While the people of Bharat are still reeling from the horrific rioting that recently restarted in Delhi after anti-CAA violence first erupted in December, comes a shocking episode of what by all accounts appears to be brazen fake news from one of America’s leading newspapers The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
An article titled ‘India’s Ruling Party, Government Slammed Over Delhi Violence’ carrying byline of 3 reporters – Krishna Pokharel, Vibhuti Agarwal, Rajesh Roy – claims that IB Officer Ankit Sharma whose brutally lynched body was found today from a drain in Chand Bagh, Delhi was killed by a “Jai Sree Ram” chanting mob, implying that he was killed by Hindu rioters.
A screenshot of the relevant portion of the article was shared by twitter user @SKS_Mumbai (WSJ content is behind a paywall) –
All media reports in Bharat on Ankit Sharma’s murder thus far, from both Hindi language and English language media outlets, have reported that Ankit was murdered by anti-CAA protestors i.e. by a Muslim mob.
More damningly for WSJ, in TV interviews Ankit’s family have repeatedly said that the 100-strong mob which murdered Ankit came from a house belonging to AAP councillor Tahir Hussain. Locals in the area have corroborated the same.
Here is a clip of the grief-stricken mother who clearly names Tahir Hussain’s men as the one responsible for killing her son –
Mother of IB Officer Ankit Sharma who was killed in the line of duty during communal riots in North East Delhi. She narrates how helplessly she ran from pillar to post to find her son but the cops were clueless. She blames #AAP leader Tahir Hussain and supporters for the murder. pic.twitter.com/lMn04Ckeck
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) February 26, 2020
In this next clip, Ankit’s brother Ankur (the same man the WSJ article quotes as having told them that a “Jai Sree Ram” chanting mob killed Ankit) narrates how his brother was pulled into a building along with some other men by Tahir Hussain’s goons –
Watch: TIMES NOW speaks to the family of IB Offical Ankit Sharma who was found dead in Chand Bagh. | #IndiaWantsAnswers pic.twitter.com/JmQiRBJS7C
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) February 26, 2020
In yet another clip, a local confirms to a journalist that Ankit was dragged into the building belonging to Tahir Hussain, where he was killed and then his body tossed into a drain. The man alleges that the AAP councillor had brought goons from Loni (a town in Ghaziabad district which is adjacent to NE Delhi) to carry out riots in the area.
Here is a resident of Moonga Nagar who saw it all on Monday and Tuesday. The IB sleuth Ankit Sharma was dragged by a mob, multiple eyewitnesses have told me, from the gate of this house pic.twitter.com/dRb46dWlll
— Rahul Pandita (@rahulpandita) February 26, 2020
A video has emerged which apparently shows AAP councillor Tahir Hussain himself with a stick in one hand giving directions to stone-pelting youth gathered in his building –
दिल्ली में हुई हिंसा में आम आदमी पार्टी के पार्षद ताहिर हुसैन का नाम सामने आ रहा है इस वीडियो में #ArrestTahirHussain के सारे पर हिंसा की जा रही है, अब समझ आया 62 विधायकों वाली आम आदमी पार्टी के विधायक और पार्षद पिछले 3 दिनों से क्या कर रहे थे ? pic.twitter.com/8rBOm8tt4o
— Vikas Bhadauria (ABP News) (@vikasbha) February 26, 2020
Will Wall Street Journal apologize for completely distorting the account of murdered IB officer Ankit Sharma’s family? Will the Union Government and Ministry of Information & Broadcasting under Prakash Javadekar finally act against fake news peddling mainstream media houses like Wall Street Journal and their local reporters Krishna Pokharel, Vibhuti Agarwal, Rajesh Roy?
China had recently expelled 3 Wall Street Journal reporters for publishing an opinion piece on the Coronavirus outbreak titled “”China is the real sick man of Asia.” Chinese government justified their action calling the title ‘racially discriminatory’.
What WSJ has done in its reporting on the Delhi riots and the brutal murder of IB officer Ankit Sharma is far-2 worse: they have spread a blatant falsehood, aimed at demonising Hindus and completely distorting the reality of these riots.
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[…] Street Journal has shown a Hinduphobic attitude. In February this year, the paper carried a false report that IB official Ankit Sharma’s killers shouted ‘Jai Shri Ram’. Police complaints were filed […]
[…] complaint was filed over a news item published in the WSJ on February 26 which reported that Sharma’s killers shouted ‘Jai Shri Ram’, quoting the IB staffer’s […]