efforts of our front-line workers and medical professionals. At a sensitive time like this, we would urge the media to partner with crores of ordinary Indians as we collectively fight the pandemic.
— Ministry of Electronics & IT (@GoI_MeitY) April 29, 2021
Wall Street Journal’s report suggested GoI got hashtag blocked
In its April 28 report, Wall Street Journal wrote that Facebook temporarily blocked a hashtag where people had called PM Modi to resign. Later, the hashtag was reinstated. WSJ wrote, “The #ResignModi hashtag was blocked on Facebook for several hours amid a national controversy over India’s response to an escalating Covid-19 crisis and the government’s efforts to curb public dissent.”
The report added that earlier the Modi govt had asked social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Google etc to remove content.
Clarification from Facebook
Andy Stone, Policy Communications Director at Facebook, replied to a tweet and said, “We temporarily blocked this hashtag by mistake, not because the Indian government asked us to, and have since restored it.” Facebook made it clear by the tweet that the Government of India had nothing to with the hashtag block on the social media platform. But the media houses picked up the WSJ report and ran it as propaganda against the Government of India.
Tweet by Andy Stone, Policy Communications Director at Facebook
WSJ’s March 2021 report against GoI
In March 2021, WSJ had published a report with the heading “India Threatens Jail for Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter Employees.” MeitY pointed out that report as well and said that it was also fake news. The ministry said, “It is pertinent to mention that on March 5, 2021, also, Wall Street Journal had published a fake news with heading- “India Threatens Jail for Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter Employees”. The Government had sent an official rebuttal of this completely fake and manufactured story to Wall Street Journal.”
It is pertinent to mention that on 5th March 2021 also, @WSJ had published a fake news with heading- “India Threatens Jail for Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter Employees”. Government had sent an official rebuttal of this completely fake and manufactured story to @WSJ.
— Ministry of Electronics & IT (@GoI_MeitY) April 29, 2021
GoI letter to WSJ
OpIndia got access to the letter Government of India wrote to WSJ in which Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), said that the above article was not only factually incorrect but misleading. He said that none of the government communications, either written or oral, have ever threatened employees of these social media platforms with a jail term.
He added, “Therefore, with deep regret, I wish to say that the conjecture of the Wall Street Journal is bereft of any fact and an attempt to defame the world’s largest open Internet economy which is thriving on account of the innovative spirit of Indians and universal, easy and affordable availability of the Internet.”
GoI, while replying in Parliament, said that while there was no proposal to ban Twitter, the social media platforms have to follow the regulations set by the Government. “If a few abuse social media platform to foment terrorism, violence, causes of terrorism, child pornography and a whole range of illegal activities, then the social media platforms will have to be responsible,” the Government had said.
In a historic resolution on April 24, the Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA) had passed a resolution (No. 1451-XX) to adopt a scholarly definition of Hinduphobia 14 days after the conclusion of ‘Understanding Hinduphobia Conference.’
#BREAKING: Rutgers University becomes the first U.S university to institutionally recognize Hinduphobia through its student assembly #UnderstandingHinduphobia2021
The decision was a result of series of Hindu hate incidences observed at the university. A petition was initiated by a group of students in March this year asking Rutgers-Newark University to take strong action against controversial ‘historian’ and Professor Audrey Truschke for demonising Hinduism.
However, Truschke seems to have stooped to a new low by stalking even the parents of the students who had participated in the understanding Hinduphobia conference. The same was brought to light by Rashmi Samant, the ex-president-elect of Oxford University Student Union who was bullied, threatened, ridiculed and forced to resign from her post for being a Hindu.
Samant shared the screenshot in a Tweet of a chat with a Rutgers student who can be seen informing that Audrey Truschke was now stalking parents of the students on professional networking site LinkedIn.
Screenshot of a chat shared by Rashmi Samant on Twitter
Suspecting a systematic hate attack was being planned against Rutgers Hindu students just like the one launched against her by Abhijit Sarkar, a faculty at Oxford, Samant’s Tweet read, “A new low. Audrey Truschke is stalking LinkedIn accounts of parents of students who held the recent Hinduphobia conference (which she refused to attend). Is she trying to desperately run a hate campaign like Abhijit Sarkar at Oxford?”
A new low. Audrey Truschke is stalking LinkedIn accounts of parents of students who held the recent Hinduphobia conference (which she refused to attend). Is she trying to desperately run a hate campaign like Abhijit Sarkar at Oxford? @RutgersU@Rutgers_Newark@rudiversitypic.twitter.com/BwBfqaVSgw
Rutgers Hindu students stand up against Truschke’s Hinduphobia
A controversy had broken out after several Hindu students of Rutgers University had written a letter to the university in reaction to ‘historian’ Audrey Truschke’s attempts to sell Hinduphobic fiction in the name of ‘history’. In its petition, the group of Hindu students studying at Rutgers-Newark pointed out that Audrey Truschke tried to trivialize and downplay the Hindu genocide committed by the Mughal tyrant Aurangzeb.
In an open letter written to the university authorities, the students had said that they are “aghast at the bigotry being peddled against Hindus via continued derision of our religion, our deities, and our sacred texts” in the university, which may be a potential threat to their security, as it may lead to “potential attacks, bullying, and backlash, either on campus or via social media, due to our faith”.
Voices against Hinduphobia gained prominence in the University after a faculty member of Rutgers defended ‘historian’ Audrey Truschke despite her anti-Hindu stance.
Audrey Truschke’s controversial statements against Hinduism
On March 7, ‘Hindu on Campus’ a student-led organization exposed how Audrey Truschke had made problematic statements against Hinduism and indulged in casual racism against Hindus. At the time of US Capitol riots, Truschke tweeted about the presence of an Indian flag at the scene to imply it to be the handiwork of Hindu Right. In another instance, Truschke had misinterpreted the sacred Hindu religious text of Bhagavad Gita and accused it of rationalizing mass slaughter. Truschke had also equated a gang rape case in India to an incident in the Hindu epic of Mahabharata, essentially alluding that Hindu culture endorses “rape culture” and misogyny.
Several faculty and professors of Rutgers were seen monkey-balancing while defending Truschke. The episode traumatized both current and prospective Hindu students so much so that they have decided against applying to the University.
Definition of Hinduphobia
The students currently of the university had decided to conduct a conference on Hinduphobia to spread awareness about the same. A new definition of Hinduphobia with certain amendments was given which goes as, “a set of antagonistic, destructive, and derogatory attitudes and behaviours towards Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) and Hindus that may manifest as fear or hatred.”
Who is Rashmi Samant
Rashmi Samant, a young woman from Karnataka who had recently become the first female Indian elect of Oxford University Student’s Union, relinquished her post after being abused, bullied and targeted for being a Hindu and over her views against colonization.
In what appeared like a coordinated attack, Rashmi Samant’s old social media posts were dredged up, accusing her of being racist, anti-semitic, Islamophobic, transphobic and even for her Hindu roots. Samant was elected to the prestigious post on February 11 and within a week, She tendered her resignation after facing a barrage of online criticism and abuse.
So much so that Samant had to return to India and was even hospitalized due to intense trauma. After recovering, Samant decided to head back to the university to finish her studies respectfully.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday slammed the Arvind Kejriwal government for utter mismanagement of oxygen supply to Delhi hospitals and failing to curb black marketing of oxygen.
The black marketeers of essential supplies seem to be flourishing in this pandemic by taking undue advantage of people running helter-skelter trying to save the lives of their loved ones. A Twitter thread that has gone viral on social media exposes the government’s incompetence to curb such activities.
In a shocking incident, a Twitter user by the name Vinayak Tripathi uploaded a thread of his appalling experience with a black marketeer of oxygen cylinders in Delhi. Tripathi in his Tweet mentions that he had contacted a person named Ranveer for an oxygen cylinder to be procured immediately. For the same, he was asked to make a payment of Rs 20,000 in advance and the remaining amount of Rs 15,000 was to be paid after the cylinder was delivered.
OXYGEN BLACK MARKETING कल मैंने ऑक्सिजन सिलेंडर के लिए “रणवीर” नामक इस व्यक्ति से बात की। जब मैंने कहा मुझे तुरंत सिलेंडर चाहिए उस पर इसने मुझे कॉल किया और कहा की “आप 20 हज़ार एडवांस भेज दो मैं 4 घंटे में होम डिलिवरी करवा दूँगा। 15 हज़ार सिलेंडर मिलने के बाद देना।1/6@DelhiPolicepic.twitter.com/XsmHqXsi5B
— VINAYAK TRIPATHI #IndiaWillWin (@belikevinayak) April 29, 2021
Screenshot of the chat with oxygen cylinder supplier Ranveer shared by Tripathi on Twitter
To this Tripathi informed Ranveer that he does not need a home delivery and can come to pick the cylinder from the warehouse. Ranveer in his response said that the warehouse is shut as the cylinders are being sold in black and a ‘not available’ sign has been put on the gate to escape the police. He then pressured Tripathi to transfer the advance amount at the earliest.
मेरे ये कहने पे कि मैं आ कर ले जाता हूँ क्यूँकि हमारे पास समय नहीं है, रणवीर खुलेआम कहता है “अगर आप एड्रेस पे जाओगे तो उसके गेट पे हमने साफ़-साफ़ ‘Not Available’ लिखा है क्यूँकि हम पुलिस और सरकार से बच के बेच रहे हैं। चाहिए तो मेरे अकाउंट में एडवांस भेजना होगा।”2/6@HemanNamo
— VINAYAK TRIPATHI #IndiaWillWin (@belikevinayak) April 29, 2021
On asking for a receipt Ranveer allegedly disconnected the call saying “take the cylinder if you want or we have people lined up for it.”
मैंने कहा पैसे देने में कोई समस्या नहीं है लेकिन मुझे उसकी रसीद कैसे मिलेगी? इस पर ये बड़ी बेशर्मी से कहता है कि “हम ब्लैक में दे रहे हैं और आपको लेना है लो वरना मेरे पास लोगों की लाइन लगी हुई है।” और कॉल काट देता है। 3/6@AdityaRajKaul@sudhirchaudhary@republic@maryashakil
— VINAYAK TRIPATHI #IndiaWillWin (@belikevinayak) April 29, 2021
Screenshot of the address shared by the oxygen cylinder supplier
Ranveer instantly sent a screenshot of bank details which were in the name of one Kirti Singh and informed that he has completed 150 deliveries since yesterday and if Tripathi wants one, he should transfer the amount immediately.
फिर वो मुझे एक महिला के बैंक अकाउंट का स्क्रीनशॉट भेजता है और साथ में एक वॉईज़ नोट भेजता है – “सर कल से 150 सिलेंडर डिलिवर करवा चुका हूँ आपको लेना है तो एडवांस भेजिए नहीं तो मुझे कोई ज़ोर ज़बरदस्ती नहीं है।”4/6@rohanduaTOI@arunbothra@abhijitmajumder@ABVPDelhi@TajinderBagga
— VINAYAK TRIPATHI #IndiaWillWin (@belikevinayak) April 29, 2021
Screenshot of bank details
Distressed by the incident, Tripathi has appealed to the administration and government to take cognizance of the matter and arrest the person named Ranveer under the “Cheating, Epidemic Disease & Essential Commodities Act”.
— VINAYAK TRIPATHI #IndiaWillWin (@belikevinayak) April 29, 2021
Delhi Court orders Kejriwal government to act against black marketing
The Delhi High Court has directed the AAP government to initiate a crackdown on black marketing of oxygen cylinders and essential drugs such as Remdesivir, Dexamethasone and Fabiflu.
The court has ordered the state government to take records from all pharmacies on the sale of critical drugs needed for the treatment of Covid-19 and conduct audits to determine if they were being sold on the black market.
The court also instructed the Delhi government to act against oxygen suppliers, refillers or hospitals and nursing homes involved in the illegal trade of oxygen.
Crackdown on black marketing
In a crackdown on black marketing, Delhi police arrested a 56-year-old man under the “Cheating, Epidemic Disease & Essential Commodities Act” for selling oxymeters, gauge regulators and other essential medical equipment at exorbitant rates.
— #DilKiPolice Delhi Police (@DelhiPolice) April 28, 2021
In Uttar Pradesh, about 44 people have been arrested by the government for black-marketing essential medicines. As many as 877 Remdesivir injections, 340 oxygen cylinders, mobile phones and cash of Rs 9,42,660 have been recovered from them.
Amid a raging pandemic, two newspapers decided to invest their resources in proving the grieving family of a deceased 85-year-old RSS Swayamsevak liars. Before we proceed further, note the ‘moral compass’ of the Indian media for all future references.
Nagpur based Narayan Dhabadkar, the octogenarian Swayamsevak, had voluntarily given up his hospital bed for a younger patient on 22nd April as Maharashtra struggles to give every covid patient required healthcare. Narayan Kaka, as he was called affably, felt that he had ‘lived long enough’ while the other patient had little children to take care of. Narayan Kaka died 3 days later.
In order to prove this moving story of sacrifice by an RSS member “fake”, one newspaper published a news report based on statements of an ‘activist’ who talked to some entirely different hospital and claimed that no such patient was ever admitted there, while the other newspaper twisted the quote of a doctor of the actual hospital where Narayan Kaka was admitted.
The doctor reportedly said that he or his staff was not a witness to Narayan Kaka declaring that he was willing to die to let someone else live – as if doctors and nursing staff are supposed to be present all the time and eavesdrop on all conversations between a patient and his/her family.
Neither of these reports prove that the grieving family of Narayan Kaka was lying (though they could successfully make the families shed a tear again), but both these reports – one being out and out fake news by Loksatta while the other being a Goebbels level propaganda by The Indian Express – will be used by ‘secular-liberal’ ecosystem in furthering this lie to demonize RSS and dehumanize RSS workers and their families.
The incident demonstrates two things – firstly, how “fact-checking” is, ironically, the latest tool in spreading fake news and pushing propaganda, and secondly, how media is desperate to deny any good work by a “Sanghi”, and by extension, any person who asserts his identity as a Hindu nationalist.
The reason is rooted in ideology – where most of the journalists are committed foot-soldiers of ideologies that consider Hinduism an essentially and inherently evil and unjust religion, which is the root cause of all the troubles India face (that’s why you see hate against Hindu temples as the Chinese virus kills people). Since many such foot-soldiers can’t openly attack Hinduism, yet – though they do on times and increasingly more frequently – they resort to attacking “Sanghis” and delegitimizing works of “Hindu groups”.
The end goal is the same – to ensure that the Hindu society is enfeebled; it’s easy to get rid of an enfeebled and demoralized group. Attacking and prejudicing terms like “Sanghis” and “Hindu groups” is one of the most critical tools in achieving this end goal.
Apart from maligning the RSS and the Swayamsevaks – like they did in the latest case where they didn’t even want to extend dignity to a dead Sanghi – the media makes sure that ‘Hindu groups’ are invariably in news for something silly—some outlandish statement made by someone, someone being accused of causing trouble or the group organizing some seemingly senseless events.
When any of these Hindu groups happen to do something good, for example, the RSS helping people during a natural calamity or accident, then those are flat reports—if at all such an activity is reported—that would either be headlined as something like, ‘RSS extends a helping hand’ or ‘Local residents come together to help accident victims’ with the body of the report mentioning the RSS. The term ‘Hindu groups’ would be missing even if other Hindu outfits might have joined the RSS in such activities, which they normally do.
As a result, an ordinary Hindu starts thinking that if ‘Hindu groups’ are involved in a case, something has to be wrong. Even if the cause appears to be genuine, the presence of the term ‘Hindu groups’ would make them feel that maybe there is something amiss somewhere. He starts downplaying the causes being championed by them. Even a genuine Hindu cause and concern is reduced to something shady and political in the eyes of an average Hindu because of the prejudicing of this term.
Now this is how it plays up—first of all, the media doesn’t report any hate crime against Hindus because of ‘responsible reporting’ practices, and if at all it’s forced to report it, as Hindus start building the pressure, the reports would invariably read something like ‘Hindu groups protest over XYZ incident’, where XYZ could be a case of desecration of a local temple, or obscene comments against Hindu gods and goddesses, or cases of ‘love jihad’ or sexual harassment on communal lines, or worse, a targeted assassination by Islamist gangs.
All such incidents are real, and rather frequent in many parts of our country, but because the term ‘Hindu groups’ has been maligned so much, an average Hindu starts downplaying those ‘XYZ incidents’ itself, merely because they are being raised by such groups. He starts suspecting that there is ‘something more’ to the story because these Hindu groups rarely make news for the right reason. This is soft ‘genocide denial’ in action against Hindus, where you make the narrative so lopsided that either victims become invisible or victim-blaming becomes normal.
And that’s how you achieve the end goal – by making Hindus blind to existentialist threats, by turning them into dodos. Hindus will be dead and denied dignity, like Narayan Kaka was. Hindus will be killed and blamed for their own murder, like Kamlesh Tiwari was or Kashmiri Pandits were. And if you escape either of this fate and are somehow alive (and don’t thank Nehru that you are breathing), you’d be shamed for your identity so that you are not part of any ‘Hindu group’.
(Legal disclaimer: Some paragraphs of this article are part of the book ‘Sanghi Who Never Went To A Shakha’ authored by Rahul Roushan and published by Rupa Publications. Those are reproduced here in accordance with the copyright laws.)
On April 29, Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat announced that amidst rising cases of Covid-19 in the country, the Uttarakhand government has decided to suspend the Char Dham Yatra this year.
Uttarakhand government has suspended Char Dham Yatra this year in view of #COVID19 situation in the state. Only priests of the four temples will perform rituals and puja: Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat
He said, “Uttarakhand government has suspended Char Dham Yatra this year in view of Covid-19 situation in the state. Only priests of the four temples will perform rituals and puja.” The Char Dham yatra was to begin from 14 May, 2021 this year.
Propaganda against the government over Char Dham Yatra
In the last few days, left-leaning liberal media houses such as The Wire, The Logical Indian and others have been running propaganda against the BJP-led Uttarakhand government over Char Dham Yatra. The Wire wrote that despite the criticism the state government received over Kumbh Mela, they allowed Char Dham Yatra.
While Logical Indian called Yatra a bad decision, The Indian Express pointed fingers at the Kumbh Mela for rising cases in the state. It has to be noted that the Mela was reduced to symbolic after the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi amidst rising cases of Covid-19 in the country.
Covid-19 situation in Uttarakhand
It has to be noted that last year the Char Dham Yatra was allowed with restrictions. Only 4 lakh pilgrims compared to 38 lakh in 2019 went for Char Dham Yatra in 2020. This year, there is a major surge in the cases that have resulted in the suspension of the Yatra. In a short span, the state has seen a surge of almost 1800%.
According to the data provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the state reported 6,054 cases on April 28. There are 45,383 cases active in the state. Yesterday, 3,485 people were discharged from the hospital after recovery. The state reported 108 deaths on Wednesday. The positive rate has been between 10% to 15% for one week.
On April 28, Delhi High Court slammed the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government over the shortage of the anti-viral drug Remdesivir. The court also sought a reason for the decline in Covid-19 testing in Delhi. Remdesivir is currently in high demand across the nation for treating moderate-severe cases of Covid-19.
During the hearing, the court noted that the records show 52,000 vials of Remdesivir were delivered to the National Capital. However, the Government of Delhi under Arvind Kejriwal claimed that they only received 2,500 vials of the life-saving drug. The court said, “Hoarding of medicines or oxygen cylinders leads to the creation of an artificial scarcity to an extent which may not be there,” while appealing to the people not to indulge in the hoarding of life-saving drugs and oxygen.
Hoarding leads to artificial scarcity to an extent which may not be there: Court
The court sought reason behind the decline in RT-PCR tests
The court had asked the Delhi Government to provide a status report on the number of RT-PCR tests conducted by the labs in Delhi. The court asked the government to explain the decline in the number of tests performed per day.
Use DTC buses to transport dead bodies
The court asked the Delhi Government to consider the transportation of dead bodies of Covid-19 patients via DTC buses. Due to the surge in the number of deaths per day in the national capital, people find it difficult to arrange a proper vehicle to transport the dead body from the hospital to the cremation ground.
Court criticised the attack on doctors at Apollo hospital
A bench of Delhi High Court took cognisance of the attack on doctors in Apollo Hospital by the family members of a deceased Covid-19 patient on April 27. Reports suggest that the family members of the deceased patient attacked doctors, nurses and other healthcare staff at the hospital located in Sarita Vihar, Delhi.
We hope and expect that such incidents would not be repeated. Authorities, Police should be mindful and be vigilant to prevent any untoward incident: Court #DelhiHighCourt
The court said, “Such incidents are bound to demoralise the medical community which is serving tirelessly to save lives of the people.” While directing the authorities, including police, to be vigilant, the court said, “We hope such incidents will not be repeated. The authorities, including the police, should be mindful of such conduct and be vigilant to prevent any such untoward incidents.”
On April 28, Future Supply Chains Solutions Ltd has approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court to get directions for the removal of the illegal gathering of protesting farmers outside its storage facility near the Shambhu Kalan village in Patiala district.
The company has requested the court to direct immediate removal of the farmers’ blockade and provide safe passage to the group to run its business activities. The group said in its plea that perishable goods worth Rs.4 crore are in the storage facility, and if the blockage is not removed, the products will expire soon.
Products worth Rs.66 lakh already expired
In the petition, the Future group claimed that the packaged food articles, pulses, and food grains worth Rs.66 lakh have already expired in the storage facility. Another batch of products worth Rs.1.5 crore would expire in the coming days. The group said that these products need to be taken out of the storage facility on a daily basis by the employees in the facility.
Farmer protestors blocking the storage facility amidst Future-Reliance deal
The farmer protestors are reportedly blocking the store under the impression that the Reliance group is purchasing the supply chain of Future Group. However, the deal is pending as it is being challenged in the Apex Court by Amazon. Recently, the Supreme Court stayed all the case proceedings between Amazon, Reliance, and Future Group. The apex court has set May 4 for the hearing in the matter and has asked all parties to prepare all replies by then.
District administration is not doing anything, said Future Group’s counsel
The application was filed in the High Court via Future Group’s representative Akash Bharara who is a senior manager in the company. Advocate Sachin Rai Vaid appearing for the Future Group, argued that the blockage has caused significant financial losses to the company and has caused hardship to the people of Punjab where this particular store delivers the food items at a reasonable price.
The petitioner said that there is a casual workforce of more than 400 people whose livelihood is solely dependent on the running of the operations of the storage facility. They have been sitting unemployed because of blockage for the last four months. Vaid said, “The unlawful action of the farmers in creating the said blockade and the inaction of the district administration in getting the blockade removed is resulting in infringement of the fundamental rights of the petitioner company to carry on trade and business.”
Justice Mahabir Singh Sandhu directed the petitioner to place on record the copy of the license granted by the state authorities to store food items. The matter will be heard on April 29.
