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Rakhi Sawant poses with a Pakistani flag, gets abused by Pakistanis, Rakhi asks them to ‘don’t eat my brain’

OpIndia Staff
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Rakhi Sawant poses with a Pakistani flag, gets abused by Pakistanis, Rakhi asks them to ‘don’t eat my brain’

Television personality and actor Rakhi Sawant, on Wednesday, took to Instagram to share some pictures of herself where she is seen covered in Pakistani flag.

Rakhi Sawant draped in Pakistani flag

She had even put out disclaimers that she loves her India and she is draped in the Pakistani flag only for the film “Dhara 370” in which she was playing a role of a Pakistani dancer who helps Kashmiri people from turning into Jihadis.

She then uploaded a video explaining her role of a Pakistani dancer who was just trying to save Indians in Kashmir from turning into a terrorist. She appealed to people that this is just a role she is playing and that they should not eat her brain for this.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Im jast plying my character in the film ?

A post shared by Rakhi Sawant (@rakhisawant2511) on

However, she soon started getting abuses, especially from Pakistanis.

Comment left by Pakistani on Rakhi Sawant’s post
Pakistanis taking an offence on Rakhi Sawant’s clothes
Pakistani abusing Rakhi Sawant
Pakistani abusing Rakhi

At some point, Rakhi, too, lost her cool and responded to the abuses, and asked her abuser to shut their mouth.

Rakhi responding to abuses

Rakhi Sawant likes to stay in the headlines for her antics. Earlier she had taken to social media to talk about her ‘healing’ story where Jesus helped her walk again after her injury. However, after priests helped Rakhi heal, actor Tanushree Dutta had shown her disappointment to Jesus Christ and asked Christ to choose between Rakhi and herself.

People arrange chairs at PM’s meeting venue, Economic Times journalist claims that an ‘agitated crowd threw chairs’

OpIndia Staff
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People arrange chairs at PM’s meeting venue, Economic Times journalist claims that an ‘agitated crowd threw chairs’

The Mainstream Media is the most organized medium for the propagation of the most obnoxious form of propaganda and fake news. In recent times, they have littered the internet with fake news that is invariably directed to benefit ‘secular’ political parties. Concurrently, they have also attempted news that goes against their preferred narrative.

Now, it appears they are getting a bit too lazy about their job and taking people far too granted. Madhuparna Das, a journalist with Economic Times, shared a video on Twitter where she claimed people were throwing chairs at the venue of the Prime Minister’s address in Purulia, West Bengal after getting agitated.


However, it’s quite clear from the video that people are actually arranging the chairs in proper order by moving them around. It’s unclear how the ET journalist thought any different at all as there is absolutely no room for misunderstanding here. Only the journalist herself can explain what she was thinking while sending the tweet and why she thought it was even a good idea to make that bewildering assertion.

People on social media were pointing out the same thing to her in the replies.


Das got horribly ‘ratioed’ for her bizarre tweet. Being ratioed refers to a tweet that has got a lot more replies than it has retweets. It has been observed to be a good indicator of blunder tweets. The logic behind the term that grown immensely popular on the internet is this: If the number of replies to a tweet vastly outpaces its engagement in terms of likes and retweets, then something has gone horribly wrong. For the tweet under consideration, at the time of writing this report, Das got 261 replies and 24 retweets, that is more than times the replies than retweets.

Economic Times, the media org Das is associated with, has published numerous fake news articles about the BJP in the past. It had claimed last year that the Bharatiya Janata Party had become the number one advertiser on Indian television in the week ended November 16. It turned out to be false as we reported here. It had also claimed in July last year that China had resumed its activities in Doklam as per a top US official. However, no top US official had said such a thing.

Mamata Banerjee’s bizarre statement: Lord Rama says ‘Sita Maa, Sita Maa’, BJP chants ‘Ram Naam Satya Hai’ for elections

OpIndia Staff
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Mamata Banerjee’s bizarre statement: Lord Rama says ‘Sita Maa, Sita Maa’, BJP chants ‘Ram Naam Satya Hai’ for elections

Mamata Banerjee has rediscovered her Hindu identity in recent times, after years of minority of appeasement, in wake of the Saffron Surge in her state. In recent times, she has been working extremely hard to reassert her Hindu identity and prove herself more Hindu than the BJP.

But time to time, she has committed goof-ups which have given people much cause for laughter. On other occasions, people have been enraged when her mask dropped. For instance, there was an occasion when she had chanted the names of Hindu Gods one after the other in one of her rallies. But in the process, she ended up saying, “Vishnu Mata”.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK7I20cD5ms]

Recently, she got off her vehicle to confront people who raised slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ as she was passing by. She claimed that she was abused. Now, in another ostensible goof-up, she appears to have changed the relationship between Shri Ram and Sita Mata. In a video that has gone viral on social media, she can be heard saying, “Ramchandra calls Sita Maiya, and then says, ‘Sita Maa, Sita Maa, there are elections in Bharata it seems’.”

Upon being asked why, Rama replies according to Mamata Didi, “Can’t you see the BJP chanting my name? In 5 years they say nothing. Elections have come so they say Ram Naam Satya Hai, Ram Naam Zindabad.” Apart from the obvious goof-up of assuming that Rama will address Sita Mata as ‘Sita Maa’, Didi appears to be ignorant of the fact that people raise chants of ‘Ram Naam Satya Hai’ during the last journey of the human body, that is, from home to the crematorium for cremation after death.

Mamata Banerjee, in recent times, has appeared extremely disgruntled, frustrated and unusually angry in public. She has been making outrageous remarks against the Prime Minister for a while now. It is perhaps the stress of elections and the very real possibility of losing her dominance over West Bengal that is possibly showing its effects.

Nirav Modi’s third bail application rejected by UK court despite his defence team being ready to pay double bail amount

OpIndia Staff
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Nirav Modi’s third bail application rejected by UK court despite his defence team being ready to pay double bail amount

Fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi‘s third bail application, in his extradition case to India to face charges in the Punjab National Bank fraud and money laundering case amounting to up to USD 2 billion, was thwarted by the UK Court, despite his defence team was ready to pay a whopping amount of 2 million pounds, double the sum, as bail security.

The next hearing in his extradition proceedings has been scheduled for May 30. He was taken back to Wandsworth prison, where he has been lodged after he was arrested on March 20, 17 months after he fled India. He was arrested by Scotland Yard officers from a central London bank branch, while he had been trying to open a new bank account. Since then has been in custody at the HMP Wandsworth prison in south-west London.

Nirav Modi’s bail, which had already been rejected twice before by Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London, came up for a third attempt before Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot.

Nirav Modi’s legal team, led by solicitor Anand Doobay, had previously offered 1 million pounds as security alongside an offer to meet stringent electronic tag restrictions on their client’s movements, “akin to house arrest.” On Wednesday this was furthered bolstered by doubling the sum and offering a 24-hour electronic tag curfew.

However, the chief justice ruled that while the doubling of security offered by Nirav Modi’s lawyers did amount to a change in circumstances in order for her to hear the “renewed” bail plea, she still had similar concerns as before that he would fail to surrender before the court.

“This is a large fraud and the doubling of security to 2 million pounds is not sufficient to cover a combination of concerns that he would fail to surrender (if bail is granted),” said Judge Arbuthnot.

His defence team argued, “His experience in custody has been vivid and damaging. He is willing to abide by any bail conditions imposed by the court because Wandsworth is ‘unliveable’ and makes the effective preparation of his case virtually impossible,” said his barrister Clare Montgomery, in an attempt to persuade the judge to grant bail on a strict 24-hour curfew at his posh Centrepoint apartment in the West End of London.

However, Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot who was particularly concerned about Nirav Modi’s “lack of community ties” in the UK, denied bail to Modi as she feared that he would fail to surrender if granted bail. “Given the nature of the crime of sizeable fraud and that USD, 60 million has been squirrelled away by him personally. The interference of witnesses, destruction of servers and mobile phones, combined with a lack of community ties mean I still have doubts that he would fail to surrender.”

Modi will remain at the Wandsworth prison in south-west London during this period, where he will be allowed to hold sessions with his legal team to deliberate on the future course of the extradition case.

Few days prior to his arrest, media had tracked Nirav Modi in London, who reportedly lived in a luxury 8 million pound apartment in west London, and currently dealt in the diamond business.

The Indian government was aware of his presence in the UK, and ED had already requested the UK government for extradition in July 2018. The UK government had found the Nirav Modi case fit for extradition, and the request was sent by UK Central Authority of Home Office to the Westminster Magistrate Court for further proceedings.

The Westminster Court had issued the arrest warrant against Nirav Modi as part of processing this extradition request.

Nirav Modi, his wife Ami Modi, brother Nishal Modi, and uncle Mehul Choksi are accused defrauding Punjab National Bank to the tune of Rs 14,356 crore by obtaining Letter of Undertaking without furnishing any guarantee.

After Congress trolls, Ahmed Patel too spreads lies to shift focus from Rajiv Gandhi’s corruption

Sanghamitra
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After Congress trolls, Ahmed Patel too spreads lies to shift focus from Rajiv Gandhi’s corruption

PM Modi seems to have thrown the opposition and their ecosystem in a tailspin after he brought up the issue of Rajiv Gandhi and his corruption scandals at a rally in UP a few days back. In their efforts to condemn the mention of Rajiv Gandhi and cover up his scams, Congress and its ecosystem keep walking right into the traps of their own making. In the meanwhile, the scandals of the Nehru Gandhi dynasty that had been carefully tucked in closets under decades of media propaganda and lies, keep tumbling out into the open one by one. The latest bunch of lies are about Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination.

Ahmed Patel, the old dynasty confidante had spoken out too. In an attempt to condemn PM Modi terming Rajiv Gandhi as ‘Bhrashtachari Number 1’, Patel brought up the issue of his assassination. Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by the LTTE on 21 May 1991, when he was in an election rally in Tamil Nadu’s Sriperumbudur.

Patel has stated in a Tweet insinuating that the BJP is responsible for Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination because a BJP-backed VP Singh government had refused to provide him with additional security and despite credible threats to his security, had only left him with one PSO. This is one big fat lie.

Ahmed Patel via Twitter

Patel, however, failed to mention why India was facing elections again at that time when the Ninth Loksabha was elected just two years ago in 1989.

The Janata Dal and the BJP had formed a coalition government with VP Singh as the Prime Minister. Congress had won a whopping 404 of the 514 seats in the 8th Lok Sabha in 1984 elections, riding on the sympathy wave after Indira Gandhi’s assassination. But in the 9th Lok Sabha, the Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress was reduced to 197 seats due to the taint of the Bofors scandal and many other issues.

Also read: ‘The Namdar family of Congress used INS Viraat as personal taxi’, PM Modi raises Rajiv Gandhi’s Lakshadweep vacation using aircraft carrier

After Chandrasekhar and Devi Lal came out of the Janata Dal with 64 MPs and VP Singh government fell, Rajiv-led Congress had supported Chandrasekhar in forming the government in 1990, an ‘experiment’ that eventually resulted in another general election within two years.

Ahmed Patel is blatantly lying. During that period, Chandrasekhar, not VP Singh was the PM of India, a government that was in power due to Congress’ support. India was facing another general election because Rajiv’s Congress had decided to withdraw that support.


Twitter users reminded Ahmed Patel that he cannot get away with lies in the age of social media. Patel was also reminded of the mysterious incidents before and after Rajiv’s assassination that cast shadows of doubt over the entire incident.


There was another aspect of the security issue. During his previous government, Rajiv Gandhi had set up the SPG to ensure the security of the Prime Minister and his immediate family. But the SPG rules were rudimentary and did not include the security of former PMs.

Essentially, Rajiv Gandhi, as a Prime Minister during 1984-89, had passed an act that protected only Rajiv Gandhi at that time. After Congress lost power, the SPG was withdrawn, as per the law, because Rajiv Gandhi was no longer the Prime Minister. In fact, media reports from those days suggest that VP Singh had actually extended the protection for 3 months as a courtesy, but it was finally withdrawn as the law provisioned for protection only for the existing Prime Minister.

After Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, The PV Narasimha Rao government modified the SPG Act, including former PMs under the ambit of SPG protection. Moreover, it has been well documented that Rajiv himself had ignored security warnings during that election campaign and took great risks to go near the general public during rallies.

The assassination of a former PM was a despicable act. But Ahmed Patel’s attempt to pin it on BJP is despicable too because BJP was nowhere near power at that time.

It is interesting to note that no mainstream media outlet has called out this blatant lie yet. Congress and its ecosystem have been trying to condemn even the mentioning of Rajiv Gandhi in relation to corruption scandals while screaming ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ against a democratically elected Prime Minister for months.

It is evident that PM Modi bringing out Rajiv Gandhi’s corruption scandals in his election campaign has opened a Pandora’s box. From the Bofors scam to Bhopal gas tragedy, the Sikh genocide of 1984 and the case of Adil Shahryar and Anderson, the recalling of Rajiv Gandhi’s tainted legacy seems like something Congress is desperately struggling to free itself from. The ecosystem has been engaged in spreading filthy lies about PM Modi and hailing Rajiv Gandhi as a great leader.

Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination also resulted in the deaths of over a dozen other people and had injured many others. It was an attack on India’s sovereignty by LTTE. There are questions regarding the entire episode that have never been answered. But trying to pin it on BJP is another desperate attempt by Congress to fool the people of India for petty political gains.

How Jawaharlal Nehru used Indian Navy assets not just for vacation, but to ‘pay respects’ to Edwina Mountbatten after she died

OpIndia Staff
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How Jawaharlal Nehru used Indian Navy assets not just for vacation, but to ‘pay respects’ to Edwina Mountbatten after she died

Prime Minister Modi yesterday stirred a hornet’s nest when he mentioned how Rajiv Gandhi used Indian Navy Warship INS Virat for his personal use. The warship was used to ferry the Gandhi family to a tiny Lakshwadeep island for a 10-day long vacation.

PM referred to the Gandhi family’s vacation in 1987. The holidaying group included Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi’s mother, her brother and a maternal uncle. Also present were then MP Amitabh Bachchan, his wife Jaya Bachchan and their three children, daughter of Amitabh’s brother Ajitabh, and former minister Arun Singh’s brother Bijendra Singh’s wife and daughter. The location for the vacation was Bangaram, a small uninhabited island in Lakshadweep archipelago. INS Viraat, the lone carrier of Indian navy at that time, was used to transport the Gandhi family and their companions, which moved in the Arabian sea for 10 days for this vacation. An aircraft carrier does not move alone in the sea, a carrier is the nerve centre of a carrier battle group and it is always surrounded by several warships. Even a submarine was also present during the trip. This means a huge expenditure.

As the island was uninhabited, everything needed for the guests was needed to be transported from other places. The Lakshadweep administration looked after the logistics of the 10-day vacation, and their helicopter was pressed into service for this purpose.

The tradition to use Navy assets for their personal use was not started by Rajiv Gandhi. Jawaharlal Nehru had pioneered this abhorrent culture.

Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru had in fact used INS Delhi to vacation with his family as well. Photos that have now surfaced reveal that Nehru used INS Delhi, which was a light cruiser built for the Navy in 1933 and was known as HMS Achilles in the British Raj, in 1950 to vacation with his family.


In the photos, one can see the presence of Indira Gandhi, and Sanjay Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi as children.

While the tradition of misusing Indian Navy assets started in 1950 with Jawaharlal Nehru, there was another incident that has seldom been spoken off that goes to show how the Gandhi family crossed the borders of propriety when it comes to using Indian assets for their personal use.

The affair between Jawaharlal Nehru and Countess Edwina Mountbatten is no secret. In an article that called Mountbatten “man-eater”, dailymail.co.uk recounted how Mountbatten fell in love with Nehru and how her promiscuity took a toll on her children.

According to her daughter Pamela, ‘She found in Panditji [Nehru] the companionship and equality of spirit and intellect that she craved. Each helped overcome loneliness in the other.’

Countess Mountbatten’s wish was to be buried at sea and when she died in 1960, her mortal remains were brought to Portsmouth. Family mourners, including Prince Philip’s mother, Princess Andrew of Greece, watched as the coffin was carried aboard HMS “Wakeful”. The Prince was followed aboard by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Mountbatten, and his two daughters. Some 12 miles off Portsmouth, “Wakeful’s” engines were stopped, and the last words were spoken. Then a tribute was paid to her.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNir49GVvaY]

There was, however, an interesting tribute that was paid to Lady Mountbatten. When Edwina died in 1960, aged 59, and was buried at sea by Lord Mountbatten in accordance with her wishes, Nehru sent the Indian Navy frigate INS Trishul as an escort and had a wreath cast in her memory.

Lady Pamela Hicks, daughter of Lady Mountbatten also says that on her death in 1960, Edwina was buried at sea as per her wish. As her bereaved family steamed away from the scene after casting wreaths at the spot, the Indian frigate INS Trishul “quietly took our place and, on Panditji’s instructions, marigolds were scattered upon the waves”.

Interestingly, after the Rajiv Gandhi fiasco was mentioned by the Prime Minister, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy too had an anecdote of his own.

Swamy said that his father-in-law, JD Kapadia was the Defence Secretary in 1950s. He had refused to give permission to use Airforce plane to ferry one of Nehru’s “European mistresses”. Later, however, Swamy says his father-in-law was transferred and the next Defence Secretary okayed it.


The Gandhi family has long treated India and her assets as their personal property. Whether it was Rajiv Gandhi using a Naval ship for a vacation, Jawaharlal Nehru doing the same, or him using a Naval ship to scatter marigolds in the sea after Mountbatten died.

Amethi: Congress worker writes a letter to EC in blood seeking action against the PM over his ‘Bhrashtachari no 1’ remark

OpIndia Staff
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Amethi: Congress worker writes a letter to EC in blood seeking action against the PM over his ‘Bhrashtachari no 1’ remark

A Congress worker from Amethi has written to the Election Commission in his blood, seeking action against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his Bhrashtachari remark on Rajiv Gandhi.

Manoj Kashyap, who is also a village head of Kitiyawoh gram panchayat in Amethi, in his letter mentioned that he was “traumatised” by PM’s comments against the late PM, Rajiv Gandhi, and requested the EC to prevent Modi from making comments that “hurt the sentiments of the people”.

At an election rally in Pratapgarh constituency on May 4, Prime Minister Modi in response to the incessant allegations on the Rafale deal by the Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who is out on bail in National Herald case, had said that his father (Rajiv Gandhi) was termed as Mr Clean by his courtiers but his life ended as a Bhrashtachari No.1.

Flustered by this comment, Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee had written to the Election Commission seeking strict action against PM Modi. However, the EC had dismissed the complaint filed by the Congress Party against Prime Minister Modi saying that the ‘Bhrashtachari No. 1’ remark against Rajiv Gandhi did not violate the Model Code of Conduct.

Meanwhile, Manoj Kashyap in his letter to EC wrote that anyone who insults Rajiv Gandhi is equal to those who assassinated him. “By calling him Bhrashtachari, the Prime Minister hurt the sentiments of crores of people in the country. People of Amethi are angry and I am writing this letter in blood because emotions of Amethi are connected with Rajiv Gandhi,” he said and added that there was no political agenda behind the letter.

Did India Today modify 1988 report on Rajiv Gandhi using INS Virat as ‘personal taxi’ after PM Modi raised the issue?

OpIndia Staff
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Did India Today modify 1988 report on Rajiv Gandhi using INS Virat as ‘personal taxi’ after PM Modi raised the issue?

Last night, Prime Minister Modi shared an India Today article from 1988 where the Rajiv Gandhi family went on a vacation to Lakshadweep islands and used India’s premier warship INS Virat ‘as a personal taxi’ for a personal holiday.


After Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked people to read the article and share it widely, Twitter was abuzz that India Today has changed the content of the story. After all, their web edition did show that the story was last updated on May 8, 2019, at 22:46 IST.

OpIndia investigated the allegation and here is what we found.

OpIndia compared the version that appears as of today (May 9, 2019) with that of an archived version on May 6, 2019.

Heading of the archived article of India Today
Heading of the current article of India Today

As seen above, the featured image of the article has been changed from “Rajiv Gandhi emerging from water” to a file picture of Rajiv Gandhi at a beach.

The article then talks about how the island Bangaram was strategically chosen since it was the only island where foreigners were not banned and prohibition was not in place.

The article (archived and current) talks about the holidaying group in Lakshadweep which included Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi’s mother, her brother and a maternal uncle. Also present were then MP Amitabh Bachchan, his wife Jaya Bachchan and their children, daughter of Amitabh’s brother Ajitabh, and former minister Arun Singh’s brother Bijendra Singh’s wife and daughter.

Ajitabh Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan’s names had recently cropped up when OpIndia investigated Rahul Gandhi’s nationality matter. Congress had recently shared a copy of the certificate of incorporation of ‘Bristol Legal Services Limited’ which stated Rahul Gandhi’s nationality as Indian. Rahul Gandhi’s address in that document read “2, Frognal Way, London, UK NW3 6XE”. 2, Frognal Way, London is also the address of Asia TV Limited, a company incorporated by Amitabh Bachchan’s brother, Ajitabh Bachchan.

Ajitabh Bachchan, at the time of above vacation, was under investigation for alleged Foreign Exchange Regulations Act (FERA) violations.

Coming back to India Today’s updated article, going line by line, OpIndia has found that the text of the article has not been changed. However, the images published then were edited to bring them in line with the current format.

Small image in the archived article, text remains the same.
Image dimensions formatted with text remaining same in the updated version

As can be seen above, the images are formatted to make the dimensions appear proper and more reader-friendly.

In conclusion, yes, the article has been updated, but the content remains the same.

‘The Namdar family of Congress used INS Viraat as personal taxi’, PM Modi raises Rajiv Gandhi’s Lakshadweep vacation using aircraft carrier

OpIndia Staff
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‘The Namdar family of Congress used INS Viraat as personal taxi’, PM Modi raises Rajiv Gandhi’s Lakshadweep vacation using aircraft carrier

After saying that former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi died as corrupt number 1, prime minister Narendra Modi stepped up his attack on the Congress party referring to corruption and malpractices indulged by former Congress governments.

Addressing a massive rally organised at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, PM Modi made a shocking revelation that when Rajiv Gandhi was prime minister of India, an aircraft carrier of Indian Navy was used for a vacation of the Gandhi family.

Launching a scathing attack on the Congress party, Modi said, nowadays Congress keeps attacking me saying the army is not a personal property of anyone. The PM said, ‘who had been treating the defenders of the nation as personal property, I will tell the nation from Delhi. Friends, have you ever heard that someone went on a vacation with family in a naval carrier? Don’t be shocked by this question, this has happened, and happened in our own country.’

Narrating about the incident, Modi said, ‘this namdar family of Congress party had used the pride of nation, India’s aircraft carrier INS Viraat as their own personal taxi. They have insulted the defence forces. This incident is from that time when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister of the country, and went for a vacation of ten days. INS Viraat was deployed for protection of maritime borders of the country, but that was sent for transporting the Gandhi family who were going for holidaying. After that, their entire group was carried to an island by INS Viraat, where it stayed for ten days. The people holidaying with Rajiv Gandhi included his in-laws. The question is, by taking foreigners on a warship of the country, were they playing with the security of the country or not’.

‘Because it was Rajiv Gandhi, and his in-laws who came from Italy, they got all the relaxations?’ Modi asked. He added, ‘the tale of vacation of this namdar family does not end here. The island where they went, there was no transport facility. Therefore, government employees and navy soldiers did the job of organising all the facilities for the vacation. A special helicopter of the army was deployed their service 24×7, the entire administration was looking after the arrangement of entertainment of these people.’

INS Viraat was decommissioned in 2017

Prime minister Narendra Modi commented, ‘when a family becomes the topmost priority, the security of the nation is placed on the bet. When a family becomes the biggest, the security of the general public is nowhere to be seen.

PM Modi was referring to the Gandhi family’s vacation in 1987. The holidaying group included Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi’s mother, her brother and a maternal uncle. Also present were then MP Amitabh Bachchan, his wife Jaya Bachchan and their two children, daughter of Amitabh’s brother Ajitabh, and former minister Arun Singh’s brother Bijendra Singh’s wife and daughter. The location for the vacation was Bangaram, a small uninhabited island in Lakshadweep archipelago. INS Viraat, the lone carrier of Indian navy at that time, was used to transport the Gandhi family and their companions, which moved in the Arabian sea for 10 days for this vacation. An aircraft carrier does not move alone in the sea, a carrier is the nerve centre of a carrier battle group and it is always surrounded by several warships. Even a submarine was also present during the trip. This means a huge expenditure.

As the island was uninhabited, everything needed for the guests was needed to be transported from other places. The Lakshadweep administration looked after the logistics of the 10 day vacation, and their helicopter was pressed into service for this purpose.

NBSA threatens to shut down Republic TV if Arnab Goswami doesn’t apologise for calling Jignesh Mevani’s goon a ‘goon’ for misbehaving with journalist

Nupur J Sharma
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NBSA threatens to shut down Republic TV if Arnab Goswami doesn’t apologise for calling Jignesh Mevani’s goon a ‘goon’ for misbehaving with journalist

On 9th January 2018, Republic TV reporter, Shivani Gupta. She was heckled, harassed, humiliated with lewd gestures, to a point where she had to be escorted out of Jignesh Mevani’s ‘hunkar rally’ under police protection. It was on video.


Over the course of the reportage, Republic TV circled the face of the man who harassed Shivani and called him a goon. A sexist. A spineless man. The NBSA, in all its wisdom, decided that the issue wasn’t that the reporter was harassed. In fact, in spite of being given a CD that captured the horror, the NBSA decided that they couldn’t conclusively tell if Shivani was harassed.

The NBSA listed broadcasting rules of impartiality and objectivity. And in all its wisdom, observed that on 7.9.2018, Republic must, on full screen, run this apology:

“On the debate “Jignesh Flop Show” aired on Republic TV on 9.1.2018 at 9 PM, the channel had inadvertantly circled the visual of Mr A Singh, while running the pictures of its News Editor Ms Shivani Gupta being confronted by individuals present at the Jignesh Mevani Rally. It was a genuine error, an oversight by our video editor, and not intentional. Therefore, we wish to convey our regret for the error which we reiterate was unintentional”.

They went a step further. The NBSA observed that if Republic TV fails to display this message on the 7th, they will have to display another message on the 14th which was much longer.

Arnab Goswami had then filed a review petition with the NBSA asking them to reconsider their decision. Goswami in his representation had said that it is wrong of the NBSA to sidestep the real issue of a woman and a journalist being molested but rather, run a smear campaign against her.

The NBSA then reviewed Arnab’s petition and asserted that an adequate representation for review had not been made and that generally, when NBSA rejects a petition, they are not bound to give any reason. However, in this case, they say they decided to communicate their reasons to the broadcaster, in this case, Republic TV. Mentioning the reasons, the NBSA simple reiterated that Republic TV has to telecast the apology in full vide order dated 30th August 2018. Arnab Goswami stood firm and refused to air the apology both on 14th and 21st December 2018 as directed by the NBSA.

The NBSA was relentless. In a letter dated 21st February 2019, NBSA reiterated that they were ‘concerned’ about Republic TV not adhering to the order of NBSA. Sprouting the same drivel, the NBSA said that the channel should not view its order as an adversarial process but one to ensure neutrality and fair play.

The reiterated that Republic TV must apologise to the lackey of Jignesh Mevani who had, on camera, hounded the lady reporter Shivani Gupta. In fact, following that, the board of NBA said that if Arnab Goswami is not ready to apologise, a meeting of the board members must be convened and Arnab Goswami must be summoned so he can be convinced to apologise and adhere to the order.

Accordingly, as per the letter that has not been sent by the NBSA to Republic TV and Arnab Goswami whose details are with OpIndia, a letter was sent to Goswami to be present for a meeting on 15th March 2019. Arnab informed the board that due to personal reasons, he could not be available for the meeting but he could send his representatives (CEO, Executive Editor and Legal Advisor). The board declined and wanted Arnab Goswami to be present personally. After all, this endeavour had turned into practice to pull Arnab Goswami down and that was evident from the start.

In their latest letter dated May 8th 2019, according to our sources within the NBA, the NBSA had now threatened to shut down Republic TV if Arnab Goswami doesn’t agree to run a full-screen apology directed at Jignesh Mevani’s aide who misbehaved with journalist Shivani Gupta during the Hunkar rally.

The NBA Board has, according to our sources, said that the Board after deliberations unanimously decided to recommend to the NBSA to write to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for the suspension and revocation of the license of Republic TV as per the powers vested in the Authority under Regulation 7.1 of the News Broadcasting Standards Regulation. It was also decided that the letter addressed to MoI&B should be circulated to the media.

The letter goes on to say, “The decision taken by the NBA Board on 15.3.2019 was placed before the NBSA at its meeting held on 18.3.2019. NBSA decided to issue a notice to the broadcaster (Republic TV) of its decision before implementing the recommendation of NBA”.

The letter then says, “You are therefore hereby notified about the recommendations of the NBA and the decision of the NBSA”.

In fact, the letter goes on to threaten Arnab Goswami and Republic TV. It says that if the channel fails to comply with the decision of the NBSA within 15 days (telecast apology), NBSA will:

  1. Write to Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for suspension/revocation of your Broadcasters License
  2. Circulate the said letter addressed to the MOI&B to the media.

The NBSA then asks Republic TV to inform NBSA about when Republic TV would run the full-screen apology to the man who misbehaved with Shivani Gupta, a journalist with the Republic TV on camera.

It is extremely evident from the tone of the letter that the NBSA and the NBA have decided to threaten and intimidate Arnab Goswami especially with their threat to “circulate the letter to the Media”. It is almost as if the NBSA is threatening Arnab Goswami that if he doesn’t apologise to Jignesh Mevani’s lackey, the might of the Lutyens media that has regularly hounded and abused Arnab Goswami would just get more rabid.

OpIndia reached out to Arnab Goswami for a comment on the recent developments.

Arnab Goswami said:

“I haven’t received any such letter yet. But the Lutyens media must know that I will never apologise to a goon. Even if he has the Congress party backing or the backing of the Lutyens media. I will be horrified if anyone expects editors to apologise to lumpens who harass a journalist. No one in their right mind would expect an apology. In fact, I will exercise my fundamental rights and legal rights to fight this tooth and nail.”

When the NBSA had issued it’s first order to Republic TV to apologise, OpIndia had reported how a certain lady from NDTV, during the committee hearing went so far as to tell Shivani that ‘these things happen in the field’. Shivani was made to come face to face with her harasser. Shivani was made to sit through a humiliating experience while the man who allegedly incited people to harass her sat and justified, and even denied what he had done.

Now, the NBSA seems to be almost taking out a personal vendetta against Arnab Goswami. Recently, Arnab Goswami had bought back the minority shares from Rajeev Chandrasekhar backed Asianet and turned Republic TV into a debt-free media network. Not only that, Republic TV had declared valuation of Rs 1,200 crores as it turned two. One has to wonder if this is the manner in which the Lutyens Media plans to hit back at Arnab Goswami and bring the media disruptor to his knees. Whatever the plans and intent behind this gross miscarriage of justice might be, Arnab Goswami has told OpIndia.com that he stands firm and will fight this order tooth and nail.

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