A Twitter account sympathising with the Kashmiri separatists movement and a supporter of secession of Jammu and Kashmir from the union of India uploaded a highly doctored old video of journalist Arnab Goswami. The account uploaded Goswami’s edited video from February this year to imply as if Goswami is calling for the genocide of Kashmiris opposing the recent abrogation of Article 370.
The video was lifted from a prime-time debate on Republic TV in which Arnab Goswami was asking stringent action against the terrorists and their supporters in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack.
Rituparna Chatterjee, an independent ‘journalist’, quoted the malicious tweet posted by Twitter account @WithKashmir_ without verifying the veracity of the video and tagged Mumbai Police to act against Arnab Goswami for inciting genocide.
.@MasalaBai sharing video from Arnab’s debate in February , 2019. This whole video has many cuts.. Trying to confuse Arnab asking for rough treatment of terrorists with Kashmiris. pic.twitter.com/pIIPsGSkps
— LolmLol (@LOLiyapa) August 7, 2019
However, before long, Twitter users started calling out Chatterjee for passing off an old video from February 2019 in the current context when the valley is on tenterhooks following the abrogation of Article 370 and subsequent bifurcation of the state into two union territories. Consequently, Chatterjee took down her tweet not with a humble apology but with a condescending homily that regardless of the video being old and used out of context, Arnab Goswami should have been booked for his aggressive comments.
Given the sensitivity of the on-ground situation. I’m sure the screenshots of my tweets will be there. But I’m taking decision to delete the tweets at the moment because that’s something in my control.
— Rituparna Chatterjee (@MasalaBai) August 7, 2019
Rituparna was not the only one to share the devious video. Newslaundry co-founder Abhinandan Sekhri also quoted the tweet with the out of context video and slammed Arnab Goswami for the choice of words he said in the highly edited video. Similar to Rituparna, when exposed about the provenance of the video, instead of apologising for the slip, Sekhri shamelessly brazened it out saying that the video is from February. Sekhri had no qualms with the uploaded video being highly doctored to treacherously project that Arnab Goswami was asking massacre of Kashmiris protesting revocation of Article 370.
To be clear the video is from a debate from sometime in February. https://t.co/rWO1oVqez6
— Abhinandan Sekhri (@AbhinandanSekhr) August 7, 2019
The video shared by @WithKashmir_ and quoted by Rituparna Chatterjee and Newslaundry founder Abhinandan Shekri was a snippet edited out of a prime-time debate hosted by Arnab Goswami on his Republic TV channel in the wake of Pulwama attack happened in February 2019 in which Jaish-e-Muhammad trained terrorist rammed an explosive-laden car into a CRPF convoy, killing 40 CRPF personnel.
Here is full part of the video you shared in which Arnab Goswami had said asked for k!llings of TERRORISTS and their supporters..
So you are saying that asking for k!lling terrorists who show no mercy on innocent civilians, is asking for Genocide?? @republic pic.twitter.com/G5GRAtzUGD
— LolmLol (@LOLiyapa) August 7, 2019
In the debate that aired on February 25, 2019, an impassioned Arnab states that he is prepared for the collateral damage in the country to weed out terrorists and their sympathisers. As aggrieved Indian mourning the loss of his Bravehearts, Goswami urged the security forces through his debate to eliminate terrorists and their supporters who carry out a dastardly attack as Pulwama.
However, notorious pro-separatist Twitter users such as @WithKashmir_, who is still smarting the Indian government’s decision to abrogate Article 370 and initiate complete integration of Kashmir into the Indian union, attempted to exploit the troubled situation in the Valley by inciting fear among Kashmiris with the use of highly doctored out of context video. After being called out for the old video, the tweet was deleted by @WithKashmir_. However, they maintained that Arnab was calling for violence against ‘Kashmir’s pro-independence population’, thereby whitewashing the separatists and their being hand-in-gloves with the terrorists.
With Kashmir regrets making the editorial error but stands with the fact that Republic TV’s journalism incites hatred against Kashmiri people in India and follows a fascist agenda of turning India into a regressive, anti-minority State.
— With Kashmir (@WithKashmir_) August 7, 2019
Journalists Rituparna and Abhinandan gleefully partook in the activity, not realising that the promotion of old deceptive video had the potential of causing unrest in the state. The remorseless justification by Rituparna Chatterjee and Abhinandan Sekhri shows that they have no interest for the well being of Kashmiris, neither any concern for the dissemination of fake news if it is maligning someone whom they intensely hate.
Meanwhile, Republic TV has threatened action against the pro-Kashmiri separatist account.
@WithKashmir_, @Republic does not accept your statement of regret. You acted against national security by putting out a doctored video. We will initiate legal action and Republic will take you on. Shortly, Republic Media Network will expose you nice and proper. https://t.co/9igICGOWSq
— Republic (@republic) August 7, 2019
“You acted against national security by putting out a doctored video. We will initiate legal action and Republic will take you on. Shortly, Republic Media Network will expose you nice and proper,” it said in a tweet.
