NEW DELHI: Referring to a report published in The New York Times (NYT), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday launched a scathing attack on the Congress and its MP Rahul Gandhi in particular for siding with forces running an anti-India agenda. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur alleged that the Congress, China and NewsClick are attached to an ‘anti-India umbilical cord’ and the agenda of the Communist Party of China is being pushed through the website.
“Chinese products in Rahul Gandhi’s fake Mohabbat Ki Dukaan (Shop of Love) are clearly visible. His affection for China was apparent already. These people would run a ‘break India’ campaign. The entire stock with them is Chinese and they respect China,” said Thakur at a press conference jointly held with minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar at the BJP headquarters in the national capital.
Responding to the development, Prabir Purkayastha, Editor-in-Chief of the portal, said in a statement that the allegations are ‘unfounded and without basis in fact or law.’
The NYT report titled “A Global Web of Chinese Propaganda Leads to a US Tech Mogul” claimed that the news portal was part of a global network that received funding from American millionaire Neville Roy Singham, who allegedly works closely with the Chinese government media.
Thakur further stated that much before the NYT, India had been telling the world that NewsClick was a dangerous global network of Chinese propaganda and its funding came from a Chinese global media institution.
When Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids, based on strong evidence, were conducted against NewsClick two years ago, he said that the Congress and other opposition parties jumped to its rescue.
“Congress, China and NewsClick are part of one anti-India umbilical cord. Chinese companies were funding Newsclick through Singham. To set Chinese narratives, fake news was being peddled in the name of free news. Congress and other parties stood by them. They even questioned the government’s action, raising the issue of press freedom. Singham has direct contact with the propaganda arm of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese media company Maku Group,” said Thakur.
However, the statement issued by Purkayastha stated that Newsclick is an independent news organisation and 'any insinuation that we function as a mouth-piece of the Communist Party of China or other interests is false'.
“Over the past 12 hours, various false and misleading allegations have been levelled against Newsclick which pertain to matters that are currently sub judice before courts in India. We respect the sanctity of the legal process and do not intend to indulge in a media trial. The allegations being made against us by certain political actors and sections of the media are unfounded and without basis in fact or law… We reiterate our faith in the Indian courts, and are confident that Newsclick has and continues to function in accordance with Indian law,” the statement read.
On the other hand, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor termed BJP’s allegation absurd. “I think this kind of politics is absurd, no one in any political party can be considered to be Anti-Indian. We have a different view of how India should progress and what India needs in terms of its future as a democracy...We have been critical of the government for not being tough enough on China after they killed 20 of our soldiers in Galwan, so it makes no sense.”