The sudden and tragic loss of a relative, especially one’s parents, could be an agonising moment of sombre, sadness and despair in their life. It could wreak psychological devastation to the individual who had recently lost one of his or her loved one to death.
Usually, at a time of such a profound misery, not just friends, but foes too express their sympathy and solidarity with the bereaved individual. However, there exist some perverse individuals, for whom such moments of grief is an opportune moment to express their hatred against the concerned person.
One such individual is Newslaundry columnist and serial propaganda peddler, Jas Oberoi, who did not shy away from moralising a social media user named Sheetal Mishra on the tragic demise of her father. Oberoi, an avowed left-leaning columnist, who had, time and again, expressed his unmitigated contempt for the aspirations of millions of Hindus who want to see a magnificent Ram Temple in Ayodhya, went so far as to create a collage of tweets demonstrating Ms Mishra’s unwavering demand for building a Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Hi @itssitu,
— Jas Oberoi | ਜੱਸ ਓਬਰੌਏ (@iJasOberoi) September 9, 2020
It’s sad and I hope this teaches you something. There are better things to do in life than spreading bigotry. pic.twitter.com/HmdP7RBb4s
Sheetal Mishra had posted a heart-rending tweet on September 9, stating that she lost her father to the abject health care system in the country which forced her brother to run pillar to post across Bhubaneswar for getting an ambulance to shift their father to a hospital. Ms Mishra implied that the delay in getting her father admitted to a hospital cost them his life.
However, the saddening death of Ms Mishra’s father was seen as an opportunity by Oberoi to peddle his grouse against the social media user. For Oberoi, demanding the construction of arguably the holiest site for Hindus, which was demolished by marauding Mughals in the 16th century, was akin to “spreading bigotry”. He took to Twitter, dredging up old tweets by Ms Mishra and sermoning her on her father’s death that the incident might serve as a lesson to her and she would do better things than “spreading bigotry”.
In fact, Oberoi posted a subsequent tweet sharing an image of Ms Mishra’s recent tweet in which she is seen pledging her life for the construction of the Ram Temple. Oberoi derisively commented, “some people don’t change I guess”.
Some people don’t change I guess. pic.twitter.com/Xw7F5TOvTw
— Jas Oberoi | ਜੱਸ ਓਬਰੌਏ (@iJasOberoi) September 10, 2020
Jas Oberoi rattled by the Supreme Court’s verdict in favour of Hindus in the Ayodhya dispute
The construction of Ram Temple has been a persistent thorn in the side of Jas Oberoi. Ever since the Supreme Court of India sanctioned the construction of Ram Mandir, in its landmark judgment last year, Oberoi has been thoroughly rattled by the top court’s verdict.
Oberoi was so vexed by the judgment that he couldn’t stop himself from sharing a preposterous article published on the leftist online rag ‘The Wire’, claiming Sikhs were furious with the Ayodhya judgment. He had also once referred to a VHP meet for the temple as “Hindu terrorist recruitment drive”.
Why Sikhs Are Angry With the Ayodhya Judgment :
— Jas Oberoi | ਜੱਸ ਓਬਰੌਏ (@iJasOberoi) August 6, 2020
1. Supreme Court called Sikhism a cult
2. They got a nobody on the stage & made him say that Guru Nanak was a Ram Bhakt & went to Ayodhya on a pilgrimage in 1500’s to visit Ram Janambhoomi
3. SC sucked https://t.co/Etiw8TuMwP
Jas Oberoi, a bigot who liberally shares fake news to support his propaganda
While Oberoi goes around social media, dishing out certificates of “bigotry” to others, his own past record suggests that he is a rank bigot. In 2017, Jas Oberoi exhibited an egregious display of bigotry when asked the BJP spokesperson Tajinder Singh Bagga to give up Sikhism for merely expressing his support for a Hindu festival.
In 2017, he had displayed his bigotry in all its glory, by trying to pass off a 2016 video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting Sayed Fakhar Kazmi Chisty of Ajmer Sharif, as a new video. Not only that, he had said that this was Modi’s attempt to appease the Muslim minority in Gujarat which was about to go to polls at that time.
Propagandists like Jas Oberoi have also never shied away from peddling fake news or bothering to check the veracity of news being peddled in the social media if it aligns with his agenda. Jas Oberoi had lied blatantly when he had asserted that the press conference held by Judge Loya’s son to implore journalists and activists to leave his family alone, was organised by Amit Shah, the President of BJP.
