Police Interrogate Lapdog Media Kingpin Arnab Goswami

Screengrab from Arnab Goswami's Republic TV Show
Screengrab from Arnab Goswami’s Republic TV Show

Today, there are dozens of government-sponsored hatemongers who masquerade as journalists to widen the divide between Hindus and Muslims. Arnab Goswami is one of them.

By Rakesh Raman

An Arnab Goswami – who claims to be a journalist but behaves as the untamed mouthpiece of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headed by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi – was questioned Monday (April 27) by the Mumbai Police.

After a slew of FIRs (police complaints) against Goswami for spreading religious hatred that can cause violence in the country and his filthy remarks against Congress president Ms Sonia Gandhi, police called him for interrogation.

The charges against him include provocation with intent to cause riot, promoting enmity between two groups on grounds of religion or race, deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs, and defamation under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

In an extremely uncivil and loud rhetoric, Goswami – who is part of a lapdog media clique (a.k.a. Godi Media) supported by BJP – had falsely claimed that Ms Gandhi had orchestrated the recent Palghar lynching in Maharashtra on April 16.

In order to divert the attention of police, Goswami – who mischievously amplifies the narrative of Hindu-Muslim hatred spread by BJP leaders on his TV shows under the Republic TV banner –claimed that Congress workers had attacked him last week.

However, since he could not provide any evidence, the police did not file any report against the Congress workers. Reports suggest that Congress has filed a petition in the Mumbai High Court to shutter Goswami’s Republic TV which has surreptitious financial links with the BJP.

Today, there are dozens of government-sponsored hatemongers who masquerade as journalists to widen the divide between Hindus and Muslims. All of them enjoy the tacit support of Modi and his BJP colleagues.

Of late, in an interview, leading writer and social activist Arundhati Roy said that the Indian media has become genocidal media that blindly supports the Modi government to spew hatred against Muslims, adding that the Indian TV anchors are working as lynch mobs.

Goswami claims that he enjoys freedom of speech as a journalist to insult others. But people argue that this freedom cannot be used to bark like a mad dog and bite others. With his rude behavior – and with support from BJP mobsters who appear in his shows – Goswami spews venom against innocent Muslims.

OUTRAGE IN THE MUSLIM WORLD

The Muslim world has expressed its deep anguish over the maltreatment of Muslims in India while cunning Modi remains silent. It is largely believed that Modi’s silence gives consent to BJP hooligans who constantly abuse Muslims.

While Muslims never felt safe under Modi’s rule, their persecution has increased during the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. The lapdog media and the Hindu mobs belonging to Modi’s BJP and its parent outfit RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu nationalist group) have been constantly blaming Muslims for spreading coronavirus in India.

As Modi has pledged to make India a Hindu Rashtra (a nation only for Hindus), he gives tacit consent to BJP and RSS goons to spread hatred against Indian Muslims.

The Muslim world is now vehemently denouncing the Modi government’s stance toward Muslims. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) – which is the 2nd largest inter-governmental organization after the UN with 57 member states – has condemned the anti-Muslim sentiment and Islamophobia in India.

In an official statement issued on April 19, the General Secretariat of the OIC said that it expresses deep concern following recent media accounts of rising anti-Muslim sentiments and Islamophobia within political and media circles and on mainstream and social media platforms, where Indian Muslim minority is being blamed of spreading coronavirus in the country. The statement added that the OIC General Secretariat expresses its rejection of the targeting of Muslims anywhere.

Similar concerns are raised by Pakistan PM Imran Khan who has compared Modi government’s attacks on Muslims with the Nazis. “The deliberate and violent targeting of Muslims in India by the Modi government to divert the backlash over its COVID-19 policy, which has left thousands stranded and hungry, is akin to what Nazis did to Jews in Germany. Yet more proof of the racist Hindutva Supremacist ideology of the Modi government,” Imran Khan tweeted on April 19.

BJP HATE AGAINST MUSLIM WOMEN

Recently, an obnoxious statement about Arab women tweeted by a BJP Lok Sabha member (MP) Tejasvi Surya also attracted outrage from the Muslim world. As Tejasvi Surya – who is also a member of the RSS – had brazenly insulted Muslim women with his misogynistic remarks, a leading lawyer who tweets as MJALSHRIKA tagged PM Modi in his tweet to say that “India’s relation with the Arab world has been that of mutual respect. Do you allow your parliamentarian to publicly humiliate our women? We expect your urgent punitive action against Tejasvi Surya for his disgraceful comment.”

However, Modi did not take any action against the rowdy MP Tejasvi Surya because Modi silently approves verbal as well as physical attacks on Muslims.

As blind followers of Modi are also spreading hate against Muslims in other parts of the world and Modi never stops them, their actions supported by Modi are being termed as a form of genocide.

In a media interview, Princess Hend Al Qassimi, a member of the royal family of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has compared Islamophobia in India with genocide.

“This is how genocides are born. They first begin by hate that grows in the heart, comes to the tongue, and eventually turn into a genocide,” Princess Hend Al Qassimi said. “I’m sorry about the Islamophobia that is going on in India, but hatred is not welcome in my country.”

“Anyone that is openly racist and discriminatory in the UAE will be fined and made to leave,” she warned with a tweet, as some Hindu hatemongers are using filthy language against Islam and Muslims.

Since Muslims are facing increasing threats, a few days ago, Arundhati Roy also revealed that the Modi government is exploiting coronavirus (COVID-19) to ramp up its suppression of Muslims. She compared the Modi government’s tactic to the one used by the Nazis during the Holocaust.

“India’s treatment of Muslims amid coronavirus is almost ‘genocidal,’ Arundhati Roy said on April 17 in an interview with German news channel Deutsche Welle (DW).

She adds that the current coronavirus hatred against Muslims comes on the back of a massacre in Delhi, which was the the result of people protesting against the anti-Muslim citizenship laws announced by the Modi government.

By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society. He also creates and publishes a number of digital publications and research reports on different subjects. These publications include the “Covid Health Bulletin” that covers global coronavirus news and views.

Support RMN News Service for Independent Fearless Journalism

In today’s media world controlled by corporates and politicians, it is extremely difficult for independent editorial voices to survive. Raman Media Network (RMN) News Service has been maintaining editorial freedom and offering objective content for the past more than 12 years despite enormous pressures and extreme threats. In order to serve you fearlessly in this cut-throat world, RMN News Service urges you to support us financially with your donations. You may please click here and choose the amount that you want to donate. Thank You. Rakesh Raman, Editor, RMN News Service.

RMN News

Rakesh Raman