Propaganda website Newsclick is under the lens of the Enforcement Directorate for getting more than 38 crore rupees from foreign sources from 2018-21.
In the investigation, the ED unearthed Newsclick has paid Bappaditya Sinha more than 52 lakh rupees. Sinha, who is an executive of the CPM IT Cell and manages some Twitter handles of CPM personally, is a consultant with the Newsclick.
Sinha is also a regular contributor at People’s Democracy, CPM mouthpiece.
People’s Democracy is known for taking a pro-China stand and publishing pro-China articles.
Most recently, when Chinese Communist Party celebrated its centenary, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury wrote a long piece describing the virtues of the Chinese Communist Party.
He did not even once mention how the world is suffering Covid-19 pandemic because of China.
The investigation of the Newsclick has revealed they were paid by the propaganda arm of the Chinese Communist Party for creating pro-China and anti-India images.
The mandate also included praising the Chinese investment in Africa.
ED has unearthed many such transactions which Newsclick founder and Editor-in-Chief comrade Prabir Purkayastha could not explain.
AN electrician has been paid more than 1.5 crore rupees. The ED suspects these are fronts for money laundering. Urban Naxal Gautam Navlakha has been associated with Newsclick since the very beginning of the propaganda website.
The money was routed through one Nevile Roy Singham who is an American of Sri Lankan origin and works for the propaganda arm of the Chinese Communist Party.
Recently, it was reported that China’s propaganda outlet China Daily paid millions to prominent US newspapers and magazines in the last six months to buy media influence, an independent analyst reported citing documents filed with the US Justice Department.
According to disclosures made by the Justice Department, the state-run English-language newspaper China Daily paid several hundred thousand dollars to prominent American publications like Time magazine and Foreign Policy magazine in a span of six-month. As much as USD 700,000 was paid to Time magazine; USD 371,577 to the Financial Times; USD 291,000 to Foreign Policy magazine; USD 272,000 to Los Angeles Times; and over USD 1 million to others.
