When Ravish Kumar pushed Godi Media's narrative.

Ravish Kumar is perhaps the best thing that has happened to Indian journalism. Still, even seasoned journalists like him, well-respected for their credibility and standing up for journalistic ethics, can get misled or fall prey to propaganda and half-truths spread by Godi Media. This was evident during Ravish’s Prime Time aired on NDTV on December 10. Ravish Kumar ended up presenting a distorted reality created by Godi media that existed before Ravish Kumar coined this term in 2014. 

The purpose of his show was to claim that no Khalistanis were involved during the farmers' rally so that Modi government, Godi media and right-wing trolls shouldn't take advantage of any such narrative around Khalistan to attack the farmers' agitation. 

But in a bid to prove so, Ravish’s claims sunk, albeit inadvertently, into a labyrinth of falsehood, constructed over the years in collusion of the state and the media that communists in Punjab practised to fought against state terror and were “killed by Khalistanis”. Quite unlike Ravish’s style of journalism, this time, he glossed over the other side of the “reality” only to contradict himself.

Though Ravish was concerned about how 'Khalistani' narrative can be misused by Godi media and government, yet he went onto to report about the function that was organised on the occasion of Human Rights Day at Kundali border by the ultra-left body to seek the release of the some UAPA accused alleged for Naxal links. Here, Ravish didn't make an attempt to prove that those who were organising this function were not Naxalites.

First, check this clip.

Nobody should have any objection to this function. But the biggest question is why Ravish Kumar didn't feel threatened from the possibility of use of this function to link farm agitation with Naxals or Shaheen Bagh? This actually happened.

Why did Ravish Kumar only felt threatened from narrative around Khalistan and farmer agitation? Why didn’t he run to prove that this function (see above clip) had nothing to link with Naxalites? And how these intellectuals, booked under UAPA, and the farmers, who raised voice for UAPA accused, do not endorse the Naxalite violence in any way as may be presumed after this function. Shouldn’t Ravish Kumar had proved it in the same way he attempted to disassociate farmer agitation from Khalistanis? 

< concerns of other farmers 
unions

Ravish didn't mention that this Human Rights day function was not held at the main common stage of farmer unions at Singhu border but on the personal stage of Ultra Left body BKU Ughrahan at Tikri border.

Also, he couldn’t present the concerns of other farmer unions regarding this function.

If Indian constitution allows the peaceful demand of both Khalistan and Naxalite state then what is the reason that Ravish Kumar only felt threatened from one political ideology and preferred to ignore the activities of alleged sympathisers of other.




Whose point of view?

In the above clip what Ravish Kumar is presenting as facts are actually a version of Kirti Kisan Union, which is a wing of CPI(ML) New Democracy, a Punjabi Salwa Judum outfit.



It was surprising that Ravish made a hero out of a farmer union without mentioning its political ideology. This is what The Indian Express published about Kirti Kisan Union and its head.


Nirbhay Singh Dudhike (70)

Kirti Kisan Union

Political link: CPI(ML) New Democracy

Dudhike came to the political forefront during an agitation against the killing of two students in police firing in Moga in 1972. He was associated with Tarimala Nagi Reddy’s Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India-Marxist Leninist (UCCRI-ML) and founded the Tillers Union. (As published in The Indian Express)


Beyond the visible

पत्रकार क्या करें । राष्ट्रवाद की जो आपकी समझ है उसके हिसाब से रिपोर्टिंग करें या घटना के हर पक्ष की बात रखे ।इस क्रम में वो ज्यादतियां भी करता है, बदमाशियां भी करता है, यह बात ध्यान में है, लेकिन राष्ट्रवाद की कौन सी बंदिश उस पर लागू हो… क्या हम और आप स्पष्ट हैं। सेना और सरकार का पक्ष अंतिम है, इसकी छूट मीडिया हर मामले में लेने लगे तो आप दर्शकों का क्या होगा… सोचा है कभी।

(क्या मीडिया में ऐसा राष्ट्रवाद दिखना चाहिए?, Kasaba, Ravish Kumar, July 20, 2016)

As Ravish Kumar rightly said that Army and government version cannot be taken for granted as far as Journalism is concerned. But can we make a version of 'communist body' for granted which is alleged for playing 'Salwa Judum' in Punjab?

His Prime Time was only based on the one-sided version of CPI(ML)'s current leadership. But it didn’t behove Ravish and his journalistic approach, not take a version of the side against whom he was alleging something.

According to his standards of journalism, Ravish would find it difficult to prove the charges he made against Khalistanis about killing of CPI(ML) leaders, whose pictures he telecasted in his prime time.

Have we seen Ravish Kumar raising his voice, scolding Naxalites for the killing of 'Salwa Jundam' activists on his Prime Time ever? Ravish's anger on alleged killings of CPI(ML) by Khalistanis was also discernible on his face.

During the era of armed Khalistan movement, CPI(ML) new democracy, then known as Naga Raddy group, was one of many communist groups in Punjab, which were provided arms by the Punjab police to fight Khalistanis. Punjabi poet Avtar Singh Pash was close to this group and wanted to take on Khalistanis directly with weapons provided by the government. It was nothing more than Punjabi Salwa Judum.

Leaders of CPI(ML) New Democracy, whose pictures were flashed by Ravish Kumar to invoke the emotions against Khalistanis, those were killed due to political struggle with Khalistanis. Ravish Kumar didn't show the pictures of Khalistanis killed due to alliance between CPI(ML) New Democracy and Punjab Police. Casualties were much higher on Khalistani side. Punjabi Salwa Judum used to celebrate killing of every Khalistani. It was political violence as we saw every day in West Bengal and Kerala. 

(To read More about Punjabi Salwa Judum click here.)

It is a myth that communists in Punjab were in confrontation with Khalistanis for the sake of human rights. Human Rights have never been centric to left’s politics all over the world, and Punjab was no exception.

Government not only gave them weapons but also made documentaries on such communist 'human rights' activists.

Communists were in a political struggle with Khalistanis in Punjab. There was a rise of Naxalites movement in Punjab in the 60s. This movement was crushed by the state with an iron hand in the 70s. Before Khalistanis, fake encounters were used to kill Naxalite movement in Punjab. Communists were in shock with the disturbing transformation of the Naxalite movement into armed Sikh movement. Hence, they decided to take on armed Sikhs.

(Read More about this transformation here. How a Naxalite, who killed a witness against Bhagat Singh later killed the founder of Punjab Kesri group)

Another major reason was, of course, political ideology as Khalistanis and communists were on opposite ends about the idea of how the state should run.

Hence many communist factions agreed to took arms from the same state, which had killed Naxalite cadre in fake encounters just a few years back, to run propaganda against Khalistanis.

Congress and Liberal Godi Media

Politics of Congress in Punjab was nothing but an earlier version of Hindutva politics when a small minority Sikh community was vilified and subjected to genocide. There is enough documentation available on it only if one bothers to go through it.

The biggest problem is that major section of “liberal-secular” media at that time collaborated with “Secular” Congress government at that time ‘to show a small minority its place’. The idea of Khalistan actually picked up after 1984 army assault on Darbar Sahib and then genocide of Sikhs in November 1984. Sikh militancy post-1984 was a reaction to this genocide. However, with Congress’ narrative around nationalism, enabled by Left intellectuals, academics and journalists, worked more to hide the Communal agenda of Delhi.

Also, factually it is not true that no Khalistani is present at farm agitation. Even going by Election Commission of India, 49,000 people voted for the party that demanded votes on the name of Khalistan during 2017 assembly elections in Punjab. So it would be unrealistic to assume that none of these 49,000 voters came to attend farmer agitation.

So there are, in fact, some Khalistanis in this agitation but for sure they are not here to demand Khalistan. Not only Khalistanis but there are also Naxalites in this crowd who are again here to not create a naxal state.

Man, who is presented as a hero in Ravish Kumar show, is facing allegations of corruption and using police to implicate poor man in a false case. Ravish Kumar has a love for Punjabi language and Punjabi songs. We hope that he will be able to understand the story of this poor man who is levelling serious allegations on the Rajinder Singh of Kirti Kisan Union. Follow the Facebook link to see what is behind Rajinder Singh

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3269250649860901&id=100003279931532

We hope Ravish Kumar would correct himself.

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Punjabi Salwa Judum and Godi Media

Prem Mahadevan writes in his book 'The Politics of Counterterrorism in India: Strategic Intelligence and National Security in South Asia', "K.P.S. Gill told the author that whenever the Punjab police sought to set up village defence militias, they gave priority to those villages which sympathised with leftist politics." This exposing statement was in relation to the Khalistan movement.

The practice of 'Salwa Judum' adopted by the state in Naxalites affected areas of Chhattisgarh in the first decade of the 21st century was ironically inspired from the alliance between Punjabi Naxalites/communists and Punjab police in the 80s. 

These comparisons were never drawn in the mainstream media or Godi Media as Punjabi Salwa Judum, remained active in Punjab in the 80s, was more a hidden network as Punjabi Naxalites/communists and Punjab police had no moral justification for this unnatural alliance unlike articulated in the case of Salwa Judum in Chattisgarh. Punjabi Salwa Judum was an extended arm of Punjab police in the fight against Khalistani fighters. 

(This article is in the context of Godi Media narrative pushed by Ravish Kumar in his December 10, 2020)

Famous poet Avtar Singh Pash was also party to this alliance. Neither the state nor the Punjabi communists had any reason to make this alliance public. Still, Godi media of the 80s would often remove the curtain just out of excitement. Godi Media’s attempts to make heroes out of Punjabi Salwa Judam activists are the reason that we have few references about this alliance.

India Today

Book ‘State and the counter Terrorism’ by Harish K Puri, Paramjit Singh Judge and Jagrup Singh Sekhon, which by and large carry forward state narrative around Punjab trouble in the 80s also make some admissions about such alliance between Punjabi Naxalites/communists and Punjab police.

Why this unnatural alliance was formed 

Much before communists came in a political struggle with Khalistanis in Punjab, there was the rise of Naxalites movement in the state in the 1960s. This extreme-left movement was crushed by the state with an iron hand in the 70s. Before Khalistanis, fake encounters were used to kill Naxalite movement in Punjab. 

Naxalites & Khalistanis were tortured using the same methods.
Book ‘State and the Counter Terrorism.’

As soon as Naxalite movement died in the state, Punjab saw the rise of the Sikh armed movement, which was later called the Khalistani movement after 1984. Many former Naxalites joined the Sikh armed movement. One of the many examples is Nachatar Singh Brar from village Rode, district Moga. Born on 1953, Nachatar Singh was communist in his initial days.

He allegedly killed Ajaib Singh of Kokari Kalan in Moga, who according to Naxalites was a prime witness against Bhagat Singh and was allotted 200 acres of land by British for appearing in witness box against Bhagat Singh in ‘Saunders murder case.’ Nachatar Singh allegedly killed Ajaib Singh to follow the order of his party.

Nachatar Singh 

The same Nachatar Singh was later arrested for killing Punjab Kesri chief Lala Jagat Narain as part of Sikh arms movement. Nachatar Singh was not alone. Many former Naxalites were attracted towards the Sikh armed movement. It was the biggest reason behind Punjabi communists turning against Khalistanis and formed an alliance with Punjab police.

While some among the Punjabi Naxalites could clearly see the communal politics of Congress in Punjab of the 80s but others sided with the State and instead went beyond it and collaborated with the government and police. They never opposed State terrorism. Some even turned touts of Police. While the problem of Punjab including of militancy was political, but they termed it communal. They became apologists of fake encounters in Punjab and other police excesses. They would never open their mouth on misuse of UAPA in Punjab or other serious human rights violations. That tendency continues even till today.

 

Godi Media established Human Rights narrative around Punjabi Salwa Judum

How left join hands with police
from Book ‘State and the counter Terrorism.’

Capitalistic Godi media, however, was quick to publish self-glorifying accounts of state-sponsored groups like CPML New democracy. Here is an example of a claim of such a communist armed fighter claiming that his house was attacked by 200 Khalistani fighters. 

Can you believe that any armed movement into Guerilla warfare with limited cadre would risk stoking all its strength of 200 even for those on top of its hit list? You would publish such lies only if you work with Godi media and Ravish Kumar was also taken in by such lies of Godi media. The direct political fight between Khalistanis and Punjabi communists was presented as a fight for human rights.

Source Times of India

In his Prime Time Show on December 10, 2020, Ravish Kumar seemed too emotional about Avtar Singh Pash. He quoted 'Supneyan Da Mar Jana', most famous poem written by Pash, for which poet faced allegations of plagiarism like a couple of others published on his name. Ravish Kumar should also read kind of propaganda Pash was into against Khalistanis by not only justifying Army attack on Akal Takht but also using adjectives like dogs for his political opponents in the literature that was being published with the support of right-wing groups. Pash never wrote for human rights. His writings were only political. 

 

Police provide weapons to communists
Book: ‘State and the counter Terrorism’

Ravish can prove it wrong if he wants to believe that these are not fact and just propaganda. Last but not the least, Haryana police was so much in love with Pash that and even constructed a library on his name in Karnal police line. Pash claimed to be a former Naxalite sympathiser. 

Book: ‘State and the counter Terrorism.’

This is how some Left groups are biased against Sikhs can be understood from the fact that when Ravish showed a report that how in farmers protest pictures of so-called urban Naxals were displayed, there was not even a single picture from Punjab of any Sikh activists even as there have been several cases of UAPA.

So these Left and Ultra Left groups agree with the State the narrative against Sikhs that when anybody is branded Khalistani by State and booked under UAPA, then State has to be believed. Still, when it terms somebody a Naxalite, that is usually a lie for them.

Such cases in Punjab are ignored by left
in Punjab

These Left groups could have shown pictures of Jaswant Singh Khalra, the most prominent martyr of Human Rights in Punjab, who was eliminated by Punjab Police only for exposing human rights excesses. They should have shown pictures of those three Sikh youths who were booked under UAPA for having literature only, and even police eventually had to admit that they were involved in any violent activity. This brings out that these Left and Ultra Left groups have the same Hate for Sikhs which sections of RW nurse.

 There are serious violations of human rights in Punjab, on which Ughrahan is accused of adopting selective silencer because of their alleged connections with Punjabi Salwa Judum.