A few days before his arrest, freelance Journalist Rajeev Sharma – who is currently in the custody of the Delhi Police on charges of possessing classified defence documents, had spoken about the state of media in the country and the lack of ethics in reporting the real issues that are currently plaguing the country.
Taking to Twitter, Rajeev Sharma had expressed his opinion about the state of media in the country. Sharing his Youtube video on the issue, Sharma had claimed that the state of Indian media was pathetic.
Ironically, Sharma had attempted to teach ethics to the India media by asserting that the media was supposed to be a watchdog rather than becoming the lapdog of the government.
The state of Indian media today is pathetic. It was supposed to be a watchdog. Instead it has become a lapdog of the government.
— Rajeev Sharma (@kishkindha) September 14, 2020
RT if you agree.#RajeevKishkindha
My #VideoEditorial👇https://t.co/cdHUAb5JnM
Interestingly, Sharma runs a YouTube channel called “Rajeev Kishkindha”, which has around twelve thousand followers. Rajeev Sharma had uploaded various videos on his Youtube channel.
In one of his Youtube videos, Rajeev Sharma had spoken about the role and responsibilities of media in the society and had schooled some of the media networks for carrying out continuous coverage over irrelevant issues associated with the movie industry at a time when they were supposed to speak about the other important issues relating to employment, inflation, economic growth, etc.
“The role of media is to show mirror to country, society, political parties and the government. Media is the fourth pillar of a democracy,” says Rajeev Sharma in his video.
Sharma, in his video, goes on to say that it is an understatement to refer the current media establishment in the country as a ‘sold out media’ as the media has stopped questioning the government and instead has been cosying up with the ruling dispensation. The media has become the spokesperson of the government, says Sharma in his video.
Narrating a story, Rajeev Sharma went on to claim that the media has been deliberately ignoring real issues in the country and has been busy in reporting news that is connected to the entertainment industry.
Delhi Police arrests Rajeev Sharma, Chinese agent in Delhi
The special cell of the Delhi Police arrested freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) after they had found that Sharma was in possession of classified defence-related documents.
Rajeev was arrested on 14 September and interrogated during the police custody for six days. Later he was produced before a magistrate the next day. His bail application has been listed in Patiala House Court for 22 September.
Sharma, who is a resident of Pitampura in Delhi, had earlier worked with United News of India, The Tribune, Free Press Journal, Saakaal and others as a journalist. As a journalist, Rajeev Sharma was covering defence and foreign affairs for around two decades.
Rajeev Sharma had written several columns for Chinese newspaper Global Times, the mouthpiece of Communist Party of China for the last several years. In addition to Chinese publications, Sharma had also written columns with left-wing publications such as The Quint, DailyO etc.
Along with Sharma, the Delhi police also arrested a Chinese woman and her Nepalese associate on the charges of paying huge amounts of money to Sharma through shell companies.
The Chinese woman named Qing Shi is an intelligence official of the Ministry of State Security (MSS) of the Chinese government. The name of her Nepali Associate is Sher Singh.
