An investigation that was long overdue has finally come to fruition as the Income Tax department is gearing up to investigate The Hindu and Hindustan Times for alleged Chinese funding and the massive inflows of cash. A complaint was filed on October 2 by a Maharashtra-based pressure group called Legal Rights Observatory (LRO,) addressed to the Home Ministry. The complaint sought an investigation into the financial transactions between China and The Hindu after the left-liberal newspaper published a full-page advertisement of the Chinese Ēmbassy on October 1 marking the 71st anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
#BREAKING MHA forwarded #LRO complaint dt Oct 02/20 against @the_hindu to #CBDT @IncomeTaxIndia to investigate possible massive money inflow between #Chinese Intelligence n newpaper to publish China propaganda; sought report in 30 days. Cash flow likely to gets exposed @nistula pic.twitter.com/lswcqvebzm
— Legal Rights Observatory- LRO (@LegalLro) October 18, 2020
Wrote letter to @HMOIndia to launch multi agency probe of @HindustanTimes comprising @IncomeTaxIndia @dir_ed @NIA_India to investigate #Chinese payment to HT to publish #ChinaWatch advert in newspaper undermining Indian interest to further CH #UFWD propaganda #Ladakh @Chellaney pic.twitter.com/hjiGYujlBZ
— Legal Rights Observatory- LRO (@LegalLro) November 2, 2020
The said advertorial was published on the third page of the Indian daily and caught the attention of almost everyone as being a grossly insensitive publication at a time when the Indian Army is locked in a tense military standoff with China. The Hindu had no qualms about publishing on its third page such Chinese propaganda. This goes on to speak volumes about how low certain Indian publications can fall for a few biscuit crumbs thrown towards them.
After The Hindu, Hindustan Times had also carried a four-page supplement by China Daily, starting from the 8th page. It was another attempt by China’s PR machinery to gain positive coverage within the country. China’s PR propaganda comes under its United Front’s wing and it is being insinuated that both publications were paid big bucks, considerably greater than what they are usually paid for such ideas.
CCP spends billions of dollars on overseas propaganda. Some newspapers help lubricate CCP's propaganda mill by publishing its full-page ads, without clearly marking them as ads. Any ad deceptively looks like the newspaper's own full-page coverage on China (as in The Hindu today). pic.twitter.com/vfTtJ55Mv0
— Brahma Chellaney (@Chellaney) October 1, 2020
This is not the first time that The Hindu has served Chinese interests. Reported extensively by TFI, it was The Hindu which had claimed a few days back that PLA troops had occupied the finger 2 and finger 3 regions on the north bank of Pangong Tso lake whilst quoting a former BJP MP Thupstan Chhewang.
As soon as the controversial report of The Hindu came out, the army and the government institutions were quick to denounce the news and termed it as a piece of fake news and a figment of imagination by the esteemed newspaper. PIB’s official fact-checking arm had then tweeted a screenshot of the report and informed it was fake news and that the Indian Army had refuted the statement.
The Hindu, in September, had done another shoddy piece of journalism when in a report titled, “China controls 1,000 sq. km of area in Ladakh”, the newspaper claimed that “in Depsang Plains, from patrolling point 10-13, the scale of Chinese control of India’s perception of the LAC stood at about 900 sq.km. About 20 sq. km in Galwan Valley and 12 sq. km in Hot Springs area is said to be under Chinese occupation, the official said. In Pangong Tso, the area under Chinese control is 65 sq. km, whereas in Chushul it is 20 sq. km.”
What is noteworthy is the fact that The Hindu provided no visual proof of its tall, unsubstantiated and hilarious claims. And to this date, the liberals of the country, who rather than believing the Government reports, continue to present this particular report to shame the government, knowing well and truly that The Hindu report has no legs to walk on.
With such damning reports hinting at alleged love of The Hindu for China and the Chinese Yuan, it was only a matter of time that an investigation was opened against the publication.
