‘Ensure accuracy of facts on such sensitive issues’, Home Ministry slams The Hindu for spreading fake news on NPR

Ever since the Modi government announced the National Population Register (NPR), the fake news machinery of the left liberal cabal has been working overtime to spread rumours and fake news about the ambitious exercise, with the clear object of creating chaos and panic across the nation. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has debunked one such treacherous attempt made by The Hindu, a popular (read ‘infamous’) daily.

In its story about the NPR, The Hindu has clearly misquoted a government source as saying that “families will be informed in advance about the visit of an enumerator so that the documents of all individuals are readily available for verification.” It has also claimed that the official went on to add, “If there are 15 members in the family, the enumerators would give them a prior notice, so that documents of all are available when the field visit is undertaken. The enumerator will see the documents.”

However, a Twitter thread posted by Home Ministry spokesperson’s official handle has debunked all such myths and falsehoods about the requirement of producing documents. According to this thread, The Hindu report is at loggerheads with the factual position for conducting NPR. According to the Twitter thread, the report wrongly quotes government officials as saying, “Respondents to NPR exercise will get time to provide papers”, and “families would need to dig out old documents and ensure that such documents are readily available for verification & enumerators would see those documents”.

Through this Twitter thread, the Home Ministry has reiterated government’s position on the NPR, that is, “no individual will be required to submit any document to any authority or enumerator visiting his/her household for NPR survey. Information provided by the individual would be accepted and recorded accordingly.” The Home Ministry also called upon the media to ensure accuracy of facts on the sensitive issue while publishing any story in order to avoid misconception in public.

It is pertinent to mention here that The Hindu had also been caught red handed spreading rumours and fake news about the Rafale deal. N Ram, Chairman of The Hindu publishing group had selectively quoted a Ministry of Defence note to wrongly claim that Prime Minister Office’s (PMO) interference undermined India’s standing in terms of negotiations. It had also carried out a factually unsustainable and misleading story to claim that the Rafale deal was some sort of a scam. The Hindu has therefore been guilty of misleading journalism and shoddy reporting in the past as well. Therefore, its false story about the NPR should not come as a huge surprise.

The Hindu report has therefore compromised with facts in order to create misconceptions, fears with the clear objective of sensationalising the sensitive issue. This is shoddy and agenda-oriented journalism of the worst kind. Ever since the NPR was announced, the Modi government has been time and again making it clear that the exercise is neither going to lay the groundwork for a pan-India NRC nor is it going to create any hardships for anyone. However, the Lutyens’ media is hell-bent on creating panic and fear among the general public about how it is discriminatory and tyrannical. This is why it has now resorted to manufacturing absurd stories that have no foundation in reality.