Advice to Rahul Shivshankar is to read when his mind is not occupied by hatred for Islam and Muslims

By
Rifat Jawaid
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2

It seems like Arnab Goswami dislodging Times Now from its number 1 position in TRP has left the functionaries of the rival channel incredibly rattled. Goswami has clearly positioned his channel as the propaganda machine for India’s neo-nationalists and right-wing brigade. To beat Goswami, Times Now staff too appear to have embarked on a new frenzy- unleashing anti-Muslim campaign with alarming regularity.

On 23 June, it was business as usual for Rahul Shivshankar, who was recently elevated to the post of editor-in-chief of Times Now. It was time for him to launch another Twitter hashtag demonising Muslims and Islam.

That day his hashtag #CaliphateConvertsHindus made a desperate attempt to provoke India’s Hindus against Muslims even at the risk of causing religious riots.

Shivshankar alleged that the IS had set up a camp in Kerala and how? By naming a village in Kerala, Gaza Street.

Shivshankar, (often dubbed as the poor man’s Arnab Goswami) has already been exposed by many on social media on how he had used a very old WhatsApp forward to build an anti-Islamic narrative and even ridiculously call it Super Exclusive on Times Now.

But his rant on Times Now was problematic for one more reason. This is what he said while opening his ‘super exclusive’ programme.

“Even Hindus are being hunted by their recruiters and turned, ladies and gentlemen, and turned into ISIS terrorists. Times Now has travelled to the IS zone, aptly called Gaza Street.. In Kasargod in Kerala, where we are being told that even police fear to tread. In this area, which is called Gaza, a symbol of Islamic resistance in West Asia, that only underlines just how radicalised the inhabitants have become.”

Let’s look at the second sentence of his rant against Islam and Muslims. Shivshankar thundered, “Times Now has travelled to the IS zone, aptly called Gaza Street..”

His emphasis on aptly suggests he has no doubt in his mind on the direct link of Gaza and the terrorist outfit IS. His conviction here, however, leaves both him and his false claims on being a journalist spectacularly exposed.

Knowledge on foreign affairs doesn’t come easily to people working for TRP-chasing Indian infotainment channels masquerading as news outlets. But, for the sake of his own reputation (if this assumes any significance for Shivshankar and those who watch his Islam-bashing reality channel Times Now), he ought to have studied a bit on Gaza.

Knowing his limitation on grasping meaningful knowledge, I am volunteering here to bail this man out of his misery and educate him on Gaza.

Resistance in Gaza is NOT about Islamic resistance but the constant fight against violent oppressors, who have killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people including women and children in their desperation to usurp the Palestinians’ land.

Between 8 July and 27 August alone, Israeli soldiers killed more than 2,100 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip- home of IS, according to some idiots posing as journalists.

That was just in a month-and-a-half. Israeli torture against people in Gaza has been even more brutal since 2014.

What’s the crime of people in Gaza or Palestinians in general? They have been resisting the Israeli aggression with whatever limited means they had at their disposal. These Israelis have usurped most parts of the land owned by Palestinians and they have no intention to not occupy any more part of land currently under Palestinian control.

Only if this chap from Times Now was a journalist, he would have known that there are as many as 80 United Nations Security Council resolutions that have been directly critical of Israel for violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions, the U.N. Charter, the Geneva Conventions, international terrorism, or other violations of international law for its actions in Palestine including Gaza.

Just imagine a  stranger arrives at someones house and dislodges him out of his rightful occupation of his own house, (God forbid) commit extreme brutalities against him and his family members and then brand him as a terrorist just because he did everything he could to stand up to his rights.

Would it then be right for journalists to portray the victim as the symbol of religious resistance just because he chose to fight the brutal aggressors?

This question is for you Mr Shivshankar. I don’t usually tend to address anyone with demeaning adjectives but your stupidity has crossed all limits.

No Gaza is not a symbol of Islamist resistance because Israeli aggression affects not just Muslims but also the Christian population at large. Hence my advice to you, is to read when your mind is not occupied by your hatred for Islam and Muslims.

I’m wondering what kind of a person one has to be to become a bigot like you. What kind of an environment you have to be living in to have no empathy for millions who’ve been suffering for years? Mind you, their suffering began even before you and I were born.

It’s easier to deal with the thuggery of the right-wing Hindutva forces because they don’t wear any pretence. How do we now deal with the thuggery of people in suits and ties who also appear to speak in foreign accent, albeit fake.

Shivshankar truly represents new India, where everybody is an author and everyone is an acclaimed journalist without necessarily possessing the right talent for either. What’s alarming is that both these breeds have plenty of followers, thereby explaining the direction of India’s travel as a country. It’s a classic case of blind leading the blind.

This Times Now man must be reminded that in Britain we were faced with the allegations of a few Pakistani men allegedly grooming White girls for sex. There was a confirmed racial link here and yet neither media nor the law enforcing agencies made any attempts to stoke communal tension.

In contrast, Shivshankar has been exposed for mischievously broadcasting his programme based on a WhatsApp forward.

We’ve all erred in our journalistic duties at some point or the other. We still do. More recently, we at Janta Ka Reporter fell victim to what turned out to be a fake cover image of Time magazine calling the US president, Donald Trump, ‘Liar in Chief.’

We issued an unqualified apology when suspicions were raised on the authenticity of the photo. We owed it to our sane readers, our own sanity and more crucially our upbringing, which taught us to hold on to the values of integrity and honesty.

I wonder if likes of Shivshankar will care to apologise for any of the above reasons.