NewsClick (Right), Press statement by Press Club of India (Left)
The Press Club of India has come out in support of the NewsClick which has been in the eye of storm over the recent publication of the New York Times report in which it exposed the news site for promoting the agenda of China and other anti-India forces. The Press Club of India stated that the Indian Government was undertaking a targeted campaign against the NewsClick.
In a statement issued by Press Club of India, it asked the government that if the funding sources of NewsClick are under scrutiny, then similar actions should be taken against those media organisations who allegedly own their allegiance to the ruling establishment.
What is the NewsClick row?
NewsClick is not new to controversy as in the past in 2018, the Enforcement directorate found that the leftist-propaganda website NewsClick (active in India) received funds from China. The flow of funds was traced to an American millionaire, Neville Roy Singham, who is closely associated with the propaganda arm of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The findings also claimed that the money was transferred to Bappaditya Sinha, a CPM IT Cell executive. The ED observed that some ‘Anti India’ elements were “part of a conspiracy to demean the country and target the ruling Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government”.
Readers may recall the days after the Rafale deal, NewsClick was running anti-government propaganda by spreading lies through their articles. Joining the site were others like Wire, Scroll, Newslaundry.
The involvement of the Communist Party of China (CCP) in India’s information dissemination has been under discussion since the New York Times (NYT) exposed American businessmen. The businessman, Neville Roy Singham, is connected with the Chinese government and provides funding to media outlets based in India and Brazil. He is also accused of funding several news publications .
BJP Leaders Question Congress’s close association with China
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nishikant Dubey did not go soft on the Congress and alleged that Congress had signed an MoU with the Chinese government and they had received funds from them between 2005-2014. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar stated, “…These narratives that are put out by platforms like NewsClick and other platforms that are operating in concert are echoed almost blandly in a similar fashion by this political leader, Rahul Gandhi, who goes abroad and says exactly the same things-democracy is under danger, judiciary is compromised, EVMs are compromised. This is exactly the narrative that these platforms put out… This is a complex conspiracy.
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