Showcasing again the crooks of the selective media reporting, one of the Asian News International (ANI) editors revealed on Wednesday that many of the western media outlets had chosen not to report about the brutal killing of a Hindu tailor named Kanhaiya Lal in Rajasthan’s Udaipur. Western media outlets, which work as the reflection of leftist, liberal understanding were given 5 detailed video stories by ANI on the Udaipur murder, but only a handful of them had reported the gruesome murder.
Elaborating the fact, ANI editor Ishaan Prakash on June 30 tweeted that ANI had globally shared 5 detailed video stories on Kanhaiya’s murder through Thomson Reuters, the largest news agency in the world. He stated that vast majority of the international media outlets had ignored the story. “ANI has pushed out 5 detailed video stories on the Udaipur murder through our partner Thomson Reuters. A handful of western outlets may have reported on it, the vast majority have ignored it. The stories are in their newsrooms, they ignore it”, he tweeted on Wednesday.
ANI has pushed out 5 detailed video stories on the Udaipur murder through our partner Thomson Reuters, the largest news agency in the world.
— ishaan prakash (@ishaan_ANI) June 29, 2022
A handful of western outlets may have reported on it the vast majority have ignored it. The stories are in their newsrooms, they ignore it
The handful of western media outlets who reported the incident as mentioned by Prakash include the BBC, Waco Tribune-Herald, The Washington Post, and the Toronto Sun. However, while the BBC highlighted the Hindu nationalists staging violent protests and the visible tensions between the ‘majority Hindus and minority Muslims’, it selectively failed to report the names of the Islamist murderers (Riaz Mohammed and Ghous Mohammed) who had identified themselves in a video released by them. Also, the Waco Tribune-Herald twisted the report to mention that the attack ‘represented a dramatic escalation of communal violence in a country riven by deep religious polarization’.
“There have been a spate of attacks by Hindu nationalists on minority groups, especially Muslims — who have been targeted for everything from their food and clothing style to interfaith marriages. Muslim homes have also been demolished using bulldozers in some Indian states, in what critics call a growing pattern of bulldozer justice against the minority group”, the Waco Tribune Herald wrote later stating the fact that Kanhaiya was killed for sharing a post in support of ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma who had made alleged ‘blasphemous’ remarks in the recent past.
The Western Media outlets have time and again proven their selective media stance when it comes to Indian politics. They chose to remain silent on Nikhil Bhamre, Ketaki Chitale’s unlawful arrest by the former ruling MVA govt in the state of Maharashtra for sharing a post against NCP supremo Sharad Pawar. They chose silence when Saad Ansari and ABVP worker Karthi were abused and illegally jailed for sharing a social media post in support of Nupur Sharma. They also chose silence on the recent beheading incident of Umesh Kolhe from Maharashtra for supporting Sharma. But the international media outlets screamed in support of Mohammed Zubair who has been arrested for inciting riots through social media posts and Teesta Setalvad who has been arrested for forgery and planting, influencing witnesses in the 2002 Gujarat riots case.
Meanwhile, editor Ishaan Prakash who highlighted the fact on June 30 stated that the international media organisation have a slant and that the Reuters had done its job as a responsible agency. “Reuters shows the news, all sides of it. It’s the other orgs that have a slant”, he tweeted in the series. It is notable that wire services like ANI and Reuters send reports to all media organisations who have subscribe to their services, but it is upto the media houses to decide which report to publish, which to ignore, and which report to highlight. In this case, it is clear that most media houses chose to ignore the Kanhaiya Lal murder case even though they had received the ANI reports through Reuters.
ANI has pushed out 5 detailed video stories on the Udaipur murder through our partner Thomson Reuters, the largest news agency in the world.
— ishaan prakash (@ishaan_ANI) June 29, 2022
A handful of western outlets may have reported on it the vast majority have ignored it. The stories are in their newsrooms, they ignore it
Kanhaiya Lal was murdered on June 29 by two radical Islamists named Riaz and Ghous Mohammed. The duo disguised as customers and entered the tailoring shop of the deceased. While Kanhaiya Lal was busy taking the cloth measurements, one of the accused attacked him with a long sharp knife. According to the post mortem report, he was stabbed 26 times on his body from his neck to shoulder. Kanhaiya Lal was killed for uploading a social media post in support of ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
