Barkha Falls Deeper

For a long time, though NDTV's reporting was dubious no one could say anything as Prannoy, Barkha and Rajdeep had become stars. Arnab then was left to anchor smaller shows by StarNews/NDTV. As it went on I instinctively knew there is something wrong with the channel and its reporters. They weren’t merely critcising the ABV govt, they were running a campaign against it. Even that seemed fine. On a different note to begin with - bear in mind, all the members of the Commie-media mafia routinely get awards of some kind by rotation. Arnab is the only one that doesn't get such awards despite having the highest popular viewership.

It was from Gujarat 2002 that I was convinced these guys were indeed out with sinister motives. I have watched Rajdeep and Barkha reporting from Ahmedabad and other cities of Gujarat and their reporting could be only be described as more incitement. NDTV became a separate, new channel around 2003. It has been downhill ever since then.  Arnab left for Timesnow around 2005 and Rajdeep for CNNIBN around 2007, I think. In 2004 the Congress came to power and Prannoy, Barkha, Rajdeep assumed extraordinary powers. Their BOSSES had come to power and there was no one to stop them. Since then, I have observed all of them and their reporting and their shows. Let’s keep the focus here on Barkha, since she’s the one who’s been ranting lately. Let’s do a roll call:

I have always wondered why the most tainted Congis or Muslims find a platform with her or with NDTV. Think of Suresh Kalmadi of CWG, Shashi Tharoor of IPL scam, Hindu-hater like Zakir Naik. It made me write “Tainted? Have a chat with Barkha”

Then there was this constant hounding of Narendra Modi, with no evidence, by hosting tainted characters like Teesta Setalvad, Shabnam Hashmi, Sanjiv Bhatt. It’s a long list. They failed when the “SC exposed media’s clean shit”.

I could go on and on and on and this post would almost become a book. One of the most foolish moments in Barkha’s career has to be her reporting of the 26/11 attacks. She reached Mumbai on the second day and from the start she was panting breathlessly, dramatic, full of movie-like histrionics. She asked stupid questions to friends and relatives of the hostages and even disclosing their locations. Thus, that was the first incident of “Terror support service” even if unwittingly.

Chaitanya Kunte, a blogger, was so alarmed that he chronicled every act of Barkha with updates and indicated the damage she could have caused and how she and NDTV would have ended up helping the terrorists. Barkha sued him and forced him to remove the blog and even apologise for narrating facts. For all her tall talk of freedoms and FoE. The SC comments on media over 26/11 while sentencing Ajmal Kasab vindicated what Kunte had written. Kunte disappeared but his blog didn’t. You can read it here. This angered many people around the world, including me and more people started realising the dubious nature of NDTV’s reporting, political affiliation and influence. Barkha had instantly become ordinary people’s enemy in media. That was merely the start. Before long NDTV came to be perceived as “Anti-India” and it’s not people’s fault at all:

The Congress returned to power again in 2009. By now Barkha had acquired Queen status in the media and anyone who criticised or questioned her was termed an “abusive troll”. The Congress successfully managed to build a coterie of reporters, activists and assorted Babus and legal guys who worked to keep any other formation from coming to power. Barkha could walk through any corridor of the govt anytime, she could eat Golgappas at the PM’s party and through connections had also become an international personality. No matter what her crime, nothing bothered her. Then Radiagate happened.

In November 2010 her conversations with PR broker Niira Radia were out in the open. She was constantly on phone with Radia on Cabinet formation and ministries to be shared between Congress and DMK. For all the dope she knew, Barkha reported none of it as any journo should have. And all Barkha nonchalantly said was that she was “Stringing along” a source and had done nothing wrong. Brazen! When outrage grew NDTV ran a Kangaroo court with a bunch of other journalists and Barkha merely said it was “an error of judgement”. No regrets, no apologies – Nothing! By now SM started growing and more and more people could see that she was brazen, vicious, had no respect for any ethics and didn’t care two hoots about any ordinary opinion. She had reached the pinnacle of political power. In other words, she was “untouchable” with close relations with politicians on every side. In any other democracy, she would have been sacked and prosecuted for Radiagate. Not under Congress. This cartoon exposed the deadly nexus of journos-brokers-politicians better than anything else:

Throughout her career a common thread was the way she reported events in Kashmir. She constantly portrayed terrorists as victims, security forces as aggressors and frequently featured separatists and Hurriyat guys on her shows. She let them present their views without too many hard questions. And by now she had become a close chummy of Congress guys and later the AAP guys (when Congress started fading):

It is fair for a journalist to keep good relations with all politicians and interact with them as needed. But to become as chummy as Barkha is with many politicians is the typical Lutyens-Power-corridor-crawler. She is not alone, there are many, but she exemplified it the most. No law, No professional code, No editorial norms could touch her. And she continued her merry ways – Reporting from conflict sites, easy and unlimited access to armed forces installations and high officials, biased reporting in favour of Muslims, turning Dadri like incidents into a political campaign, reckless leaking of army movements and locations. She got more and more brazen with each passing day. She was confident even the new ModiSarkar couldn’t do anything.

Come July 2016 another terrorist called Burhan Wani was shot and eliminated by our armed forces. He was supposedly the “Commander” of the Hizbul Mujahideen (God knows how many factions these terrorists have out there). This was Barkha’s response to it in a tweet:

Wani was the son of a headmaster. He was a “Commander” of an army maybe Barkha recognised as official. He was SM-savvy and used it as a weapon of war. Mind you, he didn’t use guns or grenades – he used “SM as weapon of war”. The shit had really hit the fan this time and there was no more any doubt whose side this woman was on. Any lingering doubt was removed. Let me introduce you to this honourable “Commander” Wani:

Those SM bullets of his are from a site called “Satyavijayi” since his account is as dead as he is. Not once did Barkha describe this guy as a terrorist or a militant. She received a sound thrashing from SM over this but when did public opinion ever matter to her. She had her vast coterie of media friends, political friends and connections and public opinions were best suited for the garbage bin unless they were showering accolades on her. So she went on again to Kashmir after Wani’s death to report on the unrest. She even tweeted mobile and phone networks were down but only WIFI was working at her hotel. She leaks such information at a sensitive time. She interviews boys hurt by pellets and creates an emotional story of how educated boys, toppers of their stream had to pick up guns and so on. All typically histrionic, dramatic and laden with melodrama as has been throughout her career.

A few months prior, reporting from the Pathankot site of a terror attack she was still doing the same drama. Reporting on incidents she shouldn’t have and breaking all codes of reporting from a conflict site. The GOI issued a notice to NDTV for this breach. What could GOI do? NDTV and Barkha were powers way beyond anyone and above any law. She even tweeted additional forces were being rushed to Kashmir to quell the unrest and bring back law and order. I am quite certain that all the terrorists, trouble-makers do read tweets on the issue and they rely on the likes of Barkha to educate them on troop movements. It’s a gift.

And then the pin dropped and the grenade exploded

Maybe JuD chief Hafiz Saeed too reads her tweets and articles regularly. NDTV is also the only Indian channel allowed in Pakistan (at least it was). Later in July on a TV show Hafiz showered praise on Barkha for her great work on the struggles Kashmiris face from an aggressive BJP govt which has no respect for human rights. All her awards, her Padma Shri and all paled into insignificance in 20 seconds flat. She had received the highest accolade no journalist has ever received – recognition from a dreaded terrorist. Journalists have interviewed Osama Bin Laden but received no such recognition from him.

Elsewhere Arnab Goswami, who was earlier trolled serverely by the Commie-media mafia because he got an interview with the PM in June was now armed and red-hot. He would let fly his most aggressive tirade against the pro-Pak stooges in Indian media, NGOs and politics. His 4.28 minutes tirade with the tag #ProPakDovesSilent over revelations by Hafiz went viral and found applause from a vast majority of Indians who were tired of the Pak stooges all around Delhi, the media and NGOS everyday trashing our Jawans and sometimes the country itself. This was one serious and deadly blow to the entire filthy lot. And it wasn’t the govt or a court that did it. It was the one the Pak stooges were indirectly feeding and supporting through their statements, articles and tweets – A terrorist chief. In slamming the pro-Pak slaves Arnab did not mention any names.

The only one to take it as a personal attack was Barkha Dutt. Maybe guilt forced her too. She has been perceived as Pro-Pak, Pro-Separatists and Arnab appears to have hit hard at her guilt since she was the only one mentioned by Hafiz. Since that day, she has been ranting on Facebook, on NDTV blog and in over 60 tweets and RTs on SM. This time there is no going back. The damage is beyond repair. She sought the support of all and sundry from her coterie to help her make this a war against Arnab but not many were willing to come forward, not even her old chum Rajdeep Sardesai. 

It is obvious that she wants her stupid war with Arnab (who is not a participant at all) to be the news rather than the admiration of Hafiz for her. She spared no effort to paint Arnab as anti-journalists, anti-media and anti-freedom. Nobody was willing to buy her rubbish except a few of her handful cronies. Worse awaited Barkha. Turns out that the unrest she so passionately covered was orchestrated and paid for by none other than Hafiz Saeed. He revealed this in a speech that was aired on Timesnow. And local Khilafa-aspirant Assiyeh Andrabi coordinated it with Hafiz.

On her Facebook post many slammed her severely and the comments are harsh and too many for me to reproduce. Readers can check those on her FB page. Not many Indians stand with her. The ones most on her side appear to be Pakistanis. That should give her some solace. Perception matters. People called her a Pak stooge for a long time because of the perception she created. She could have altered course. She did not give a damn. But Hafiz confirmed what everyone thought she was doing. Reckless reporting, tweeting of information and whipping up of emotions that can even lead to more unrest. She didn’t care two hoots. Did she have access and contacts with guys like Hafiz? Maybe, maybe not. But a lot of journalists do have contacts with terrorists, militants and state enemies and they are entitled to it and to protect their sources for reporting. Look at this pic again of a moronic Track2 nonsense of which Barkha was a part:

The guy second from right, Ved Pratap, had even met Hafiz Saeed while in Pakistan. Arnab savaged this guy too on his show then.  Are people duffers to imagine others in the group did not know about his visit? If this not-so-known guy can have access to Hafiz why is it wrong to believe folks like Barkha, Padgaonkar or Sudheen Kulkarni too could have contacts or access. It is a reasonably fair assumption to make. She has made quite a few trips to Pakistan. As far as I know most of the visits were not journalistic expeditions. There are no reports from her on her trips or at least I am not aware of those. In a panel discussion on a Pak channel she stated that then PM Yusuf Gilani had told her the agreement on Sir Creek was ready and that he was just waiting for a visit by MMS to sign it. Such is her audacity to comment on disputed issues. 

Silence would have been a smarter move. But Barkha desperately wants to make Arnab the “villain of the whole Commie media mafia”. She even lies repeatedly that Arnab wanted to gag the media. She wants to get rid of the guilt of Hafiz Saeed recognising her as indirectly serving his cause and wants to make Arnab the villain. But Arnab, with his honourable silence over her stupid rants, has now become an even bigger hero for having exposed the slimy Pak stooges in India. The usual suspects to stand by Barkha in her mindless rants are the same who blow trumpets for Pakistan all the time and are featured in this cartoon by Kureel:

Now why does Barkha get appreciated by Pakistanis and even Hafiz Saeed? Pollster Yashwant Deshmukh had the most simple answer that common sense can understand easily:

What no law, no editors guild or govt could do, Hafiz Saeed accomplished in 20 seconds. And in her mindless stupid rants, bordering on vicious abuse of Arnab, Barkha falls deeper and deeper into her self-dug hole. Someone certified by Hafiz Saeed cannot claim to be talking about journalism, ethics, nuances, freedom of speech, freedom of media as a cover-up. Barkha cannot claim to speak for Indian media. It won’t sell. This time, there will no saviour or redemption. And there is nothing to save her from. At least not easily as in the past.

Angel Hafiz

The pattern was always there. It was visible to most people. Only the dumbest refused to see it. The role of some journalists in Kargil was and will remain forever controversial. Then there was Indian Airlines hijacking in December 1999. Folks from NDTV and some other Commie journalists provoked the families of hostages into extreme protests and breast-beating to lampoon the ABV govt then. And we tend to forget the greater gory crime of NDTV (Then Star News) during the Vajpayee-Musharraf summit at Agra in July 2001. Even as the talks were on, Prannoy Roy organised an unscheduled Press-meet for Musharraf with many journalists at the meet. He gave Musharraf the chance to lambast India, stoke the Kashmir fire and even dismiss Kargil as not being a misadventure by Pakistan. After he quit office this “War Criminal” Musharraf has been a darling of Hindustan Times, India Today, CNN18 and NDTV on their mindless conclaves and lecture parties. Did we not know? So much, that when Barkha Dutt had nothing else to do she would interview Musharraf.

LeT and JuD chief Hafiz Saeed did the whole of India a 

big favour and we should be grateful to him.

In an interview to a Pak channel Saeed pointed out his friends in India who further his agenda and said “Not everyone in Bharat is like this – there are good people there too in media and politics. But one segment is against me, my organisation (JuD) and Pakistan. They blame Pakistan for everything; to hide their mistakes, to hide their terrorist faces…they use my name. I talk of Kashmir, but they change the subject and to fool the world they blame me for terror activities. But there are people like Barkha Dutt too in Bharat, who talk well and make sense. Even Congress has recently made a statement asking BJP not to blame Pakistan but to look at how they (BJP) have oppressed the people of Kashmir and committed atrocities. Congress has said that by blaming Pakistan, you cannot solve the Kashmir issue”.

All hell broke loose on SM and Twitter with thousands slamming Barkha for being exposed by implication of feeding Saeed’s agenda. The usual Lutyens crawlers like Shekhar Gupta, Ashok Malik or the US-based Sadanand Dhume batted for Barkha like their lives depended on it. They were issuing certificates of integrity over her bogus journalism and reporting. All her stupid visits to Kashmir and extra-ordinary tears for terrorists and stone-pelters stood exposed with one statement from Saeed. Tufail Ahmed explained it in a simple tweet to the mindless crap of Dhume and others:

I am not sure many of the journos providing “Terror support services” are doing what they do unwittingly. For many years their agenda has followed a pattern. So let’s take Barkha Dutt. How did she get into eye of the storm? You see, she does things on NDTV, then she goes to fashion shows and shoots for covers. She goes to moderate panel discussions in New York over Islam but trashes Hinduism. Did you ever wonder how when foreign diplomats, PMs or ex Presidents come to India they are always on NDTV? That on a channel with hardly any viewership? Be it Hillary or Bill Clinton, be it David Cameron, be it Ann Sang Suu Kyi, Condolezza Rice, or many others? Nobody ever asks this question. Make no mistake – A vast international group of organisations which has political and Chrislamist designs on India have made NDTV their preferred destination for chats because their agenda probably matches. Does our Ministry of I&B (MIB) ever note this? A glimpse into the Chrislamist funding of many NGOs and TV channels will reveal a lot. Because that’s what keeps an eternal loss-making NDTV alive. No business has got so much free funds without accountability.

And Barkha’s Kashmir reporting is not the only issue that should bother India about NDTV’s agenda. None less than the SC has slammed the reporting of 26/11 by media as reckless and helping the terrorists which may have cost more lives. Her histrionics and drama at such a time of crisis has not gone unnoticed. A blogger Chaitanya Kunte who slammed her stupid reporting was sued by her but he was not wrong on the facts he quoted in his post “Shoddy Journalism” . And Barkha’s reporting has mostly bordered on shoddy journalism. Almost the entire media, the Congress govt and even the new BJP govt have turned a blind-eye to Radiagate and her role in it. Tinkering with Cabinet appointments with a PR broker (Niira Radia) is a serious offence in India. Arun Jaitely saved her on that too. And Barkha’s penchant for promoting and hosting anti-nationals like Kanhaiya or fake MannKiBaat of Kejriwal all show what her real agenda is.

Not a single person involved in Radiagate was even investigated, let alone punished. This is the total failure of none other than the MIB. People writing about all this have seriously dented the credibility of MSM and many agenda-driven journos. But there needs a cleansing of the media and Pak stooges as much as corruption in govt offices does.

And who did we have as I&B minister just some time ago? Arun Jaitley! He’s the darling of all media houses and therefore we cannot expect he would have acted on their mountain of crimes. He holds Durbars for his favourite PR workers in media. Imagine bogus campaigns of Christians under attack, Dadri and intolerance, Nuns raped by Hindus in Bengal, bogus reporting on the Pathankot terrorist attack. All passed with not a finger raised from the MIB. And who were the ones leading a stupid Track-2 agenda to Pak? Here are some of them:

What do these people go to Pak and do? What is the need for Barkha to hobnob with Pak politicians on such missions? Is that her job? Who do they meet? I doubt there is one forum in Pakistan that does not have current or former ISI officers as participants. There are somethings that should concern us even more now. That a notified terrorist like Saeed, with a bounty on his head, recognises Barkha’s work should force us to ask this question:

Barkha gets to walk into Army camps or installations, hold durbar with the Navy chief despite knowing that in these times of terrorism sensitive information about our armed forces can be a serious threat even if traded in whispers. And many such journos are regular guests of Pakistan. A gossip column wrote the IB was keeping them on a watch. I believe this gossip because there seems to be even a letter from NSA Ajit Doval warning of official secrets being traded or reported by NDTV (see this post):

I have no doubts that these 8-10 journalists (or activists) feed from the palms of Pakistanis. Some of these pigs stayed back and feasted even on hearing the Pampore terror attack. Many have enriched themselves substantially. Some have even enriched themselves playing the Pak agenda over the 2002 riots. Congress has manipulated and used LeT operative Ishrat Jahan in an attempt to destroy Narendra Modi. No wonder Hafiz Saeed has appreciation for Congress too. And a vast majority of our journos, including Barkha, are poodles of Congress and strongly anti-Modi, anti-BJP. That is not an official secret at all. And what’s it about Kashmir that bothers them? That we should tolerate terrorists and stupid stone-pelters forever? Look at this one whining and weeping over third rate kids:

Turns you off? Every single day bogus, hate-filled articles in the Commie Filth called “The Hindu” turns off thousands. Do you care? Half the articles are fradulent propaganda. Now what is that makes stupid parents in Kashmir force their little kids to stone security forces? These kids should be dressed up, be in school and studying stuff. But this is the lesson that their parents and other organisations are teaching them? To pelt stones and to thrash even burning vehicles. What kind of kids are these? And what will they turn out to be by the time they are 18-20? This is nothing but creating more Burhan Wanis from the factory of terrorism and stones. Not one shameless journo answers the question of why kids and women are used as shields by the “Paid Pelters” but keep whining about Pellet Guns. Anyone who pelts stones or grenades at our forces deserves to die.

Our security forces cannot tolerate this nonsense eternally. Cowards at India Today (DailyO) even deleted an article titled “India must grant Kashmir Azadi from Army”. For what you morons? So that there can be a bloodbath and Pak and local terrorists can rule the roost? But you can read the filthy article here. These are nothing but anti-India, anti-Army traitors and there is no other way to describe such media houses and such writers. They play right into the hands of Pak. Exactly what Hafiz Saeed likes and appreciates. And there are others like the petition signed by the same bogus, anti-India activists claiming “Civil society stands by Kashmir” as if the rest of India stands with Guatemala. All Indians stand by Kashmiris but a majority have decided not to stand with terrorists and stone-pelters. We don’t need a bunch of motivated, paid poodles to tell us where they stand on Kashmir.

All media houses must stop giving voices to Kashmiri Separatists or the Hurriyat if they have anti-India or secession as their agenda. Featuring people like Assiyeh Andrabi, who wants an Islamic Khilafa in India, is as treacherous as the lady who wants to break India. Such people should not have any voice on any forum. These paid activists who whine for every terrorist don’t shed a single tear for any of our jawans killed in Kashmir or anywhere else. It’s the job of the MIB to ensure India or her Army is not slandered anymore so brazenly to strengthen the hands of terrorists and our enemies. Any reasonable criticism must only be based on facts. Factless articles and shows must be severely punished. For instance, Cobrapost (I call it Gobarpost) passed a 5-year old video from Kashmir as being from current strife. These criminals incite more violence against our forces and must be punished severely.

And for those whining about Burhan Wani or any of his associates – Maj. Gaurav Arya had a clear message for them on TimesNow last night – “He was killed and his successor will also be killed”. The moment these people pick up guns or stones a bullet awaits them eventually. And all the treacherous, pro-Pak journos and activists number not more than 100 or 200 at the most who make the loudest noises. The GOI and MIB must respond strongly for any factless statements they make in any form. India cannot tolerate these traitors any longer. Arnab on his show severely trashed the Pak stooges with the hashtag #PakDovesSilent over Saeed’s comments. He did not name anyone but the guilt of Barkha surfaced with a badly written FB post which again got trashed on Twiter:

Note carefully the last line in her post. She grandly says she would never be on the same side as Arnab on any issue. For whatever the debates by Arnab worth he has always been on the side of India. That looks a gaffe and self-confession by Barkha on who side she will be. Saeed had another message that was reported some days back:

Saeed terms Modi as dangerous for Pakistan and therefore Pak must help all anti-Modi forces in India. I have no doubts Pak and ISI are already doing it and that’s why you have so many Pak stooges in the media, politics and rag-tag NGOs. And there cannot be any doubts they are being enriched for their pro-Pak activities.

He may be a terrorist and a wanted man. But I am, for one, quite happy he said what he did and exposed the traitors in India. He may meet his fate someday but I will have to say that for the pro-Pak “Terror support services” providers in media and elsewhere he is truly Angel Hafiz. And he has done India a great favour by exposing them. It is now up to the MIB to cleanse these filthy Pak stooges from media and elsewhere.