The leftist media has geared up to make the Haldwani protests by the illegal encroachers as their new propaganda tool. That the illegal encroachers are mostly Muslims and state administration is getting the encroachment removed on High Court order (now stayed by Supreme Court) the leftists have things served on a platter to make a communal issue out of it and cry ‘Muslims under attack by Hindu nationalist party’ on international platforms.
Appeals are made in name of ‘humanity’ and requests for facilities are made so that eventually the illegal structures can be regularised and government land is usurped illegally. It had all the elements to become yet another ‘Shaheen Bagh’ like movement where a law was opposed over fabricated allegations and ‘Muslims under attack’ was peddled. This when Citizenship Amendment Act does not affect Indians, Muslims or otherwise, in any case. Propagandists cried ‘kagaz nahin dikhayenge’ in defiance over laws that did not affect them – no one wanted to see their papers if they were Indian citizens. However, those protests and ‘chakkajams’ eventually led to anti-Hindu riots in the national capital.
Hence, OpIndia team decided to verify what is going on in Haldwani. On January 4, OpIndia’s team was in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, to take stock of the situation amidst a notice issued to clear the encroachment of the Indian Railways land. Social media has been flooded with viral videos claiming that the court ordered removal of illegal encroachers is a ‘conspiracy’ against Muslims. Most of the illegal encroachers on the railway land are Muslims.
During our time at the location, we spotted a man who identified himself as a journalist who was talking to the encroachers and tutoring them on what to say. Notably, he clearly asked them not to speak in Urdu but speak in Hindi and how it will come on channels such as leftist propaganda outlet The Wire. He specifically asked one of the encroachers to address the Supreme Court, where the case is scheduled for hearing on January 5.
Part 1: Journalist trained encroachers to speak in Hindi
Our team spotted a man wearing woollen cap identifying himself as a journalist speak to a crowd of encroachers and he was showing something on his phone. In the first video, he was seen speaking to encroachers and showed them a video of Arfa Khanum Sherwani of The Wire. He said, “She is a Muslim. She is from your community. She speaks so well.” He said that the video would appear on likes of The Wire.
हल्द्वानी में जमीन कब्जाए लोगों को पत्रकार ने दी ट्रेनिंग, बोला TheWire पर आएगा
— ऑपइंडिया (@OpIndia_in) January 5, 2023
देखें पार्ट-1#HaldwaniEncroachment pic.twitter.com/lBypDPiDYb
After this, we stopped recording the scene unfolding before us on camera, to protect safety of our reporter.
‘You’ve to speak to Supreme Court’: How the ‘journalist’ taught Muslim crowd to ‘speak in Hindi’
In second part, one can hear the said journalist teach the crowd how they have to speak on camera and ‘appeal’ to the Supreme Court and cry how they are the ‘citizens’ of India. Whether or not one is citizen of India, the law of the land should be respected by all and Indian citizenship does not bestow you protection for illegally encroaching upon government land.
हल्द्वानी में जमीन कब्जाए लोगों को पत्रकार ने दी ट्रेनिंग, बोला TheWire पर आएगा
— ऑपइंडिया (@OpIndia_in) January 5, 2023
सुनें पार्ट-2 (# कुछ समय के बाद वीडियो बनाना खतरा मोल लेना था)#HaldwaniEncroachment pic.twitter.com/tUQnlAH7MG
In the above video, journalist claiming to be from The Wire told the illegal encroacher, “Bolna Padega… It will come first on Bolna Padega and second on The Wire. We want to request the Supreme Court to pass orders keeping humanity in mind. Where will the public go? On the one hand, the government is building night shelters and providing all types of facilities. On the other hand, we are being evicted. There are poor children here. Innocent women and pregnant women live here. Where will they go? Supreme Court must keep all this in mind while passing the order. Supreme Court should become a living example of humanity.”
‘Use Hindi words, not Urdu words,’ The Wire inspired journalist tutors encroachers
In the last part, he tutored the encroacher to change how he spoke. He asked the encroacher to address the Supreme Court and told him that the tagline of the report would be “The judgment will come tomorrow (January 5)”. He added, “I am putting words in your mouth. You have to say that. ‘I want to tell the Supreme Court. We are the citizens of India.
हल्द्वानी में जमीन कब्जाए लोगों को पत्रकार ने दी ट्रेनिंग, बोला TheWire पर आएगा
— ऑपइंडिया (@OpIndia_in) January 5, 2023
सुनें पार्ट-3 (# कुछ समय के बाद वीडियो बनाना खतरा मोल लेना था)#HaldwaniEncroachment pic.twitter.com/b0wvUD8zWe
We are Hindu Muslims. We request you not to put us in a confused state.’ Don’t use Urdu words. Use Hindi words. ‘Please take cognizance of the injustice happening to us.'” He then asked them to speak to the camera and not look at him.
The Haldwani encroachment clearance orders and protests against it
Earlier this year, social media was flooded with viral videos of thousands of people sitting in biting cold pleading their ‘homes’ be not removed. Turns out, they were illegal encroachers and removal of encroachment was done after a High Court orders. The land that was encroached upon belonged to Indian Railways.
The protesters also claimed that the clearance of encroachments would affect a large number of women, children, and elderly persons residing in the area. Since then, speculations are rife that these are orchestrated protests and are being made to be yet another ‘Shaheen Bagh‘. And now it seems the tricks of leftist media have worked and Supreme Court has put a stay on demolition drive.
