In the media ecosystem now, there are several propaganda portals that are exclusively trying to publish hitjobs to discredit the evidence unearthed by activists that expose the global Islamist and Hinduphobic network. Post the arrest of Mohammad Zubair, the co-founder of AltNews, several activists have been trying to unearth links of AltNews with George Soros, the “philanthropist” who vowed to destroy PM Modi and other nationalist leaders (and put up a billion dollars for it), and details of their association with other foreign entities that force one to question the motives of AltNews. One such propaganda portal that has actively been trying to doxx, endanger and discredit such activists is Newslaundry.
On the 10th of July 2022, Twitter handle @mission_bhasma posted screenshots of a conversation he had with a Newslaundry journalist who seems to have been exclusively assigned by the outfit to doxx such activists and write hit jobs against them.
The Twitter account told OpIndia that the following conversation was held between him and Prateek Goyal, a “journalist” with Newslaundry. Posting the screenshots, @mission_bhasma said that the “journalist” wanted details of an activist @thehawkeyex and the handle that had tweeted and complained against Mohammad Zubair, the tweet, on the basis of which, an FIR was filed against the AltNews co-founder.
Dear @newslaundry
— Bhasma (@Mission_Bhasma) July 10, 2022
Do you know what?? You should hire some better person who can work better in OSINT.. being hindu I was asked for details of @thehawkeyex by one of your so called journo.. I was knowing that you guys won’t be ready to publish funding details of @zoo_bear 👇👇 pic.twitter.com/Hs6e5mcJOk
In the posted screenshots, the Newslaundry journalist, Prateek Goyal, asks @mission_bhasma over WhatsApp if he can help him get the details of two Twitter handles, @thehawkeyex and @balajikijaiin.
The first handle is one that regularly posts his OSINT research exposing the Islamist, Hinduphobia networks across the globe. This handle had done extensive work exposing the donation fraud of Rana Ayyub, which is now under investigation by ED and is now actively working to unearth details about AltNews, Mohammad Zubair, Pratik Sinha and their seemingly clandestine foreign funding.
The second handle, @balajikijaiin, was one that had tweeted, tagging the police and reporting the Hinduphobic tweet of Mohammad Zubair. Soon after, his handle had been deactivated, sending the Liberals into a tizzy, trying to ascertain his identity, presumably trying to doxx him.
When ‘Bhasma’ responded to Prateek, saying that he is busy for the next couple of days, Prateek insisted saying that he needs the information urgently. He hoped that ‘Bhasma’ would take out the time to help him “today”, given the “urgency of the matter”.
It appears that after this exchange, ‘Bhasma’ did not respond to Prateek. The next morning, Prateek messaged again asking him how he was. On the 3rd of July, Prateek asked again if it would be possible to get information on the two handles, so he could presumably doxx them. ‘Bhasma’ responded by saying that these activists were Hindus and after the beheading of Kanhaiya Lal, he was not comfortable revealing their details. “I will not risk Hindu Lives”, he said.
The concerns about the safety of these activists hardly moved Prateek. He then asked if he could get information on the handles “off the record”. ‘Bhasma’ said that he knows how Zubair and their ecosystem operate, therefore, on or off the record, he would not be providing any details. However, he did offer to provide information on the funding of Mohammad Zubair and the transaction details as proof. To this, Prateek simply said “I will get back to you”, and thereafter, never did.
The exchange between ‘Bhasma’ and Prateek Goyal only proves how Newslaundry has decided to put in harm’s way every individual who dares to go against their established narrative. In the Kanhaiya Lal case, it was his neighbour who had leaked his details, leading to his beheading. In the case of Umesh Kolhe, it was his Muslim friend. In fact, the actions of Zubair led to several Hindus being fired in the UAE in the past and has now led to death, and rape threats being issued to former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.
Newslaundry knows fully well that if the identity of these activists is revealed, the risk that they may be at the receiving end of death threats is real and present. Therefore, their urgency to find personal details about them so they can run their hit jobs reeks of a sinister agenda. It almost seems like they are out to extract their pound of flesh after these activists exposed Mohammad Zubair, AltNews, the Islamist and Hinduphobic networks, and several other exposes (like that of Rana Ayyub) that go against their agenda.
One hit job already published, another on the way, by the same Newslaundry journalist
That this is a planned campaign by Newslaundry is evidenced by the fact that the same journalist, Prateek Goyal, has already published a hit job against another activist who has been exposing these networks. On the 9th of July, after failing to get information on the other activists, the same journalist published a hit job against Vijay Patel.
At the very outset of the article, they not only reveal where Patel stays, but also their own intentions as to why they are targeting him.
The reason why Vijay Patel was targeted was because several pro-Hindu handles and publications supported him in his endeavours and because he was exposing AltNews, Mohammad Zubair and Prateek Sinha.
In the rest of the article, Newslaundry first sneakily publishes his details by talking about his previous company and its details and then, goes on to talk about the 17 articles that Vijay has posted, exposing AltNews.
The entire Newslaundry article was about discrediting the research by Vijay Patel that could prove to be inconvenient for AltNews and its founders. That Newslaundry is doing AltNews’ bidding is also proved by the fact that the Newslaundry journalist simply refused to explore the proof against AltNews and their funding when offered by the Twitter handle he was communicating with.
Thus, it becomes evident that Newslaundry is now on a mission to extract retribution from those whose research could prove to be costly for Mohammad Zubair, now in jail and awaiting bail, for his allegedly clandestine funding from dubious countries like Pakistan and Syria and Hinduphobic tweets that could hurt the communal harmony in the country.
