Skip to main content

Saffron-supported "BBC" site terms Rahul India's most corrupt politician, praises Modi for "approving" hydrogen bomb

 
After creating a flutter by calling Congress as one of the 10 most corrupt political parties in the world, a little known-site with a sensational name, BBC News Point (bbcnewspoint.com), which ironically has nothing to do with the prestigious British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), has called Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi as the No 1 corrupt politician of India.
Seeking to make political capital out of it, Sangh Parivar social media outfits, including opindia.com, tried to frantically make out that the site is not run by any saffron outfit but “probably” by Pakistanis, especially supporters of Imran Khan, cricketer-turned-politician “who is often termed as Arvind Kejriwal of Pakistan, enjoying similar support system online”.
Another rightwing site, postcard.news, which copied the BBC News Point “story” on Congress being the fourth most corrupt political party in the world. Interestingly, postcard.news claims itself a “platform not just for countering the lies of mainstream media” but also showcasing “positive change in the country.
Interestingly, however, the site’s contents were first found to have been flashed by a saffron twitter account, @IndiaBTL or India Behind The Lens, calling itself a watchdog, a supporter of “pro-national policies irrespective of any political party or government”, which has supported the cause of the cow vigilantes in the following words: “Gaurakshaks come into being because gangs … pick-up anyone's cow in matter of seconds, slaughter and skin them.”
Interestingly, one of the top twitter “followers” of India Behind The Lens, or @IndiaBTL, is the twitter handle of the the RSS’ mouthpiece, “The Organiser”. However, the right-wing site, opindia.com, claimed, people in India “most likely” picked up the BBC News Point “assessment” of Congress from Pakistani social media users.
Naming Rahul Gandhi No 1 corrupt politician of India, BBC News Point, claiming to be operating from the US, but refusing to offer any address or name of the editor or even phone number, writes in a poorly written English that Rahul is the son of “Rajiv Gandi (sic!) who was the Prime Minister of India”, is a “powerful politician due to his political background but he has done corruption many times in his period of government.”
At the same time, the site praises Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the sixth most powerful politician in the world, who has “vowed to make his homeland corruption free”. Among the great feats the site claims Modi has travelled include approving “a project for development of hydrogen bombs” and signing “agreements” with those who would be “surely putting India’s name among well-developed nations in future.”
Calling itself a “sensational stage”, bbcnewspoint.com contends that it “provides complete, healthy, brief and explained information from all over the world”, adding, the information it provides is “best quality trustworthy” (sic!) and “rare” for everyone to “understand more clearly” (sic!).
After bbcnewspoint.com came up with its “story” that the Congress one of the 10 most corrupt parties in the world, social media trolls, all of them of the saffron ilk, declared (@reachtkb ) that one has to only “look at the company they keep in the top 10 list – it is the who's who of the worst human rights violators across the world”,
Another twitterati told the Congress, “Congratulations you've made it in top 5”, while a third one said, had Enforcement Directorate Minister of Finance been “more active” in digging out Congress scams, it would have been “at d top (No 1) of d corruption list.”

Comments

TRENDING

Irrational? Basis for fear among Hindus about being 'swamped' by Muslims

I was amused while reading an article titled "Ham Paanch, Hamare Pachees", shared on Facebook, by well-known policy analyst Mohan Guruswamy, an alumnus of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. Guruswamy, who has also worked as an advisor to the Finance Minister with the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, seeks to probe, as he himself states, "the supposed Muslim attitude to family planning"—a theme that was invoked by Narendra Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister ahead of the December 2002 assembly polls.

Why's Australian crackdown rattling Indian students? Whopping 25% fake visa applications

This is what happened several months ago. A teenager living in the housing society where I reside was sent to Australia to study at a university in Sydney with much fanfare. The parents, whom I often met as part of a group, would tell us how easily the boy got his admission with the help of "some well-meaning friends," adding that they had obtained an education loan to ensure he could study at a graduate school.

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

Gujarat slips in India Justice Report 2025: From model state to mid-table performer

Overall ranking in IJR reports The latest India Justice Report (IJR), prepared by legal experts with the backing of several civil society organisations and aimed at ranking the capacity of states to deliver justice, has found Gujarat—considered by India's rulers as a model state for others to follow—slipping to the 11th position from fourth in 2022.

Punishing senior citizens? Flipkart, Shopsy stop Cash on Delivery in Ahmedabad!

The other day, someone close to me attempted to order some goodies on Flipkart and its subsidiary Shopsy. After preparing a long list of items, this person, as usual, opted for the Cash on Delivery (popularly known as COD) option, as this senior citizen isn't very familiar with online prepaid payment methods like UPI, credit or debit cards, or online bank transfers through websites. In fact, she is hesitant to make online payments, fearing, "I may make a mistake," she explained, adding, "I read a lot about online frauds, so I always choose COD as it's safe. I have no knowledge of how to prepay online."

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Of lingering shadow of Haren Pandya's murder during Modi's Gujarat days

Sunita Williams’ return to Earth has, ironically, reopened an old wound: the mysterious murder of her first cousin, the popular BJP leader Haren Pandya, in 2003. Initially a supporter of Narendra Modi, Haren turned against him, not sparing any opportunity to do things that would embarrass Modi. Social media and some online news portals, including The Wire , are abuzz with how Modi’s recent invitation to Sunita to visit India comes against the backdrop of how he, as Gujarat’s chief minister, didn’t care to offer any official protocol support during her 2007 visit to Gujarat.  

Area set aside in Ahmedabad for PM's affordable housing scheme 'has gone to big builders'

Following my article on affordable housing in Counterview, which quoted a top real estate consultant, I was informed that affordable housing—a scheme introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi—has deviated from its original intent. A former senior bureaucrat, whom I used to meet during my Sachivalaya days, told me that an entire area in Ahmedabad, designated for the scheme, has been used to construct costly houses instead. 

Just 5% Gujarat Dalit households 'recognise' social reformers who inspired Ambedkar

An interesting survey conducted across 22 districts and 32 villages in Gujarat sheds light on the representation of key social reformers in Dalit households. It suggests that while Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's photo was displayed in a majority of homes, images of Lord Buddha and the 19th-century reformist couple, Savitribai Phule and Jyotiba Phule, were not as commonly represented.