“He who controls the narrative controls the people”

In a press conference on Sunday, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra claimed that an ‘anti-India’ plot was at practice by news portal Newsclick, citing Chinese funding received by the portal.  The BJP explicitly listed out the specifics and said that there were clear efforts to defame India and spread unrest with a driven agenda that included a foreign hand, which had a possible Beijing connection. Calling the entire nexus and plot one that was part of an ‘international toolkit’, the BJP spokesperson said that Newsclick’s operations allegedly received foreign funding. Newsclick is under Enforcement Directorate’s radar over Chinese funding associated with the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Sharing more details of ‘Newsclick’s operations’, Patra continued, “Newsclick is said to be a regular portal. But they received 9.59 crores of foreign funding. 2 companies infused money in this company. While Rs 10 per share is what is its original value, it was inflated just to look that it was an authentic destination for FDI. Newsclick received money from several other websites too”.The alleged flow of money to besmirch India to these hands by a portal that claims to be a news portal becomes more doubtful given that the present allegation includes that the funders of the said portal have a Chinese connection. This if proven begs the question of whether Chinese money was pumped into a portal that in turn handed out monetary inducements to amplify a crafted anti-India agenda. 

As per a report in the media, ED is investigating into news portal Newsclick’s financial dealing with one Neville Roy Singham – who allegedly is the chief source of Rs 38 crore which Newsclick received between 2018 and 2021 from abroad. The news report alleged that Singham was associated with the propaganda arm of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and that most of the money received by the portal has been shown as ‘export of services. Any links to CPC has been denied by Newsclick editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha.

If this is true, Now imagine how many million dollars The Hindu, Indian Express and Times of India would get for a full-page CCP 100th anniversary celebration advertisement.

 

Image credits: Prashant Dhawan youtube Channel World Affairs.

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