The Rajasthan Police has registered an FIR against former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot’s media manager Lokendra Singh and Aaj Tak journalist Sharat Kumar for reporting on the phone tapping of Congress MLAs during their stay in a hotel in Jaisalmer.
According to the reports, the FIR against the Aaj Tak reporter Kumar and Lokendra Singh comes two months after the Sachin Pilot’s camp had accused the Ashok Gehlot-led government of tapping phones of some of their MLAs during their stay at a hotel amidst the political crisis in the state. Sachin Pilot and a number of MLAs on his side were rebelling gainst the Ashok Gehlot led faction at that time.
The Rajasthan Police had lodged the FIR at Jaipur’s Vidhayak Puri police station against Lokendra Singh, the media manager of Congress leader Sachin Pilot and Sharat Kumar.
The FIR has been filed under IPC Sections 505 (1) (whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, rumour or report), 505 (2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes), 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and section 76 of the Information and Technology Act (the Act allows police to confiscate any kind of gadget related to information sharing).
The SHO of Vidhayak Puri police station said that they have summoned Lokendra Singh to the police station on Thursday along with his gadgets, which were allegedly used for the information dissemination of ‘phone tapping report’.
“I was the last one to report the ‘phone tapping story’. Most of my colleagues had reported the same story. I fail to understand that why the government has singled out one media house in particular”, said Aaj Tak journalist Sharat Kumar, who has been named in the FIR.
Sachin Pilot camp had made ‘Phone tapping’ allegations against Ashok Gehlot-led government
In August, amidst the political crisis in the state, the Sachin Pilot-led Congress MLAs had alleged that Rajasthan’s CM Ashok Gehlot had tapped their phones, who were then staying at Jaisalmer’s Suryagarh hotel. The Pilot camp had alleged that the calls of at least six MLAs in Jaisalmer were being recorded “unconstitutionally” by the state government.
The Pilot camp had also claimed that “four jammers have also been installed at Suryagarh resort by Ajaib Electronics and there is just one place in the entire hotel from where calls can be made”.
However, the Rajasthan police had denied the allegations and claimed that people were spreading false information.
A political crisis had erupted in Rajasthan Congress in July this year, after Sachin Pilot and his camp had rebelled against CM Ashok Gehlot. However, the crisis between the two Congress leaders ended in a truce.
Opposition, activists attack Congress-led government in Rajasthan
Following the FIR against the journalist, the activists in Rajasthan have condemned Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government for attacking the freedom of the press.
Kavita Srivastava, President and Anant Bhatnagar, General Secretary of People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) said, “We condemn the vindictiveness of the Rajasthan Government led by CM Ashok Gehlot, which has sanctioned the lodging of FIR against two senior journalists, Sarat Kumar of Aaj Tak and Lokendra Singh (XYZ news Channel).
Meanwhile, the opposition BJP slammed Gehlot for suppressing the fourth pillar of democracy. The Rajasthan BJP President Satish Poonia tweeted on Wednesday, “Ashok Gehlot who often talks about the democracy being in danger is now suppressing the fourth pillar of democracy because in past days journalist have raised the voices of deprived and voiceless”.
Disturbing visuals have emerged from the ‘Nabanno Chalo’ rally organised by the BJYM at Kolkata as BJP karyakartas took to the streets on Thursday to protest against the deteriorating law and order situation and continued attack and murder of BJP leaders in the state. BJP leaders said that they were attacked with tear gas, lathi-charge and even country-made bombs were hurled at them.
Images from the ‘Nabanno Chalo’ rally accessed by OpIndia reveal that senior leaders of the BJP and its youth organisation BJYM also suffered the brutality at the hands of the state administration along with ordinary karyakartas of the party. One photograph captured at an unspecified location shows Arvind Menon, national secretary of the BJP, sitting haplessly in front of a store.
Arvind Menon, national secretary of the BJP
Another image accessed by OpIndia shows Tapas Ghosh, state vice president of the BJYM, drenched in what appears to be water with a miserable expression on his face.
Tapas Ghosh, state vice president of the BJYM
Jyotirmay Singh Mahato, BJP MP from the Purulia Lok Sabha Constituency, also spoke on the manner in which brutality was unleashed on a peaceful democratic protest. He said that tear gas, chemicals and lathi-charge were used against them. “It is very dangerous for a democracy, this should not happen,” he said. Mahato squarely blamed the violence on the police, he called them ‘goondas’.
BJP MP Locket Chatterjee said that Mamata Banerjee has already surrendered, referring to the fact that Nabanno was shut down by the Trinamool government. She also questioned the West Bengal Chief Minister’s lack of courage during her speech at the Nabanno Chalo. Locket Chatterjee said that the rally was part of the BJP’s efforts to usher in an era of ‘Shonar Bangla’.
As per sources OpIndia spoke to, 450 karyakartas of the BJP have been arrested thus far and over a thousand were injured during the crackdown on the ‘Nabanno Chalo’ protest by the BJYM. After the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) announced a protest outside the state secretariat Nabanna today, the state government decided to shut down the secretariat for two days. The government also cited the Supreme Court order yesterday on Shaheen Bagh protest justifying preventing the protest rally from taking place.
Former Director-General of Police, Bihar, Gupteshwar Pandey, has announced on his Facebook page that he is not contesting elections this year. He was expecting to get ticket from the NDA-JDU alliance to contest the election from Baksar or Valmiki Nagar seat.
In his post on 7th October, he wrote he was upset with the phone calls of well-wishers. “After my retirement, everyone expected that I would contest the election, but I am not contesting the assembly elections this time. There is nothing to be disappointed about. Be patient. He further added, “I will be in public service all my life. Please be patient, and do not call me. My life is dedicated to the people of Bihar.”
His fans and followers were not happy with the update and showed their displeasure in the comments.
Pandey is a 1987 batch IPS officer had earlier served as zonal IG at Muzaffarpur. He served at various posts including SP, Range DIG, ADG Headquarter and DG BMC.
He took voluntary retirement on 22nd September and joined Janta Dal (United) on 27th September in the presence of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. Pandey was expected to contest upcoming state elections in Bihar as he had taken voluntary retirement ahead of the end of his tenure.
Chhattisgarh Police arrested one former Congress leader named Amrit Tirkey on Monday for raping a minor girl. As per the report published in Hindi Daily Dainik Bhaskar, the incident happened one month ago, after which Tirkey himself went to the police station with his minor relative and alleged someone had raped her. The police registered a case against the accused and started an investigation, where they found that Tirkey was lying and in fact, he was the culprit.
SP Santosh Singh said during the investigation, they found out that the case was fake. The police questioned the victim again. On questioning, the victim said that Tirkey raped her and not the person she named while filing the complaint. Her statement was recorded in front of the magistrate, after which the police arrested Tirkey under Section 376 of the IPC and POSCO Act.
Tirkey was associated with the Congress Party and has contested the assembly elections from Dharamjaigarh in 2008. In 2019, he contested election from Raigarh as an independent candidate under the banner of Progressive Samajwadi Party. The infamous ‘bahubali’ of Chhattisgarh had been named in several highway robberies, illegal coal excavations, and many other crimes. He had covered up his wrongdoings under the shadow of his political connections.
Negligence by police in the rape case
When the victim took Tirkey’s name in front of the magistrate, SP Singh took charge of the case and registered FIR against Amrit Tirkey. During further investigation, negligence of the officers and police personnel of Dharamjaygarh and Reruma Chowki police station also came to light. The police also found out that Tirkey raped the 14-year-old victim for around eight months. Amrit had doubts that the victim’s family can file a complaint against him, so he sent them to the house of a relative living in Kapu Kadmodhori. The family of the victim filed a case against two men after Tirkey threatened them to do so.
More than 25 years of terror
Tirkey has become synonymous with terror for more than 25 years in the Dharamjaigarh-Pathalgaon area. He has more than a dozen cases registered against him since 1998. He was indulged in the coal mafia for more than 15 years. Tejpur area is known for its high-quality coal mines. He used to threaten forest and mining officers. Tirkey started his ‘career’ as a robber by attacking a truck on Dharamjaigarh-Pathalgaon highway. He had committed the robbery of countless bikes and trucks since then.
Rahul Gandhi’s close aide and Congress leader Shyoraj Jivan Valmiki is being interrogated by Hathras police. An FIR was registered against him on Wednesday for alleged attempt to instigate caste violence in the area in the pretext of the Hathras case. As per ANI UP, ADG Ajay Anand, Agra Zone, said he was called for questioning. He had been booked for allegedly inciting caste violence in Hathras.
Congress leader Shyoraj Jivan at a police station in #Hathras for questioning.
Jivan talked to ANI and said he was taken into custody by the Police.
Attempt to instigate caste-violence
On 7th October, it was reported that in a sting operation conducted by Republic TV, he revealed murky details of a bloody plot to instigate caste violence in Hathras. He said the preparations to stroke massive caste violence were already completed. “PL Punia, Akhilesh Yadav from Samajwadi Party can also join the agitation. Our leader, Rahul Gandhi will come to the scene only after bullets start flying around,” he had candidly admitted. He had explained how riots are to start and how many deaths will be needed to cause a large scale riot and mayhem over the caste faultlines in the area.
After the sting operation was aired, an FIR was registered against Shyoraj Jivan Valmiki by Hathras Police.
Hathras Case
The Hathras case has become a powerful tool for the opposition parties to cause trouble in the state and the rest of the country. The leaders of opposition parties are trying their level best to use the case for political gains. From Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi’s visit to Hathras to the arrests of PFI members from Mathura, there have been many updates in the case in the last couple of weeks.
A 19-year-old woman died on 29th September 2020 after fighting for her life for two weeks in the hospital. There were allegations that she was raped, but the forensic report had ruled it out. A Special Investigation Team formed by CM Yogi Adityanath is investigating the case. During a hearing in the case in Supreme Court, the UP government has favoured court-supervised CBI inquiry in the case.
The West Bengal government decided to respond to a ‘Nabanno Chalo’ protest by the youth wing of the BJP over the deteriorating law and order situation and continued attack and murder of BJP leaders on Thursday by cracking down even harder on the karyakartas of the BJP during the rally. Images circulating on social media reveal that the BJP karyakartas were lathi-charged, tear gas were hurled at them and the karyakartas were attacked with even country-made bombs.
West Bengal: Police use water cannon & lathi-charge to disperse BJP workers during a protest at Hastings in Kolkata.
BJP has launched a state-wide ‘Nabanna Chalo’ agitation march today to protest against the alleged killing of its party workers. pic.twitter.com/T2om4xUxlq
Tejasvi Surya, a Member of Parliament from Karnataka attending the Nabanno Chalo protest, said on social media that ‘TMC goons’ hurled country-made bombs at them from rooftops. Adding that water cannons and lathi-charge were also used against them, he declared that the “tyrant’s time is coming to an end”.
This is what fascism looks like!
Country bombs hurled at our rally by TMC goons from rooftops.
Tear gas and water canons launched against a peaceful march.
Others associated with the party also said that toxic chemicals were used against the BJP karyakartas. It is also claimed that several karyakartas have been hospitalised due to the chemical attack.
Responding to questions on how responsible it was to hold such a rally during a pandemic, BJP Bengal-in-Charge Kailash Vijayvargiya said, “All workers are wearing masks. Are rules only for us? Mamata Ji holds demonstrations with thousands and we’re being taught lessons of social distancing. Do same rules not apply to her?”
The ‘Nabanno Chalo’ Protest
After the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) announced a protest outside the state secretariat Nabanna today, the state government decided to shut down the secretariat for two days. The government also cited the Supreme Court order yesterday on Shaheen Bagh protest justifying preventing the protest rally from taking place.
The state govt cited the SC order of Shaheen Bagh protests delivered yesterday, where the apex court had ruled that public places can’t be occupied indefinitely for protests. Although the court order was against the long-time occupation of a public place for protests, which happened in Shaheen Bagh where a vital road was blocked for several months, the West Bengal govt used that order to prevent the protest from taking place.
The Hathras case has turned into a great political drama with the Congress party looking to use the tragedy as a platform to launch the career of Priyanka Gandhi and a pliant media has been compliant with their interests. The case, where mainstream media attention had peaked with fake claims of victim’s tongue being cut and eyes being gouged out, soon started toeing the lines of caste-polarisation as desired by Congress, Bhim Army and other groups seeking political relevance in a state ruled by BJP with an absolute majority.
After the post mortem and forensic reports ruled out rape or sexual assault on the victim, the video clips of initial statements of the victim and family had emerged, where there was no mention of rape. In the last few days, the UP government has unearthed a plot to stir violence and riots, funding routes and political exploitation of caste-faultlines in the area, where a large-scale riot was being fanned.
The media, which traditionally twists facts and narrative to suit political interests of the Congress party purports to demand justice of the victim, however, the truth being the seed of justice, when suppressed, can only lead to grave injustice. The Quint, in its attempt to further a narrative that was grossly misleading and help vested political interests, published a video on the 6th of October where they claimed to trace how ‘BJP leader and right-wing groups were supporting the Hathras rape accused’.
Towards the beginning of the video, Quint starts with a short clip of Pandit Pankaj Dhavraiya, national president of Rashtriya Savarn Parishad. The mere inclusion of this clip in this video means that The Quint is trying to insinuate that Dhavraiya supported the accused men in the Hathras incident and he did so because he is an “upper caste” and the accused are Thakurs.
Screengrab from The Quint video
When one looks at the full video, it was evident that Dhavraiya was talking about the petty politics being played by Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad. It is no surprise that the narrative that The Quint has adopted is exactly the same that was peddled by various Islamists on Twitter, saying that this was the face of ‘Hindutva’ of the RSS and BJP.
Upper-caste Thakur leaders threatening the #Hathras rape victims family in presence of #UPPolice!
While there is no evidence that the man in the video is connected to the BJP and RSS, the prevalent narrative seldom needs facts. Further, in the video itself, Dhavraiya was heard questioning Azad about his lack of faith in the SIT and other investigating agencies. He said Azad was playing petty politics and had no faith in the investigation. He later says ‘Aaja hum bharosa dilayenge, tera bhai aaya hai milne’ in an aggressive tone.
In a charged environment where the media and elements like Azad and Congress themselves have drawn battle lines based on caste, it is sadly the reality that both sides, who have forced to come face to face due to politics would take an aggressive stand, however, there is not one byte in the the entire video, where Dhavraiya was seen “supporting the accused rapists”. In fact, throughout the video that is publicly available, he is trusting the process of the law.
The Panchayat and its demands
To understand the intention of Dhavraiya, one has to also check another video of his that is viral on the internet.
हाथरस मामले में ठाकुर समाज की भी पंचायत हुई है. पंचायत में FSL रिपोर्ट का ज़िक्र करते हुए कहा गया कि रेप नहीं हुआ है, हमारे बच्चों को फंसाया जा रहा है. pic.twitter.com/MUkpK6RzOM
In this video, the Thakur community in Uttar Pradesh was heard expressing their anguish over the arrest of the accused in the Hathras case while claiming that the accused are being falsely implicated in a rape case. The gathering was organised by the Savarna Samaj of more than two dozen villages and Dhavraiya is seen leading the panchayat.
“The FSL report says there was no rape but politicians and the media claim there was rape,” one of the voices can be heard saying. The apparent leader of the gathering says that an impartial investigation should be conducted and if any of the accused is found not-guilty, then they should be let off without bail. He also bemoans the fact that the reputation of the community has been tarnished.
The person also says that no one should create a nuisance and should not resort to any hooliganism. The person emphasised that no political party should come among them. He says that everyone has spat upon their kids and their community and their sentiments have been hurt because of it. “Only oppose the political parties, the rest will sort itself out,” he says.
The panchayat also affirmed their support for a Narco test. Dhavraiya was seen saying that they were ready for any kind of investigation and if the accused are guilty, they should be hanged. But if they are not, they should be released respectfully.
While the Dhavraiya believes that the accused are innocent, there is no clip of him or the Thakur community deriding the SC community, the family of the victim, the victim herself or even saying that regardless of facts, the accused were right. Demanding a fair probe cannot be seen as ‘supporting the accused’ in any manner.
Next, in the video, The Quint alleges that ‘Right wing groups’ along with ‘BJP leader’ supported the “Thakurs accused”.
Screengrab from The Quint video
Screengrab from The Quint video
What is essential to be noticed here that The Quint repeatedly calls the accused as “Thakur accused” to fan baseless caste sentiments in an already politicised case.
After pointing out how the number of accused change and the rape charge was only added later, the BJP leader in The Quint video says that they welcome the CBI inquiry. While he did allege that the rape charge is false, he also said that the CBI inquiry is welcomed.
How is asking for a fair probe the same as ‘supporting rapists’?
Further in the video, they targeted Dhavraiya all over again, playing an audio clip of him talking to The Quint. They alleged that he issued “open threats of violence”. In the audio clip itself, Dhavraiya says that it is Azad who is trying to instigate violence and they only want that he should not be allowed to divide the society on the lines of Savarna and Dalit. He further says that we should all live together happily and if there is an issue, there should be dialogue instead of instigation. On being probed further, he said that if he had to threaten, he has thousands of karyakartas and they could have beaten him up inside the village itself. He then says that they don’t want any sort of violence but politicians playing petty politics should be stopped and if they are not, there are chances of violence.
In the entire audio, the Hindu leader repeatedly says that he does not want violence but the petty politics of division should stop.
Nobody is truly sure how this amounts to supporting “Thakur rapists” or even issuing threats. One wonders if The Quint is of the opinion that Azad is beyond question and his petty politics of division is something to be supported?
Throughout the video, where The Quint spoke to “upper-caste protestors”, the underlying theme was the same – the guilty must be punished. The protestor also says that the forensic reports shows no evidence of rape and because of petty politics, the community is being called ‘atyaachari, duraachari’.
The Quint’s sinister design is evident when in the video, after talking to the protestor, they pull out a picture of him with Lord Ram in the image and a caption that read ‘Garv se Kaho Hum Hindu Hai’.
Screengrab from The Quint video
The sinister design is rather evident – after an incident of crime, it was the very media that created a “Thakur-Dalit” divide to brand an entire community as oppressive and criminal. Then, when that community gets agitated and talks about the branding of their community, owing to the fact that they belong to “upper caste”, the same media then extrapolates it to malign all Hindus, which would include Dalits. Essentially, the media used a Dalit victim to target the upper-castes, and then, used the entire incident to malign Hindus that would include Dalits.
The rhetoric that is being peddled by elite media like The Quint proves that they are far disconnected from the ground reality of villages. When a crime occurs, it is often that in the rural areas, the story is very different from what the media understands and often, the community comes together to demand a fair probe from the authorities after the prevalent narrative, either in the media or in the village itself, leads to the arrest of a certain accused. This phenomenon is not limited to “upper caste Hindus” as the Quint would want one to believe. There are several documented cases where Dalits themselves demanded the release of the accused and a fair probe to follow.
Earlier in September, Dalits sat on Dharna to protest against the arrest of a man named Lekhram Gautam, accused of raping and murdering a three-year-old girl in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district.
Dalit villagers sitting on Dharna
The Dalit villagers were demanding a CBI probe and had claimed that the accused is innocent.
Selective vilification of a community?
It is not uncommon for communities to demand a fair probe from authorities higher than local authorities and also, for communities to demand the freeing of the accused. The media, however, had picked up on Hathras selectively because it gives them the opportunity to divide Hindus and even target Hindus by using a Dalit family and a tragic incident. This is being done for petty political gains and to provide Priyanka Gandhi Vadra a launching pad for her parties failing electoral fortunes, as discussed earlier.
In fact, there are several cases where the Muslim community knowingly attacked the police to save the accused in cases of rape, murder and even cow-slaughter.
In May 2020, a violent mob has attacked a team of policemen in Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli district after they had visited the village to arrest an accused in an illegal cow slaughter case. In 2018, communal tension prevailed in parts of Jharkhand after beef was allegedly found despite a ban on cow slaughter in the state. As reported by Jagran, when the Police reached the spot to intervene, a mob even threw bombs on the police. As per reports, in Ranchi, a cow was being openly slaughtered. But before the police could stop it, the animal had already been killed. The police arrested on Bashir Ansari, but that led to a violent protest by the mob of villagers who gheraoed the police, pelted stones and even shouted pro-Pakistan slogans.
It is interesting that the media develops selective amnesia when it comes to cases where police were actually attacked because of mobs protesting the accused and calls Hindus demanding for a fair-probe as those “supporting Thakur accused”. Demanding a fair probe can, by no measure, be called support for rapists. One is to recall that the very same trope was also used in Kathua where they wanted to tarnish the Hindu community selectively and maliciously.
In the case of the Kathua rape and killing of a minor girl, the crime had happened in January 2018. There was no cries of ‘shielding’ and ‘protecting’ from the media or the opposition initially. The then PDP-BJP government had given the case to the Jammu and Kashmir crime branch and though there was earlier news of Hindus being targeted and forced to leave their villages, the government appeared to have completed the investigation and charge sheet was filed in April.
Suddenly on the day of the charge sheet filing, the media narrative took an unexpected turn. What was a grossly underreported case, grabbed headlines in print, broadcast and social media. The Jammu Bar Association had held a protest before the courtroom demanding CBI probe into the matter and they had also demanded action over the Rohingya settlement issue.
The popular narrative that was fed on national media was that the Lawyers of Jammu were ‘shielding’ the rapists of Kathua case and obstructing the filing of charge sheet. Soon, there was massive outrage and debates. Within no time, the issue was given communal colours and prominent intellectuals termed it ‘Hindu Nationalists shielding rapists of Muslim girl‘. Terms like ‘cow-vigilantism’, anti-muslim mindset etc were incorporated into the narrative too. All this due to the fact that the lawyers carried the national flag while holding protests over the Rohingya issue and demand of CBI enquiry in the Kathua rape case.
Essentially, the media that leans to the Left demands absolute and complete subjugation of the people in the cases that they choose to pick up for their own petty political gains. Any demand for a fair probe or inquiry is called a “shielding of the rapist”. On the other hand, in the Delhi Riots probe, the very media has actively shielded people like Tahir Hussain, Umar Khalid and the other accused despite overwhelming evidence against them because again, it suited their narrative.
For the media today, the maligning and tarnishing of Hindus is the only objective – the road they choose to take might be different, but the script they follow, to the last letter, is exactly the same – only repeated over and over again in an infinite loop.
Days after Andhra Pradesh police had arrested his own son in a sexual harassment case, in a bizarre incident, an SDPI leader was seen protesting against the Uttar Pradesh government over the Hathras incident.
According to the reports, the son of SDPI leader Abdul Hameed Salmara was arrested by Andhra Pradesh police in Puttur, Dakshina Kannada district for molesting and sexually harassing a Dalit woman in Andhra Pradesh.
The arrested person was identified as Mohammed Faizal, son of Abdul Hameed Salmara. Salmara is a leader of SDPI and resident of Chikkamudnoor village near Puttur.
However, the father of the accused had participated in a protest against Uttar Pradesh government over Hathras murder case on Tuesday despite the fact that his son was arrest for sexually harassing a Dalit woman.
Faizal cheated and sexually harassed a Dalit woman
Reportedly, Faizal had met a lady from Andhra Pradesh through social media platform Instagram. A few days later Faizal had developed acquaintance with the Dalit woman, which later turned into a love affair resulting in a physical relationship.
The victim has now alleged that the son of the SDPI leader had threatened the lady with uploading her photographs on social websites after she had requested him to marry her. Later, the Dalit lady registered a complaint with the Andhra Pradesh police, who visited Puttur on October 4 and arrested the accused Faisal.
Shockingly, two days after the arrest of his own son, the SDPI leader shamefully protested in the rally to seek justice for the 19-year-old Dalit girl in Hathras in UP, who died after an attack and alleged rape last month.
The News Broadcasting Standard Authority (NBSA) has slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on AajTak, the Hindi-language news channel of the India Today group for telecasting fake tweets relating to actor late Sushant Singh Rajput. It has also asked the broadcaster to air an apology admitting on national television that it did not conduct the due diligence required prior to telecasting the tweets and attributing them to the late actor. The text, date and time of the apology will be given to the broadcaster.
It has asked AajTak to submit the proof of compliance of the telecast of the apology to the association within 7 days of telecast. And also said that the fine should be payed to it within 7 days of receipt of the order.
The notice issued to AajTak
AajTak spreads fake news on actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death
India Today Group’s Aaj Tak has in the recent past spread several such fake news related to Sushant Singh Rajput. It had published an elaborate piece on late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s “last tweets” on June 16, two days after the actor was found dead in his house in Mumbai. Aaj Tak had also tweeted the article from its official Twitter account. The Tweet where the news channel shared the link of the emotionally-charged report on these “tweets” where the late actor allegedly hinted taking his own life were subsequently deleted. Aaj Tak later took down its report without clarification. An archived link of the tweet can be viewed here.
Screenshot of now-deleted article
The association has ordered AajTak to remove the videos of the said programme, if hosted, from its website, YouTube or other links immediately and confirm to NBSA within 7 days.
Many websites like newstracklive.com, India.com, news4nation.com, and many others had carried the same news which AajTak had reported. While newstracklive.com later deleted its report, India.com altered its story into a fact-check.
Moreover, the channels like AajTak and India TV had also shared images of Sushant Singh Rajput’s mortal remains, which had gone viral on social media. It is pertinent to note here that OpIndia had then reported how these viral images may have been morphed to push suicide theory.
With regard to the telecasts of the images by channels like AajTak and India TV news, NBSA decided that the channels should apologise for the egregious violations of the aforesaid guidelines and in particular for the manner in which the images of the body of Sushant Singh Rajput were shown.
AajTak, while covering the death of the actor had displayed headlines like: “Aise kaise hit-wicket ho gaye Sushant?”, “Sushant zindagi ki pitch par hit-wicket kaise ho gaye” and “Sushant itne ashant kaise?” NBSA condemned the news channel for its irresponsible coverage by carrying the aforementioned tagline and said that the broadcaster has violated the Specific Guideline Covering Reportage.
Along with AajTak, the association also castigated channels like Zee News and News 24 for their coverage on Sushant Singh Rajput. The two media houses had used taglines like “7 questions on Sushant’s death”- “Patna ka Sushant, Mumbai me fail kyu?” and “Hey, why didn’t you watch your own film Sushant?” respectively.
In view of the above, NBSA has decided that the broadcasters AajTak, Zee News and News 24 be directed to air an apology.
India Today has also previously attempted to paint Sushant as a mentally disturbed person based on a leaked statement by the unethical therapist not medically licensed to make that diagnosis. Moreover, India Today’s ace employee Rajdeep Sardesai had also interviewed Rhea Chakraborty, the prime suspect in the death case of the actor. The interview was broadcast on Hindi news channel AajTak. The interview was widely condemned and the journalist was criticised for trying to whitewash the allegations against Rhea by carrying out an interview with a suspect in the case.
Canadian actor, writer, director, and producer Daniel Joseph Levy, also known as Dan Levy, slammed Comedy Central India for censoring a kiss between two men in a promo clip the channel had tweeted one and a half years ago. Daniel Levy is the co-creator and an actor in the sitcom Schitt’s Creek, which was aired by Comedy Central India in India, and a promo of the show was tweeted by Comedy Central India on 19th March 2019 which attracted the attention of Levy on 6th September 2020.
Responding to the clip, Dan Levy tweeted, “You showed the kiss between two women, you showed the kiss between a woman and a man, then removed the kiss between two men? This is a show about the power of inclusivity. The censorship of gay intimacy is making a harmful statement against that message.”
You showed the kiss between two women, you showed the kiss between a woman and a man, then removed the kiss between two men? This is a show about the power of inclusivity. The censorship of gay intimacy is making a harmful statement against that message. #loveislovehttps://t.co/3ouNbuetq1
The clip in question is from the fifth season of the show, which showed a scene when several characters in the show were playing the kissing game ‘spin the bottle’. In the scene, it is seen that Stevie Budd (played by Emily Hampshire) spins the bottle, and it lands on Alexis Rose (played by Annie Murphy), and the two women share a short kiss as per the rules of the game. After that, Alexis spins the bottle which lands on her boyfriend Ted Mullens (Dustin Milligan), and they also kiss each other. Next, it is the turn of Ted to spin the bottle, which lands on David Rose (played by Dan Levy).
Seeing this situation, others in the game ask Ted to re-spin to avoid the awkward situation, saying that the bottle landed between two people. But Ted shows sportsman spirit and moves forward to kiss David. But the moment he reaches David, the scene is abruptly cut, and moves to a shot when the two men have finished the kiss. After that, the clip continues for some more moments, showing conversation among the characters following the game.
Therefore, while the former two kisses between two women and a man and a woman are shown in the promo, the kiss between the two men was censored by the channel in its promo, which irked Levy.
I thought I made this pretty clear but for those who are confused, this is about a channel in India. @ComedyCentral in America is not censoring the show. They have been lovely and respectful. Thank you for your time. ✌??
After the tweet by Levy, several people started slamming Comedy Central for such censorship, after which he posted another tweet clarifying that it was Comedy Central India which censored the scene, not the parent organisation in the US.
Comedy Central responds
Following the harsh criticism from the actor-director-producer, Comedy Central chose to respond to the same. They replied to him with the clip which was censored by Comedy Central India, where Ted is seen kissing David. The official handle of Comedy Central didn’t include any text in their reply, they just posted a GIF of the clip. Comedy Central India remained silent on Twitter over the issue.
Schitt’s Creek is a popular comedy series that ran for 6 seasons in 80 episodes, winning several awards. The show is appreciated for its bold portrayal of LGBTQ+ relationships in a mainstream show. At 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards last year, the final session of the show received all seven major comedy awards, setting a record for winning most Emmy awards in a single season by a comedy show. The series is currently available on Netflix in India.
The censorship in India
Since OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Videos, Hotstar, and others have started streaming shows in India, the viewership for such shows has increased exponentially. Several OTT platforms often censor their shows based on the streaming location to avoid any clash with the local laws or religious sentiments.
Though sex scenes have become extremely common even in the show produced in India for the OTT platforms, intimacy scenes on Television broadcast between two men is still a big taboo. Television shows are often censored in India, just like the movies. The scene that has attracted the outrage was not censored for the OTT platform but for the Television broadcast.
