In a shocking display of impunity, an advertisement of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appeared on the front page of Dainik Jagran, a popular Hindi newspaper, on March 7, 2022, the last day of polling for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections. This is a clear violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) of the Election Commission of India (ECI). Therefore, CJP has written to the ECI as well as the UP State Election Commission (SEC) to bring this blatant violation to their attention, and demanded action against the same.

The complaint states that the publication of the said advertisement does not only violate the MCC issued by the ECI, but also constitutes offences as per the provisions of the Representation of People’s Act, 1951. Moreover, it also goes against the guidelines of the Press Council of India.

The complaint brings to the attention of the Commissions, how a political advertisement on a poll has the potential to alter people’s perceptions and their voting behaviour even if it is at the very last moment. It further states that inaction against the party in power, poses a threat to democracy, and brazenly mocks the conduct of free and fair electoral process.

Moreover, as per the Guidelines of the Press Council of India, the letter invokes the obligation of the press to scrupulously avoid publishing political advertisements, especially those designed to further the prospects of the party in power, during the election period.

For a better understanding of the gravity and implications of the said publication, it even compares the impact of a front-page political ad in print media on the day of polling to that of publication of exit poll results before the end of all phases of the election.

Therefore, considering the dangers of paid news, CJP wrote a letter to both Commissions on March, 10, 2022, asking them to call out such corrupt and electoral malpractice and requesting them to take strict action against the BJP.

The complaint may be read here: 

Related:

UP Elections: CJP moves ECI over alleged bogus voting, booth disturbances | CJP
UP Assembly Elections: CJP moves ECI over poll code violations for the third time | CJP

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Dainik Jagran had filed a suit seeking injunction against fact-checking portal Alt News for an article dated May 30, published by the latter titled Dainik Jagran’s misleading reports portray mass burials in Prayagraj haven’t risen due to Covid. Dainik Jagran alleged that the article carries “false, incorrect, disparaging and scandalous statements” attributing knowledge and complicity on its part to the mass burials.

The original article about mass burials published by Dainik Jagran which was criticised by Alt News, had claimed that the mass burials at the Shringverpur ghat was a regular feature, and not only due to Covid deaths. Dainik Jagran submitted to the court that this was based on facts, and with no intention to sensationalise or refute the fact of Covid deaths. Dainik Jagran submitted that the Alt News article claimed that it received government ads worth over Rs 100 crore in 2014-15 to 2018-19, and was the highest recipient of government ad revenues. The Alt News article had also claimed, “The reports by Dainik Jagran do not corroborate with the ground reality and in fact, are an attempt to normalise the recent deaths caused due to mismanagement and government apathy.”

The defendants, Alt News, submitted that Dainik Jagran’s plea is violative of freedom of press under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution and is a SLAPP suit i.e ‘strategic lawsuit against public participation’.

The court examined if there is even the slightest veracity in the claim of defendants that what they published is true, and based on extensive research and ground reports, the court found that the article shows that the defendants have based the contents of the article on various interviews and research.

“Whether they finally succeed in proving their defence or not is a matter of trial and cannot be determined at this stage. In such a case, where the defence of truth taken by the defendants may stand a chance to succeed at trial, there is no reason for the Court to intervene at such an initial stage and stifle the ever-widening contours of free speech, as developed by the Higher Courts,” observed the court.

“Freedom of speech becomes all the more significant when the subject matter is a matter of larger public concern,” the court added.

The court cited Tata sons Ltd. v Greenpeace International & Anr, 2011 SCC Online Del 466 where the court had held that an interim injunction should not be awarded unless a defence of justification by the defendant was certain to fail at trial level.

The court, thus, dismissed the plaintiff’s application seeking interim injunction against Alt News while holding that there is no certainty that defendant’s defence would fail at trial and there is an equal chance that the defendants may succeed in proving the same.

The order may be read here:

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The news of the first case of coronavirus being found in Jharkhand’s Godda district carried by Hindi daily Dainik Jagran, has been found to be fake, reported Janchowk.com.

The Deputy Commissioner for Godda, Kiran Pasi, confirmed the same in a press statement and a tweet saying –

“This morning, a report has appeared in the Dainik Jagran newspaper (Jagran Team Bhagalpur / Dhanbad) that the first case of coronavirus has been found in Godda. This is completely baseless and misleading. No such case has been found in Godda where anyone has been found to be coronavirus positive.”

आज सुबह दैनिक जागरण के अखबार (जागरण टीम भागलपुर/धनबाद) में एक खबर छपी है की गोड्डा में मिला कोरोना का पहला मरीज यह खबर पूरी तरह से निराधार है भ्रामक है।गोड्डा में इस तरह का कोई मामला नहीं पाया गया है जिसमें किसी मरीज के कोरोना वायरस की पुष्टि हुई हो। @HemantSorenJMM @JharkhandCMO pic.twitter.com/doI5qVVVJD

— DC Godda (@dcgodda) April 23, 2020

The Chief Minister and Jharkhand police however have maintained their silence on the matter.

According to Janchowk.com, the report had only been published in Dainik Jagran and hadn’t appeared in any other newspaper or on any news channel on TV. It was when the residents of Godda read the news of the case in Dainik Jagran, they communicated with each other about the news by sharing it on social media to confirm its authenticity.

However, due to the front page presence of the news, discarding it as fake was not as easy. The headline was put up in bold and under that the report carried that the second coronavirus case was found in Santal and the patient had been admitted in Bhagalpur. The patient was said to be a resident of Godda’s Mehrma, a community development block in the district.

It was reported that the patient was actually a resident of Bhagalpur District’s Sanhoula Block who had returned from Mumbai and had been admitted at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital. He was confirmed to be Covid-19 positive on April 22, but he is a resident of Bhagalpur.

In reply to Pasi’s tweet, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha from Pakur said that the Dainik Jagran reporter was only trying to scare people and get them to panic, asking that an enquiry be instated in the matter.

माननीय मुख्यमंत्री श्री @HemantSorenJMM जी दैनिक जागरण का रिपोर्टर ने लोगों को डराने का काम कर रहा है जब गोड्डा में कोरोना का कोई मामला ही नहीं है तो इस तरह का खबर नहीं छापना चाहिए। इसमें रिपोर्टर पर कार्रवाई होनी चाहिए लोगो को पेनिक कर रहें है। @JharkhandPolice @goddapolice

— JMM Pakur (@JMM_Pakur) April 23, 2020

The Godda police too replied saying that they had taken cognisance of the matter and an investigation was being carried out.

आज सुबह दैनिक जागरण के अखबार (जागरण टीम भागलपुर/धनबाद) में एक खबर छपी है की गोड्डा में मिला कोरोना का पहला मरीज यह खबर पूरी तरह से निराधार है भ्रामक है।गोड्डा में इस तरह का कोई मामला नहीं पाया गया है जिसमें किसी मरीज के कोरोना वायरस की पुष्टि हुई हो। @HemantSorenJMM @JharkhandCMO pic.twitter.com/doI5qVVVJD

— DC Godda (@dcgodda) April 23, 2020

Under Section 505 (1) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, whoever by making, publishing or circulating any statement, rumour or report which may cause fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.

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Dainik Jagran fake news headlines

However their attempt to spread fake news and malign the image of Muslims and incite violence has been thwarted on time by the Muslims of Jharkhand who not only boycotted the newspaper but also burnt several copies of the newspaper.

TwoCircles.net spoke to Kashif Raza Siddiqui, leader of Bahujan Kranti Morcha in Jharkhand and also a resident of Zakrinagar who was present at the police station when the crowd gathered and disbursed, to learn the facts. And this is what we learnt:

A kidnapper was caught red handed in Zakirnagar area, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand 2-3 days ago as he was taking away Talha, a seven and a half year old boy on the pretext of meeting his father. The boy’s uncle happened to cross the path of the kidnapper by good fortune and upon enquiring learnt that the boy was being kidnapped.

 
The kidnapper Ramesh was handed over to the police station at Azadnagar by the uncle without even scolding him. But when the local people, Muslims of Zakirnagar area learnt about the incident they gathered at the Police station and began shouting demanding to punish the culprit.

Ramesh the accused, lying down in the PS

The SP and DSP had come by then and they with support from other local leaders of the community pacified the people and diffused the situation. But some mischievous person threw a small stone at the PS before going back to their homes.

“Just because the people had gathered and created noises this newspaper exaggerated and printed that the Muslims lynched the boy and beat up the police. We are naturally angry and upset at this false news. This is not the first time the editor has printed false news about Muslims. We had sent a legal notice to him earlier. We are yet to receive a reply to our notice.”

Subhash Chandra Jat (City SP) Jamshedpur also spoke to the media clarifying that no violence has taken place and that the accused had been safely handed over to the PS. He was appreciative of the way Talha’s uncle and others handled the situation.

Jharkhand is also the place where Tabrez Ansari was lynched on suspicion of theft, whose death sparked a massive protest amongst the Muslims of India and reached the UN session.

“About Tabrez Ansari also, another Hindi newspaper ‘Prabhat Khabar’ published false news that Tabrez was a thief. We burnt copies of Prabhat Khabar. They have a large circulation about nearly 1.5 lakh readers. And we also warned them of legal action.”

“And now we have decided to file a case against Dainik Jagran, we will also gather to protest against the newspaper. All other organisations of Muslims, Dalits and adivasis including Bahujan Kranti Morcha to which I belong will gather and march in protest” Kashif shared.

Talha united with his family

A complaint against the newspaper has also been lodged and a FIR has been booked, he said.

Newspapers like this play an active role to communalise news and widen the gap between different communities and incite violence. But timely intervention on the part of the residents of Zakirnagar has exposed the truth.

Courtesy: Two Circles
 

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New Delhi: “Any covert or overt attempt to misuse Social Media including Facebook to influence India’s electoral process through undesirable means will neither be tolerated, nor be permitted,” thus spoke Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Law and Justice and Information and Technology, in his tweet on March 21, 2018, at 1:34 India time when a huge breach of Facebook data was reported a day earlier.

Well, this is exactly what Operation 136 establishes, for the first time in the history of Independent India and the world at large: Yes, Indian media houses do have the propensity to “influence India’s electoral process through undesirable means.”

The proposition was diabolical: If I reward you handsomely, would you peddle Hindutva in the garb of spiritualism to polarize the electorate and allow the party in power to harvest electoral dividends in coming elections? Ideally, the proposition should have been rejected at the outset.

But as this undercover investigation by senior journalist Pushp Sharma reveals, the lure of lucre proved too irresistible for almost all media houses, be it print, electronic or digital, to say no. To our utter shock, most of them not only agreed to do what he asked for but also suggested myriad ways for undertaking a well-orchestrated, overtly communal media campaign on behalf of their prospective big-ticket client.

In the course of this investigation, Sharma met owners or personnel of more than two dozen media houses, many marquee names, who are in decision-making positions. In return, he offered to pay them anything between Rs. 6 crore and Rs. 50 crore if they agreed to provide a platform to his media campaign. He made the agenda of this campaign explicit to them…

Read the full report on Cobra Post.
 

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In India, public memory is notoriously short. Jagran was among the first media groups Prime Minister Modi had chosen to speak to after becoming the prime minister. And the links of sections of the Indian, read Hindi media to the supremacist Hindutva right has been historic.

Not so long ago, in September 2016, the newspaper’s questionable reportage of the outbreak of intra-community (read Hindu-Muslim) tensions in UP was widely criticised.

As is not uncommon, an incident of eve teasing of girls became the cause of group violence. But it was the fashion of reportage of this incident that has come into question. Dainik Jagran wrote,

“A distance from Bijnor town, when some girl students, who catch the school bus every day face eve-teadsing. Youth from the minority community have been indulging in eve-teasing for some days now. Last Friday, again conflict broke out over eve teasing and as the conflict escalated, there was stone throwing and even gun shots were fired. Ahsan (32) died of gun shots while Aneesuddin (50) and Sarfaraz (22) died on the way to hospital.” (All names of males who died are Muslim names, easily identifiable).

The newspaper Jagran was clearly being the spokesperson of only one section of citizens, the Hindus. It wrote further, relying on ‘sources from the police,’ that, in fact, “ it was two girls, standard ten student from the minority, who were harassed and stalked by the youth and family members of one Sansar Singh that led to the conflict. The conflict resulted in three dead and 12 injured.” This manner of partisan reporting has been the bane of Indian journalism that has gone unchecked even before and during times of acute anti-minority pogroms. We have in India a Press Council of India that is mandated to act, but does so extremely sparingly.

As the ‘story’ unfolded one thing became clear: two Muslim girls were teased by Hindu Jat boys on September 17, 2016, while on their way to school. The boys are said to belong to the family of a Jat hegemon in the village. When the girl's family went to the Jat hegemon's home to complain about the eve-teasing, they were fired upon from the roof of the fortified house, in a brazen display of power. One member of the girls' family was killed on the spot.

The assault did not end there. The next morning, a mob of around 100 people attacked the girls' home and as many as 17 members of the Muslim family were badly injured in the violence. Three of the injured died later and a fourth, Rizwan, who works in a hair cutting saloon in Delhi and who was injured severely with bullet injuries in his neck, and thereafter succumbed to his injuries. In all, four people, including a woman, were killed in the violence, all Muslims. The fact that all the deceased and the injured belong to one family is proof that the girls' family had only gone to beseech the elders of the deviant boys to rein them in, rather than express any community driven sentiment.
 
Clearly fair reportage was not the newspaper’s aim. The tendencies in large circulating newspapers to play the sinister political tune of the Hindutva right goes back decades, heightened during the aggressive mobilisation of the majoritarian right in the mid 1980s.

 These observations by the late media analyst Praful Bidwai, in Communalism Combat, August 1997, bear recall. The article was in an issue of the journal that was assessing 50 Years of Indian Secularism, titled, “Media in Service of Communalism”

Bidwai writes, “One of the most important— and yet among the saddest-changes to have occurred in the Indian media over the past 50 years is its communalisation, or at least, its opening up to communal influences as never before. The respectability that Hindutva has acquired among the upper and middle class elite of the despicable Ram temple campaign culminating in the destruction of the Babri mosque in December 1992, and in horrific pogroms and riots the following month, would have been quite inconceivable without the media’s complicity with and soft line on the sangh combine.

“ It is also a fact of no mean consequence that the top journalists and columnists of India’s largest-circulation English-language magazine are not just BJP sympathisers, but hardcore RSS supporters, no less. Today, in most English-language newspapers and magazines-to a discussion of which this article is largely confined-pro-BJP articles, stories and leaders far out-number those that are strongly secular or liberal and left-wing in character.

“This is a far cry from the early years of independence when the mainstream English-language press would treat the Jana Sangh, and in particular the RSS, as politically unacceptable, and as part of the lunatic fringe, far beyond the secular-democratic pale. This was only partly because of the trauma of Partition which witnessed the unfolding of the horrible consequences of communalism (of which the BJP is a legatee) and the assassination of Gandhi (the work, clearly and self-confessedly, of Hindutva).

It was also because the RSS Jana Sangh was seen as a fundamentally intolerant parochial force that threatened unity, social cohesion and nation-building much in the way casteism or linguistic-regional chauvinism did.”

It is this trend, that has crept in which is today sharp and heightened with aggressive corporate control. Under Modi, there has been an effort for ultra-hegemonisation of an already emasculated reality.

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Image credit: Facebook/Shashank Shekhar Tripathi

Jagran.com editor Shekhar Tripathi was arrested late Monday night by the Uttar Pradesh police for publishing an exit poll after the first phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections allegedly in violation of the law operational during polls. The Election Commission has said that such publication of an opinion poll when a state was in the midst of five phase polls, was in violation of its guidelines asking news organisations not to carry/publish any exit/opinion poll during the election period. 

PTI also reports that the Uttar Pradesh Police also raided the homes of Sukirti Gupta (CEO  of Jagran New Media), Varun Sharma (Dy Editor, Jagran English Online) and Puja Sethi, Digital Head.

The Election Commission had, on Monday, ordered the filing of FIRs against the management and editor-in-chief of Dainik Jagran for alleged violation of its guidelines. The Election Commission had, on Monday, ordered the filing of FIRs against the management and editor-in-chief of Dainik Jagran for alleged violation of its guidelines.

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The newspaper, often accused of being pro-BJP, carried the exit poll by using a sample of 5,700 voters, who cast their votes in the first phase of elections on 11 February.

Its ‘finding’ said, “The BJP will become the numero uno party in the first phase. The Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will be at second position while the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance is not likely to get a positive response from the voters. The findings were first published by Dainik Jagran website.”

It further added, “The region is crucial to the BJP because it swept all the 12 Lok Sabha seats in Western UP in the 16th general election. The other important thing to be noted is that BJP-led NDA government has three Union Ministers from the region – Mahesh Sharma, Retired General VK Singh, and Sanjeev Baliyan.”

Jagran was among the first media groups Prime Minister had chosen to speak to after becoming the prime minister.

Jagran’s decision to carry out an exit poll in defiance of the EC guidelines is a serious development and the action was bound to have invited punitive action, even closing down of the publication, in any other matured democracy.

While it remains to be seen what action the EC, often perceived to be toothless in the face of violations favouring the BJP, would initiate against the Jagran group, the news has only prompted an otherwise beleaguered saffron party to go to town claiming victory in western Uttar Pradesh, that went to polls on 11 February.

But, the BJP isn’t alone in claiming victory in the first phase of UP polls. A day after the first phase of polling, major parties in Uttar Pradesh claimed that they had swept the round and were on the road to form government in the politically crucial state.

Samajwadi Party party chief Akhilesh Yadav said that the downfall of those who had “befooled” the people promising “achche din” has started while Mayawati asserted that she will prove pollsters wrong as she did in 2007 when they predicted her defeat.

BJP Chief Amit Shah claimed ‘achhe din’ will come in Uttar Pradesh after counting of votes on 11 March.

Claiming that SP was ahead of rivals in the first phase, Akhilesh said the trend will continue and the alliance will get majority.

“We could have got majority alone, but after alliance with Congress we will comfortably win over 300 seats,” Akhilesh said in Badaun.

“The downfall of those who had befooled people promising ‘achche din’ has started. After 2017, they will be wiped out in 2019 also. They (BJP) should tell as to what have they done for people,” he said.

Addressing a rally in Sitapur, Mayawati claimed it was a “clean sweep” for BSP in the first phase.

“The first phase of UP polls was encouraging for BSP. It was a clean sweep for our party. It’s a positive signal that we are going to form government in the state,” she told an election rally here.

She dubbed as “fake” the surveys and opinion polls that said BSP will not come to power and said that they will be proved wrong as in 2007, when her party got majority.

“You should not believe in such surveys. If BSP came to power all development schemes will be restarted and names of schemes and places that were changed will be restored,” she said.

Shah said BSP is the main rival from BJP in first two phases of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls and Samajwadi Party in the rest five.

“As per the trend of first phase, we will get more than 50 seats (out of 73). In the first two phases we will be getting more than 90 seats (out of total 140). The main rival in these two phases is BSP. In the next phases, the rival will be SP,” Shah told reporters in Lucknow.

He claimed that issues like payment of cane dues, loans at zero per cent interest to farmers, anti-Romeo squads to check crime against women, and some other key points in BJP manifesto had attracted youths and common people and they were supporting BJP.

Slamming Akhilesh, Shah said he has conceded defeat by sacrificing 105 (of the 403) seats to Congress.

On the chief minister’s charge that ‘acche din’ have eluded the people, he said, “By saying this, Akhilesh has accepted that he has failed. After ruling for five years, he is asking when will ‘acche din’ come. It will come after March 11, when BJP will form government.”

The first phase of UP polls in 73 assembly constituencies witnessed 64.22 per cent voter turnout yesterday. Voting will be held in 67 Assembly constituencies spread over 11 districts on February 15.

The other five phases will be held on February 19, 23 and 27 and on March 4 and 8.

Counting will be taken up on 11 March.

(With PTI inputs)
 

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