‘Media houses willing to polarise voters for money’

An Indian news website yesterday alleged that a sting operation on some media houses revealed that they were ready to peddle a hardline Hindu agenda to polarise voters on communal lines for money.

Cobrapost, the website that is known for journalistic sting operations, said one of its scribes carrying spy cams interviewed many media executives, who expressed their willingness to polarise the voters for money.

They also expressed their readiness to malign the images of some political leaders, as well as cast aspersions on celebrities and members of the legal fraternity and civil society.

Others agreed to show the judiciary in a poor light and brand agitating farmers as Maoists, according to Cobrapost editor Aniruddha Bahal.

Sting operation

“Through our sting operation named Operation 136 several Indian media houses agreed to carry contents promoting Hindutva and to polarise elections on communal lines for money,” Bahal told reporters here.

He said the media houses also agreed to malign the images of opposition leaders like Congress President Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and leaders from the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

Bahal said they were even ready to target Union Ministers like Arun Jaitley, Maneka Gandhi, Jayant Sinha and other BJP allies like Upendra Khuswaha, Om Prakash Rajbhar and Anupriya Patel.

He said the sting was named Operation 136 because India is placed at 136th position in 2017 World Press Freedom Index.

He said the contents of the campaign were violative of various sections of the Indian Penal Code, which hold publication of content communal and defamatory nature a criminal act punishable by imprisonment.

He also said it was only the first part of the Operation 136 and the second part of the expose would be released in April.