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How Indian mainstream media reported #SalmanVerdict

Gaurav
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How Indian mainstream media reported #SalmanVerdict

Aaj Tak:

AAJTAK

Indian Express:

IE

Times of India:

TOI

India TV:

IND

Scroll.in:

scr

NDTV:

NDTV

US Government funded Christian Evangelical groups reach Nepal to provide relief

Gaurav
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US Government funded Christian Evangelical groups reach Nepal to provide relief

In our earlier post, we showed you some tweets by various people, like Pastors, Missions and Evangelical Preachers, which tried to suggest Nepal should follow the path of Jesus in order to avoid such calamities, or to take respite from the misery the tragedy has brought to them. While some of these tweeters were actively involved in evangelism in their real life, there was no proof to say their appeal went beyond social media, right upto Nepal. This prompted some defenders of evangelism to dismiss them as “loons from Mid-West America” who formed part of a “fringe” with “hardly any significant following”. While we responded to these juvenile arguments here, we decided to follow up on the alleged proselytisation in Nepal.

While there isn’t any reasonable data to conclude that conversions are actually on, there is cause for concern and the situation needs to be monitored. We say this because solely based on their internet activity, it is easy to establish that Christian evangelical groups have reached Nepal, and although they aren’t converting people yet, they are actively providing aid and relief.

Untitled
Pledge Card included in Gifts to children

Samaritan’s Purse, is one such organisation. In it’s Mission Statement it clearly says it is an “evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world” … “with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ.”. As per reports on its own site and updates on its Twitter Account, they already have people in Nepal providing relief material, in as many as four districts. As of now, they are only providing help and aid to Nepalis. But along with their stated Mission, their past records show they are active in proselytisation.

A special program to target poor children

In 2012, a UK based organization revealed that Samaritan’s Purse was engaged in a covert operation of influencing children in poor countries, to convert to Christianity by enticing them with gifts and toys under a “Shoebox Gifts” program officially called “Operation Christmas Child”. Along with the gifts, they give a pamphlet which is “a direct attempt at religious conversion of young children, complete with a “sinner’s prayer” of conversion and a pledge card.” Soon, the local church invites these children to “share the Gospel” under a course called “The Greatest Journey”.  See the booklet distributed here.

As per their own site :”In the past four years, more than 4.6 million children in 88 countries have enrolled in the discipleship program. More than 2.1 million of them have made decisions for Christ, and 2.2 million have committed to share their faith with family and friends”

Experience in reaching to Disaster spots across the world

And there is more. Samaritan’s Purse is experienced in “helping” people hit by earthquakes. In 2001, there was an earthquake in El Salvador. The victims of this tragedy had then complained that the organization “held half-hour prayer meetings before showing them how to build temporary homes of metal and plastic”. The President of this organization, had unabashedly said:

“When we go into these villages and help people get back into their homes, we hope we’ll be able to plant new churches all over this country,”

It also must be noted that at that point in time, Samaritan’s Purse had received more than $200000 from the US Government, thus making the Government a party to conversions.

In 2005 again, Samaritan’s Purse was once again under scrutiny for using aid as a tool to convert Muslims in Indonesia, which was ravaged in the Tsunami. Once again, they had received donations form the US Government, which went upto $300000 that year.

In 2010, Haiti was struck by an Earthquake, and there again Samaritan’s Purse was quick to reach. Once again, providing medical help and proselytisation crossed paths, with one the medical volunteers and also Director of the organization said “We came to Haiti not just to extend people’s physical lives, but to point the way to eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ” as per their own annual report. If Doctors themselves declare that they have come to convert people, what else is left to say?

This trend of rushing to help people in disaster zones is a regular feature with Samaritan’s Purse, be it the earthquake in Costa Rica, hurricane in Nicaragua, tsunami in Samoa, cyclone in Vanuatu or typhoons in Philippines.

The Indian Experience

In 2013, after Cyclone Phailin, reached Odisha & West Bengal, and its partners “distributed relief supplies in Jesus’ Name”. Contuniuing with their “Shoebox Gifts” program, in 2014, Samaritan’s Purse distributed such “Gifts” to almost 5 lakh children in India. On their site, they even mention real stories of Indian’s getting converted to Christianity, including those of fatherless children. Watch this video on their initiatives in India, how they target children from slums and “present the gospel” to them via gift boxes. A child named Samir, from West Bengal says:

When I received my shoebox, I was very happy. I learned that Jesus loves me and that he sent me the box. After I got the box I started coming to the church and my parents started coming with me.

The organisations head in India says, via this program “The children who are the harvest, become the harvesters”

The Modus Operandi

Samaritan’s Purse knows how to go about their work. They target people when they are most vulnerable: either in the midst of a natural disaster, or when they are children from economically backward families. It probably is the easiest to get such people in the fold. And that is why, this organization has reached Nepal. As usual, the plan will be to start with providing physical aid, and then slowly moving on to spiritual aid. While there will be no direct proof of conversions for some time, at least until the dust settles, slowly the real agenda will surface.

The Nepal Experiece

Nepal is no stranger to Samaritan’s Purse. When there was a drought in the area where Nepal’s Chepang tribe resides, Samaritan’s Purse was working with a Christian partner in Nepal to provide emergency food to the tribe.

Right now in Nepal

We know for sure Samaritan’s Purse has already begun their work in Nepal. But are they alone? Is this the only evangelical organization there? Probably not:

1. A team from Baptist Global Response, a partner of International Mission Board (an evangelizing organization), have left for Nepal

2. A team from Children’s Hunger Fund (whose mission is to deliver hope to suffering children by equipping local churches for gospel-centered mercy ministry) is already in Nepal. (Also supported by US Government)

3. The International Nepal Fellowship (formerly known as Nepal Evangelistic Band ) is already providing relief in Nepal

4. The Salvation Army, “an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church”, already has teams in Nepal, with more coming. (Also supported by US Government)

Given all of the above, and the fact that Nepal legally allowed conversions only in 2008, Nepalis need to be alert and should see to it that if they were to choose to change their religion, it should not be under any sort of force from or moral obligation to these evangelical relief groups.

Prannoy Roy should stop sermonizing about tabloidization of news and look within NDTV

Ullas
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Prannoy Roy should stop sermonizing about tabloidization of news and look within NDTV

Dr Prannoy Roy was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Mumbai Press Club last week. In his acceptance speech, he talked about NDTV and the state of Indian journalism. Though my fascination with Prannoy was only during his anchoring of The World This Week on Doordarshan during 90s, I was interested to hear his views nevertheless. I will  try to explain why his speech was all hot air.

Firstly, he lamented about the tabloidization of news. Even a novice would understand that he was directly targeting Arnab Goswami and TimesNow with this barbs. (Recent spate of attacks on Arnab and TimesNow is nothing less than a campaign.) Surprisingly, he exonerates media from this slide and blames the advertisers.

Importantly, here are examples, where NDTV itself has indulged in tabloidization of news:

When US Secretary of State John Kerry visited India, the first question Prannoy asked him was about Hillary becoming President. Guess, Prannoy had not heard of politics stopping at water’s edge (watch from 0:30 to 0:45). Cringeworthy!

When NDTV stealthily deletes a para from Prashant Bhushan’s open letter to Kejriwal, without disclosure . Ethics?  We discussed it here.

When Sreenivasan Jain talks about “Chota mota blast” to further his agenda. Journalism?

One can point to plenty more – including the “Blow to Modi”, “Sonia is sad”, etc campaigns that have come to define NDTV.

As far as blaming advertisers goes, I was not surprised by this view at all. With its communist leaning, obviously NDTV does not believe in market forces determining the price. Hence, he blames the advertisers for not having advanced modeling to identify audience. I am surprised how someone managed to convince this bunch to list on NSE/BSE. (Well, at least market knows the value of NDTV exactly – In 2010, ticker was at approx. 120 and today, ticker is at approx. 130. Sorry folks, no dividend here too). After listening to this speech, if I was still an NDTV investor, I would be looking at monetizing my holdings.

I had a wholehearted laugh when Prannoy talked about his second point. Apparently, journalists are NOT supposed to be “insiders”and they are NOT supposed to be on first name terms with politicians. Well…

Hope you are having a good laugh too. Or was this Prannoy’s barb on Barkha Dutt, who is considered the ultimate insider in Lutyens journalism – a parting shot before she severs all her ties with NDTV?

NDTV was at it yesterday too, when they reported that NDRF had been asked by Nepal to leave, when in fact NDTV itself had reported the correct news just 24 hours earlier, that all rescue missions were asked to leave Nepal. So what if logic and facts say something, it’s always better to say something sensational and attribute it to “sources”. And trust Barkha to take this dumbassery to the next level. She managed to link a Twitter hash-tag, liberal hate for Indian armed forces and Nepal’s decision to send back all rescue missions:


Yup. Our leading journalist did not realise that closing search and rescue missions 8-10 days after an incident is standard practice since by then the chances of recovering someone alive are minimal.

Prannoy himself cannot be pardoned for his proximity to the Left comrades. Family relationships aside, not once in any of his shows, did he mention that his frequent guest N Ram (of The Hindu) is a card holding communist. Fair journalistic principles requires mentioning all affiliations to allow viewers to make informed decision. When Swapan Dasgupta writes his opinions on ndtv, he is declared as someone with “right-wing inclinations”, where as Kumar Ketkar is a “senior journalist, political commentator, globe trotter and author” and Rana Ayyub an “award-winning investigative journalist and political writer”. If anyone considers Ketkar anything other than “a designated Congress bootlicker” and Ayyub anything other than “a pathological Modi hater”, he/she must be admitted for mental care.

Finally, Prannoy talked about accountability in media. The fact that Prannoy did not fire Barkha after the Radia tape controversy and instead, gave her a platform to create a staged interview with other journalists and then exonerate herself is a slap on the face of anyone who stands for fair journalistic values. When Prannoy had a case to punish Barkha and set an example, he chickened out. Now, he has no moral right to give gyaan to others.

He, apparently, also has problem regarding journalists not checking their facts. Well, fellow comrades at NDTV did not get the memo. Please read Opindia’s reports on media lies, where NDTV features prominently – here and here.

By the way, who is Prannoy trying to fool with his lectures? Or is his speech a severe bout of Adarsh Liberalism? I would have called it a mutual admiration club. Since Prannoy himself mentioned during his speech about an editor leaving the hall, I will give the journalist community the benefit of doubt – that at least one editor could not take any more of such moral balderdash from Dr Prannoy Roy.

Indian Media reporting half-truths to defame NDRF?

OpIndia Staff
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Indian Media reporting half-truths to defame NDRF?

India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been instrumental in search and rescue operations carried out in Earthquake hit Nepal. NDRF had the largest presence on ground with 16 teams working hard to help Nepalis who were affected by the earthquake. While yesterday, angry Nepalis trended  #GoHomeIndianMedia to protest against their insensitive, irresponsible, and sensationalist reporting, today on 4th May a new “news” was being spread by Indian media about NDRF being sent back:



From the above reports, most Twitter users felt that now Nepal had asked only NDRF to go back to India. Many tried to connect this with the claim that India has been more engaged in showing off its help offered to Nepal rather than focussing on the actual rescue operations.

Planning Editor of CNN-IBN put out this tweet, which was Retweeted by IBN’s official handle:


Consulting Editor at Times of India, Sagarika Ghose too said something similar:


But as usual, the truth was different. After a high level meeting of Nepal’s Disaster Panel, late on 3rd May, it was decided by them that ALL 4,050 foreign rescue and search personnel be sent back, as its own security personnel can handle the task of recovering the remaining bodies of people. The Nepal Home Ministry spokesperson had said the following to IANS:

“At the meeting, it has decided to send back all foreign rescue and search teams back as their mission is almost complete. Very few dead bodies are likely to remain in the rubble which our own security agencies are enough to handle”

Comically, this was reported by NDTV itself, while it tweeted today that “NDRF has been asked to withdraw”: Untitled   While the above news was reported by NDTV as an IANS report, the same NDTV, today reported this same item as a “source” based news: Untitled   It appears, the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand has done in NDTV. As people realised that this order of withdrawal of forces was not applicable to only India, NDTV and IBN too realised their mistake and put out of clarification tweets:


Finally, Ministry of External Affairs too tweeted the correct clarification:



But Sagarika Ghose still had comprehension issues. Although MEA clearly said “Relief work” will go on, only Search and Rescue mission is over, Mrs Ghose had other ideas:


(Thanks to a twitter user for the tip-off)

Modi haters end up denying Indian help in Nepal earthquake rescue operations

Rahul Raj
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Modi haters end up denying Indian help in Nepal earthquake rescue operations

The tragic earthquake in Nepal has already involved all sorts of governments and organizations – ranging from humanitarians to opportunists. Damages done by the earthquake are irreparable, and given the economic and social condition of Nepal, it will need support and aid from multiple channels. Every penny will count.

Relief work is on, but sadly it has triggered many ugly debates, discussions and events around the motives of support, most of which developed on the political and religious overlaps. India being close to Nepal became an easy political ground to build narratives on role of Modi Government and selfless service.

When we highlighted how some of the Christian organizations tried to tap this tragedy as triumph and an opportunity to convince people to endorse Jesus, we were targeted as a Right Wing propaganda machine. Some of our readers questioned us with facts which talked about the poor attitude of the Indian Government, and asked us to comment of following facts published on media, forums and social media:

  • Modi is extending support, but why are his fans boasting it if they call it a selfless support
  • Indian Government is helping less, but bragging more
  • Indian Government and Indian Embassy in Nepal are not helping at all

Before reading facts from both the perspectives, I contemplated on the concerns about selfless service. We all would agree with the fact that there are many overlapping areas between different forms of inter-relationships like Symbiosis, Mutualism, Commensalism and Parasitism.  Exact classifications of mutual relationships into these definitions may need many subjective assumptions, which holds true even for the philosophy of selfless service. I checked social media accounts of many religious and social organizations which are ceaselessly helping people in Nepal to recover. Most of these selflessly helping people are sharing their good work on the social media, which, if put on the same framework of “selflessness” which is applied to the Modi Government, should raise questions like, if it is selfless, why do they need to share it.

Now coming back to the facts raised by our readers. Some people claimed other countries are helping Nepal more than India. Well, I am not an admirer of such comparisons, but some of the data circulated by people to prove their point looks very ridiculous.

Photo Credit: CNN
Photo Credit: CNN

One such chart shared by people talks about money committed by different countries and number of people deployed by them. The arguments built along this chart says that India is not among top contributors. Nepal’s Ambassador to India Deepak Kumar Upadhyay said there has been “unbelievable support and assistance” from India and the assurance of help from the Indian government has been like a “blank cheque.” Unless someone reads the chart to see that Switzerland is mentioned for deploying 6 people, but India is not, he or she must be very dumb or a politically inclined individual for sharing it with such a confidence. And as far as monetary help committed by many nations is concerned, the Finance Minister of Nepal said that they have received helicopters and relief material but no cash, despite promises from the Asian Development Bank and others.

The other concern raised was: Indian Government and Indian Embassy in Nepal are not helping at all

Social media picked a few stories of individuals who were not properly treated by the Indian Embassy in Nepal and declared that Indian Government is not helping at all, Indian Air Force deployed in Nepal are busy in photo shooting. Some of such stories which I read on the social media were:

Photo taken from Facebook
Photo taken from Facebook

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Knowing the magnitude of destruction caused by the earthquake and the unavailability of resources, it is very much possible that some of the victims were neglected. However, it would be quite unfair to claim that the Indian Government is doing nothing. During the same time, the Indian embassy would also be recovering from the death of one of the employee’s daughter.  Indian Government sent a supply of 10 tonnes of blankets, 50 tonnes of water, and 22 tonnes of food. Apart from that, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christian Organizations from India are extending all possible support to the victims. More than 20,000 people from Nepal are rescued because to their combined efforts. Calling oneself Ashamed of being Indian will tarnish all the efforts put by these people. People helping in Nepal have also claimed that IAF planes are trying to help people.


I have also read many stories in which rescued people have hugely praised the Indian Government and Indian Air Force. If the intention is to create narratives based on only one side of the story, I can understand the motives.

Modi was also criticized on 3rd May 2015 when Nepalese trended #GoHomeIndianMedia on twitter. The anger erupted when many individuals started complaining against the insensitiveness of Indian Media. The aggregated anger and annoyance erupted like a volcano on the social media. One of the blogs which got viral wrote:

There has been one viral news report going on where a reporter presented how people were fighting for food and one women got injured badly. Thanks to the reporter who had enough time to grab the victim and bring to the camera to show the victim hurt badly on her head. But how surprising, he did not have a minute to grab a piece of cloth to stop bleeding . That reporter did not have a minute to grab the wrist of that person who was beating others with helmet. There was of course a cameraman who does not want to miss a second so that a dramatic news could be presented. I think you are a human before you become a media person. As a responsible person, it was your duty to save someone.

The blog clearly mentioned: “This letter is not blaming India in any way, the writer is only sharing her emotion regarding what she saw on media. Every patriot will probably feel the same way if media broadcasts such things about their country.”

It was very clear that this anger is against the insensitive, irresponsible, and sensationalist reporting methods followed by the Indian Media, however, the whole narrative was twisted as an anti-Modi outrage. While angry tweets from Nepal talked about the Indian Media, Indian twitterati left no stone unturned to add Modi as the reason of anger. Cartoons and Op-Eds created by media and social media put all the blames on jingoism and nationalism.

Interestingly, when people started analyzing the geographical origin of this trend, it gave a very interesting result.

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The chart hints how #GoHomeIndianMedia was hijacked by netizens of other countries. I tried to search #GoHomeIndianMedia and Modi together as keywords, and I found that most of the handles trending the combination of keywords were from India. Needless to say that most of the handles I saw were anti-modi faces.

What irks me that the whole concept of human welfare is twisted to political propaganda by some individuals and organizations to pursue their personal gain. Just because they want to stick to their Modi Hatred stand, they are slandering some good initiatives started by the Government. The sequence of headlines after the earthquake which started with “Why is Modi Boasting”, modified into “Dalit village wonders, if Modi Govt’s help will ever reach us”, and finally ended up as “Indian Government is not helping at all” tells a lot about the set of people behind these narratives.

Rahul Gandhi needs to do his homework on Real Estate Bill

Gaurav
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Rahul Gandhi needs to do his homework on Real Estate Bill

After coming back from his agyaat-vaas of 56 days, Rahul Gandhi has found a new way of doing Politics. He is following the hit-and-run approach, or maybe treating politics like a Twitter account. Everyday, he sees the trending hash-tag, makes a generic statement along with the hash-tag, and moves on to the next topic. He started with Net Neutrality, but didn’t make much sense. He went on to the land bill, just repeating adages like “corporates ki sarkar”. He then went on to appeal to Hindus by visiting Kedarnath. He then travelled by train to meet with “aam aadmis” travelling by train, and then to farmers in Punjab. Now he has climbed on the Real Estate Bill bandwagon and come out with another catchphrase, calling the bill “Pro-Builder”.

But what is this Real Estate Bill? Its a bill which will bring about regulation in the Real Estate Sector of India, which is completely unregulated as of now. Builders going back on promises of all types is one of the major concerns. Now this bill wishes to address all these problems. A brief history of this bill:

Stage Date
Introduction in Rajya Sabha Aug 14, 2013
Referred to Standing Committee Sep 11, 2013
Report of Standing Committee Feb 12, 2014

The standing committee was headed by Sharad Yadav of JDU, and had 28 members, of which 11 were from Congress, 1 from NCP, 2 from TMC, 2 from Shiv Sena and 6 from BJP, and some other members of smaller parties.

Firstly, in his grandstanding yesterday Rahul Gandhi showed the plight of a home-buyer from NCR who had been duped in 2012. It was quite ironic to see Rahul take the high ground on this, although in 2012, his party Congress was ruling both Delhi and India. Could Rahul Gandhi in power not have come to the rescue of this lady in 2012 itself? Or is it that Rahul Gandhi was blind to people’s problems in power, and has suddenly woken with the rude shock of 44 seats?

Secondly, UPA came into power in 2004. Real Estate sector has always been a mess, it is not a new phenomenon. Why did UPA take 9 long years to introduce such an important bill? Where was Rahul Gandhi’s love for home buyers for 9 long years from 2004 to 2013 when nothing was done for the average middle class buyer? If the UPA had passed this law even mid way through their tenure, that is in 2009, this lady would not have been duped in 2012, the law would have come to her rescue. Did Rahul Gandhi wilfully protect builder lobby for 9 years? 10 years if you count the fact the law never got passed in UPA tenure.

Thirdly, in his brief statement on the Real Estate Bill, Rahul Gandhi made no substantive, objective points, just plain rhetoric. He talked about super area being promised as against the are being given by builders finally, and about views being promised and buildings coming in place of such views.

When someone asked him specific problems, he said,

“Main dilution yeh hai, ke humare bill mein clear transparency thi, carpet area jo sign kiya hai woh milna chahiye, this has been diluted” (Main dilution is that there was clear transparency. The carpet area that you sign is what would be given. They have diluted it)

It seems Rahul Gandhi has not done his home work. This post says, with the new law, Carpet area will be clearly defined. And Deepak Shenoy of CapitalMind.in, in this detailed analysis, says:

Real estate can only be sold by the actual carpet area – so builders have to offer a cost per square foot of carpet area.

It is pretty clear from above, Rahul Gandhi has again got it wrong. This is what happens when you go away on holidays and cram whatever you can 1 day before the exam.

Other significant improvements in the new bill over UPA’s bill are as follows:

1. The UPA bill was applicable only to residential real estate. It is now proposed to cover both residential and commercial real estate

2. The UPA bill proposed only one Real Estate Regulatory Authority for all of India, the new bill proposes Establishment of one or more ‘Real Estate Regulatory Authority’ in each State/ Union Territory

3. The UPA bill said registration of projects when area is below 4000 sqm was not needed, this threshold has been brought down to 1000 sqm, thus bringing more projects under the regulator.

4. The builder can now alter or modify structural designs only if two-thirds of the buyers agree

One issue which has been raised, of course by those who have read the bill, not by Rahul Gandhi, is the apparent watering down of one clause. The new Bill requires that 50% of all money received by the builder has to be transferred to a separate account, which is used only to meet construction expenses  of that very project. This proportion was 70% in the earlier bill. The purpose of this clause is to avoid builders shifting funds from project A to project B.

This reduction has come via recommendations of the Standing Committee, formed during UPA time, and which had a majority of Congress MPs. Even so, the logic behind this move is pretty solid. As per the old bill, since 70% is kept in a separate account to use only for “construction” expenses, the balance 30% is the only free money with the builder. The builder has to make do with this 30% to meet initial costs like land acquisition, security deposits and fees to the authorities for sanctions and other statutory clearances. And in many cases, especially in projects in metros and other big cities, the cost of the land will be easily more than 30% of the total costs. In such cases it becomes impossible for the builder to meet his initial expenses.

And fact is, currently there is no such clause at all, and even a 50% limit, would greatly help buyers. While Rahul Gandhi hasn’t been tutored about this yet, he very well maybe, and even then he needs to be pointed to page 35 of the Report of Standing Committee of Parliament.

Angry Nepalese trend #GoHomeIndianMedia to protest against insensitive coverage of earthquake

OpIndia Staff
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Angry Nepalese trend #GoHomeIndianMedia to protest against insensitive coverage of earthquake

Indian mainstream media, especially TV news channels, is hardly known for nuances, and they appear to miss it even during tragedies. Media coverage of 2008 Mumbai Terror Attacks is the biggest example of their insensitive, irresponsible, and sensationalist reporting, which made a lot of people take to social media to register their protest.

And it seems, Indian media has not learnt its lessons ever since. Now they have been able to irritate and anger even non-Indians.

On Sunday, many Twitter users living in Nepal started hashtag #GoHomeIndianMedia to protest against such brand of reporting. Not only in Nepal, but this hashtag trended even in India.

From their tweets, it was obvious that the anger was against the sensationalist approach by media, and not against India:


Apart from insensitive (like asking injured persons ‘aapko kaisa lag raha hai’ type of questions) and sensationalist reporting, some users claimed that Indian media even ended up blocking relief operations and rescue work:


However, among the “doyens” of Indian media, the hashtag was met either with denial or with cheap potshots at each other:


While the celeb journalists might differ with each other, Indians joined Nepalese citizens in bashing the Indian media for their attitude:


and such support from the Indian tweeters brought some smile to Nepalese citizens:


Hope Indian media uses this opportunity to introspect and listen to the common man’s voices instead of deflecting responsibility or choosing to live in denial.

Users claiming BJP association spread rumors by trending #GodhraAgain, Party must act against those

OpIndia Staff
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Users claiming BJP association spread rumors by trending #GodhraAgain, Party must act against those

On Saturday 2nd May, Twitter was abuzz with rumors that a Muslim mob in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh had taken some Hindu pilgrims hostage and a Godhra like situation was developing.

Media reports suggest that there was a confrontation between the local authorities and members of a Muslim organization, which was protesting against alleged attack on some of their colleagues on an earlier day. The members of the organization, led by a local Samajwadi Party MLA are reported to have attacked train passengers too, but the situation was nowhere Godhra-like as some rumormongers imagined.

These rumors took a very ugly turn when some people spotted a hate tweet by a self-declared youth leader of BJP called Amitesh Singh. Operating as Twitter user @AmiteshSinghBJP, he posted the following tweet:

Photo Credit: Twitter
The tweet that created a flutter on Twitter.

This was not only a hate tweet, but a direct call for communal violence – an act punishable under the Indian laws. Realizing his mistake, he later apologised and deleted not only his tweet, but even his Twitter account.

CEBVbgHUsAEd5gN

Amitesh Singh became the face of hate and rumor that was being spread under #GodhraAgain hashtag, but there were others too. Some users claiming to be officially associated with BJP, like Puneet Arora who is the State Co-Convener of I.T.Cell, Haryana BJP, posted the following tweet:


This was clearly an incendiary tweet that was sent without verification of information. It was not criminal as the other tweet by Amitesh, but an irresponsible act that was not helping the situation on the ground.

If these Twitter users really hold these official posts in the party as claimed in their Twitter bio, BJP should take some strict action against them for spreading rumors that could have caused law and order problems in the country. Even if they have apologized, they must be suspended from the party.

This is not the first time when some junior member of a party has spread such hateful messages. A couple of years ago a Twitter user linked to Congress’ youth wing NSUI had posted the following tweet:

BUV3StCCMAAtyv1

While these junior members acted irresponsibly, a senior leader like Omar Abdullah used this opportunity to link an event in Western Uttar Pradesh to politics in Jammu & Kashmir:


Notwithstanding the politics of Omar Abdullah or similar incidents by other parties earlier, BJP here must set an example and take disciplinary actions against these Twitter users who hold official posts in the party.

India Today group spins Shourie interview with Karan Thapar

OpIndia Staff
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India Today group spins Shourie interview with Karan Thapar

In his much talked about interview with Karan Thapar, Arun Shourie has made many critical observations of the Modi Government’s performance in the past 11 months. We had already analysed them here. While most of the remarks aren’t very scathing, the media coverage on this shows it as if Shourie has attacked the Government and Modi with his full fury. India Today, whose channel conducted the interview, is primarily responsible for blowing  things out of proportion, and accusing Shourie of saying things he never said. Take a look at some of these cases:

1. India Today claims Shourie said this:


Then, in the transcript, the word “Trimurti” doesn’t even appear.

In the video, after around 34 minutes, Shourie names the three people, saying they work as a team. Karan Thapar then interjects him saying “This Trimurti….” to which Shourie says “Trimurti, big word” and continues his sentence.

So firstly, “Trimurti” is Karan Thapar’s phrase, not of Shourie. Yet this has been attributed to Shourie at multiple places by India Today, very mischievously, and often in quotes. Secondly, this phrase has been completely omitted from the transcripts. Neither they have shown Karan Thapar’s first usage of this word, nor have they shown Shourie’s reaction. So there is a doubt that even the transcript, which should be a word for word reproduction, is not accurate.

2. In this piece titled “10 things Shourie said”, India Today says Shourie said “Keeping Sushma Swaraj on the margins is wrong.

According to their own transcript, Shourie did not say such a thing. He said he doesn’t know if Swaraj is on the margins, but if yes, it doesn’t bode well.

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One can partly blame Shourie here too, but India Today paraphrased it in a way, so as to show Arun Shourie also feels Sushma Swaraj is on the margins, when actually he said he doesn’t know. 

3. India Today said Shourie made this comment on the “Rs 10 lac suit”


Once again the transcript has no mention of a “Rs 10 lac suit”, but just a monogrammed suit. The video of the interview too corroborates this. Still, India Today insists at multiple places that Shourie said “Rs 10 lac suit”. While the misrepresentation is minor, it gives away the impression that Shourie was attacking the alleged price of the suit.

Compared to our usual Media shenanigans, these might be minor transgressions, but when repeatedly things are misquoted and transcripts are found to be inaccurate, then questions surface.

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Arun Shourie is neither 100% right nor 100% wrong

Gaurav
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Arun Shourie is neither 100% right nor 100% wrong

A lot has been said about all that Arun Shourie has said or is reported to have said about the Modi Government and its policies in his interview with Karan Thapar. While Shourie is a well respected journalist and former NDA minister, it is also a known fact that he has been completely sidelined by Modi.

So is this a case of unbiased, logical criticism? Or are the grapes sour? Or is it about his much talked about rivalry with the other Arun, our current Finance Minister? Let us see exactly what he got right and what he got wrong:

What he got right:

1. Modi’s foreign policy is good, recognizes China as a concern, unlike past Governments. But Government needs to follow up on MoUs and Agreements signed

2. Modi’s Pakistan Policy has been shaky, needs a “steadier gaze”.

3. Some achievements of Modi Government like low inflation rate and low deficit are in fact due to falling prices of crude and commodities.

4. Concern over the fact that posts like Chief Information Commissioner, Chief Vigilance Commissioner, Election Commission, Lokpals are vacant.

5. Decentralisation of Power from PMO to other ministries is needed.

What he got wrong:

1. On the coal and spectrum auctions he says the Government is merely following the Supreme Court judgement, but he fails to acknowledge the transparent procedure adopted by the Government which we highlighted here.

2. Shourie is guilty of making contradictory statements. First he says the Government is unnecessarily being confrontational with RBI, and later says Bank Credit has grown by just 3 odd %. One of the reasons why the Government was at loggerheads with RBI was to urge for Interest rate cuts, and one of the reasons for low credit growth is in fact higher Interest rate.

3. Fails to praise any of the following economic schemes: a huge push for the long pending GST, Jan Dhan Yojana, which is the base for much larger, ambitious economic schemes, NITI Aayog, FDI in defense, Smart Cities, Divestment Policy, and the Black Money Bill. And he only passingly mentions important reforms in simplification of processes in line with Ease of Doing Business norms.

4. Shourie feels estimates of 8% GDP are “big talks with no delivery” but he should realise, even NDA 1 took a few years to bring the GDP rate up.

5. BJP is expanding footprints too fast, and aggressively (he quotes Amit Shah taking on TMC in Bengal Civic elections) and thus alienates smaller parties and doesn’t get support in Parliament. Does this mean BJP should stop expanding in states?

6. Shourie says since even Ribeiro has expressed fears of Christian Persecution, things have gone too far. A journalist like Shourie should have seen through the false media propaganda, especially since almost everybody else has. And when you consider that he himself has written 2 books on exposing Christian Missionary agenda, such a remark is pretty unjustified.

Mixed Bag:

1. India needs to speed up action on US agreements because US is losing patience and might go elsewhere. As things stand, India is the best future market especially since Europe isn’t very strong yet and China is not a natural partner for US. So India need not get too perturbed by fear of US going away. But yes, it has to be careful of this possibility

2. Partly correct on point that Government must walk the talk on non-adversarial tax regime, instead of flip-flops. He must acknowledge that many of such notices are flowing from past court decisions, and the Government must abide by the decisions, even though they may not agree with them, at least until a higher court quashes the decision

3. He says Modi, Jaitley and Amit Shah are controlling BJP, which isn’t good. Modi being the popularly elected leader, also the face for which people voted has full right to lead the party. Shah, by virtue of being Modi’s main strategists also deserves to be on top. Although Jaitley lost the LS elections, he also was a backer of Modi for long, so he got his chance too. So unlike other dynastic parties, here the top 3 have come up on pure merit and popularity. But as always, if the top leaders are not open to views, then there can be a problem.

4. Criticizing Modi on the monogrammed suit was a bit childish, although in hindsight, its very easy to say he should have never worn it.

5. Shourie said nothing was being done to professionalise ailing public sector banks and recapitalise them. Fact is in January, the Government held high level meetings with chiefs of all banks, to chalk out a roadmap. Tangible progress is yet to be seen but the ball is rolling.

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