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BJP leader Tajinder Bagga puts Taiwan National Day hoarding outside the Chinese embassy, draws praise from Taiwanese MP and citizens

OpIndia Staff
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BJP leader Tajinder Bagga puts Taiwan National Day hoarding outside the Chinese embassy, draws praise from Taiwanese MP and citizens

On the occasion of the Double Tenth day, also known as the National Day of the Republic of China, BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga slammed the expansionist mindset of China. It is pertinent to remember that October 10 is celebrated as the Double Tenth Day in Taiwan to mark the onset of the Wuchang Uprising of 1911. The rebellion eventually paved the way for the foundation of the People’s Republic of China in 1912. The Republic of China had moved to Taiwan in 1949 after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) established the People’s Republic of Chinna in mainland China.

Hailing Taiwan as an independent country, the BJP leader put up a hoarding that read, “Taiwan – Happy National Day.” He placed the hoarding just outside the Chinese embassy in New Delhi. Bagga had also posted the image of the hoarding on Twitter. It may be noted that China claims that Taiwan is a part of the People’s Republic of China, and does not recognise it as a sovereign nation. Any mention of Taiwan as an independent country invites protests from the Chinese government.

Bagga’s offensive against the Chinese regime comes in the backdrop of the ongoing border standoff between India and China and the growing discontent among the Taiwanese people against China.

Taiwanese MP praises India’s fearlessness

The BJP leader’s tweet received an astounding response, with netizens appreciating him for his gesture. His tweet also caught the eye of sitting Taiwanese Member of Parliament (MP) Wang Ting-yu. While praising Indian friends for their fearlessness and determination, he tweeted, “Thank you to our Indian friends for the kind wishes! The people of Taiwan admire your spirit, your fearlessness and your determination to stand up for what is right.”

Taiwanese citizens appreciate India’s solidarity

Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga also received an overwhelming response from Taiwanese people. He took to Twitter to share pictures of the residents of Taiwan, holding pamphlets thanking him for his gesture. “10 October, Double Ten Day! Thank you Tajjinder pal Singh Bagga. From Taiwan”, a poster read.

Taiwan wants Indian media to say ‘GET LOST’ to China

Ahead of Taiwan’s national day on October 10, the Chinese mission in Delhi called upon the Indian media not to refer to Taiwan as a “nation”. In the letter, the Chinese embassy said, “would like to remind our media friends that there is only one China in the world” and the “Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing the whole of China.”

Reacting to the Chinese diktat to Indian media, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister of Taiwan Joseph Wu on Wednesday said that he hoped the Indian media would ask the Chinese mission to “get lost”. “India is the largest democracy on earth with a vibrant press and freedom-loving people. But it looks like communist China hoping to march into the subcontinent by imposing censorship,” Taiwanese Foreign Ministry said.

Republic TV CFO moves SC challenging the Mumbai Police summons in ‘TRP scam’ drama, asks them to hold investigation till hearing

OpIndia Staff
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Republic TV CFO moves SC challenging the Mumbai Police summons in ‘TRP scam’ drama, asks them to hold investigation till hearing

The Chief Financial Officer of Republic TV – S Sundaram has moved the Supreme Court challenging the summons issued to the network by the Mumbai Police in connection with the ‘Fake TRP’ case.

According to the reports, in his plea, Republic TV CFO has challenged the summons issued by the Mumbai Police to him on October 9 in connection with the case.

The CFO has also asked the Mumbai Police to stop investigation against Republic TV and its employees till the matter is heard by the Supreme Court. In his plea, Sundaram has also urged the Supreme Court to hear the case in an early hearing.

Earlier, the Mumbai Police had asked S Sundaram to appear before the Mumbai Police in connection with the investigation into the ‘Fake TRP’ case. The summons to Sundaram came after Mumbai Police had summoned Pradeep Bhandari – the consulting editor of the media network who has been extensively reporting the Sushant Singh Rajput death case.

Will join probe after Supreme Court hearing, says Republic TV CFO to Mumbai Police

However, Republic TV CFO Sundaram has written a letter to Mumbai police stating he would be available to join investigations only by October 14. He also asked the Mumbai police to not proceed with the probe till a writ petition is heard by the Supreme Court.

“I refer to the above summons issued by you on October 9, 2020 asking me to be present at your office on October 10, 2020 at 11 pm for the purpose of your investigation in the subject First Information Report. At the outset, I would express my commitment to cooperate in the said investigations,” Sundaram said in his letter.

“I wish to bring to your notice that a Writ petition under Article 32 has been filed before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India (Provisional application number 7848/2020) in relation to the above-referred matter and we have requested for an early hearing and it is likely to be listed by next week.”

“Given that the matter is to be listed soon before the Hon’ble Supreme Court, I request you to not proceed any further with the investigations in so far as Republic TV and its employees are concerned. We will join the investigations subject to the orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India,” the letter written to Shashank Sandbhor, ACP Mumbai Police reads.

Republic TV stands its ground on TRP scam propaganda, moves to SC

Following a witch-hunt by the Maharashtra government against Republic TV and Arnab Goswami in the ‘Fake TRP’ scam, Republic TV has decided to take the Maharashtra police and Uddhav Thackeray-led government head-on.

The country’s biggest media network has now decided to approach the Supreme Court against Maharashtra government and the Mumbai Police in the ‘Fake TRP’ case.

In a press release, the Republic TV said, “Acting in malice and conspiracy, the Mumbai Police and the Maharashtra Government on Thursday afternoon launched a fake case against us, without even doing a preliminary investigation”. The media house has vowed to fight this “witch-hunt” tooth and nail and win it.

The channel informed that to fight this “atrocious witch-hunt” Republic TV has approached the Supreme Court and also served notices of our legal action to the Maharashtra government.

In its statement, the media giant warned channels like India Today, who according to them are enjoying the protection of the Mumbai Police and the Maharashtra government. Republic TV warned them that tomorrow if they start doing independent journalism, they might find themselves on the other side of the fence. It also warned those channels which are exulting at this open targeting, should know that this is setting a precedent for the future.

The ‘Fake TRP’ scam

The ‘Fake TRP’ scam has taken a sensational turn in the last two days. On Thursday, Mumbai CP Param Bir Singh, in an explosive statement had accused Republic TV of ‘TRP manipulation’. In a witch hunt attack against Republic TV and Arnab Goswami, the Mumbai Commissioner had claimed, that the channel had illegally paid some households to keep some channels on even if they were not at home to boost their TRP.

However, by the end of the day, it was revealed that in the original FIR, Republic TV did not find a mention anywhere. In fact, it was India Today that had been named in the original FIR. Later, the Joint Commissioner had to admit even India Today was named in the ‘Fake TRP’ FIR.

5-year-old daughter of Mahendra Singh Dhoni gets rape threats after his team loses IPL match against KKR

OpIndia Staff
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5-year-old daughter of Mahendra Singh Dhoni gets rape threats after his team loses IPL match against KKR

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the former captain of the Indian cricket team has been on the receiving end of social media trolls after Chennai Super Kings lost a match to Kolkata Knight Riders by 10 runs in the 13th match of the IPL 2020 series in Abu Dhabi on September 7 (Wednesday). However, this time, the trolling went a bit too far. Social media users were furious when they came across posts where rape threats were issued to the five-year-old daughter of Dhoni, Ziva. 

The threats appeared on Dhoni and his wife Sakshi’s Instagram accounts following Wednesday’s loss.

Soon after this obnoxious post caught the attention of other social media users, it started circulating widely on various social media platforms. The post created a massive outrage with people from all quarters denouncing such behaviour. Following which, the user, some Vijay Gadhavi, deleted the toxic post and changed the settings of his social media account to private.

Sharing the details of the troll’s social media accounts, many users demanded that strict action must be taken against him which would set the precedence for others.

Though this sought of toxicity is condemnable, but extreme reactions against player by the so-called cricket lovers is not unheard of. There have been innumerable incidents earlier where fans have outraged after the Indian cricket team has lost any match. Players homes have been pelted with stones while their effigies and posters have also been burnt.

‘They drive as if their rear is on fire’: Watch viral video where man is seen yelling at AajTak car for rash driving

OpIndia Staff
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‘They drive as if their rear is on fire’: Watch viral video where man is seen yelling at AajTak car for rash driving

Even as India Today is embroiled in a TRP rigging scam and accused of bribing households to watch its channel for longer hours of duration, an undated video of a particularly agitated man bawling out at an Aaj Tak car is doing the rounds on the social media platforms. The video was created by the man himself who claimed that he was a victim of their careless driving.

In the video, a man, visibly aggrieved by the rash driving by an Aaj Tak car, is seen yelling at the driver and the passenger sitting in the taxi for endangering his life with their reckless driving. The car has a sticker of Aaj Tak pasted on its windscreen and the driver and the passenger of the car are seen wearing masks, indicating that the video could be from recent times.

“This is Aaj Tak’s car. They drive as if their rears are on fire. I have had enough of this. Who the hell do you think, you are?” the man shouted at the car.

Circling around the car, the enraged man dared the passenger to unsling his mask and show his face on camera. Flying into a rage, the man added, “Tell this to your Rahul Kanwal. Four years back on April 2, 2016, I was going to be run over in a similar manner by your car. This is a promise by this 5 feet 6-inch Robinhood, I would make sure you media persons pay dearly for this,” the man blurted out.

India Today accused of manipulating viewership numbers by BARC

India Today, particularly journalist Rahul Kanwal tied himself in a knot when they prematurely went hammer and tongs over the mention of Republic TV in a TRP scam announced by Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh in a press conference a couple of days ago. However, hours later, India Today had to mellow down its reportage on the TRP scam after the FIR in the case mentioned its name and not of Republic TV.

India Today was also held guilty of manipulating viewership by BARC and was asked to pay a fine of Rs 5,00,000 after their explanation did not satisfactorily explain the increase in India Today viewership by the BARC Disciplinary Council.he remand notice by Mumbai Police also mentioned in detail the illicit financial transaction the accused Vishal Bhandari had for driving up the TRP ratings of India Today. Bhandari had reportedly paid Rs 200 monthly to at least 5 households with bar-o-meters for watching India Today at least 2 hours daily.

In a statement issued by India Today regarding the claims made in the fake TRP scam later, the news channel essentially confirmed the OpIndia report on the matter and admitted that they were fined by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC). However, the media giant alleged that the action was taken by BARC without any concrete evidence or convening a proper judicial committee.

Karnataka Court orders filing of FIR against Kangana Ranaut for her tweet on protests against farm bills

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka Court orders filing of FIR against Kangana Ranaut for her tweet on protests against farm bills

A Karnataka court yesterday directed the lodging of an FIR against actress Kangana Ranaut for her tweet on the recent farmer protests. The order was passed by Judicial Magistrate First Class, Tumkur Vinod Balnaik on the complaint of Advocate Ramesh Naik.

“Complaint filed under Application U/sec 156(3) of CrPC for investigation. The Office is hereby to issue intimation to the CPI of Kyathasandra PS (Police Station) along with photostat of copy of the complaint for report”, the order read. The order was reserved on October 5.

The complainant has alleged that the Tweet posted by Ranaut has a clear intention to injure the people who are opposing the Farm Bills. It is further alleged by the complainant that the Tweet gives provocation with the intention to cause riots and promote the culture of non-violence in the young minds of society. The complainant has also questioned the government for not taking action on it and said that the government was waiting for some dangerous consequences before taking appropriate action. It was argued by the complainant that if such content was allowed, incalculable and irreparable damage will be caused to the farmers of the country.

Kangana’s Tweet

Calling out the people spreading misinformation about the Farm laws, Kangana Ranaut had posted a tweet on September 20. Comparing the farmer protests with the anti-CAA protests, the actress had called the people misleading the farmers as “terrorists”.

After the three ordinances were promulgated by the central government intended to bring major reforms in agriculture, several opposition parties had hit the streets opposing the ordinances claiming that farmers of the country were not satisfied with the bills. Among the parties holding protests were Revolutionary Marxist Party of India (RMPI), National Student Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Congress party, Trinamool Congress, Rahstriya Janta Dal (RJD), Janta Dal (Secular) and even the Muslim extremist organisations like SDPI and PFI. The protests were being presented as spontaneous by these parties but they appeared quite well planned. At some places even tractors were set on fire by Congress workers.

Alleged Naxal who was pretending to be Hathras victim’s bhabhi spoke to Communist leader Sitaram Yechury: See pictures

OpIndia Staff
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Alleged Naxal who was pretending to be Hathras victim’s bhabhi spoke to Communist leader Sitaram Yechury: See pictures

A Naxal connection has surfaced in the Hathras Case that has dominated public discourse for two weeks now. It is reported that a Naxal woman stayed with the family of the Hathras victim posing as her bhabhi (sister-in-law). It is said that the Naxal woman stayed with the family for several days between the 16th and 22nd of September. However, our sources indicate that she could have stayed longer and there is no confirmation on the exact duration of her stay.

Now, pictures are emerging where it is revealed that even Communist leaders such as Sitaram Yechury met the Naxal women during their trip to Hathras to meet the victim family. A delegation of CPI and CPI-M leaders met the family on the 6th of October and demanded a judicial enquiry into the matter.

Sitarsm Yechury meets Naxal woman

It appears as if the Naxal woman did have a conversation with Sitaram Yechury during the latter’s visit. It would also indicate that the woman stayed at the house of the victim for longer than the duration initially suspected.

The Naxal women masquerading as victim’s bhabhi

As per the Special Investigative Team (SIT) constituted by the Yogi government, the Naxalite hails from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh and has consistently been in touch with the real sister-in-law of the victim. Her identity came to the fore when the probe in the case led the investigators to the call records of the real sister-in-law. According to media reports, the real Bhabhi of the victim was in constant touch with the imposter Naxalite. The SIT has now launched a manhunt to nab the Naxalite.

Sitaram Yechury at the Hathras victim family, the Naxal woman appears to be present as well (Source: @cpimspeak)

While the Local Intelligence Unit (LIU) had warned of a conspiracy to incite riots in the area and organise a mass movement against the government under the garb of the Hathras case, the investigators were taken aback after discovering that a Naxalite was staying with the victim’s family. The SIT is now working on two different facets of the case – the murder angle and the larger conspiracy of anti-social elements to create communal tension through the case.

Maharashtra govt and police acting in malice and conspiracy: Republic TV stands its ground on TRP scam propaganda, approaches SC

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra govt and police acting in malice and conspiracy: Republic TV stands its ground on TRP scam propaganda, approaches SC

Republic TV has decided to take the Maharastra police and Uddhav Thackeray government head-on after it tried to implicate the media giant in a false “TRP manipulation” case. The media network has come out with a news release, in which it said: “Acting in malice and conspiracy, the Mumbai Police and the Maharashtra Government on Thursday afternoon launched a fake case against us, without even doing a preliminary investigation”. Saying so the media house has vowed to fight this “witch-hunt” tooth and nail and win it.

It said that the largest news network in India, which reaches over 25 crore viewers every week in English broadcast, Hindi broadcast and on the Digital space, is being targeted and this is because Republic TV has struck the wrong chord with the Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra, by persistently pursuing Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case and the Palghar lynching case.

Mumbai Police covers-up for India Today

The news release said that the Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh in a bizarre press conference made the false allegation against the network. When it was exposed that the FIR was against India Today, the Mumbai Police tried to do a hasty explanation. The Mumbai Police Joint Commissioner went on-air on India Today (the channel to whom they’d given a clean chit in 12 hours) saying there was no evidence against India Today. Saying so Republic Network has listed evidence in its news release to expose how channels like India Today are receiving the protection of the Mumbai Police and the  Maharashtra Government.

The evidences presented by Republic TV are as follows:

  1. The FIR which mentions the grave charges in the TRP Scam names India Today 6 times.
  2. The key witness in the case has gone on-record making allegations against India Today. She has cleared that Vishal Bhandari- the Relationship Manager of the Hansa Research Group Private Limited had directed her son to watch India Today to illegally increase their TRP. This is strong evidence against India today, said Republic Network.
  3. India Today was held guilty of viewership malpractice and a show-cause notice was issued to them on April 27, 2020, and was asked to pay Rs 5,00,000 fine to BARC.
  4. The serious observations of the BARC’s Disciplinary Committee headed by Honourable Justice Mukul Mudgal, former Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, established that India Today was found guilty of rigging TRPs.

While Mumbai CP busy preparing an escape route for India Today, Republic TV receives open threats from Shiv Sena govt

It said that Mumbai police commissioner has been working overtime to conjure up an escape plan for India Today after its malpractices have been exposed. This, it said cleared Param Bir Singh’s malice and political agenda.

The news release also said that the media house would like to put on record that they are being openly threatened Maharashtra Government Minister Anil Parab and top Shiv Sena leader Sunil Raut.

It furthered that Republic Media Network would also like to place on record that the Mumbai Police Commissioner’s action is in continuation to the witch-hunt of the Maharashtra Government and Shiv Sena, which on 10 September 2020 issued a warning to all cable distributors not to carry channels of the Republic Media Network or else face consequences.

We would fight this tooth and nail and win this: Republic TV

The channel informed that to fight this “atrocious witch-hunt” Republic TV has approached the Supreme Court and also served notices of our legal action to the Maharashtra Government.

In the news release, the media giant warned channels like India Today, who today are enjoying the protection of the Mumbai Police and the  Maharashtra Government. It said that tomorrow if they start doing independent journalism, they might find themselves on the other side of the fence. It also warned those channels which are exulting at this open targeting, should know that this is setting a precedent for the future.

Republic Network concluded by vowing that they would “fight this tooth and nail and win this— both in the courts of law and in the courts of public opinion”.

Republic TV journalist thereafter CFO summoned by Mumbai police

It is pertinent to note here that after Mumabi police’s efforts to malign Republic TV fell flat, it has started indiscriminately sending summons to the channel’s employees. First a summon was sent to Pradeep Bhandari- the consulting editor of the media network who has been extensively reporting the Sushant Singh Rajput death case. And today, the Mumbai police issued summons to Republic TV’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Shiva Subramaniam Sundaram in connection to the controversial ‘TRP scam’ where originally, in the FIR related to the case, only India Today was mentioned and not Republic TV.

Arnab Goswami calls the false ‘TRP scam’ case nothing but political vendetta

Interestingly, the ‘fake TRP scam’, which was concocted to malign Republic TV laid bare in less than 24 hours. It all started with the Mumbai Police commissioner coming on record and accusing Republic TV of manipulating TRPs. In a no-holds-barred attack against Republic TV and Arnab Goswami, the Mumbai CP claimed, that the channel had illegally paid some households to keep some channels on even if they were not at home to boost their TRP.

However, by the end of the day, it was revealed that in the original FIR, Republic TV did not find a mention anywhere. In fact, it was India Today that had been named in the original FIR. The Joint Commissioner had also admitted that it was indeed India Today that was named in the FIR. Later, talking to Republic TV journalist, a witness in the case had confirmed that her son was indeed asked by the accused persons in the case to watch India Today to illegally increase their TRP. However, the Mumbai Police has still decided to investigate Republic TV and not India Today. The Mumbai police gave a questionable reason for this saying that while the original complaint by Hans and the FIR by police named India Today, the witnesses in the case later named Republic TV.

Later, in an OpIndia exclusive news break, it emerged that India Today had been held guilty of ‘viewership malpractice’ back on July 31st and was asked to pay a penalty of Rs 5,00,000 to BARC by the BARC Vigilance Council. India Today, after several hours of the news break, published a statement where they admitted that they were indeed fined for viewership manipulation but said that they will take legal action against BARC since their involvement in the scam was meant to be ‘confidential’.

On his part, Arnab Goswami has said that this is nothing but the political vendetta against his channel since he has been asking tough questions of the Mumbai Police and the Uddhav Thackeray government over the Sushant Singh Rajput death and the Palghar lynching of two sadhus.

It is to be recalled that over 200 FIRs were filed against Arnab Goswami by Congress after his coverage of the Palghar lynching case and the Mumbai Police had interrogated him and the CFO of Republic TV for hours.

Real bhabhi of Hathras victim who was allegedly in touch with Naxal ‘fake bhabhi’ says the latter was her ‘Bhabhi’s relative’

OpIndia Staff
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Real bhabhi of Hathras victim who was allegedly in touch with Naxal ‘fake bhabhi’ says the latter was her ‘Bhabhi’s relative’

Hours after a News 18 report alleged that the Special Investigative Team (SIT), probing the Hathras case has found that a Naxalite from Madhya Pradesh, masquerading as the Bhabhi (sister-in-law) of the victim, was staying with the family, the real Bhabhi of the victim has come out to issue a clarification on the matter. The sensational case, which is getting murkier by the day, pertains to the alleged murder of a 19-year-old girl in Hathras village of Uttar Pradesh.

News 18 earlier reported that the SIT probing the Hathras case has found that a Naxalite stayed with the victim’s family between September 16 and September 22. The woman reportedly hails from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh and has been on the run since then. Reportedly, the Naxalite was in touch with the real Bhabhi of the victim.

‘Naxal’ Bhabhi not imposter but distant relative, claims real Bhabhi of Hathras victim

In a video that has now come to light, the real Bhabhi has claimed that the woman in question was not an imposter but a distant relative. With a ghoonghat (veil) covering her face and a child in one hand, the real Bhabhi stated, “Her (the suspected Naxalite) name is Rajkumari. She has a 10-year-old son. She has a husband and a family. There is nothing like that (what is being portrayed in the media).” On being asked about the residence of the alleged Naxalite, the real Bhabhi stated, “She lives in Jabalpur and has a job there.”

She then claimed that the alleged imposter was, in fact, a distant relative who had come to stay with the family, on learning the fate of the 19-year-old girl. “She (the suspected Naxalite) is my Bhabhi’s relative and thus a distant relative of mine. Everyone, who has learnt about the (alleged murder) incident, is coming to our house. We have relatives coming from Bhopal, Ahmedabad and Mumbai. There is nothing strange about this”, the real Bhabhi emphasised.

The Hathras case

Congress and other political parties have been using the Hathras case to further their narrative and gain a stronghold in Uttar Pradesh on anti-upper caste sentiment. Every political party in the opposition is trying to use the tragedy for their gain and the media is not far behind in using it for their own interests. Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath has ordered a CBI inquiry into the matter with numerous facets emerging to the story. The chronology of the events in the Hathras case can be explored here.

Another mob kills a Hindu for being in love with a Muslim girl, India Today whitewashes, yet again

Jinit Jain
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Another mob kills a Hindu for being in love with a Muslim girl, India Today whitewashes, yet again

An 18-year-old Delhi University student Rahul Rajput was brutally hacked to death in a savage attack by at least 5 assailants—Mohammad Afroz, Mohammad Raj and 3 others—for being in a love affair with a Muslim girl. The girl’s brother, one amongst the five assailants, fiercely opposed their inter-faith relationship and sought to teach a lesson to Rajput for his continuing tryst with the Muslim girl in defiance of his strong disapproval.

On Wednesday evening, Rajput, who studied as a journalism student and parallelly provided tuitions to the students, was called on Gali Nanda Road on some pretext. When he reached the spot, he was attacked by a fervid mob of 4-5 people, raining incessant blows on him and mercilessly flogging him. An injured Rajput somehow managed to escape their wrath and crawl back to his house in a mortally injured state. He was then rushed to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to the fatal injuries in his abdomen while undergoing treatment.

Predictably, many mainstream media organisation chose to completely disregard the incident as if it never happened. Some of those who reported the incident were dishonest in divulging unabridged details of the case. One such media group was India Today, who is embroiled in a TRP scam lately and being one of the accused in the scandal involving payment of bribes to households with bar-o-meters to watch India Today channel daily, in a bid to drive up their shrinking TRPs.

India Today whitewashes the accused by refraining to disclosing their identities

India Today published a report where it said that an 18-year-old boy was beaten to death for his “friendship” with a woman. The media house euphemistically characterised a love affair between the duo as “friendship”. While this was not the only instance in the report where India Today attempted to water down the gruesome killing of a Hindu boy in love with a Muslim girl.

India Today report describes inter-faith relationship as “friendship”

In its entire report, India Today has described in excruciating detail the particulars of the incident, the charges pressed against the culprits, the deployment of the police force in the neighbourhood to simmer down the tensions, the testimony of the deceased’s uncle, the cause of the victim’s death, police statement on the incident and so on and so forth.

However, what is absent in the India Today report is any mention of an inter-religious love affair between the Hindu boy and the Muslim girl. The channel, very deceitfully, shuns any mention of a love affair and dubs it as “friendship”, so that inconvenient details such as “inter-faith love relationship” can be easily glossed over.

In addition to this, what is also conspicuous by its absence is any reference about the identities of those who presided over such a heinous crime. Though 3 of those arrested are juvenile and their identity cannot be revealed in accordance with the Indian laws, the channel did not highlight the religion espoused by the remaining two accused arrested in the case. Mohammad Afroz and Mohammad Raj were two of the 5 men who mob lynched Rajput on Nanda road but India Today refrained from mentioning their identity, which would have given away their religious affiliation.

India Today report downplayed communal angle in 2018 murder of Ankit Saxena

Earlier in 2018, the India Today report had sought to understate the horrifying killing of a Hindu boy named Ankit Saxena when his throat was slit in broad daylight by the family members of her Muslim girlfriend.

India Today report on Ankit Saxena’s gruesome murder

The headlines of the article which was published by the India Today then read: “Delhi photographer Ankit Saxena’s murder: All you need to know in 10 points” as if his profession as ‘photographer’ was a powerful determinant for the perpetrators to brutally murder him. Saxena was murdered because he was a Hindu and his Muslim girlfriend’s family relatives opposed their inter-faith relationship. However, the India Today article even downplayed the religion angle, quoting an unknown friend of slain Ankit who claimed to have said that there was no communal angle attached to his killing.

Eyewitness accounts suggested that Shehzadi’s mother wore a helmet and rode her scooter to the traffic intersection where they knew Ankit was present. She then rammed her scooter into Ankit’s vehicle so that Ankit would be forced to step out to help. As she was wearing a helmet, Ankit could not identify her and stepped out to help.

The woman then confronted Ankit and soon she was joined by her other family members. They all began to heckle and abuse Ankit blaming him that he had influenced Shehzadi to leave the house. When Ankit bent down to help his mother get up, the girl’s uncle and brother then caught him by his hair and pulled him up. At that moment, while the two of them held Ankit’s arms from behind, the girl’s father had slit his throat using his butchering knife.

Media organisations have a knack of shielding the perpetrators of minority community

It has often been observed that mainstream media organisations remain economical with the truth when the victim of a gruesome act belongs to the majority community and the perpetrator is from a minority community. Every attempt is made to suppress the religion angle, and extraneous reasons and motivations such as “friendship” are cited as causes for committing the crime.

However, this doesn’t hold when a victim is from a minority community and the aggressor from the majority community. The entire majority community is vilified and countless opinion pages find their way on such media portals holding forth on the increasing majoritarianism in the country even when the cause of the crime is established as personal enmity.

This is done with the sole aim of downplaying the religious connotation of the crimes committed by adherents of the minority communities while holding Hindus’ feet to fire in order to keep them under pressure. It is to this end that India Today’s recent report whitewashed the crimes committed by Muslim youths against a Hindu man for being in love with a Muslim girl and minimised their offences as “fight over friendship with a woman”.

Hathras case: Uttar Pradesh Police files affidavit in Supreme Court, cites Delhi police and intel reports claiming conspiracy to incite riots

OpIndia Staff
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Hathras case: Uttar Pradesh Police files affidavit in Supreme Court, cites Delhi police and intel reports claiming conspiracy to incite riots

Amid the ongoing hearing in the SC regarding the Hathras case, the Uttar Pradesh police have submitted an affidavit before the apex court. In the affidavit, the Uttar Pradesh police have cited reports by Delhi police and intelligence department warning them of an opposition’s conspiracy in the Hathras case.

Political party functionaries instigated the Hathras victim’s family

The affidavit by UP Police states that functionaries of various political parties had reached the Safdarganj hospital shortly after the victim had succumbed to her injuries and provoked her family not to accept the body until their demands were met.

The Uttar Pradesh police also attached a report by the intelligence department dated September 29 which spoke about how organisations associated with Valmiki community, Bhim Army and Azad Samaj Party might gather in Hathras in large numbers to stage a protest which might take a violent turn.

Opposition party members spearheaded the protest

The Uttar Pradesh police in the affidavit also cited a report sent by the Deputy Commissioner of Police of South-West District of Delhi to the Secretary of Home Department, Turna Gaba, on October 4. The report stated that as soon as the post mortem of the deceased started, people started gathering in large numbers, including Dalit activist Udit Raj, Bhima Army Chief Chandra Shekhar Azad and former Congress MP PL Punia and their supporters. Thereafter, AAP MLA Rakhi Birla started staging a protesting. The police appealed to them to maintain peace but to no avail, stated the report.

Uttar Pradesh Police not allowed to talk to the victim’s family

The Delhi Police report also stated that the people present there were instigating the victim’s family to not accept the body of the victim until their demands were met. Some protesters were demanding that the chief minister should come to the hospital personally and assure the family. It read that the victim’s family which was under the influence of these political leaders were surrounded by a huge crowd of people who did not allow the Police officers to meet and talk to the family.

Reports warned of violent agitations over the Hathras victim’s dead body

The UP Police has also cited an intelligence report shared by the SP, law and order, on September 29. It had warned that upon the arrival of the victim’s body in Hathras, her relatives and the political parties may bar the family to perform her last rites. There were inputs that they might indulge in a violent protest by keeping the victim’s body on the road. They might agitate and also resort to stone pelting, the intel report cited.

The report further stated that protestors might block trains, burn effigies and create a ruckus. Basically, the reports cited that a conspiracy was being hatched to trigger unrest over the Hathras incident. Based on these inputs, later, the UP Police registered 19 FIRs against 700 people who were accused of conspiring in the brutal incident.

Citing similar reasons the Uttar Pradesh Government had asked for a Supreme Court-monitored CBI probe into the case.

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