All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Mufti Mohammed Ismail while addressing a gathering on Saturday in the Muslim-dominated constituency of Malegaon made provocative statements after firing took place at party member Rizwan Khan’s house.
He said, “An incident of firing took place in the city. Why was no FIR registered? If it comes to us, then the Police Department should note that we know how to maintain peace. We also know how peace would go away. We are not wearing bangles.”
Fearing a backlash, he clarified on Sunday that the comments were made in the context of the city of Malegaon. Ismail claimed his provocative statement were in context with the firing incident on AIMIM’s Rizwan Khan’s house.
MM Ismail:I said it in context of my city. It’s not connected with Maharashtra or India. Firing which our ppl are being subjected to(at AIMIM’s Rizwan Khan’s house), in this context I said we help the dept in maintaining peace,if we stop that then peace would be disrupted.(01.03) https://t.co/SdyvfkKTb1
Following the footsteps of his party supremo, Asaduddin Owaisi, he cast aspersions about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR), Ismail made a bizarre comparison between the “relationship of a chicken and egg” to that of NPR and NRC.
While resorting to fear-mongering about NPR, he claimed, “40 crore people will be stripped of the right to vote, their property will be seized and their children would be denied admission in schools. They will have to live as prisoners and won’t receive any benefits from the government.” This despite multiple clarifications by the government that the CAA does not affect Indian citizens, Muslims or otherwise, in any which way.
This is not the first time that an AIMIM leader has come under the scanner for making highly objectionable statements. In a veiled threat to the Hindus, Pathan resorted to inciting Muslims at an ANti-CAA rally in Karnataka on February 16 by stating that time has come for the Muslims of the country to unite and ‘achieve freedom’. He added that even though Muslims are just 15 crores in the country, they can still dominate over 100 crore Hindus.
Likening protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to ‘jihad’, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said in early February that those who raise their voice against PM Modi and HM Amit Shah are real ‘mard-e-mujahid’.
Swaraj Express, where Vinod Dua, accused of molestation, hosts a show, has been spreading nefarious lies about the murder of the Intelligence Bureau constable Ankit Sharma during the Delhi riots. Ankit Sharma was brutally murdered by an anti-Hindu mob and his body was dumped in a drain. Forensic doctors had said that they have never seen such a badly mutilated body. His family has accused AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain of the murder.
In a news clip published on YouTube on the 29th of February, Swaraj Express has used the malicious Wall Street Journal report to claim that Ankit Sharma was murdered by a mob chanting Jai Shri Ram. The WSJ report had claimed to quote the deceased constable’s brother but Ankur Sharma has repeatedly denied making such any statement ever.
In the news clip, the anchor says, “His [Ankit Sharma] brother has revealed that the people who murdered Ankit Sharma were raising Jai Shri Ram slogans and they carried swords in their hands. According to the Wall Street Journal report, when he was returning home, a mob started pelting stones and took him to a nearby lane. According to the report, Ankur Sharma said in a telephonic interview, the mob had come armed with stones and swords, they were raising slogans of Jai Shri Ram loudly. Some had even worn helmets.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_5TxjyNpn4]
The anchor then proceeded to cast aspersions on the accusations leveled against AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain. The news clip was aired after the Delhi police had filed an FIR against Tahir Hussain under Section 302(a) Murder, in the Dayalpur police station of Delhi on the basis of the complaints made by the family of the deceased IB constable.
After American daily Wall Street Journal published a slanderous report misquoting murdered IB sleuth Ankit Sharma’s brother to allege that his brother was killed by armed Hindu men, another news daily, Jansatta too carried a similar reportage alleging that Ankit Sharma was murdered by sword-wielding goons chanting “Jai Shri Ram” slogans.
The family of Delhi shooter Shahrukh, who had fired eight rounds at a policeman during the Anti-Hindu riots at the national capital, has disappeared. Now, the Police are on the lookout for his family as well along with Shahrukh and AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain. Sources within the Delhi Police told IANS that many suspicious articles have been discovered at Shahrukh’s house.
A Joint Commissioner level officer of Delhi Police, requesting anonymity, told IANS, “Arrests of Shahrukh and Tahir are very crucial for us. Both could prove vital links in the investigation”. The police have recovered and are recovering huge petrol and diesel cans from some houses and streets. Thousands of chilly powder packets have also been recovered. Apart from these, 20 kgs of iron nails and glass marbles have been found which were being used to make petrol bombs, as per the officer.
Another officer, who is a member of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe the anti-Hindu riots, said, “Catapults, made indigenously, were found installed on the roofs of many houses in Jafrabad and Mustafabad. It is expected that these catapults were used to throw petrol, acid and chilly bombs 100 metres away”. As per Amar Ujala, Shahrukh and the brother of Tahir Hussain were spotted at Sirsa recently. Some villagers at Paraura, Sirsa had reportedly claimed that Tahir Hussain’s brother and jihadi shooter were seen there for a few minutes at a wedding. However, the Delhi police have denied the claims.
After reports emerged that Shahrukh had been arrested, it was clarified that he was not. The decision to arrest Shahrukh was put off as the Police were busy dealing with riots. This gave him the opportunity to flee. His parents and brother are reportedly absconding too.
Since December 2019, the most dominant topic in the English TV and print media in India was the coverage on the CAA-NPR-NRC protests. During the course of this coverage it struck to me that at least twice in the past few years, NDTV’s Editorial Director Sonia Singh had enlightened us that “You don’t have to shout to be heard” is NDTV’s tagline. And looking at their coverage of the violence and protests, I could not help but get amused at how Irony died multiple times looking at NDTV’s hypocrisy in extensively highlighting the voices of only those who were shouting, literally and figuratively! In their coverage of the anti-CAA violence and protests, almost the entire English TV and print media has chosen to glorify the dissenter and demonize the supporter.
For example, we were emphatically told that the student community was moving away from the Modi government. Infact we were also told that the protesting students are not even being viewed as citizens of India! Doomsday was predicted based on history of student protests in India. The horrendous days of emergency were recalled. Rallies in literally a handful of universities and violence in a subset of that handful(!) were amplified to make a case out of this.
Amidst this, the silent student supporter who chose to attend classes instead of wasting time on a ill-informed meaningless protest was never given the chance or choice to be heard. The silent student supporter who yearned to learn meaningful lessons from his/her classes was assumed to be non-existent. One of the best examples was the fact that a vast majority of students in the ever controversial JNU cleared their hostel dues and registered for exams the moment the hurdles created by these glorified dissenters were removed.
Noticing that the student angle was not working, we were then told that the youth of the country have moved away from this government. Infact, Shekhar Gupta even condescendingly wrote about a “children-versus-uncle/aunty mood among the youth.” He had a sample size of three events to decide that the youth has given up on Modi. The ilk told us that those voted for Modi are now moving away from him. Well, I, for one, am not moving away from him. If anything, I am even more proud that I voted for him! Leave aside glorification, I need not tell you that the voice of this supporter and millions of supporters like me will not even be given a space in their industry!
They glorify when 1000 people write a letter against CAA but royally ignore when 1000 professionals write a letter in support of the CAA. Would you like to know why no space is given to such supporters? Because the supporters are “people of no consequence”. One Bollywood star attended a protest and the whole English media industry went berserk. Many Bollywood folks met a Union Cabinet minister and Shekhar Gupta dismissed them as people of “no consequence”. In his own words – “check out the worthies who landed at the central ministers’ dinner in Mumbai to support CAA. You will need Google to identify some.” So, for the supporter to get a voice, (s)he has to be identified without google first!
I know of one entity that is “of consequence” – the state government. After all that noise made on NPR, all states except one (West Bengal) attended the meeting called by Government of India to discuss the modalities of NPR! After the meeting, only Kerala additionally said they will not update the NPR. Some states objected to only one question in the NPR database – place and date of birth of parents. It was clarified that the answer to this is optional. So, in summary, a mere 2 states opposed the entire NPR exercise and they were glorified. MP now is saying they will also not implement it. There are atleast 20 states that are enthusiastically going ahead with their planning for NPR. Do you remember seeing TV shows debating why an overwhelming majority of states do not have a problem with the NPR even after so much noise that was made on TV? Do you remember articles in print explaining to us why an overwhelming majority of states do not have a problem with NPR even after so many Editorials, Op-Eds and front-page banner headlines of just the dissenter?
This, however, is not highest form of their hypocrisy. The highest form was when this ilk told us that the voices of dissent needs to be heard and answered to. In the context of all this violence and coverage, I am still raking my head as to who didn’t listen to the dissenter. Every single question the dissenter put forward was answered by the Home Minister of the country in Parliament. The dissenter chose not to listen, yet the ilk chose to glorify the dissenter. The Home Minister chose to yet again clarify in many interviews to TV channels. The Prime Minister spoke about this in public rallies and in Parliament. The entire party machinery across the country came forward to clarify. While the dissenter was slowly beginning to listen, those providing platform to the dissenter still chose not to listen. Their continued glorification of the handful of protestors in one area of New Delhi has already become nauseating.
Amidst all this, it’s not like the supporter didn’t speak. The supporter was on the street too, in many cities, but the English media happily chose to not give space to the supporter because they were of “no consequence”. Merely because the supporters are busy with their lives and contributing to the economy doesn’t mean they don’t care or support.
Most importantly, expression of support doesn’t necessarily mean everyone has to come out onto the street. Afterall, “you don’t have to be shout to be heard”! It is our tragedy that our English media has turned into a mafia that has become adept at peddling falsehoods and spreading lies that disturb the peace of the country.
Shakeel Afridi, the Pakistani doctor who helped the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) track down slain global terrorist Osama bin Laden, has reportedly launched a hunger strike from prison. It was confirmed on Monday by Shakeel’s family and his lawyer Qamar Nadeem.
The brother of the said doctor, Jamil Afridi, while speaking to Agence France-Presse (AFP) said, “It is to protest the injustices and inhumane attitudes being committed against him and his family.”
Shakeel was jailed for 33 years in May 2012 for orchestrating a fake vaccination programme that helped the CIA neutralise Osama Bin Laden. He is currently held up in a prison in Central Punjab Province of Pakistan. Shakeel was charged for having ties with militants, a claim he has denied since his imprisonment.
He had no access to his lawyer for several years and his family accused the authorities of harassing them for years. Shakeel’s sentence was later reduced by 10 years.
US lawmakers have accused Pakistan of carrying out a revenge campaign against Shakeel for causing major embarrassment to the country after Osama Bin Laden was found living in a safe house in their territory. Back in 2016, US President Donald Trump had vowed to get him released from jail.
Earlier in February, it was reported that Taliban terrorist leader Ehsanullah Ehsan, who had shot the controversial Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai for campaigning for female education in Pakistan’s Swat Valley in 2012, has escaped from a prison in Pakistan. The story of his escape came to light after an alleged audio clip was released by the former Taliban spokesperson, confirming his escape.
Recently, 26/11 terror attack mastermind and terror organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed was convicted in two terror-financing cases by a Pakistan court, ahead of the FATF plenary meet. The LeT chief was slapped with a prison sentence of five and a half years and a fine of Rs 15,000 in each case.
The Mosques had issued alerts. After that everyone had made arrangements for themselves. Some were transporting their loved ones to safer places, some were moving their valuables to a safe place, while some were trying to hoard weapons to keep themselves safe. All these arrangements were not being made to deal with any natural calamity, avoid robbery or prior notice of any terrorist attack, but by Radical Muslims to spread anti-Hindu violence in the name of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in major areas of Delhi.
One thing has been clear from the photographs so far from the Delhi anti-Hindu riots that preparations were on for weeks, if not months to spread the riot and target Hindus. Similar preparations were made at a bike showroom in Brijpuri, located between the riot-affected areas, Chand Bagh and Jaffrabad. From a ‘Hero’ showroom located here, its owner had allegedly taken out the bikes and transported them to a safe place before the rioters started the violence and after that, he himself vandalised the place, to claim victimhood before the media.
A week after the violence in Delhi, we met the riot victims in Brijpuri. During this, we got a piece of startling information. This information came from the person who runs the shop near that Hero showroom and also stays at the shop for 12 hours a day and keeps an eye on every activity nearby. According to eyewitnesses, “Muslim women started protesting on Sunday in the name of CAA protest. After this, everyone started preparing. On Monday, violence erupted from Chand Bagh. Muslims were first looting Hindu shops and then setting them on fire.”
Eyewitnesses living in Brijpuri further state, “Not only this, these people (Muslims) all knew what was going to happen next. The only Muslim bike showroom in the area, who used to have hundreds of bikes for sale, had taken all the bikes out of the showroom to a safe place at 5 am on February 26, just before violence broke out in the area. After this, the rioters themselves first vandalized the showroom to show themselves as victims and then took the counter out of the showroom and set it on fire. ”
The eyewitnesses claim that the ‘peaceful protests’ at Shaheen Bagh are only a facade, the real preparations were made to violently target Hindus in these (Jaffrabad, Chandbagh, Karawal Nagar etc) areas. Neither the bombs were made on that day nor so many bricks and stones were assembled on roofs on such short notice.
“I have seen about 30 to 40 vehicles of MCD clearing debris with my own eyes. This is the same debris, which was thrown on the streets by the marauders in the form of bricks and stones on the streets,” the man said. The residents here also say that while Muslims live safely in Hindu-dominated areas, no Hindu can remain safe in a Muslim dominated area.
The endless string of violence that has gripped Delhi is one that cannot be seen in isolation. What started as protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (then Bill) and the National Registry for Citizens back in December, quickly morphed into anti-Hindu rants, violence and demonstrations all across the country. The Anti-Hindu Delhi riots are simply a manifestation of the aggression among Islamists that have been building up since then.
During the anti-Hindu riots, several horror stories emerged. That of Ankit Sharma who was murdered by Islamists, Dilwar Singh Negi whose hands and legs were chopped off before he was burnt alive, Ratan Lal, a police officer killed during duty or even the fact that Hindu women said that Muslim mobs in Chand Bagh forced their minor daughters to take off their clothes and were sent back home naked. While the international media and media propagandists in India maliciously started branding the Delhi anti-Hindu riots into an anti-Muslim pogrom, a useful tool in spreading the propaganda was Wikipedia.
During the Delhi anti-Hindu riots, there have been casualties from the Muslim side as well as expected in any conflict between two sides. However, the nature of a riot is meant to be established by the starting point of those riots, not what ensues later. By all evidence and measures, the Delhi riots were initiated by Islamists and the build-up lasted weeks.
The Wikipedia article titled North East Delhi riots was created on 25th February by a senior Wikipedia editor that goes by the username DBigXray. When one visits the page, the first image one sees is the photo of BJP leader Kapil Mishra, not an image of the riots. Kapil Mishra gets a separate section titled ‘incitement’ in the article, where he has been blamed for starting the riots.
Interestingly, some people had reference to AAP leader Amanatullah Khan for his provocative speeches during anti-CAA riots earlier in Delhi and UP. But this was also removed by the moderators, claiming that although cases have been filed against Khan, those are not related to the North East Delhi riots. On the 24th, one anti-CAA protester had brandished a pistol and fired 8 shots towards pro-CAA protesters, who was identified as Mohammad Shahrukh. The Wiki page merely mentions him as a shooter and does not even mention that he is from an anti-CAA mob.
After the image of Shahrukh, the firing had gone viral, anti-CAA activists had claimed he is pro-CAA, despite journalists on the ground who had posted videos and images saying he was anti-CAA. Later, high-resolution images had shown he was part of a mob that had several persons in skull caps. When other users wanted to include this information in the Wikipedia article, they were shot down by the moderator. The senior editor, who is supposed to be politically neutral while editing and moderating content on Wikipedia, commented that if the man was a Hindu, media would not have focused on him, and there is no need to include more detail on the incident.
The article mentions the attack on a mosque in Ashok Nagar and shouting of “Jai Shri Ram” and “Hinduon ka Hindustan” slogans by the mobs, but have absolutely no reference to any attack by Muslims and anti-CAA mobs. On the other hand, while there are videos showing mob shouting “Nara e Taqbeer” and “Allahu Akbar”, they find no place on the page.
Although Wikipedia articles can be edited by anybody, the online encyclopedia has provisions for locking down specific articles to check vandalism, etc. The article on North East Delhi riots has been made semi-protected, which means only confirmed registered users can make edits to it. As a result, ordinary users are having to request user DBigXray for making changes, and user DBigXray, who has special privileges as a Master Editor III, decides what information is included and what is not on the page.
There were several other issues with the article that we will discuss in the article later.
Who is the creator of the motivated Delhi riots page: The identity of DBigXray
The creation of such a page and the edits thereof are extremely problematic. Though Wikipedia is hardly a reliable source of information, it is one of the first pages that Google throws up when one searches for a subject and is widely considered reliable and a go-to page for information on any subject. Amidst all of this, the motivated lies in the Delhi riots page can only be considered a willful distortion of history.
While the outrage regarding the Wikipedia page was on, an anonymous post on Reddit went viral that claimed to out the identity of the person who has been literally altering history by indulging in rampant Wikipedia edits.
The Reddit post claimed that the identity of the Wikipedia editor, DBigXray, is one Deepesh Raj. When the said person’s profile was checked, it was found that he works with Intel Bangalore and is an alum of IIT-K.
According to this Reddit post, Wikipedia user DBigXRay who is behind the biased article on Delhi riots, is one Deepesh Raj. Other articles/edits by this DBigXRay are also blatantly biased and bigoted. https://t.co/TTHyQf2tVCpic.twitter.com/EeoXMjWosB
To verify these claims independently, OpIndia tried to follow a trail of breadcrumbs left behind by DBigXray himself. We started by searching for the exact details mentioned in the Reddit post.
If one looks at some of DBigXray’s oldest edits, one finds that he had created the page for Carmel School (Giridh). Now, Carmel School is a convent private school located in the Giridih district of Jharkhand. For someone to create a page for that school and write a detailed description of a not-so-famous school from Giridh District, one can presume that he must have some connection with it.
Oldest edits of DBigXray
Armed with this theory, we searched for the Facebook page of this specific school (Carmel School, Giridh) and began to search for any post that spoke about the Wikipedia page being created. Interestingly, we stumbled upon a Facebook post that was published in the Carmel School group.
Post on Carmel School group by one Deepesh Raj
In this Facebook Post, Deepesh Raj is confirming that he had written the article on Wikipedia about the school. The post is from 2011. The Facebook page of Deepesh still exists.
Though the identity and the veracity of the Reddit post can be established from this Facebook post itself, we decided to dig further. When one looks at the image of the Wiki page of the school, it clearly mentions that the author of the page is one Deepesh Raj. We could establish the identity, however, we could not establish whether he is an AAP supporter and/or close to Arvind Kejriwal as mentioned in the Reddit post that has now gone viral.
The picture and its author of the Carmel School wiki page
Further on the same page, we see that the user, as mentioned by Wikipedia, who created the Carmel School page is one ‘Deepeshraj1’.
Wiki contributor
When one clicks on the “talk” part of the user ‘Deepeshraj1’, we are taken to another page. The page looks like this.
‘Talk’ page of ‘Deepeshraj1’
In the ‘Talk’ page of user Deepeshraj1, one sees an entry by Wikipedia where it is recorded that the same user, Deepeshraj1 changed his username to DBigXray. DBigXray is the person who is our person of interest and who created the highly biased Delhi riots page.
A perusal of the archive link of Wikipedia user name changes also proves that it was indeed Deepeshraj1 who eventually became DBigXray.
Wiki page chronicling the user name changes
In the Archive page, one can see that Deepesh Raj had even written his reasons for changing his handle.
“Deepeshraj is my real name, which i would not like to disclose, i did not think abt it much when i made the account. the Username DBigXray is my signature and my account. (i had created (DBigXray account) as i had forgot the password of this Deepeshraj1 account which i latere retrieved from my browser) i have not done any edits with DBigXray account so i hope you wont have problems in merging these two accounts with final name DBigXray (sic)”.
Now that we have established who DBigXray is, let us see why it has become important and what kind of edits by DBigXray is creating outrage.
Wikipedia edits of DBigXray aka Deepesh Raj on Delhi Riots page
The Edits to the Delhi riots page made by DBigXray aka Deepesh Raj were extremely problematic. Had he written an article in his name, one could attribute to one writer and his biases, however, since most people consider Wikipedia an authentic source of information, the biases end up altering history as it would be read by millions of people across the globe. Deepesh vehemently argued and vetoed any edit that could make the Wiki article more authentic. This investigation was helped by Mr Dushyant.
For example, he refused to allow the Jaffrabad’s shooter’s name, identified as Shahrukh. He said such shootings happen often in riots and that Shahrukh was being singled out and named because he was a Muslim.
Wiki Talk about adding Shahrukh’s name to the Delhi riots articleWiki Talk about adding Shahrukh’s name to the Delhi riots article
When the conversation revolved around the addition of Kapil Mishra as the sole ‘Lead Figure’ of the Delhi riots, he refused to add Waris Pathan’s speech as one of the instigators of the riots. He said that he could not find anything provocative in Waris Pathan’s speech. It is worthy to note here that Waris had openly incited mobs and said that 15 crores Muslims can overpower Hindus.
Wikipedia Talk about not adding Waris Pathan
The user, Deepesh Raj, also claimed that Tahir Hussain, the AAP leader who led an Islamist mob that tortured and murdered IB sleuth Ankit Sharma was being framed.
Wiki talk on Tahir Hussain
Further, he says that Tahir Hussain cannot be mentioned until he is convicted by a court of law. It is pertinent to mention here that Kapil Mishra has been made the face of the riots based on nothing but propaganda.
Wiki Talk on Tahir Hussain
He also says that such “allegations” cannot be made against Tahir Hussain.
Wiki Talk on Tahir Hussain
He further refuses to add Tahir’s name saying that just like other AAP leaders “despite being framed by the police” have been exonerated, Tahir might be too. And hence, his reference is not to be added.
In fact, he even says that Ankit Sharma, who was stabbed 400 times and was tortured to death “was not notable enough” to be mentioned in the Wikipedia article.
Wikipedia Talk about adding Ankit Sharma’s murder
There are several other issues with the article. Like the crimes committed by Muslim mobs missing, the glaring bias and even him holding Ankit Sharma’s family responsible for “changing their statement” as if by force. This was in reference to the Wall Street Journal misquoting Ankit Shamra’s brother, Ankur Sharma. Ankur repeatedly asserted thereafter that he had never said that the murderers of his brother chanted Jai Shree Ram.
Other problematic and biased edits by the user
There are several other edits by the same user which are highly biased and reveal a sinister mindset. He had changed “Martyred” to “Killed” in the Wikipedia article about Captain Saurabh Kalia, who was mutilated and murdered by Pakistan.
Wiki edit to Captain Saurabh Kalia page
He had removed “Pandit” from Pandit Deen Daya Upadhyay’s page.
Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Wiki Page
He removed the reference of Ishrat Janan, the Congress leader who has been arrested for inciting violence.
Removed reference of Ishrat Jahan from Delhi riots page
He created the ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ Wikipedia article.
Chowkidar Chor Hai Wiki page
He added ‘Militant’ to the Article about Veer Savarkar.
Edits to Veer Savarkar article
He sanitized the article on Deen Dayal Upadhyay, to remove mostly every positive aspect that was added by others.
Edits to article on Deen Dayal Upadhyay
He also added the false information that Veer Savarkar had a physical relationship with Nathuram Godse, the assassin of MK Gandhi.
Edit to the page about Veer Savarkar
For the uninitiated, after the publication of edition one of ‘Freedom at Midnight’, Gopal Godse, younger brother of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse, had slammed the authors for their “false, defamatory and libelous allegations”.
According to an article published in The Indian Express in 1976, Gopal Godse had asked Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins to provide proof substantiating their claims, failing which, he demanded a ban on the controversial book. He had then said that the book was full of “damaging distortions”.
Godse said he would sue the authors in the Bombay courts for falsely quoting him that he gave the slanderous information of Veer Savarkar having homosexual relations with Nathuram Godse. Later, edition two of the same book was published with the particular content omitted.
The user also added an entire section to the article about ‘Jai Shree Ram’ that was titled ‘Usage’. In that, he has added the edit that says it has turned into a “murder cry”.
Edit to Jai Shree Ram article
The user DBigXray aka Deepesh Raj has written several other articles on Wikipedia other than those of Delhi Riots and edited even more that essentially alter history as recorded by Wikipedia which is unfortunately considered an authentic source of information. The bias of the account is such, that it had even requested the deletion of the article on Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha.
What is extremely problematic is that Deepesh Raj appears to have been engaging in such edits on Wikipedia constantly, not just for Delhi Riots but other pages too, and because of his level at Wikipedia, his edits are not challenged. After making such edits, he protects the pages so others cannot rectify the lies he has spread. Several sensitive subjects have been targeted by the user. It remains to be seen whether the website takes any action.
Wikipedia has long been accused of bias against rightwing or conservative viewpoints. A cabal of editors exists who work together to bias articles and to hide embarrassing facts about left-wing political figures, while at the same time smearing conservatives. Scandals involving left-wing personalities are labelled “conspiracy theories” while left-wing politicians are given a free pass. David Swindle has published an article detailing the manner in which Wikipedia has been taken over by the Political Left. The pervasive bias includes labelling conservative and right-wing sources as being unreliable.
Founding Editor of The Wire, MK Venu, attended the 25th National Convention of Christian Journalists organized by the Indian Catholic Press Association (ICPA) held at Don Bosco Centre, Okhla, Delhi on Saturday. The ICPA resolved to fight ‘truthophobia’ at the convention attended by one of the most prolific manufacturers of fake news in the country. Mr. Ignatius Gonsalves, the President of the ICPA, claimed that no one wants to hear or speak the truth in the country.
The Notice by the ICPA
“Everyone is afraid of the truth because it demands action, and action involves pain,” Gonsalves said, addressing the gathering of journalists from around the country. Quoting St. John Henry Newman, he said, “In our context of fake news factories making for an interesting career choice, where the truth is presented to be truer than the truth itself, our role as Christian journalists is to be the light in the midst of all the encircling gloom”.
A copy of the Indian Constitution was presented to all the dignitaries of the inaugural function at the very beginning of the convention. “We present the copy of the Indian Constitution, instead of the customary flowers and shawls, to remind ourselves that it is the soul of India and we as journalists, need to protect it from every onslaught,” the Secretary of the ICPA and the Chief Editor of the Indian Currents, Father Suresh Mathew, said.
Addressing the participants, Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi, bemoaned the ‘sorry state’ of media in India. “Most of the news channels have become cheerleaders of the ruling party and they have given up the pretense of being the custodian of truth. India has dropped to 140 out of 180 countries in World Press Freedom index. The recent physical assault on the journalists in the ongoing protest in northeast Delhi does not augur well for the media in the country”, he said.
Cuoto is the same Archbishop who had issued a letter to the Catholics in India in May 2018 interfering in the Indian elections. The letter, which was read in all the parishes under the Delhi Archdiocese, called for Indians Catholics to start a campaign of fasting and prayers for the general elections in 2019. He had later defended his action of communalizing the Lok Sabha Elections.
The convention concluded with the resolution to request the Government to invite Pope Francis to India, on the occasion of the Canonization of Bl. Devasahayam, the first Indian layman to be canonized by the Church. Meanwhile, Pope Francis announced on Sunday that a cold he is suffering from has forced him to skip a Lenten spiritual retreat with senior Vatican officials near Rome for the first time in his papacy. Amidst the Coronavirus outbreak, speculations are rife that the Pope has fallen prey to the deadly virus, however, the Vatican dismissed any link to the Coronavirus outbreak in Italy.
It is unclear how the Catholic Church intends to fight ‘truthophobia’ when they have one of the biggest peddlers of fake news and propaganda, MK Venu, by their side. Perhaps, as is clear from Cuoto’s remarks, the larger objective is to oppose the Hindutva-centric government at the Center and not any higher ideal. In that, they have found a proper ally in The Wire which is known to manufacture fake news in order to undermine the government.
In the past, The Wire has spread malicious lies about Union Minister Piyush Goyal involving business with The Piramal Group. The latter had also warned of defamatory action against the website. OpIndia had busted this report earlier and substantiated the different irregularities in the report itself. In another article penned by one Rohini Singh, she alleges involvement on Goyal’s part in the defaulting of a company named ‘Shridi Industries Limited’. The story had several gaping holes and was soon fact-checked by us.
Arfa Khanum Sherwani infamous for her hitjob on Sri Ravishankar once claimed that BJP MP and Minister Babul Supriyo had threatened to ‘Skin Muslims alive’. As usual, she did not feel the need to substantiate such outrageous claims. The reality, however, was very different. Another article alleged financial irregularities in a company of then BJP president Amit Shah’s son, Jay Shah. This obnoxious and shallow attempt at investigative journalism was decimated by OpIndia.
Later on 12th October 2017, Jay Shah slapped The Wire with a defamation case worth 100 crores. Even in the verdict delivered by the Gujrat High Court, the deceit by The Wire has been exposed. Apart from these, The Wire has published a series of lies which are always targeted in one direction, making it clear that the lies are a consequence of malice and not incompetence.
It is in the company of such people that the ICPA intends to fight ‘truthophobia’. It appears clear that the intention here is to achieve political objectives and the words are certainly not motivated by an allegiance to truth or any higher ideal.
The families of the Nirbhaya rape case convicts have gathered outside the Patiala House Court in Delhi pleading for the rapists and murderers not to be hanged. The convicted rapists are slated to be hanged on the 3rd of March. The members of the family have gathered with controversial placards in their hands.
One of the placards claims that the Nirbhaya case has gained traction because of a conspiracy hatched by ‘Deshdrohi’ Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi. Another placard tells Ramnath Kovind, the President of India, that he will incur the sin of ‘Brahma Hatya’ if ‘Brahmin’ Vinay Sharma is hanged to death. This particular placard was raised by one Mukesh Jain, the chief of one ‘Dara Sena’. It is notable here that the president of India, who is being scared with ‘Brahma Hatya’ is a Dalit.
Source: @nalinisharma_ of Republic
Dara Sena had fielded controversial Guru and Big Boss participant Swami Om in the Lok Sabha Elections and had promised to field five candidates against Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi Elections. A couple of the women were holding placards that said, “Who will marry me after my brother has been hanged to death?” Both placards said that these words by Pavan Gupta’s sister. Yet another placard requested the President to have mercy on their sons.
Source: @nalinisharma_ of Republic
Meanwhile, preparations are underway at Tihar Jail in Delhi for the execution of the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder convicts, scheduled to happen at 0600 on March 3, 2020. The executioner Pawan Jallad has reached the Jail premises on Sunday evening and examined the hanging house. The Supreme Court today junked the curative petition filed by one of the accused Pawan Gupta. Gupta was the only one amongst the four convicts in the case who was yet to exhaust all his legal remedies. As of the latest reports, the president of India has rejected the mercy plea by Pawan Gupta.
Congress leader Ramkrishna Jalmi has been arrested by the Crime Branch of the Goa Police for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Lord Parshuram. The anti-CAA activist had made derogatory remarks against the Hindu God at a rally in Goa. Jalmi, a Congress candidate from Priol in the Goa Assembly Elections in 2017, was arrested after a complaint was filed by Mapusa-based Hindu Yuva Sena.
Superintendent of Police (Crime Branch) Pankaj Kumar said that Jalmi was arrested under sections 295 (A) and 153 (A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for hurting religious sentiments. The rally was organised by various bodies including the Centre for Social Peace and Justice (CSJP) backed by the Goa Church, in Benaulim village. “He was arrested for derogatory utterances,” Kumar said.
A video had gone viral on social media where the Congress leader can be reportedly heard making derogatory remarks about Lord Parshuram. Another complaint filed by one Gaurang Prabhu Malkarneker alleged that Jalmi has also made casteist remarks thereby promoting enmity and also prejudicing harmony, which attracts section 153A of IPC.
“Lord Parshuram who is the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu greatly revered and worshipped by the Hindu community. Jalmi had termed Lord Parshuram a terrorist and a rapist thereby causing great anger among the members of the Hindu community,” Hindu Yuva Sena said. “It may also be noted that members of the Hindu community are hurt and angered and are expressing their sentiments on various platforms against the said speech. To prevent any communal tension in the State, FIR must be registered,” it added.
The Congress party has regularly indulged in Hinduphobic rhetoric in recent years. During the Lok Sabha elections last year, the party had released a video that denigrated Hindu religious symbols. In the past, the party has also denied the existence of Prabhu Ram.
