On Thursday, March 2, a video went viral on social media wherein Bageshwar Dham Mahant Dhirendra Shastri is seen schooling a person who identifies himself as a Delhi-based ‘journalist’ working for ‘Barkha Dutt’s Mojo Story.’
Barkha Dutt’s Mojo Story Delhi:-
— MJ (@MJ_007Club) March 2, 2023
Barkha Dutt planted a mole in Bageshwar Dham. Then what happened, watch this video. Baba brutally exposed the truth – (Part 1) pic.twitter.com/QVrW4LIeym
The video started with the ‘journalist’ passing some remarks in the middle of a sermon being delivered by Bageshwar Dham Sarkar Pandit Dhirendra Krishna Shastri. His voice, however, was not clear because he spoke without a microphone. Bageshwar Sarkar, irritated on being interrupted, summoned the ‘journalist’ to the stage. The man introduced himself as Harshit Sharma, a journalist, and said he had come from Delhi and was associated with The Mojo Story, Barkha Dutt’s news agency.
At this point, Pandit Dhirendra Krishna Shastri pulled out an article written by this alleged journalist, which left him speechless for a brief period of time. The ‘journalist,’ however, quickly gathered himself and started folding his hands and apologising. Sharma initially claimed that he travelled from Delhi to cover the story. Afterwards, he said that he had come to question Shastri about the girl’s death in the Chhatarpur. At this point, Peethadhishwar Dhirendra Krishna Shastri of Bageshwar Dham schooled the ‘journalist’ in his own unique way, using terms like Nakkata (shameless), Nalayak (useless), and Thathri (a very lean person).
Notably, at the beginning of the video, Sharma is heard passing some remarks. Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, in his customary way, responded, “Sita Ram japo. Tujhe bolne ka tameez hi nahi hai…toro bhi batade ki langot kyo diloy?” (Am I your servant? Sitaram should be petitioned and chanted. You lack the courtesy to speak. You call your uncle (relative), and I will inform them that you are mannerless. “You’re a mole that was planted here), Dhirendra Krishna Shastri said, summoning him to the stage.
After the journalist went up on the stage, Dhirendra Krishna Shastri sought to know who asked him to interrupt his sermon. The journalist stated he did it of his own volition. Then Peethadhishwar of Bageshwar Dham questioned again, this time more firmly, whose orders was he following.
After that, Dhirendra Krishna Shastri showed the journalist two papers and asked whether he could tell what was written on them. Shastri went on to say that the answer to everything the journalist wanted to ask was written on those sheets of paper. He then asked the ‘journalist’ to introduce himself, to which he replied that he worked for Barkha Dutt’a The Mojo story.
Dhirendra Krishna Shastri then stated that he had never heard of The Mojo story. He, however, turned two papers towards the journalist in which he claimed to have already professed whatever was happening at that point in time. Dhirendra Krishna Shastri started reading out what he had written on those sheets of paper.
“Someone will show up to question you. He will misbehave. He’s completely worthless. There’s no need to interact with him. He does, however, require some disciplining. He will be a member of team Mojo. You need not provide him with any information,” Shastri read.
After this, Shastri produced the second sheet. Following that, the journalist attempted to ask him questions, but here, Dhirendra Krishna Shastri paused and declared that he knows everything. The journalist then inquired about the death of the woman featured in his story and mocked Shastri by asking whether the illness of any person coming to him can be cured solely by his miracles or if they also need to see the doctor.
“Why don’t you tell worshippers that they need medical care along with your blessing,” the ‘journalist’ said.
Dhirendra Krishna Shastri responded by reading out from the other piece of paper. “Yaha pareshan vyakti aa sakte. Chinta na kare. Duva aur dava aur krupa, sabki aavashakta hai. (Worried people can come here. Don’t worry. Blessing, medicine, well wishes, all are needed)”
Throughout the video, The Mojo Story ‘journalist’ can be seen holding his ears and constantly apologising at the demand of Mahant Dhirendra Shastri.
The controversy around Bageshwar Dham
Bageshwar Dham and its Mahant Dhirendra Krishna Shastri were in news recently. Notably, the entire row started some days ago when Mahant Dhirendra of Bageshwar Dham travelled to Nagpur for Ramkatha. Reportedly, Dhirendra Shastri brought 300 people back into Hinduism fold during a Gharwapsi program on Christmas last year.
After the Katha concluded, Shyam Manav, the national convenor of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti, accused Dhirendra Krishna Shastri of promoting ‘superstition’. Shyam Manav has also filed an FIR against Shastri.
Later, in a video shared on the official Instagram page of Bageshwar Dham, Dhirnedra Shastri addressing the Nagpur controversy said that he is being targeted since he started raising the issue of Gharwapsi. He also asked Shyam Manav if he has ever questioned people of other religions over the alleged superstitions.
Barkha Dutt’s Mojo caught peddling fake news
Notably, Barkha Dutt’s The Mojo Story has often been caught peddling fake and malicious news. In fact, in 2021, the UP Police registered case against 8 Twitter handles including Barkha Dutt’s The Mojo Story for sharing fake news on the Unnao case.
The FIR stated that the mentioned Twitter handles had spread false information that the girls were raped, which was denied in the post-mortem reports. These handles further spread the fake information that Unnao Police performed the last rites of the two deceased girls without the family’s consent.
Similarly, Mojo, the media venture of ‘journalist’ Barkha Dutt, in 2020, used two years old photographs to claim that they represented the then situation in Kashmir. The photo, which actually showed a scene from Shopian, was claimed to be from the Kathua district. Ahmer Khan, the photographer, has called out Barkha Dutt and her media venture on Twitter. Barkha Dutt, in her response, had accepted the mistake of Mojo Story.
