NDTV was never apolitical. During its heyday it leaned toward Congress and against the BJP. But, like many other liberal institutions in India, it was staffed by people who were aware of democratic norms and attempted, in their way, to adhere to them within the constraints of the system.
For instance, though I was deeply critical of UPA in 2011-14 NDTV reporters would interview me and anchors (including Prannoy Roy) would invite me to their shows. This came from a baseline professionalism.
I wouldn’t say this has disappeared entirely in mainstream Indian media, but it is greatly diminished. The folks in charge of the country now are either unaware of, or contemptuous of, older norms. And their supporters, instead of aspiring to higher standards, are content to point fingers at the (very real) flaws of the past.
So we’ve gone from less than perfectly achieved standards to hardly any standards. C’est la vie.
If Congress comes back to power,
They'll make sure all Nagpur oranges sit in jail for rest of their life.
Hope they realize this before settling personal scores with Modi
@4point2KILOyear I have already accepted our irrelevancy as civilization, still just don't want this land to get completely overran by k2ua hordes and dhimmis.
Yes, they got onto the streets in 2021, Farm Laws stayed, and our GDP has crossed $5 trillion.
It's called silent majority for a reason. Most people want to stay out of trouble. This is why it's up to Govt to stay firm and count on silent majority to continue voting for it.
Kumar Vishwas on Dhurandhar 2: hits the nail on the head... fantastic reply.
Wow! Perhaps one of the best tributes to Aditya Dhar for making Dhurandhar. In just a few words, Kumar Vishwas hits the bullseye
The interviewer looks visibly uncomfortable and must be cursing his luck for asking the right question to the wrong person. Enjoyed this conversation 😘😍👊🏼
You make valid points. I agree with you politics can’t be agnostic to religion. But it can be fair to followers of all religions, and build competitive politics around that principle. Secularism isn’t atheism. I wouldn’t use the expression ‘enlightened.’ That’s loaded. Thanks for reading. Debate & disagreement are good.
I've been obsessively watching reels, victory videos, & Bengal tweets since yesterday. Some kind of addiction setting in. Really need to get back to normal life!
Raise your hands if you're in the same boat
Zakir Naik and pre-2014 Hindutva. You must read if you do not know this.
1. Zakir Naik was a fixed match. He was face of a sinister mafia that had Bollywood and Politics under its control.
2. Digvijay Singh and Mahesh Bhatt actively promoted him. Father of Alia Bhatt and Sasur of Ranbeef Kapoor. Sadlly, now BJP, RSS allies!
(I feel RSS and BJP should admit their Urduwood obsession as a blunder, apologize for shortsightedness, and distance from them. Mistakes can happen. But they can also be rectified.)
3. He would be able to hold mega events for blatant conversions, and leaders would attend them. Planted people in such events would say they have converted. And this way deception would be spread.
On contrary, getting even a small park for Shuddhi would be impossible.
4. I started going after him from 2006 or 2007. Wrote rejoinders to all his conversion articles that went super-viral.
He had a team in Mumbai whose only job was to share Zakir Naik's articles (written specifically to convert confused Hindus) with those Hindus who were having any questions regarding religion.
Orkut was the biggest platform then for such conversions.
Soon, whenever his stooges will publish his articles, someone would post one of my articles as reply.
His entire conversion game literally got punctured after that.
5. I distilled all his verbosity into core equations. Then he became a butt of jokes.
For example, he argued to prove Islam in Vedas:
Naabhi (mentioned in Veda Mantra) = Center = Mecca = Islam is central faith of humanity.
I wrote, as per this logic.
Peace = Sleep = Death = Poison
Then, what does Islam = Peace mean?
After that, words like Peaceful and Shantidoot became super-viral. They are popular even today.
6. Then he started allying with radicals and potential terrorists. This is where the game got dangerous. Really dangerous.
A few articles by me on Terror Links of Zakir Naik helped getting a few of his programs abroad and in Kerala cancelled, by bringing out evidences.
7. In reply, my site was banned in Middle East and another had to be taken down due to a massive DDOS attack.
My home address was leaked and there were fatwa calls against me.
Earlier I used to write with Agniveer pseudonym. Never hid my identity but was also not particularly focused on promoting myself.
It was then that I decided to start using my real name more openly.
And give counter warnings - that if someone comes to target me or those who live around me, they will face consequences unimagined.
Yes, I really mean it. I am prepared for it.
I still follow Purush Sukta and keep 75% of my work private and confidential.
But rest of 25% work, I do openly, with name and face.
Further, I never work under any anonymous handles, profiles etc.
8. By 2012, we got his Peace TV banned in India due to terror and anti-India links. But it was still streamed illegally and governments refused to act, despite complaints.
9. In 2016, I started a campaign to probe Zakir Naik as we got information of some nefarious activity about to happen. Even started a signature campaign.
10. Soon Dhaka Attacks happened and terrorists admitted being Zakir Naik proteges.
11. Then NSA, ATS met us. We worked together in assembling and putting details in perspective.
12. Eventually, Zakir Naik had to be declared an absconding criminal.
13. @HinduJagrutiOrg did phenomenal work in legally trapping Zakir Naik in this whole process. They are experts in legal and regulatory activism.
14. In 2011, some of his stooges challenged me for debate.
I wrote to Zakir Naik's team agreeing for debate and said we will broadcast it live on TV.
Condition was that it will not be Peace TV to keep it impartial. We will make arrangements for a major channel to broadcast it.
Paropkarini Sabha, Ajmer - the organization founded by Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati agreed to back me as representing Arya Samaj.
(The other bodies of Arya Samaj were split into 3 and fighting court cases to decide who is authentic)
They refused to debate. Admitted that they avoid debating with Arya Samaj and Sikhs.
15. After this, many of original team members left him.
Some chose a more liberal Muslim scholar like Ghamidi.
Some decided to reform Muslims first and understand Islam first before converting Hindus.
And some became Hindus.
16. Then I did all this under Agniveer that I had founded in 2008.
Unfortunate, but I had to leave Agniveer and move on due to internal differences with new people who joined later.
17. But glad that before we parted ways, and I now chart a new journey, we could work together to eradicate a big menace name Zakir Naik - who was nothing but a propaganda machinery planted by enemies of Bharat.
The Yajna was long over. And successfully.
18. Overall, Zakir Naik was a fixed match. He was face of a sinister mafia that had Bollywood and Politics under its control.
19. But there are many more fixed matches today - far more dangerous and more complex to eradicate.
Now this is literally a game of chess with stakes far more lethal.
Am looking for compatible Dharmiks who can work together to eradicate these.
20. I have calculated and done all kinds of stress testing analysis - we can win this Yuddha.
But the approach will be totally counter-intuitive to current trends, ruthless, non-emotional, and even bring wrath of those on our side.
- संजीव नेवर
His claim that he saved the lives of 30 to 50 million by stopping the India- Pakistan war is pure imagination.
His claim that the 250 year old American “civilisation” is the greatest that ever existed is as hallucinatory as his claim about the Indo-Pak war.
That his claims are swallowed by his supporters shows how politically and culturally primitive they are.
Just had an outstanding dinner with President Trump. We discussed his unwavering determination to bring global stability, the historic achievements of his presidency, the strong future of India-US ties, and so much more! A very memorable evening as history unfolded in real time. 🇺🇸