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Top Lies spread by the Indian Media in May 2015

Gaurav
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Top Lies spread by the Indian Media in May 2015

1. 2nd May 2015: India Today –  Arun Shourie Interview

Shourie said many things in his interview, but some he did not say at all, but were still attributed to him. We had pointed them put here. To study one example, India Today said Shourie had called the trio of Modi, Jaitley and Amit Shah “Timurti”. This word however was missing from the transcript of the interview. In the video of the interview, one can clearly see, Thapar, the interviewer first mentioned “Trimurti”, to which Shourie said “Trimurt?! Big Word..” and moved on. Now, India Today edited the transcript and put “Trimurti” in Shourie’s part without mentioning that Thapar had brought in the word.

2. 3rd May 2015: NDTV – Major aftershock felt in Nepal

This particular incident may not be a major lie, but we felt it should be documented because it is symptomatic of the entire reporting by Indian Media of the Nepal tragedy, and probably such reporting led to the hashtag  #GoHomeIndianMedia being trended by Nepalis. First see how NDTV reported this:


//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsTimes Now had this to say about the same incident

Times Now’s reporting was confirmed by a journalist who was actually in Nepal when the tremors were felt:

NDTV blew up a “mild, small tremor” into a “major aftershock” just to get eyeballs, which is evident from the fact that NDTV’s tweet got double the RTs of Times Now’s tweet. 

3. 4th May 2015 –  ABPNews – Arvind Kejriwal calls Akshay Kumar’s Gabbar is Back “Nonsensical”

In March, India Today fell for a satirical piece in their own group concern’s post, and now in May, ABP News reported another piece of satire as news. In Times of India’s “Mocktail” section, there appeared a piece which said “Arvind Kejriwal calls Akshay Kumar’s latest movie nonsensical”. There was clear, bold disclaimer too, clarifying this was satire:

“Stories in Mocktale are works of fiction intended to bring a smile to your face. They bear no connection to events and characters in real life.”

Still ABP News, tweeted this as a real news item, and even made a report on the same. Luckily they realised their error and apologised and deleted the post and tweet. 

4. 4th May 2015 – NDTV, CNN-IBN, Firstpost – National Disaster Response Force asked by Nepalese government to withdraw its rescue teams

We had done a separate post on this. Nepal had asked all International Search and Rescue teams, to return back, as already 8-10 days had passed from the day of the earthquake and chances of finding anyone alive had greatly reduced. This is a standard practice in most such disasters. But Indian media chose to report that only NDRF i.e. India’s team was asked to go back, and then juxtaposed this against the  hashtag which had trended the earlier day.

5. 5th May 2015 –  Times of India – Mani Ratnam suffers cardiac attack, hospitalized

Times of India later changed this story and corrected it with the facts that Mani Ratnam had in fact gone for a routing check-up in a Delhi hospital, and had not suffered a heart attack. But, they forgot to update this news in Mumbai Mirror, and the post there, managed to give intricate details about Mani Ratnam’s “heart-attack”: “Ratnam was playing golf at the Royal Spring Golf Course in Srinagar around 1 pm on Sunday when he complained of chest-pain and was immediately rushed to the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, about 7 km away from the state’s capital.”

6. 6th May 2015 –  IndiaTV – Cricketer Ravindra Jadeja takes poor jibe on Salman Khan

IndiaTV mistook a parody Ravindra Jadeja twitter handle for the real handle of cricketer Jadeja and attributed a tweet of this parody to the cricketer. They later corrected their story. 

7. 7th May 2015 – Indian Express and later Firstpost – Doordarshan to telecast a show on Modi’s life and other leaders from Ghanchi community.

We had a separate post on this issue, where we had explained all the logical fallacies in the Indian Express report. The report claimed, only on the statement of a producer that Doordarshan had approved a serial to be telecast, over 128 episodes and 10 years, to showcase lives of leaders from Modi’s community (ghanchi), including kings like Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka. They had not bothered to ask for a confirmation from Doordarshan, and once the chiefs of Prasar Bharti and Doordarshan were informed about this hitjob, they denied any such show. Indian Express then was forced to put up a clarification. 

8. 7th May 2015 – Forbes, followed by Quartz India – Are Modi’s Twitter Follower Numbers ‘Boosted’?

This piece claimed that as per their study, on April 7, Modi added 2.8lac followers to his account, a huge jump for a single day. They believed these were “boosted” and it was the “action of some of his supporters who see the number of Twitter followers as a sign of national pride”. The post also claimed that Queries to Twitter and Burson-Marsteller on Modi’s follower numbers went unanswered”. Later, when Twitter India responded, Forbes had to update its post because of the clearly erroneus piece. As it turns out, Twitter clarified that the sudden surge on one particular day – April 7 – was because his off-line followers had been added to his online following. (The offline followers were following Modi via text through their  mobile phones.). Forbes and Quartz later updated their stories. 

9. 9th May 2015 –  All Media –  Hostage Crisis at Marenga 

This is one time even we do not know what the truth is. Media reported that there was a hostage situation in Marenga village, hours before PM Modi was to visit the next village. What was weird was every media house had a different number of hostages, as a twitter user summarized here:

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Obviously, such high figures thrown around by Media caused panic on Social Media. Eventually, later in the day, Business Standard reported that Inspector General (IG) of Bastar told media-persons that only 5-6 people were taken hostage. 

10. 9th May 2015 – Times of India and The New Indian Express – Sadhvi Prachi is a BJP MP.

In March 2015 we had highlighted that based on a PTI report, all media houses had claimed a VHP leader from UP Sadhvi Prachi, was a BJP MP, when she was at best a BJP member. This month MSM like Times of India and others repeated this lie inspite of being corrected by us earlier. We had a separate post on this.

11. 11th May 2015 – ANI News – Maharashtra Govt planning to start an Urdu class in Marathi medium schools

Every other media house reported this news correctly, i.e., State revenue minister Eknath Khadse said that Urdu-medium schools must teach Marathi. But ANI managed to post a tweet saying the exact opposite, that Khdase said Urdu should be taught in Marathi medium schools. Not only is this diametrically opposite, it doesn’t make sense either. Since it is natural to expect the local language to be taught in schools, i.e. Marathi in Urdu schools, and in fact there are laws already in place in Maharashtra which enforce this. 

12. 12th May 2015 – Indian Express and others – Baba Ramdev to receive Padma Award. 

This news came up in January 2015, but it has been revealed to be lies only now. On 23rd January, Indian Express and others had reported that Baba Ramdev, among others would receive the Padma Award on Republic Day. In fact, seeing the multiple reports, Ramdev to fell for them and wrote a letter to Rajnath Singh declining the Padma Award. But by 29th January, DNA carried a report that a Home Ministry official said that Ramdev was never considered for the award. It also said that a Ramdev aide said they had never received any official communication, but declined the award only based on media reports. The full truth came out now, when an RTI response revealed that Ramdev was never considered for the award.

13. 13th May 2015 – Indian Express – Preity Zinta’s interview on Salman Khan

On 13th May, Preity Zinta too got a taste of Indian Express’s imaginative news manufacturing. She took to twitter to clarify that she had not spoken about Salman Khan in the press at all, still Indian Express has printed an interview of her discussing Salman Khan:

14. 15th May 2015 –  Scroll.in and Quartz – Government set to send millions of children back into exploitative labour

We had written a separate post on this, where we showed how Scroll.in deliberately twisted facts, and spouted outright lies, to write yet another anti-Modi propaganda piece. Without any proof, they claimed that the new amendments to child labour would harm children and that the term “family enterprises” was an “euphemism” for hazardous industry. This in spite of the fact that the Government notification clearly spelt out the the hazardous industries, the same which Scroll claimed in their post. Eventually Scroll.in backtracked and changed their article multiple times surreptitiously. 

15. 18th May 2015 –  All Media – Modi said “Earlier, you felt ashamed of being born Indian,”

This alleged remark from Modi, was first carried by The Hindu, and then spread across all media. It was subjected to lot of debate and criticism too, with alleged journalists too batting for being proud of being an Indian, when in the past, they too had made similar remarks. But did Modi really say this? If we see this video of the original speech, this is what Modi said:

Within one year, “let it be, we are sunk, nothing will happen, God save us, wonder what misdeeds we committed in our previous life that we were born in India”, from this mentality, now the world is saying, India is the fastest growing country”

From the above, it is clear that Modi never said the word “ashamed” or the phrase “ashamed to be an Indian”. All he said was while earlier people cursed their plight in India, now the world is saying India is seeing better days. Yet Mainstream media chose to twist these words and tried to portray Modi as anti-India.

16. 19th May 2015 – IndiaToday- BJP’s friend Ramdev calls Modi govt arrogant

In the title of this article, IndiaToday claimed that Ramdev called Modi’s Government arrogant. If one read the actual text of the article, “calls Modi Government arrogant” changed to “few BJP leaders have become arrogant”. If one saw the actual video of the interview, one can see that first Ramdev said that like all people who come to power, a few of them have changed their contact numbers. He clearly spelt out that top leaders like Jaitley, Amit Shah etc are still accessible, but some lower level people have changed their numbers. Later, when the reporter pressed further, Ramdev said that some people have become arrogant. He did not say whether they are from the party, or the Government. But he definitely did not call “Modi Government Arrogant” as claimed by IndiaToday

17. 19th May 2015 –  All Media – ‘Told Russian woman I can show how to remove dhoti,’ says MP Home Minister Babulal Gaur 

While most media based its reports on “local media” and claimed that Madhya Pradesh Minister Babulal Gaur made lewd remarks to a Russian woman, the truth was different. What MSM like Indian Express claimed Gaur said:

“I told her I can’t teach you how to wear it, but I can certainly teach you how to remove it, but that too later not now,’’ 

But as can be seen from this video of the speech itself, Gaur said something quite different:

“She asked, ‘How you wear this dhoti, where is chain’. I said ‘no chain’. She asked, ‘is there a belt?’. I said ‘no’. She asked, ‘How do you wear it?’. I said ‘How do I open and show you here?'”

18. 20th May 2015 – ANI News – Separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s supporters raise Pakistani flags

While in the above tweet, ANI claimed that at a rally in Srinagar, supporters of Separatist leadet, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq’s supporters carried Pakistani flags, it was evident from the picture in their own tweet that the flags were not Pakistani national flags, since they did not have the white vertical strip which the Pakistani flag has. In all probability they were Islamic flags or the flags of some party. 

19. 21st May 2015 – Indian Express (Opinion Piece by Ram Guha) – Smriti Irani’s “diabolical scheme” of faculty mobility.

Indian Express was at it again, this time via Ram Guha. Guha in his “opinion piece” claimed Smriti Irani was destroying India’s education system. One of his assertions was a “diabolical scheme”, “most likely the work of political apparatchiks”, which involved faculty mobility. Under this scheme he said, faculty from Delhi University could be transferred to a “purgatory” like Mizoram, if the Goverment was unhappy with them. 

What Guha omitted to tell us was, firstly, this scheme was a recommendation of the Working Group of Vice Chancellors, and not of “political apparatchiks”. Secondly, it was only a proposal, which was not even accepted by HRD ministry till now, let alone being a “diabolical scheme” of Smriti Irani. Thirdly, Guha conveniently forhot that this scheme was in fact mooted by our ex-HRD minister Kapil Sibal when he had said “We want to create an eco-system that allows for the mobility of students and faculty” way back in 2009. 

20. 25th May 2015 – NDTV – In High-Stakes Battle With Centre, Arvind Kejriwal Scores Big Win in Court

This news has two parts. Firstly, Arvind Kejriwal foolishly tweeted that this judgement was a victory for him, when in fact it was clearly not, as we had explained here. While media does have to report this claim of Kejriwal, however full of lies it maybe, NDTV decided to add their own judgement to it, and backed Kejriwal’s half baked claims. Firstly, NDTV claimed “in battle with centre, Kejriwal scores big win”, when in fact in the on-going case, the Centre was not even a party to the proceedings. It further said Kejriwal “has received solid vindication in court”, which again is wrong since the court ruling applied only to that specific case, and the case was totally different from the other matter in which Kejriwal is in a tussle with the LG. 

For MSM lies of previous months, please check the following links:

January 2015: 7 Lies

February 2015: 8 Lies

March 2015: 9 Lies

April 2015: 18 Lies

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Kiren Rijiju’s “beef” with media is partly right

OpIndia Staff
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Kiren Rijiju’s “beef” with media is partly right

A comment from Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Naqvi has seemingly spiraled into a snowball, taking other ministers with it. Naqvi, at BJP’s “Manthan” conclave had said “those who are dying without eating beef can go to Pakistan”, seemingly indicating that since beef wasn’t an essential food item, surviving without it should be possible, to respect the sentiments of Hindus. While beef may not be essential, it is indeed stupid to try and insinuate that somebody who needs beef should go to Pakistan. While Naqvi was roasted for his needless comment, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju too got sucked into this debate.

In a visit to Aizawl, media reported Kiren Rijiju as “hitting back at Naqvi” saying:

“I eat beef, I’m from Arunachal Pradesh, can somebody stop me?”

Soon, as the remark was blown up by all media, a Facebook page called “Kiren Rijiju Official”, issued a statement saying the media had “misquoted” him:

Media has misquoted me. In Mizoram the Press & Civil society asked me if they have to go to Pakistan due to beef consumption? My reply was, “India is a secular Country where food habits can’t be stopped. I’m from Arunachal and I’ve my food habits but the faiths & sentiments of Hindus must be respected in Hindu majority States same as other communities have rights in their own areas”.
In my family nobody eats beef and it’s our choice. Media should not misquote to create unnecessary controversy. Some people comment without knowing the truth. Never question people of Arunachal on patriotism because we grew up with Jai Hind slogan & remain face to face with China safeguarding our motherland & fighting terrorists.

At this stage, even we felt Rijiju has been been victimized by the media, who have in the recent past gone to deplorable depths to twist truths and manufacture lies. But soon, Indian Express, which had initially reported Rijiju’s statement, put out the audio of the interview, to back up their claim. So what did Rijiju exactly say on this issue? We reproduce it below:

This is a democratic country. Sometimes some statements are made which are not palatable. If a Mizo-Christian says that this is the land of Jesus, why should somebody have a problem in Punjab or Haryana. We have to honor sentiment of each place and location. For example, I eat beef, I am from Arunachal Pradesh, can somebody stop me? So Let us not be touchy about somebody’s practices, and inflict on ourselves. If Maharashtra is a Hindu majority state, if Gujarat, Madhya Pradeshare Hindu majority, if they want to make laws conducive for Hindu faith, let them make. But in our state where we are majority, where we feel whatever step we take, law should be conducive to our belief. They shouldn’t have problem how we live, we shouldn’t have problem how they live. This country is a multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-communal country. We must respect each other’s practices. There cannot be any force on anybody about your practices, your faith. So if anybody makes a statement which is forcing or imposing your belief, your faith, your practices on another community, another believer, it is not good.

The key here is, Rijiju said “For Example, I eat beef….”. Also, it is important to actually hear this bit and understand the tone of Rijiju. He seems to be sounding like presenting a hypothetical example, not “hitting back” or “challenging” Naqvi. And this where most media got it wrong.

No one, not even Indian Express anywhere mentioned the words “For Example”, which Rijiju quite clearly said. This, along with the tone of the what was said, gave it a different colour. And then as usual, the remark was blown out of proportion to make it a war between Rijiju and Naqvi.

On the other hand, Rijiju is also guilty of using a poor example, which was so easy to be misunderstood, especially when one doesn’t listen to the audio, and without knowledge of the fact that Rijiju in fact doesn’t eat beef, which he later clarified.

This goes to become yet another lesson learnt the hard way, for BJP ministers, to measure very carefully what they say to the media since any statement cant be misquoted by omitting just 2 words, or taking a literal meaning, when the intention was to give a hypothetical example.

Also, if we listen to the audio clip till then end, we hear Indian Express’s reporter saying “I think you just gave us a headline sir”, right after Rijiju finished his statement.  And that’s what news is today, headlines. And hence, Ministers have to be ultra-careful.

One of the 100 Lies of Kejriwal: The Truth about the High Court ruling on ACB

Guest Author
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One of the 100 Lies of Kejriwal: The Truth about the High Court ruling on ACB

As Delhi Govt. Completed 100 days in power, to mark the special occasion, Aam Aadmi Party held a public ‘cabinet’ meet at Connaught Place on 25th May, to highlight their achievements. What they chose to highlight instead was their apparent victory over the Centre citing that day’s Delhi HC order,  allegedly ‘striking down’ a MHA notification regarding  Delhi ACB.

Now most of the Media too proceeded to report same of how HC had quashed MHA notification regarding Delhi’s ACB (Anti Corruption Bureau) having limited jurisdiction over the Delhi Police which falls under the Central MHA.  (Read here)

My inquisition began after Kejriwal claimed that the MHA Notification has been struck down by a judgment of Delhi HC. Since Kejriwal does not really enjoy the reputation of being honest with facts, it prompted me to study the judgment he bragged about.

Facts about the Judgement itself

The judgment relates to a regular bail application filed under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The matter is titled as Anil Kumar Vs. Govt of NCT of Delhi and registered as Bail Application No. 878/2015.

The fact which needs to be underscored at the outset is that the court was proceeding under a criminal jurisdiction and not under the Constitutional or Writ jurisdiction. Therefore, the constitutionality of the Notification could not have been decided while exercising merely criminal jurisdiction.

Therefore, the only issue which the court was seized of was whether the applicant was entitled to the relief of bail or not. No other issue was under the consideration of the court. Hence, it goes without saying that the legality / constitutionality of the MHA Notification was far from being under the consideration of the court.

In Paragraph 34 of the judgment, the court made it explicitly restricted its findings and conclusions only to the extent of that case, i.e. the bail application under consideration.

 


  Union of India was not a party to said proceeding. Union of India was therefore not heard. Therefore, the legality / constitutionality of the MHA Notification could not have been decided without hearing the Union of India which is the issuing authority. The court was mindful of the said position. Therefore the following observations made by the court assume significance and debunk the claims of Kejriwal and coterie that MHA Notification has been struck down- “This is an important constitutional issue which has bearing on executive authority of Union and the said issue cannot be finally determined without hearing Union and examining its stand”  

 

Thus without slightest of doubt it is clear that the court did not decide the constitutionality / legality of the MHA Notification and the findings of the court do not go beyond the said particular bail application.

Hence the judgment has no bearing whatsoever on the Constitutionality / legality of the Notification.

Another important aspect of the matter is that the Notification which was discussed was the one issued on 23/07/2014 as can be seen from Paragraph 16 of the judgment.


The latest Notification of 21/05/2015 was not considered by the court. Only a fleeting, cursory reference is made to it in Paragraph 66 of the judgment.

My Conclusion

Two cardinal principles of law also make it abundantly clear that the judgment does not affect the MHA Notification. The first principle is known as Audi AlteramPartemwhich means that no party can be condemned unheard and no decision which materially affects the right of a party can be given without affording opportunity of hearing to it. Since Union was never heard in the said case, the court was not empowered to strike down the MHA Notification. The court was also mindful of the constraints and rightfully refrained. The second principle is that the court cannot travel beyond the scope of the case and cannot grant any such relief which is not claimed by any party. In the case in hand, the only relief claimed by the applicant was that of bail and the only contrary demand of the Govt of NCT of Delhi was to refuse bail. Therefore, the court had no other issue to decide and certainly not the issue of the constitutionality of MHA notification.

Thus the latest MHA Notification which is the bone of contention nowadays was not considered in with any seriousness in the said judgment. This further falsifies Kejriwal’s claim that the Notification has been struck down.

Therefore after a thorough reading of the judgment and with the understanding of law at my command, I say it without doubt that the claim made by Kejriwal is completely spurious and false.

The legal position as it stands today is that the MHA Notifications of 2014 as well as 2015 hold their ground. They have not been struck down by any court.

Despite this clear position, Kejriwal as usual twisted the facts and went on to peddle falsehood. It did not come as any surprise to see the main stream media readily lapped those claims up and painted a totally false picture that MHA Notification has been struck down. Some overzealous media houses even portrayed it as a huge victory of Delhi Govt over the Center which is far from truth.

That Kejriwal will twist the facts and make false claims is not at all surprising. Politicians do that quite often and a politician like Kejriwal has built his political career on such oblique practices. But really dismaying is the inability of media to comprehend the legal niceties. This brings out their desperation to stay ahead in the rat race by being the “quickest” or “fastest” in “Breaking” a news. While doing that all the basic journalistic principles of verifying the news, testing its authenticity, seeking expert opinion if the news is technical in nature (such as legal news, as is the case here) are thrown to the winds.
The real news and truth bear the brunt ultimately.

– by @BhateKetan. ILS alumnus. Lawyer. ( In co-operation with @RpG_89 )

Modi writes a letter to the nation on one year of the NDA government

OpIndia Staff
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Modi writes a letter to the nation on one year of the NDA government

Modi government has completed one year today. On this occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reaching people and detailing them about the past, present and future of the Government through http://www.narendramodi.in/oneyear. The website primarily talks about 4 segments:

Governance
Global Recognition
Then & Now
Vision in Action

Through these segments, Modi talks about various topics – Reforms, Swacch Bharat Mission, Equality, Make in India, Towards a Powerful India, Stability, etc. He has asked people to share their opinions

Share your thoughts using #SaalEkShuruaatAnek & get a personal message from me! Looking forward to hearing from you.


A letter from the PM attached on the website reads:

My dear fellow Citizens!

Service, in our Indian ethos is the ultimate duty – Seva Parmo Dharma. One year ago, you had entrusted me with the responsibility and honour of serving you as your Pradhan Sevak. I have devoted every moment of every day, and every element of my body and spirit, in fulfilling the same with fullest sincerity and honesty.

 

We assumed office at a time when confidence in the India story was waning. Un-abated corruption and indecisiveness had paralyzed the government. People had been left helpless against ever climbing inflation and economic insecurity. Urgent and decisive action was needed.

 

We systematically went about addressing these challenges. Runaway prices were immediately brought under control. The languishing economy was rejuvenated, building on stable, policy-driven proactive governance. Discretionary allotment of our precious natural resources to a chosen few was replaced with transparent auctions. Firm steps were taken against Black Money, from setting up a SIT and passing a stringent black money law, to generating international consensus against the same. Uncompromising adherence to the principle of purity, in action as well as intent, ensured a corruption-free government. Significant changes have been brought about in work culture, nurturing a combination of empathy as well as professionalism, systems as well breaking of silos. State governments have been made equal partners in the quest for national development, building the spirit of Team India. Most importantly, we have been able to restore Trust in the government.

 

Guided by the principle of Antyodaya, our Government is dedicated to the poor, marginalized and those left behind. We are working towards empowering them to become our soldiers in the war against poverty. Numerous measures and schemes have been initiated – from making school toilets to setting up IITs, IIMs and AIIMS; from providing a vaccination cover to our children to initiating a people-drivenSwachh Bharat mission; from ensuring a minimum pension to our labourers to providing social security to the common man; from enhancing support to our farmers hit by natural calamities to defending their interests at WTO; from empowering one and all with self attestation to delivering subsidies directly to people’s banks; from universalizing the banking system to funding the unfunded small businesses; from irrigating fields to rejuvenating Ma Ganga; from moving towards 24×7 power to connecting the nation through road and rail; from building homes for the homeless to setting up smart cities, and from connecting the North-East to prioritizing development of Eastern India.

 

Friends, this is just the beginning. Our objective is to transform quality of life, infrastructure and services. Together we shall build the India of your dreams and that of our freedom fighters. In this, I seek your blessings and continued support.

 

Always in your Service.

Jai Hind!

‘Liberals’ jumping the gun with falsehood: a rebuttal to an article on Firstpost

Guest Author
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‘Liberals’ jumping the gun with falsehood: a rebuttal to an article on Firstpost

The online portal First Post recently carried a piece by one of their senior editors, G. Pramod Kumar, suggesting that the BJP is only promoting Hindu icons and this is an attempt at imposing a monochromatic narrative of Indian history. However, this is a blatant lie, given that the Modi sarkar has announced that it will be commemorating Muslim national icons like Ashfaqulla Khan, Abbas Tyabji and Begum Hazrat Mahal, as well as Christian national icons like TM Varghese, even planning to start schemes named after them. The government is already running a scheme for the religious minorities named after Maulana Azad (who, claims G. Pramod Kumar, has been forgotten by the BJP, though Najma Heptullah, who is the minority affairs minister in the Modi cabinet and who is related to the late maulana, often invokes his name). Also, the BJP government has issued a postage stamp on the Orthodox Theological Seminary (popularly called the Old Seminary), a Christian seminary based in Kottayam, Kerala. Thus, G. Pramod Kumar is either misinformed or may be deliberately lying.

A snapshot from The Economic Times
A snapshot from The Economic Times

If someone argues that G. Pramod Kumar’s reference was only in the context of the celebrations being planned by the BJP on its completion of one year in office (though one cannot draw conclusions based only on one yet-to-occur event, overlooking everything else), which is technically a party affair rather than a government affair, with a Times of India report mentioning that the BJP plans to have celebrations at specific places like Ballia and Jhansi to commemorate Hindu icons who played a role in the Revolt of 1857, like Mangal Pandey and Rani Lakshmibai respectively. However, the very same report also mentions that Lucknow too would be a city where the BJP celebrations would be observed, and in fact, that is the place where the central ministers are to assemble!

What the TOI report doesn’t mention, however, is that Lucknow is a city which has historically had a high Muslim population, both Shia and Sunni, and the most prominent historical personality from Lucknow during the Revolt of 1857 was Begum Hazrat Mahal, who, like Muslim women like Razia Sultan and Chand Bibi before her, had successfully asserted herself as an empowered woman. Can G. Pramod Kumar assert that her name will not be invoked in the BJP rally, given that, as mentioned earlier in this article, the Modi sarkar has announced that it will float a scheme named after her? Narendra Modi himself, in the run-up to the national elections, had mentioned the Revolt of 1857 as being very symbolic of Hindu-Muslim unity, in Rajat Sharma’s show ‘Aap ki Adalat’.

Also, while G. Pramod Kumar has accused the BJP of saffronizing history textbooks (which has happened in the past, and I even raised this issue with the late Mr. Arjun Singh, a Congress leader when he was HRD Minister. when I interviewed him for my school magazine in 2004 when the UPA had then just come to power, and I cited, among other things, a sentence in my then Class IX NCERT textbook that wrongly suggested that all Muslims withdrew from the Non-Cooperation Movement after the Treaty of Sevres was made to favour Turkey, but just by the way, the very subtle

When I interviewed him for my school magazine in 2004 when the UPA had then just come to power, and I cited, among other things, a sentence in my then Class IX NCERT textbook that wrongly suggested that all Muslims withdrew from the Non-Cooperation Movement after the Treaty of Sevres was made to favour Turkey, but just by the way, the very subtle saffronization of history textbooks is a far cry from the sheer distortion of facts in Pakistani history textbooks, though on a positive note, there are many liberals in Pakistan agitating for changes in the textbooks), the new textbooks are yet to be ready, and the BJP will be mindful of past criticism. It is too early to judge what the textbooks will say. However, the current textbooks from the UPA-II regime do need to be changed, given the blunders they contain.

Another bizarre excerpt from G. Pramod Kumar’s piece is stated hereunder-

 “In its 2014 election manifesto, the BJP doesn’t hide an interesting double speak. It says that the party ‘believes in India being one country, one people and one nation.’ In the next sentence it contradicts itself by saying that it also ‘recognizes the importance of diversity in Indian society, and the strength and vibrancy it adds to the nation. The party believes in the principle of unity in diversity.’ One country, one people and one nation is against heterogeneity and diversity. And that exactly is the threat of its cultural nationalism.”

So, while the BJP manifesto for the national elections did acknowledge unity in diversity (and I may add that it even had a separate section dedicated to the religious minorities, promising the promotion of Urdu among other things), is it wrong to suggest that in spite of our diversity, we should be united as one country? Isn’t that the “idea of India” that secularists (count me in) believe in? But G. Pramod Kumar has some problem with the same, which is completely beyond my comprehension.

While I do believe that the BJP has so far failed to fulfil its promises (such as getting back black money stashed abroad in a hundred days) and has made many U-turns (such as on the nuclear deal, GST, FDI in retail, the Henderson Brooks Report and the Netaji files), India’s secular character enshrined in the constitution, which the Supreme Court has held cannot be abrogated by parliament, is here to stay. If anything, the BJP has been inducting new Muslim faces like MJ Akbar and Shazia Ilmi (even though the latter advocated Muslim communalism earlier), and in spite of its talk of no minority appeasement, is also pandering to the minority vote by starting schemes like ‘Nayi Manzil’, and if the BJP is not particularly seeking minority votes, it is doing so to be answerable to the secular civil society (which, in turn, shows the weight the secular forces carry in our democracy), which will ask why schemes are being doled out for Dalits but not Muslims, despite their backwardness, though I do personally believe that schemes should be for all economically backward people, irrespective of caste or religion.

Yes, the BJP has elements that speak a divisive language, as do several other parties (like Karnataka Congress chief G. Parameshwara saying that Muslims needn’t return loans) or their patrons (like Imam Bukhari justifying the destruction of Buddha statues by the Taliban), but not every Hindu right-of-centre person, even in the religious context, supports communal hate-mongering, vandalism and riots. Such relatively moderate people consider checking minority appeasement and minority communalism to be a greater issue than majority communalism (since they believe that majority communalism flows from minority communalism and minority appeasement), and such people are apologists, though not supporters, of Hindu communalism. Equally, however, supposedly left-leaning people are now often apologists for Muslim extremism (including Romila Thapar, who has been quoted seemingly reverentially by G. Pramod Kumar, and Thapar has gone to the extent of saying that it is worth pondering over whether Hindus are actually “by nature more given to killing” than other religious communities, as if religious majoritarian violence in Muslim-majority Kashmir or in our neighbourhood, in Muslim-majority Pakistan and Bangladesh and Buddhist-majority Myanmar and Sri Lanka has not existed!). In this piece, I have attempted to deconstruct and expose such left-liberals’ exaggerated narratives of Muslim victimhood in the Indian context, and how such narratives only boost communalism, both Hindu and Muslim.

Circulating false or even half-true propaganda that makes peace-loving people of minority religious groupings feel insecure and marginalized, and that pushes the more aggressive and hyper-communal elements of the minority religious groupings to radicalization is not secularism. But G. Pramod Kumar and his ilk do seem to believe that it is.
– By Karmanye Thadani
A freelance writer based in New Delhi. A lawyer by qualification, he has authored/co-authored four short books, namely ‘Anti-Muslim Prejudices in the Indian Context: Addressing and Dispelling Them’, ‘Women and Sport in India and the World: Examining the History and Suggesting Policy Reforms’, ‘Onslaughts on Free Speech in India by Means of Unwarranted Film Bans’ and ‘The Right to Self-Determination of Pakistan’s Baloch: Can Balochistan Go the Kosovo Way?’. He has also recently been involved in making an Urdu television serial on Indian nationalist leader Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

5 people caught for betting on Janata Parivar Merger

Guest Author
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5 people caught for betting on Janata Parivar Merger

Delhi police has nabbed 5 people for betting on Janata Parivar Merger. The issue came into notice when the special force of Delhi Police was monitoring the betting activities related to IPL. In an exclusive interview Mr. Sharma, chief of Delhi Police special force, informed us that this year there was sharp decline in betting activities related to IPL. Initially they thought, it’s due to an overdose of the format. People are bored with the same cheap jokes of Paaji and others. Though the Anchors (read Archana) is trying her best to engage users with IPL but 5 minutes cannot save the 5-hour show. Then we tried to find the missing link.

Mr. Sharma explained, Political betting generally comes into force during election times. People bet on how much a party would get in total. Some people bet on the important constituencies, who would win and by what margin. Also during last general elections many people put their money on if Mr. Modi would wear a skull cap. But, this time there was no election and also AAP has completed 100 days (Seriously!!!) in Delhi. Moreover, there’s no heavyweight left in AAP who is about to leave, to generate some kind of interest for betting. Then we traced some messages going back and forth related to Bihar, UP, Haryana & Karnataka. Initially some officers felt it is some kind of group jokes. Then, we got hold of some WhatsApp conversations related to the merger with some numbers and Dollar ($) symbol as prefixes. It immediately caught our attention. Moreover, the way political leaders of “yet to be merged” Janata Parivar are creating speculations every day about the merger, added fuel to fire. Further investigation revealed that people are putting their money on the following things;

1. Will there be a merger?

2. Will the merger happen before Bihar elections?

3. Who would be the Party Leader?

4. Who would be the PM candidate?

5. What would be the Party symbol?

6. Within how many days MSY will break this alliance?

7. Will Mr. Ex-PM be awake on the occasion, if it ever happens?

8. Will Mr. Ex-PM be awake on the occasion, if it ever happens?

We also noticed that, everybody seems to have a consensus over the color of the party flag (Green). We tracked those conversations and found a few groups operating behind the scenes. So far, we have successfully managed to catch 5 people and trying to find more such people. We hope the decision on Merger taken quickly to put an end to these unlawful activities. Mr. Sharma signed off disclosing these information with a hope and anxiety in his eyes.

– by Krishanu Chatterjee

Dear Rajdeep Sardesai, you are not neutral, and don’t worry, it is normal

OpIndia Staff
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Dear Rajdeep Sardesai, you are not neutral, and don’t worry, it is normal

On Saturday night, hashtag #YoRajdeepSoNeutral was number one trend in India on Twitter. The hashtag was Twitterati’s response to a tweet by journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, where he claimed that he was called “neutral” by someone after he praised the Modi government.


The tweet amused a lot of people as Rajdeep Sardesai is known to be an anti-Modi voice on social media. He is seen close to Aam Aadmi Party as there are videos that show him admitting that it was him who advised Arvind Kejriwal to do a “Tehrir like drama” on the issue of Lokpal.

And his advice did work. The attempted Tehrir square like anti-corruption movement launched the political career of Arvind Kejriwal, who earlier this year swept Delhi assembly elections decimating Congress and BJP. Rajdeep Sardesai had taken a dig at Narendra Modi even then.

Not only this video, there are numerous other instances, such as Rajdeep going soft on Kejriwal when the AAP supremo attacked media while taking umbrage when Modi does the same. And his fist-fight with a Modi supporter outside Madison Square in the USA is a well known event.

So with such a background, can someone really call Rajdeep Sardesai a “neutral” journalist?

People on Twitter searched for tweets that had “neutral” keyword in it and had Rajdeep Sardesai tagged. They could not find any tweet where he was called “neutral” for praising Modi government, contrary to what was claimed by Rajdeep in his tweet.

And thus the hashtag started, which had following hilarious tweets:


While Rajdeep Sardesai can either choose to laugh off this trend or blame “bhakts” for “targeting” him, perhaps it will do good to him if he introspects a little and publicly admits that he is not neutral.

And it is perfectly normal. In fact, a person can’t be 100% neutral.

Having a bias or preference is very human thing and heavens won’t fall if Rajdeep Sardesai admits that he has some, which are pretty apparent to everyone excluding himself.

What a reader expects from journalists is not neutrality, but “objectivity”. A reader expects that a journalist should stick to facts and not stoop to lying and fabricating information in order to cater to his or her biases or agenda. Till Rajdeep Sardesai is truthful and objective, there is no problem if he is “non-neutral”.

So chin up Mr. Sardesai, admit to your biases and earn the respect for being truthful and objective. And on that note, a song for tonight – jhooth bole kauwa kaate, kaale kauwe se dariyo!

Meet Temsutula Imsong – a lady who is fueling life in old and dirty Ghats of Varanasi

Rahul Raj
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Meet Temsutula Imsong – a lady who is fueling life in old and dirty Ghats of Varanasi

The Swacch Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission) initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi have attracted many celebrities and politicians, but when two young women – Temsutula Imsong and Darshika Shah – decided to take up the task of cleaning Prabhu Ghat and Babua Pandey Ghat in Varanasi, people would hardly have imagined that they will set such a high benchmark that it will be quoted as an example for years.

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Imsong’s Mission Prabhu Ghat came into existence when a casual boat ride turned into a bad experience due to the unbearable filth and foul smell on the ghat. The experience was so bad that she decided to change the scenario by cleaning the ghats. Temsutula Imsong works with Sakaar, a voluntary social organisation which promotes the development of rural communities. OpIndia.com team got a chance to interview Temsutula and discuss her  journey.

1. We have read a lot about your Ganga Ghat cleaning project, but we would love to hear a brief from you?

As you would have read, the mission started with a boat ride. It was appreciated by Hon Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji also. This inspired us a lot. We wanted to see how much more could we push ourselves, and what maximum could be achieved by us. This made us take up Babua Pandey Ghat which is commonly known as Dhobi Ghat. This was the second dirtiest ghat after Prabhughat/Chet Singh Ghat between Assi Ghat and Dashashwamedh Ghat. If you Google “Dhobhi Ghat + Ganga + Varanasi”, the images which you get will convey filth and dirt on the Ghat.

When we asked some locals about our project, some elderly people said that IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE to clean this ghat because it had never been cleaned before in the past 30+ years. This motivated us to take it as a challenge. We decided to take it up. It was difficult, near to impossible, we had to clear the every possible kind of garbage.

However, when we started, Ganga ji was receding. It was a great help, we were able to clear the steps which were buried in silt and garbage. One and a half month later what we see satisfies us. We are proud at having been able to transform this Ghat into a beautiful place to sit, swim or play. This wouldn’t have been possible without the grit and determination of the TEAM #MissionPrabhughat Kids, namely – Pawan @p_pavanraj, Harshit @harshit_4215, Shubham @tiwarishubham03, Rohan @RohanTripathi10, Shubham Pandey @ishubhamm, Shreyansh @Shreyanshvns, Vineet @vineet_verma1, Darshika @Darshikashi, Ayushi @ayushi_shukla06, Anuraag @anuraaag007, Satyam, Ashutosh @ashutoshdixit84, Shreyas @shreyash01, Vishal @Vishaallllsingh.

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2. There are so many issues affecting India. What motivated you to join the Ghat Cleaning project?

Sadly I don’t have much to say much about it, it is simple >> I felt bad seeing the filth when I passed and decided to do something

 

3. You grew up in Nagaland. What motivated you to come to Varanasi?

I was working in Delhi and was passively associated with Sakaar Sewa Samiti (sakaar.co.in). The organization was taking excellent initiatives which were simple yet motivating. I decided to quit my job and move to Varanasi and work full time with Sakaar.

 

4. Did your religious or spiritual beliefs play any role in your enthusiasm for Ghat cleaning?

By birth, I am a Christian. Religion for me is seeking God in Goodness. It makes me appreciate whatever is good. I have been raised in way that I find it easy to respect all beliefs. Considering this , it was not very difficult to work towards the cleanliness of Ghats. Ganga ji is an inspiration in herself. I could relate to her in the way she quietly flows by.

 

5. You must have faced many challenges. What kept you moving during toughtimes?

Yes, there were challenges which threatened to undermine our will also, but then three things kept us going.

First– the amazing resolve shown by the Team #MissionPrabhughat kids, they will never back down, never give up and kept telling me that don’t give up, we are with you.

Second – Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji’s appreciation was an inspiration as well as a big responsibility. His mentioning us in the Toronto speech gave the much needed impetus to the team to go beyond good and do superlative/impossible. And this is was the task at Babua Pandey Ghat was which we managed to accomplish.

Third – Last but not the least, the Twitteratti. The Tweets that I kept getting on the #MissionPrabhughat tag were very motivational and kept encouraging us to raise the bar. These tweets were coming from all over the world conveying the appreciation and respect for the effort and we were bound to live up to expectations as the reciprocation.

 

6. How do you see environment and society evolving with Ghat Cleaning?

Environment – We still have to start thinking in terms of being at peace with nature. We must not force our solutions and measures on her and Society – We still have a long long way to go , but the good thing is that attitudes are changing.

 

7. Did you get some support from politicians or corporate?

We certainly had many offers, but thanks to some close friends and well-wishers that we were able to manage everything within our own resources and didn’t need other help.

 

8. What are some next steps you will plan to follow?

We are going to stick to Prabhughat/Chet Singh Ghat and Babua Pandey Ghat and get these places firmly on Varanasi tourism Map. And we will evolve #MissionPrabhughat into a platform to Kickstart initiatives that promote practices to benefit the people who are often ignored and have little or no resources.

 

9. There must be many interesting incidences during the first phase of your cleaning project. Please share some of those with us?

Regular visits to Ghats have made us a part of the boatmen Family. We are regularly invited to attend weddings, ceremonies etc. It wasn’t long before we started searching the “menu” and attended the ones which had the best food spread. We used to be very hungry and this was a welcome break.

We started the practice of handing over the bucket to clean if one relieved himself at the Ghat. It received a nice response. Anyone found relieving himself on the Ghat was made to clean that using Water in the bucket we gave.

 

10. How would you like other interested people to join your mission?

Joining doesn’t need any enrolment form, they could simply come to Prabhughat or Babua Pandey Ghat any time after 04:00 PM and join us. If they couldn’t, they can start a similar initiative ion their own place and work for a cleaner India.

 

11. Any suggestions to the readers from your side?

Swachch Bharat has to be turned into a massive mass movement. Only then, we could see the results and feel the change. This will be possible only if we get involved and don’t just remain spectators. If you see people doing anything for any social cause, don’t just stand and watch; if possible, ask them if your assistance can help their initiative.

 

We also asked Temsutula  to share some photos. Here are some of them:

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Man behind Chai pe Charcha leaves BJP – BJP’s strategic error and Prashant Kishor’s political U-turn

Rahul Raj
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Man behind Chai pe Charcha leaves BJP – BJP’s strategic error and Prashant Kishor’s political U-turn

As per a news piece that recently appeared in Economic Times, Prashant Kishor, the campaign manager of Modi’s professional support team Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG) is switching sides to work for JD(U) and effectively support Janata Parivar this Bihar election. Although CAG, now rechristened Citizens Alliance, constitutes professionals, this looks like a leaf straight out of a politician’s book. But while Kishor makes a U-turn on his loyalty, his actions also leave the BJP with a lot to introspect about.

Modi’s unprecedented victory in the 2014 election can’t be traced back to any single cause. It was brought about by a strong national campaign, great political strategy by the likes of election managers like Amit Shah, mobilization of BJP volunteers and RSS grass root workers, and professionally executed initiatives like Chai pe Charcha, 3D rallies, constituency-level analytics and a powerful digital media campaign.

In the game of politics, it is natural that people tend to showcase their contributions and even exaggerate them to get a bigger share of pie after a victory. But sometimes this tends to backfire like in the case of Kishor. Amit Shah, the current BJP president, is reported to be upset with the way Kishor tried to usurp credit for a lot of Modi’s victories while ignoring the immense contribution of the other arms of the campaign. Further, his arrogance about his proximity to Modi had upset many key leaders of the BJP. What resulted was a complete shunning of the professional campaign team in state elections of J&K, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Haryana and Delhi. In each of these states, the BJP campaign was at best lacklustre compared to the national election, and the costs that BJP had to pay while competing against the professional campaign team of AAP in Delhi are evident.

While Kishor might have tried to overplay his hand, the BJP is at a big loss by sideling CAG. The future of election campaigns in India is professional management. While the traditional elements will play a key role, all these elements can be weaved together by a professional project management office. The decision to sideline CAG entirely because of a game of political one-upmanship is clearly opting for short term gains and long term losses.

Another error that BJP has made is not acknowledging the contributions of CAG members in the campaign. While Kishor might be the face of the organization, CAG constituted professionals from top-notch professional backgrounds like IITs and IIMs, and top consulting, law, analytics and finance companies of the world who came together to work for Modi and not for Kishor. After the BJP victory in the elections, many of these professionals were hoping for a bigger role in the party or in the government but were ignored because of differences of party leaders with Kishor.

Not just the party, but even the current government could have done with such professional help in many areas. For instance, the current dispensation is miserably failing on the PR front, and looks to be headed for a perception crisis. Its relationship with the media is cold, and the MSM reporting towards the government is negatively biased. This is one of the many areas where professionals could have done a transformational job for the government.

But sensing that no such support from the government was forthcoming, a lot of the top professionals and the brains behind the 2014 campaign left CAG to start-up on their own. More than 80% of the initial founding team has moved out of CAG. While these professionals were disappointed by the lack of acknowledgement from Modi, many of them are extremely unhappy with CAG’s switching loyalties.  As a CAG co-founder from a top IIM puts this recent development in perspective

“We came to work on the Modi campaign. As a result of our combined efforts, Prashant could create a brand name for CAG. If the news reports are true, it is unfortunate that now this brand is being used against the very cause for which we had created it. It is unfortunate that CAG is now supporting outfits like Janata Parivar.”

For Kishor though, the lack of choice is evident in his U-turn from supporting an administrator like Modi to supporting an outfit planning to merge with Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD, infamous for creating Jungle Raj in Bihar. “Marta kya naa karta (Clutching at the last straw)”, comments a CAG founder who recently quit the organization for better career opportunities.  “What option was Prashant left with after he was sidelined by Modi? If he supports JD(U) and wins Bihar, he can still hope that Modi will take notice and get him back to his core team. So this decision, though desperate, might yet have some strategy in it.”

If the Janata Parivar with Kishor’s help does manage to clinch Bihar, it will be a loss of face for Shah, while eager journalists will be quick to write off the Modi wave. In the rapidly changing political context, it is essential and urgent that Modi, Shah and team recognize the value that professionals can add not just to BJP’s political campaigns, but also to some of the government’s functions. While for Kishor this opportunism might be an act of political desperation, for the BJP, a loss in Bihar could very well be a self-inflicted wound.

Private company rejects a candidate because of his religion, this is not the first case

OpIndia Staff
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Private company rejects a candidate because of his religion, this is not the first case

A Mumbai-based diamond export company, Hari Krishna Exports, is in the news for rejecting job application of a young man just because he is a Muslim. On 19th May 2015, Zeshan Ali Khan emailed his resume to Hare Krishna Exports Pvt. Ltd. for an opening in International Business, but within 15 minutes he got a reply mentioning religion as the criteria for rejection

Snapshot of email chain posted by Zeshan
Snapshot of email chain posted by Zeshan

OpIndia Staff team called Mahendra S. Deshmukh, Associate VP & Head-HR of the company. Mr. Deshmukh blamed a ‘junior employee’ for it and ensured that action will be taken against the employee. He also said that their company already has Muslims.

This is not the first case of blatant religious discrimination. Schools, organizations, companies, etc. have been practicing religious discrimination directly or indirectly. Apart from personal experiences shared by people, a simple search on Job Portals can also demonstrate that many big public institutions practice discrimination and religious bias for providing employment.

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If companies fail to employ proper training and development programs on diversity and inclusion, their certifications must be audited or canceled. India lacks a comprehensive anti-discrimination law that can tackle all forms of discrimination. Several laws provide safeguards to employees in the public sector, but many of those don’t apply to the private sector. We need more explicit and stringent laws to tackle these social issues.

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