Aazeen Kirmani
Senior investigative journalist Pushp Sharma was arrested on 14th May after an FIR was lodged against him by Ministry of AYUSH. In March 2016 Mr. Sharma had reported an RTI query reply stating that Ministry of AYUSH does not recruit Yoga teachers as a matter of policy. The report published in English fortnightly The Milli Gazette had caused global sensation.
Following it the AYUSH ministry had claimed that the RTI reply was fake and fabricated by Pushp Sharma. The Ministry had condemned the report claiming that its purpose was to create a “chasm” between different sections of society and “promoting disharmony and mistrust with ulterior motives”.
“Sharma has been arrested under charges of cheating, forgery and promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, etc” Additional DCP (South) Nupur Prasad said today.
At the same time The Press Council of India (PCI) has taken suo moto notice of the reports published in the Milli Gazette and has initiated a case against the news magazine for publishing a “fabricated” news item.
It would be best to leave the verdict on Mr. Pushp Sharma to the courts but not without mentioning the Ministry of AYUSH for all its enthusiasm in maintaining harmony between different sections of the society and ensuring arrest of the person who tried to create disharmony itself failed to do what would have been the most efficient and simple way of discrediting Mr. Sharma’s claims. Far easier than lodging an FIR would have been issuing AYUSH’s version of the RTI query and coming clean with a list of Muslims recruited in previous years. It didn’t.
According to Milli Gazette: The Ayush Ministry has failed to send any rebuttal to the news magazine which asserted in its next issue that it is ready to publish the Ministry’s version when and if received.
“While the AYUSH Ministry was quick to file a complaint with the police, it failed to make any contact in any manner with the news magazine” said Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan Chief Editor of the Milli Gazette.
One of the charges on Mr. Pushp Sharma is of “promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race”. It brings forth the very recent memory of the aftermath of dentist Dr. Pankaj Narang’s murder which had taken place in the same Delhi in same month that Mr. Sharma’s RTI report was published. A right-winged website by the name of The Frustrated Indian had published an article equating Dr. Narang’s death with the communal lynching of Akhlaq in Dadri. The Frustrated Indian which claimed that its article was based on a Zee news report was wrong on facts and had the potential to start a communal fire.It was prompt action by IPS officer Monika Bhardwaj which prevented a potential communal riot in Delhi. Dr. Narang’s nephew too went on to slam the Frustrated Indian article on Facebook.
However neither Zee news, nor The Frustrated Indian nor any of the other media who through fake reporting tried to create a ‘chasm’ and promote ‘enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race’ ever faced any legal action. In fact the article which was temporarily taken down from The Frustrated India website after public backlash is back on it again serving it ill conceived purpose of creating chasm and disharmony by poisoning gullible minds.
In February 2016 the events at JNU were misrepresented through a doctored video. This was in addition to fabricated reporting that linked JNU student Umar Khalid to a terrorist organization. As a consequence of it Khalid had to go underground to save his life.
A key victim of the aforesaid fabricated information Kanhaiya Kumar was attacked in court premises while journalists, JNU teachers and students too were threatened and attacked by hyper- nationalists . Surprisingly it did not occur to any government agency at that time that these fabricated videos were “promoting disharmony and mistrust with ulterior motives”
Following these events a Zee news producer had resigned saying that “his conscience had started to revolt” since the channel’s alleged misrepresentation of the JNU video had “brought their [accused students] careers, their hopes and aspirations and families of some people to the brink of destruction.
Any damage as consequence of Mr. Sharma’s allegedly fake reporting fades in comparison to the damages already done and continue to be done due to the JNU fabricated videos .
Just as Mr. Sharma was arrested for allegedly committing a crime which many have not been touched for committing, two journalists were shot dead in Bihar. They are two of a fast increasing tribe of men voices have been stifled through sheer force in India under neo-nationalists.
“The PCI, instead of protecting journalists and media publications, seems to be taking the side of the government. The AYUSH Ministry FIR against the journalist and the Press Council of India’s suo moto action are clear attempts to stifle the freedom of the press” alleged Dr. Zafrul-Islam Khan and no one has sufficient argument to refute him
Is arresting for forgery of a Govt. reply an attempt to stifle the freedom of the press……???
on what planet u guys sitting in….!!