In yet another hideous and shameful attempt by a mainstream media outlet to malign the Hindus and Hinduism, Times of India dragged Veda Pathshalas even as an incident of child trafficking took place in a Madrasa.
In its report, Times of India has stated that an 11-year old boy was rescued by Childline volunteers and child protection officials in Chennai last week. This breakthrough led them to a child trafficking issue in a Madrasa. The report further states that the child was rescued on Wednesday and was produced before the Child Welfare Committee on Saturday. The boy was found near the Avadi railway station and upon being enquired he stated that he was living in a Madrasa. With the help of a paper in the child’s pocket, the Madrasa was traced. The teachers at the Madrasa admitted that the boy was living there. However, they had no documentation relating to him. It has also been revealed that the staff at the Madrasa which houses 60 children from the states of West Bengal, Bihar Odisha and Assam, did not have any identity cards. The 11-year old boy later provided information about his family in Deolia, Bihar. Officials contacted his family and handed him over to his brother after due verification of documents.
Interestingly, even though the entire incident is related to act of child trafficking in a Madrasa, the report written by one Ekatha Ann John went on to blame Veda Pathshalas for child trafficking along with Madrasas. This accusation was unsubstantiated and Times of India failed to quote a single instance of a Veda Pathshala being involved in such activities. In fact, in the entire report the term Veda Pathshalas has been used just once and there is no reference to any specific cases or any specific Pathshala of being involved in any such act. It seems that like always, Hinduism was targeted for no reason by a mainstream media outlet out of its inherent prejudices against Hinduism.
A Twitter user, Ethirajan Srinivsan later on pointed out that even though Times of India reported child trafficking inside Madrasas and Veda Pathshalas, there was no proof to back up its claim of child trafficking inside a Veda Pathshala. Realising that its misleading headline has been exposed, Times of India shrewdly deleted the reference to Veda Pathshalas from the headline. It seems that Times of India realised that its mala fide reporting and misleading headline is only going to backfire. Therefore, it tried to brush things under the carpet. The media outlet did not even tender any apology or clarification for publishing such a misleading headline.
It seems that the malicious and misleading headline was not only a naive attempt at tarnishing the image of Hindus but also an attempt to divert attention from the reports of baby selling in Jharkhand by the two nuns linked to Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity. This has been extensively reported by the media outlets and even the state has taken cognisance with Jharkhand chief minister ordering a probe into this racket. Another media report states that there is no record of 280 births at the Missionaries of Charity’s Ranchi facility where the racket has been disclosed showing massive irregularity in the said shelter home. It seems that Times of India saw the Madrasa incident as an opportunity to somehow blame Veda Pathshalas for child trafficking in a brazen attempt to exculpate the Missionaries of Charity for the latest scandal.