Filmmaker Hansal Mehta has taken a dig at Times Now for its decision to go after Arnab Goswami after the alleged leaked WhatsApp chat between the Republic TV founder and the former head of the Indian TV rating agency, BARC, became public.
Mocking Times Now, Mehta said, “Times Now going after Arnab is like ISI going after Al Qaeda.” This was after Times Now, Goswami’s former employer, was seen devoting hours of TV broadcast to slam the Republic TV founder for celebrating the Pulwama terror attack.
Times Now going after Arnab is like ISI going after Al Qaeda.
— Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) January 19, 2021
Goswami’s successor in Times Now, Rahul Shivshankar, said in a TV broadcast, “Forget about Pakistan, sending WhatsApp and boasting, forget about all that. How can we forget that today there’s so much cynicism, that we are going to vulture-like, hyena-like, to cover a terrorist attack because it is going to reflect on some silly score meters. Is a terrorist attack a reality show?” (sic)
The channel also went after Goswami for risking India’s ‘national security by revealing info of abrogation of Article 370, three days prior to the government announcement.’
#ArnabChatGate | Part 14: Alleged WhatsApp chat b/w Arnab Goswami & ex-BARC boss suggests how Goswami risked national security by revealing info of abrogation of Article 370, 3 days prior to Govt announcement. Opposition calls for probe on ‘sensitive’ leak.
Details: Srinjoy. pic.twitter.com/4tMG0XGEHW
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) January 17, 2021
In another broadcast, Navika Kumar of Times Now was seen invoking ‘sanskar‘ and ‘moral values’ prompting many to accuse her of hypocrisy.
Row over ‘chatgate’ escalates: Alleged references to Pulwama in leaked WhatsApp conversations of Arnab Goswami.
Navika Kumar on @thenewshour. | #ChatgateBetraysBraves pic.twitter.com/ewfJ5skaUI
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) January 18, 2021
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi held an extraordinary press conference asking if Prime Minister Narendra Modi had tipped off Arnab Goswami about the Balakot airstrikes three days in advance. Terming the act ‘criminal,’ Gandhi had said, “If Mr. Arnab Goswami knows, if it’s on his WhatsApp, I assume Pakistanis also know it. It’s a very big jump. It’s a criminal action and that investigation should begin. I want to know whether it was the prime minister of India, who told Arnab Goswami or it was the defence minister or the home minister or the NSA. I want to know which one of those people told this man.”
In the alleged leaked WhatsApp chat, Goswami was seen celebrating the Pulwama terror attack that killed more than 40 Indian soldiers. Gandhi said, “Also the distressing thing to me was somebody saying ‘this is going to be very good for us’ when our CRPF boys are killed. That’s the anti-national act and I don’t like that language.”
