In a rather embarrassing moment on national television, IndiaToday ‘journalist’ Rajdeep Sardesai was called out by his colleague Rahul Kanwal for calling separatist Engineer Rashid his ‘friend’. On the 6th of October, during the live coverage of the Jammu and Kashmir elections, the IndiaToday anchors and the guests were discussing the possible political outcomes of the J&K assembly elections and subsequent scenarios when Rajdeep Sardesai called Engineer Rashid as his friend.
“Out of 6 to 11, my friend Engineer Rashid has got 8. He is also…” Rajdeep Sardesai said before being interrupted by Rahul Kanwal who asked him why someone who spews venom against India is Sardesai’s friend.
“Why is he your friend? He spews venom against India. Why should he be your friend,” Kanwal asked.
Living up to his character of shamelessly biased ‘journalist’, Rajdeep Sardesai justified his statement about Engineer Rashid and said: “When I use the word political friend I didn’t invite him home for dinner but he has been very warm to me in terms of explaining….”
Meanwhile, Rahul Kanwal said: “Jo khila pilade wo dost [whoever feeds you is your friend].”
Desperate to defend his “friend” remark, Rajdeep Sardesai resorted to lauding Engineer Rashid’s ‘humility’ and how he was impressed with the way Rashid won elections in the past managing to connect with the people.
Rajdeep : “my friend Engineer Rashid..”
— Shilpa (@shilpa_cn) October 6, 2024
Rahul : “why is he your friend? Jo khila pilade vo dost?” 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/rWZ6gocCXF
“I’ve known him [Engineer Rashid] for 20-25 years going back to the late 90s when he actually knocked at my door at 9 pm in Kashmir…he was to me someone who never hid who he was…you could call him soft separatist or separatist is up to you. He was going to contest elections within the constitution of this country. He won 2 elections as an independent and we know that’s not easy in this country. He won an election against a former Chief Minister and Sajjad Lone, again, not easy. I was impressed by his connect with people and that’s what politicians are about. And, when I say friends, I find friends in politicians who connect with people because, through them, I learn about the people…and Engineer Rashid has shown, he has lasted the course…” Sardesai said.
If all politicians who have great connect with people were actually Rajdeep’s friends, he would not have been historically anti-Modi since even in the present political landscape, Narendra Modi remains the most successful and popular political leader.
Another point to consider here is that Rajdeep Sardesai is impressed with Engineer Rashid’s connect with people over the years, but he finds nothing problematic with Kashmiri people, particularly Baramulla voters, connecting with someone who despises India and advocates for Kashmir’s separation from India.
If a separatist, who challenges the sovereignty of India, has succeeded in making a place in the hearts of Kashmiris, it could either be because he is capitalising on prevalent anti-India sentiments or instilling such venomous sentiments in the hearts and minds of local Kashmiris. However, Rajdeep Sardesai feels Engineer Rashid’s political wins are ‘impressive’ and do not necessitate a look into how an anti-India element accused of terror funding, gained ground in Kashmir.
Notably, Abdul Rashid Sheikh, widely known as Engineer Rashid is the founder of the Jammu and Kashmir Awami Ittehad Party. Earlier, he contested Assembly Elections in 2008 and 2014 and stood victorious. He also contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections but could not win. Before joining politics, he was a construction engineer, hence the name Engineer Rashid. In 2019, he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency on the charges of terror funding activities becoming the first recognised leader to be arrested under UAPA. It is alarming that Rajdeep Sardesai chooses to call a terror funding accused his ‘friend’ and gets exhilarated over the chances of Rashid’s party winning 6 to 11 seats, merely because he has been warm to him or perhaps fed him free food.
Further, why would a separatist, a terror funding accused like Engineer Rashid not be warm to someone like Rajdeep Sardesai who is often seen pandering to them and toeing their narrative? Remember, even Hafiz Saeed lauded Barkha Dutt as “acche log”, maybe the 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind offers a platter of Nihari or Haleem to devour and Sardesai will humanise him too.
When Rajdeep Sardesai called mafias Atiq Ahmed and Mukhtar Ansari ‘gentlemen’ for offering him tandoori chicken
This, however, is not the first time that Rajdeep Sardesai has defended or expressed admiration for someone who offered him free food, and heart-warming hospitality or has ‘impressed’ him. In March 2023, Rajdeep Sardesai commended now-dead mafias Mukhtar Ansari and Atiq Ahmed during his debate show calling them “gentlemen”.
As OpIndia reported earlier, Rajdeep Sardesai said, “Mukhtar Ansari’s moustache makes him appear to have a distinctive character in the pictures shown on the television. But they both fed me a delicious dinner.”
Rajdeep also talked about the tandoori chicken he had at Mukhtar Ansari’s dinner. “Very good tandoori chicken. I said to Mukhtar Ansari that he makes delicious food,” he said back then.
Imagine, a mafia like Mukhtar Ansari with more than 50 cases against him including those of murder and riots, and Atiq Ahmed with over 160 criminal cases against him are ‘gentlemen’ for Rajdeep Sardesai just because they offered him warm hospitality and tandoori chicken to eat.
When Rajdeep Sardesai chose to eat Rasgulla rather than question the West Bengal CM over post-poll violence
Back in 2021, Rajdeep Sardesai shamelessly admitted that he did not ask questions about post-poll violence in West Bengal to CM Mamata Banerjee otherwise she would have denied him Rasgulla. During a program on TheLallantop, Radjeep Sardesai was asked whether he questioned Banerjee over the post-poll violence in West Bengal. He chuckled and said, “I was not there to take her interview. I went there casually on ‘chai pe charcha’. Had I asked her about the post-poll violence I would not have gotten to eat Rasgullas”.
People were killed, women raped, and houses ransacked during the 2021 post-poll violence in West Bengal, but Rajdeep Sardesai preferred to satiate his desire to eat Rasgulla than question CM Banerjee over the anarchy rampant under her watch in the state.
Rajdeep Sardesai and embarrassment go hand in hand
While Rahul Kanwal saying “Jo khila pila de wo dost” has left Rajdeep Sardesai embarrassed and netizens in splits, this is not the first time that Sardesai has encountered public embarrassment.
In March 2017, India Today Conclave shared a 6-minute interview of Rajdeep Sardesai with business tycoon Mukesh Ambani. Sardesai introduced him as the most powerful person in the country. When he asked Ambani how he felt when he introduced him the way he did, Ambani said, “I don’t believe that. I do not take you seriously.” Sardesai, humiliated by the ‘most powerful person in India’, could only say, “Are yeh kya baat hui (What are you saying).”
Rajdeep Sardesai once had to face massive embarrassment after protestors confronted him and referred to him as a ‘Dalal’ or a broker and accused him of being a part of the ‘Godi media’.
From being rebuked by former President Pranab Mukherjee, being schooled by now-Prime Minister Narendra Modi, being dismissed by business leader Mukesh Ambani as frivolous, to numerous incidents of his TV show guests schooling him, Rajdeep Sardesai has been quite used to facing public embarrassment. And who can forget when AIMIM supremo Asaduddin Owaisi refused to let Rajdeep thank his wife for cooking a delicious meal for Sardesai and his wife Sagarika Ghose since he believed Muslim women should not meet other men? Probably, this was the only time Sardesai was displeased despite being fed free and delicious food by a political figure.
It is pertinent to note that there is nothing wrong with eating with politicians or receiving their hospitality; nonetheless, as a journalist, one must not forget or ignore their journalistic ethics. Further, in public life, there should be a limit on who may be called a friend and who cannot be called one. You have no moral right to call yourself a journalist and embarrassment is your only constant companion if anti-Indian elements become your friends, if you comfortably choose stuffing your face with food and singing melodies for a political leader instead of questioning them about their actions and policies.
