The social media was abuzz yesterday with the rumours of ABP News channel firing their anchor Abhisar Sharma. While ABP News is yet to issue a statement in this regard, his inactivity from his Twitter profile and absence from the programs of his channel strongly suggests this rumour. Abhisar Sharma’s claim to fame was his anti-Modi and anti-BJP stance which he zealously tried to uphold using any means possible. Lack of proof and solid facts have seldom been a hindrance for journalists who are set on their path to spread propaganda, Abhisar Sharma was a frontrunner of the anti-BJP cabal of Hindi journalists. Numerous instances in the past have shown his bias a brief summary of which is important to understand how these ‘journalists’ sell their propaganda under the garb of ‘journalism’.
.@abhisar_sharma Not quite sure about news channels but some self declared neutral & foul-mouthed journalists use that on regular basis. pic.twitter.com/DDloNNpSQy
— The Frustrated Indian (@FrustIndian) March 14, 2017
Sandeep Kumar an Aam Aadmi Party leader had been embroiled in a sex tape controversy. The woman in the video had come out in the public and alleged that the MLA had coerced her for sexual favours in return for help. While this controversy blotted the name of AAP and Sandeep Kumar had to resign, Abhisar Sharma had written an article trying to shield the AAP MLA. He had raised doubts over the timing, the involvement of the woman and had tried to give a clean chit to the AAP MLA.
In another hilarious moment of his ignorance and incompetence, the ABP News journalist had spoken about ‘dhaan ke khet yani gehun, gehun yani roti, roti yani bhookh ka samadhaan’ (Rice paddy meaning wheat which means bread which is the solution for hunger).
Any layman who has any connect with farming in India knows ‘dhan ke khet’ means rice, but Abhisar Sharma couldn’t care less. His mistake went viral and the public humiliation which followed would have been enough to silence any well meaning person, but not him. He also could be held guilty of using abusive and vulgar language on the social media platforms countless times. But the most brazen defense he has ever tried to do was that of trying to subtly justify the Malda riots. He had tried to pass on the blame for starting the riots on the aggrieved Hindus of the area and had tried to shield the Muslim community by stating that they had engaged in rioting as retaliation. The same Abhisar Sharma who tries to be a champion for the opposition and the minority community in India had failed to question Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee over the tragic happenings in her state and had tried to pass it under the table by not reporting the full mayhem which was committed by the Muslim crowd in Malda, for which he was derided and humiliated on Twitter.
Abhisar Sharma’s wife had been embroiled in a tax fraud case as well when he was employed with NDTV as a senior journalist. His wife Sumana Sen an Income Tax official had been accused of favouring NDTV in exchange for a Rs 1 crore holiday. His wife had even alleged charges on another IT officer who had laid bare the fraud, Sanjay Srivastava for sexual harassment, which were later proven to be untrue. The 900 crore tax fraud which NDTV had been embroiled in had been taken care of by Abhisar Sharma’s wife.
These instances prove that he has succeeded in his career just because of his inherent hatred for a party and a person. It is therefore a welcome move from ABP News if it has chosen to kick out such a propaganda driven ‘journalist’ who has no objectivity and believes in spewing hatred through ‘news’. It will also serve as an example for the budding journalists who believe in reporting news rather than distorting it.
