Disinformation Hindus Media Misinformation

What ails ‘The Nation’?

Abolitionists’ magazine in US has gone topsy-turvy on Russia, India and Jews, Hindus; hogged headlines for its toxic work culture CIHS Desk Is US based weekly magazine ‘The Nation’ swinging wild, unpredictable and swayed by its beliefs on issues ignoring facts and realities? The drift from practicing classical liberalism to far Left and then to spread of Hinduphobia seems pretty obvious in this ‘new avatar’ of ‘The Nation’. A cursory analysis of its news packaging and opinion pages over years demonstrate radical change in the classical liberalism based discourse that it was once known for. ‘The Nation’ has come under close scrutiny more than once in recent past due to its intransigence and lack of sensitivity towards its readers’ preferences and sensitivities. Toxic work environment and charges of sexual harassment within the editorial organization also became the media fodder. From pursuing anti-Semitism, coverage of Russia to peddling false narratives about India and Hindu culture apart from top deck changes in editorial leadership has brought the magazine to focus for unenviable reasons. This downslide of ‘The Nation’ has not happened in a jiffy. Way back in 2015, the publication had to offer an unqualified apology for having written a stinging piece against Senator Bernie Sanders. The Senator with Jewish origin was targeted for his stance on Israel. The Nation’ and its editorial board seem to have not learnt its lessons from this unsavoury episode. Otherwise, it would not have committed another flip flop down the line. In an article, the magazine had demonized Jews by drawing a comparison of Israeli policies towards Palestinians with the Holocaust which was crass. While ‘The Nation’ management brazened out accusations of promoting anti-sematic ideas, it denied any wrong doing on its part. These were not just a couple of instances where ‘The Nation’ bungled on its editorial waywardness. In 2014, the magazine published an essay by filmmaker Oliver Stone and historian Peter Kuznick that held United States responsible for the rise of ISIS, Islamic State. It kicked up a row and was widely booed as its conspiracy theory was regarded as misguided and unfounded. It’s not just the editorial inconsistency that ‘The Nation’ came to be known for. The media company came to limelight after its personnel complained of toxic atmosphere and sexual predation. In 2017, a former intern at The Nation accused contributing editor Stephen F. Cohen of sexually harassing her during a trip to Russia. The magazine investigated and forced to sever its ties with Cohen. The incident raised broader questions about sexual harassment in American media and journalistic fraternity as well. Close on the heels were several women charging then literary editor, Leon Wieseltier of sexual harassment. The accusations, which were detailed in a report by the magazine’s ombudsman included claims that Wieseltier had made inappropriate comments and touched women without their consent. Wieseltier was again forced out from The Nation. Even as ‘The Nation’ struggled to smart after these insidious incidents, in 2019 yet another explicitly work place issue hit the publication. Its poetry editor Stephanie Burt resigned from her position after being accused of sexual harassment by a former student. The student alleged that Burt had engaged in years of inappropriate behaviour including sending sexually explicit messages, touching her without her consent. Burt denied the allegations but resigned from The Nation shortly after these came into public domain. About a year later, several former interns at The Nation wrote an open letter alleging that they had experienced sexual harassment and misconduct while working at the magazine. The letter published in ‘The Cut’, detailed several instances of harassment by senior staff members including unwanted touching and comments about their appearance. The Nation’s then editor, Katrina vanden Heuvel, apologized to the former interns and announced that the magazine would be conducting an investigation into these allegations. Not much was known on the outcome of this probe. While sex scandals made ‘The Nation’ a talking point, its stand on Russia and India apart from changes in editorial leadership turned the magazine into a rag pick. In 2018, through an article by Aaron Maté, ‘The Nation’ challenged reports relating to Russian interference in the presidential elections of US. The article argued that evidence on Russian involvement was weak and it was distracting the people from issues like role of money in politics. The article led the publication into a controversy with some of its readers accusing it of promoting Russian propaganda.[i] In 2019, the magazine published yet another article written by James Carden who argued that US should improve its relationship with Russia. It contended that US was too quick to demonize Russia, this could help ease tensions and promote stability. But, some readers argued to the contrary and pointed out that Russia was a security threat and that US should take a more confrontational stance. On India, ‘The Nation’ reportage has been completely off the mark, one sided and promoted Hinduphobia. For instance, in a write up headlined ‘India’s Press Crackdown: The Silencing of Journalists in Kashmir’, little known author Suchitra Vijayan failed to flag key issues confronting people in Kashmir valley. The write up was silent on dubious role played by Pakistan’s security establishment, its dirty tricks department, ISI and funding radical islamists leading to spread of radicalism in a few areas of Kashmir valley. Instead, ‘The Nation’ targeted Indian government’s handling of terror modules in the valley.[ii] ‘The Nation’ seems to have forgotten the widely agreed position that terror has no colour, creed, gender, region and religion. Again, in 2020, the magazine gave its forum to one, Ahmed bin Qasim who wrote a piece, ‘Delhi Is on Fire and My Kashmiri Parents Are in Prison’. Qasim argued that Indian government’s crackdown in the valley was part of a broader campaign to suppress dissent and promote Hindu nationalism in India. The article argued that Hindu nationalism led to authoritarianism in India thereby hate crimes against minorities. The article portrayed a false fearful image of Indian minorities.[iii] These were not isolated instances of ‘Hinduphobic’ stand

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Who took away Vedic history from Indian students?

Revisions in text books on Mughal invaders painted as preparation for a ‘muslims’ genocide’ by a few foreign media outlets Vinod Kumar Shukla Brouhaha has been made ever since India announced changes to History and Political Sciences textbooks prescribed for tenth and twelfth standard students. India’s designated agency, National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) removed or tweaked few lines relating to invaders Mughals. Rationalizing content for students in high school students has interestingly become a talking point internationally especially the western media. Several despatches filed by US and European media representatives attributed motives and an agenda to the revision in text books that NCERT termed as ‘minor’. These reports accused Indian government of pursuing an agenda and the latter faced flak from all across. Interestingly enough, individuals and organizations that have stridently taken anti-India stand and questioned Hindutva forces were found flagging their apprehensions on textbooks revision that happens periodically. These people have unabashedly termed revisions in text books as precursor to genocide of 210-odd million Muslims. What’s all the more surprising is that known global media outlets on-boarding such views that seem to have no basis. Aditya Mukherjee, a JNU professor has been quoted as saying that changes in textbooks were precursor to muslims genocide in ‘The Guardian’ of UK. Peddling such myth, falsehood and misinformation in the name of history definitely cannot be part of curriculum for students brimming with energy. Eulogising Mughal invasion of India is definitely unfit to be part of History chapters. ‘Time’ magazine published from US and UK justified its report with the contention, “…hyper nationalist Bollywood films and politicians fusing Hindu mythology with history; and open calls for genocide of Muslims from religious leaders (was) going unpunished.” Well, this narrative is so misleading about Bollywood industry which is arguably one of the largest after Hollywood and staple diet of citizens’ world over. Time’s antipathy to Hindutva, India or Prime Minister Modi seems to have been extended to Bollywood as well. Besides, ‘Time’ writers have conveniently forgotten that the reference to ‘Garam Hawa’ of M S Sathyu in the Political Science book also comes from Bollywood only. Time’s criticism on lines either amended or deleted is again completely off the mark. Let’s examine what opening sentence of the removed chapter ‘Kings and Chronicles, referring to courts of invaders Mughals say. “The rulers of the Mughal Empire saw themselves as appointed by Divine Will to rule over a large and heterogeneous populace.” Can this form part of Indian history? What were the books pre-revision teaching kids? Population is heterogeneous but rulers will only be Mughals. It doesn’t stop here as in the same chapter under sub-head ‘The Ideal Kingdom’ suggests, “…the power of Mughal kings came directly from God. One of the legends narrated to justify this was Mongol queen Alanqua who was reportedly impregnated by the ‘ray of sunshine’ while resting in her tent. The offspring she bore carried this divine light and passed it on from generation to generation.” Mughals draw their ancestry from Mongols. So a section of historians is objecting to removal of this myth. Hindu hate monger Audrey Truschke also an associate professor of South Asian history at Rutgers University claimed, “You cannot understand modern India without the Mughals—so it seems to be a silly and self-defeating embrace of ignorance about one’s own origin.” Similar arguments were posed by naysayers in India but people with the same ideological moorings had silently let Vedic history chapters deleted in 2007 without blinking an eyelid. It means, students would be deprived of the country’s long history of almost 1200 years. Students will never know that the decimal system, tables, 360 degree in a circle, Ayurveda and Yoga were invented during Vedic era besides lots of other things that were deleted as part of a larger game plan. Self-proclaimed historians, a few hardnosed social media enthusiasts and foreign media argued that one can erase history but not Taj Mahal, Lal Quila and other iconic landmarks. ‘Time’ wrote that Mughals helped make biryani and many everyday use spices popular. Traditional dress such as men’s kurta, pajama and women’s salwar kameez became common during the empire. Under Mughal rule, Kathak dance flourished and so did Indian classical music. Many Indian languages including Urdu and Hindi evolved. There’s no evidence to prove that these claims were even half true. Historian Meenakshi Jain argued that Mughals never patronised Indian languages or anything Indian. It was Akbar who imposed Persian by making it the court language and imported many Iranians to his court. Everyone including a low rank official was forced to learn Persian and thereby erase anything that was Indian. Even when the Mughal Empire was on decline, Urdu was promoted with Arabic and Persian words along with Arabic script and not Hindawi with Indian language words in it. Sanskrit scholars during Mughals were designated more as singers and not scholars or linguists only to humiliate them. A few Indian newspapers argued that Tulsidas wrote Ramcharitmanas during Mughal era while Mathura and Vrindavan were helped to emerge as key centres of Krishna Bhakti. The fact is that temples were demolished and vandalised during the Mughal era. Kesav Dev Temple (Krishnajanmabhoomi) was allowed to be rebuilt by Bir Singh Bundela only after he killed Abul Fazal on the instruction of Jahangir. Only after that he was allowed to rebuild dozens of temples including Kashi Vishwanath. What Aurangzeb did to temples and statues of deities’ need no further explanation. Howlers and humiliating posers like where would Indian Prime Minister deliver his customary Independence Day address on August 15 if Lal Quila were to meet the same fate of history chapter? These puerile arguments seem to be the biggest worry of historians? India baiters and self-proclaimed historians have till date only depicted sunny side of Mughal invaders. These ‘historians’ maintain eloquent silence on Shah Jahan splurging on Taj Mahal while the entire Deccan plateau and millions of Indians living there were going through protracted famine. ‘The Guardian’ went completely off the

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Ram Navami processions Reality, Myth & Propaganda

Citizens & Lawyers Initiative, a relatively unknown organization or forum of any consequence in a bundled voluminous report on ‘Ram Navami’ and ‘Hanuman Jayanti processions has the audacity to describe these festival marches that are in vogue for millennia as ‘Routes of Wrath’. Justice Rohinton Nariman, a former judge of Supreme Court of India has lent his name with the foreword to this ‘hit job’ of an ‘agenda driven’ report that’s full of falsehoods, half-truths and propaganda to drive ‘Hinduphobia’ globally and further divide an intrinsically sensitive socio-economic groups that constitute Indian society. Divisiveness is the narrative in this report. Agenda is to ‘criminalize’ the over one billion Hindus in India and elsewhere. Break the social fabric that’s delicately balanced and stir up communal divide apart from weakening India in perceptions and narrative battle waged by a few self-centered individuals, organizations and groups that are well funded, groomed and motive under question.

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OIC selective amnesia, attempts to interfere in India’s affairs

Undermining Indian values may not help Muslim outfit, especially when it falls in line to support terror modules, their handlers Since its inception, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has made serious moves to interfere in India’s affairs periodically to constructed inaccurate, selective and misleading narrative that contravenes facts. During the recent violence heaped on peaceful Ram Navami processions last week, OIC came into the ring denouncing one side and following a set pattern. In the statement, OIC general secretariat said, “It has followed with deep concern the acts of violence and vandalism targeting the Muslim community in several states in India during the Ram Navami processions, including the burning of a madrasa and its library by an extremist Hindu mob in Bihar Sharif on March 31, 2023.” It continued, “The OIC General Secretary denounces such provocative acts of violence and vandalism, which are a vivid manifestation of mounting Islamophobia and systemic targeting of the Muslim community in India. The OIC General Secretary calls upon the Indian authorities to take firm actions against the instigators and perpetrators of such acts and to ensure the safety, security, rights and dignity of the Muslim community in the country.” In a befitting reply to these unwarranted one sided comments, official spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi, said on April 4, 2023, “We strongly condemn the statement issued by OIC secretariat today regarding India. This is one more example of their communal mind set and anti-India agenda. OIC does its reputation damage by being constantly manipulated by anti-India forces”. Facts were contrary to what OIC said in its press statement. Across states like Bihar, West Bengal, Maharastra and Jharkhand, islamists had targeted peaceful Ram navami processions when they passed through muslim majority areas provoking reaction from the faithful Hindus in a couple of places. On March 30, 2023, Ram Navami procession near Panjrigar mohalla in the Vadodara district of Gujarat was attacked by Islamists who pelted stones at the procession. In Uttar Pradesh, an incident of stone-pelting on a Ram Navami procession passing in front of a mosque was reported in the state’s capital Lucknow. In Maharashtra, Hindu processions were attacked in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jalgaon, and Mumbai. A Ram Navami procession in the Malvai region of Mumbai’s Malad suburb was attacked by an Islamist mob as it passed by a Masjid near gate no. 7 area. In West Bengal, clashes broke out between two communities during a Ram Navami procession in the Dalkhola area of Islampur town of North Dinajpur. One person was killed and 5-6 policemen were injured in clashes in a Muslim-dominated area. Failure of the muslim religious and political leadership to rein in the rioters and violence perpetrators from their side seems to be root cause of violence, arson and friction. One key question is why does violence always happen during Hindu festivals that denote tolerance, bonhomie and boisterous with bhajans, singing and dance? Why’s it that violence invariably happens in Muslim majority areas? And, why’s it that Muslim leadership maintains a deafening silence on violence by jihadists and islamists of every hue and colour? This is not the first time OIC made attempts to interfere in India’s internal affairs violating global norms of diplomacy, decency and engagement in sane manner. Previously OIC had come up with a dubious statement on purported ban on Muslim female students from wearing hijab in the state of Karnataka. The statement had read, ‘the continued attacks targeting Muslims and their places of worship, the recent trend of anti-Muslim legislations in different states and rising incidents of violence against Muslims on flimsy pretexts are indicative of the growing trend of Islamophobia.’ Here again, the issue was misrepresented. Karnataka state government had only asked all students including female Muslims to adhere to uniform code set for colleges and schools. The issue was blown out of proportion after about half a dozen girls made hijab an issue as activists of banned organization, Popular Front of India (PFI). OIC also seems least bothered about partial or complete ban on hijab imposed by some of top Islamic countries. Chad, Egypt, Cameroon, Morocco, Algeria, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, and Gabon are some of the prominent Islamic countries that are members of OIC that have not made wearing of hijab mandatory. Prior to that, the notorious organisation trumpeted its concern on reported Haridwar hate speech describing that as a public call for genocide of Muslims by Hindu followers. Muslims genocide has never ever happened in India’s history of millennia. In fact, it was the other way round. In Kashmir, thousands of Hindus had to migrate out over last three decades owing to constant attacks, humiliation, loot, rapes and abuse at the hands of muslim terror outfits fanned, funded and indoctrinated by Pakistani ISI. OIC, in its meeting on the side lines of 76th U.N General Assembly, pressed India to reverse its decision to remove Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. In fact, abrogation of article 370 of Indian Constitution was an internal administrative decision of the duly elected sovereign government through a due process of law enacted by Parliament, the highest democratic institution in the country. In 2020, Delhi riots, OIC selectively said that riots had caused arson and vandalism of Muslim-owned properties. On the contrary, facts have come to fore where Hindus lost lives, properties and got severely abused at the hands of gun trotting Muslim terrorists. Way back in 1969, Muslim world collaborated to form its own international organisation to act as collective voice of Muslim world named the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, later renamed as Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in 2011. After United Nations, OIC is the world’s second-largest international body with 57 member countries, all of which are Islamic nations or countries with Muslim majority. India, despite being home to second-largest Muslim population country in the world with over 210 million muslims is not a part of the OIC. OIC is managed by Saudi Arabia, although Pakistan, as the only Islamic country

Fact Sheet Geopolitics Hindus Human Rights Leadership Misinformation

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Majority Sikhs with India, against Khalistan

Western powers allowing handful Khalistanis to over their streets, resort to vandalism may be a way to pressurise India on Russia Neha Dahiya / New Delhi Barring a miniscule, vociferous and terror prone variety, majority Sikhs in India and elsewhere may not subscribe to the very concept of Khalistan. Silent majority may not have come out openly to say so. But, groundswell opinion of Sikhs may not be found in columns of print media, digital networks or TV shows that are beamed across. Whether Sikhs want a separate homeland called Khalistan becomes increasingly significant in wake of recent developments in Punjab and noisy, violent as well as aggressive protests being staged across world capitals. Also, for a research-based organization like Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies (CIHS), gauging the mood of Sikh society was important before making out a case on the issue. Ground inputs, media reports, publicly available intelligence suggests that there’s no popular support for Khalistan whatsoever either within or outside India. Violence and demonstrations orchestrated by Khalistani proponents is only to drum up support for their elusive concept of a separate homeland. There’s enough documentation in public domain to drive home the point that Khalistan and Kashmir (K2) were a project of Pakistan’s dirty tricks department, ISI to foment trouble in Indian Border States by propping up sub-nationalism, religious activities. Otherwise, Amritpal Singh, a small time businessman from Dubai is just a handle with drug lords that are pushing narcotics illegally from across the border. He’s a fugitive with no popular support and seen by some as a ‘robin hood’ variety. And, Amritpal is not a ‘preacher’ as made out by the Western media that lacks basic understanding of the issue. Otherwise, there’s no reason why Sikh leaders in India and abroad would dare come out against this fugitive on the run from law enforcement agencies in India. They are of the view that Amritpal and his outfit Waris Punjab De may have captured imagination of a few misled youth. But, publicly influential Sikh leaders hold the view that he has ruined dignity of the Sikh community and teachings of Gurus. On March 19, 2023, Khalistani protestors pulled down the Indian tricolour and made an attempt to storm the Indian High Commission in London. Prior to this, Khalistanis have had derided India and called martyr Bhagat Singh as a traitor or a terrorist, defaced statues of Mahatma Gandhi in western cities and did not spare Hindu religious places scribbling provocative, anti-India, anti-Hindu and Pro-Khalistan slogans on the walls of the temples. Silent majority in Sikh society have begun to speak out slow but cautiously. For instance, President of Takht Sri Patna Sahib managing committee Jagjot Singh Sohi condemned the incident of pulling down our national flag. It has sent the wrong message across the world. “We would request the London government to take strict action against those people responsible for this shameless act. There are few people living outside the country and engaged in such work. The people of the Sikh community are doing great work in the world, but time and again, such people malign the name of our community”, added Jagjot Singh Sohi. “No one else except Gurpatwant Singh Pannu — founder of banned Khalistani terrorist organisation — is behind this episode. He is a controversial person and keeps on doing such things. He has no followers in India, and he has only a handful of people supporting him”, Sohi said. There’s considerable underlying anger within the Sikh society on tactics, activities and posturing by the Khalistani elements. Insult to Indian flag has disappointed several prominent leaders that do not subscribe to Khalistan or dissociate from India for a separate homeland. Balgendra Singh Shami, a sikh community leader from Washington DC partly blamed the western media for the ‘hype’ around Khalistani activists violence unleashed in San Francisco and the American capital Shami said, “There are more than a million sikhs who live in North America and out of that only 50 show up outside Indian Embassy (San Francisco) to protest.” Sounding a word of caution and reconciliation Balgendra Singh Shami, “Whatever happened in Punjab is very unfortunate. I also condemn the violent incident that happened in the United Kingdom and the Indian consulate in the United States. As we are a democratic country, we have full right to protest, but it should be peaceful”. Another Sikh leaded Jasdeep Singh was quoted as saying “We condemn any violence that has happened outside the Indian Embassy in San Francisco or the desecration of the Indian flag in London. Everybody has a right to protest, but it should be peaceful & no violence or vandalism should happen”. Moderation has been hallmark of most sikh leaders in western cities. Interestingly, not many have even referred to Khalistan or even offered lip sympathy. Former president of Haryana Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak committee, Baljit Singh Daduwal, said, “We should not take any such step which will affect the sikh community across the world. Punjab needs peace, brotherhood and development”. Most sikh and Hindu leaders have pushed the development plank as a meeting point for larger peaceful co-living within and outside India. United Kingdom Member of Parliament, Bob Blackman summed up the violence in Western cities by a handful of Sikhs. Blackman said, “this (Khalistanis) is a very small, ultra-small section of the sikh community. Vast majority of sikhs in this country (UK) absolutely reject the Khalistani project. It’s not going to happen, as we know… My message is very simple to the police, when this (violence) happens; those people need to be arrested and dealt with properly.” President of Shiromani Akali Dal Sukhbir Singh Badal was more emphatic notwithstanding his party’s rejection in the last couple of state elections. Badal pointed out, “The people of Punjab do not know Amritpal. Media has built him up and media has created the fear that Khalistani sentiment is reviving and growing in Punjab. We Sikhs do not want Khalistan. We want a strong and

Disinformation Fact Sheet Human Rights Media Misinformation

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NCCM & WSO Exposed: Unmasking their biased and misleading RSS Report

The joint report by the NCCM and WSO titled “Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Network in Canada” is a poorly executed attempt to push a malicious agenda of misinformation and opinion-based claims. The report appears to be driven by individuals and entities with an anti-India, anti-Hindu, and anti-RSS agenda in Canada. It is clear that the report’s objective is to further public opinion-building exercises that promote anti-Hindu and anti-India rhetoric, rather than providing facts and credible evidence in front of the average Canadian.By making baseless accusations against the Hindus and RSS, the report puts the security and well-being of thousands of people of Indian origin at risk in Canada. It also attempts to silence the voices of Hindu-centric organisations that do not share the views of the NCCM and WSO. This report only serves to promote Hinduphobia and could lead to the normalisation of the persecution of Hindus in Canada. It is essential to demand answers from NCCM and WSO as reports that are based on bias, misinformation, and opinion can cause real harm by promoting harmful stereotypes and dividing communities. Only by seeking facts and objectivity can we create a more equitable and just society for all.

Disinformation Fact Sheet Hindus Human Rights Misinformation

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Explainer: Ulterior Equality Labs, a controversial council member and Seattle City’s absurd anti-caste discrimination law

The Seattle City Council enacted an amendment on February 22, 2023, which added “caste” to its anti-discrimination statutes. This makes Seattle the first city outside of South Asia to pass anti-caste discrimination legislation. According to the ordinance (now the legislation), caste is a system of social stratification that has been prescribed by law, traditions, and religion. In contrast, the passage of this Act is predicated on the discrimination of Hindus under the guise of an effort to abolish discrimination. In the West, motivated and agenda-driven organisations like the Equality Labs and contentious council members have used the opportunity to rally support to malign Hindus and Hindu practises, furthering falsehoods about Hindus and fueling hatred towards Hindus. The legislation derives its rationale from a 2016 report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on minority issues, which asserts that caste is a global issue and cites Equality Labs which provides a local context and sees it as a human rights issue. However, the hasty ordinance rests its reasoning on the phenomenon, but fails to give statistical or scientific data to support its reasoning. As a result, the ordinance promotes institutionalise prejudice against a specific Hindu minority group. In this explainer, we analyse the anti-caste discrimination ordinance, its backers, and their possible reasoning for supporting an anti-Hindu and anti-Indian legislature.

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NYT, BBC fall into the pattern

Anti-Hindu, India propaganda unleashed with intent, based on agenda. Their journalistic pursuits come under scrutiny It is not India’s proud tradition of a free press that is at stake. It’s anti-India and anti-Hindu propaganda unleashed with impunity by certain media houses that has taken centre stage. First, it was the BBC that went whole hog against Hindus and India. Now, The New York Times has joined the bandwagon of some international media outlets that have been on campaign mode against India, Hindus and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as their whipping boy. If the NYT editorial board claims of ‘shrill Hindu nationalism’ being the culprit for anything purportedly to have happened to press freedom in India, it’s grossly wrong. The New York Times editorial board comment in its edition of February 12, 2023 on the issue of press freedom in India is completely flawed seeking to set a particular narrative. Sweeping remarks on purported ‘Intimidation, Censorship, Silence or Punishing independent news media in India’ is not factually correct, untrue and a figment of Imagination. India toeing an independent alternative line on issues different from left leaning self-proclaimed liberalists cannot be dubbed as anti-press freedom. Hindus worldwide and in India believe, profess and push for an open, transparent and clean diverse society governed sans corruption, nepotism and exclusivity. India celebrates oneness in its diverse amalgamation of cultures, religious faiths under the Sanatan Dharmic umbrella. Thousands of years of classical civilizational heritage is testimony to Hindus ‘all embracing’ nature and spirit. Not understanding Hindus from their perspective leads to a false notion of ‘shrill nationalism’ kind of narratives that are superficial and erroneous. Neither France based Reporters without Borders (RSF) has the means, bandwidth, methodology or credible data to prove that press freedom was at stake in India. NYT justifying its editorial comment on the questionable World Press Freedom Index report of this organization seems to be fuelled by anti-India and anti-Hindu agenda nursed carefully to meet its objective. If hitting at the famed growth story is the objective, then The New York Times should definitely know that India is invincible and the fake narratives may not work. Leave alone the downgrading India on Press Freedom Index, even the Indian map has been displayed wrongly by the Reporters Without Borders. NYT’s editorial comment is based on reports that depict Kashmir without acknowledging the illegal occupation by Pakistan and China’s occupation of Aksai Chin areas of the North Eastern Indian region. The New York Times editorial backed a BBC documentary that was aggressively anti-Hindu and anti-India in nature. This was called out by British Member of Parliament Bob Blackman who described the BBC documentary as ‘poor journalism, badly researched’. Leave alone The New York Times, even the BBC cannot deny its left wing bias and accept an alternative, independent philosophy of Hindus based on ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, world as one big family. BBC’s left wing bias is known to Britishers. In Margaret Thatcher’s government of ‘80s, several members of the British Parliament brought home this point. Conservative MP Tebbit had aptly described the BBC as ‘stateless person’s broadcasting corporation’. Another conservative MP Peter Bruinvels termed the BBC as ‘Bolshevik Broadcasting Corporation’ pointing to Leftists control over the news coverage. To say that press freedom came under attack after 2014 following Narendra Modi’s ascent to be Prime Minister and Hindu nationalist shrillness is again grossly misguided and propagandist owing to a colonial mind-set of extreme nature. Late Prime Minister Smt Indira Gandhi had banned BBC from India coverage on two occasions owing to its ‘biases’ in its earlier documentaries also. Perhaps, NYT may not have a plausible explanation for such a ban in late ‘70s. The BBC was in trouble in India in the early 1970s. Even at that time, the Indian diaspora was outraged by BBC documentaries named Calcutta and Phantom India. Louis Malle directed French documentary mini-series Phantom India painted a biased picture of India by emphasising the underdeveloped regions as opposed to the developing ones. If Press freedom was under attack as propagated by BBC and NYT, how’s it that the editorial in The New York Times was not taken down? Thousands of stories filed by a strong network of foreign media professionals based in India that are critical of the government have hit the wires, newspapers and TV outlets freely each day. So, the charge that India, Hindus and by extension Narendra Modi have suppressed ‘free media’ is only agenda peddling by some media houses.

Disinformation Fact Sheet Hindus Human Rights Misinformation

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Brief: Amazon’s Hindu bigotry challenged!

Anti-Indian and anti-Hindu groups have continually generated systematic and organised campaigns against Sanatan Dharma. Leading technology companies play a prominent part in the same. Amazon, an American multinational technology corporation, routinely builds a negative connotation of Hindutva, a positive and tolerant way of life for millions of Hindus around the world. Amazon’s removal of the book “Modi and Me: A Political Awakening” by Sourav Dutt’s about India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi-related book citing “Hindutva literature” from its platform is a recent example of its Anti-Hindu bigotry that has come to light.

Disinformation Fact Sheet Hindus Human Rights Media Misinformation Policy World

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Explainer: BBC, a repeat offender

India: The Modi Question is the most recent attempt by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to taint the image of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a worldwide scale. The documentary tries to revive the Indian Supreme Court decided issue of the 2002 Godhara violence that ensued after the burning of the Sabarmati Express, which killed 59 Hindu Pilgrims on February 27, 2002, and attempts to portrays Modi as a key instigator of the violent Hindu-Muslim clashes and a major source of hatred against Muslims in the country. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs correctly labels this documentary a “propaganda piece” and made with a “colonial mindset” as it misleads viewers, especially a western audience in numerous ways to shape negative “public opinion” about Narendra Modi and the Modi-lead Indian government ground breaking work for the people of India and humanitarian works world-wide.

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