Rajdeep Sardesai attacked a person, his fellow media persons attacked truth

September 29, 2014

India Video

By Rupang Bhatt, Ahmedabad, 29 September 2014

So ahead of Narendra Modi’s speech at Madison Square Garden in New York, various Indian news channels were interviewing people arriving at the venue. Some channels we monitored like Zee News, India TV, ABP news, IBN7 and Doordarshan were showing random interviews of people without any visible pre-fix agenda. These channels were showing people expressing their excitement, celebration, enthusiasm, patriotism, love, hopes, feelings associated with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government. These channels generally interview only politicians. ANI has contributed greatly to this journalism of byte-of-politician. Next to politicians, these channels interview same group of panelists and so-called experts. Then most of the time on these channels, one in-house journo interviews another self-obsessed, screen-crazy and highly-opinionated in-house journo.These channels hardly go to people to allow them to speak. Ahead of Modi’s Madison Square Garden speech, these channels interviewed so many common people, that they don’t interview perhaps during entire year.

Then there were channels that were showing the interviews of people from ANI feed selectively. I watched NDTV India in which they were showing edited/recorded bytes of people. NDTV was showing those clips in which gentlemen and women were showing their Gujarati or BJP identity. NDTV was attempting spin to create an impression that those gathered at Madison Square were just Gujaratis and BJP supporters. While other channels were showing continuous coverage of Madison Square Garden, NDTV was showing other news, and when it had to show Madison Square to stay in competition with other channels, it was showing selected clips showing impression narrated above.

Then there was this Punya Prasoon Vajpayee and his panelists on Aaj Tak news channel. What you can expect from this person and this channel which has lost its credibility completely after emergence(and debacle) of AAP? Nobody cares what they show anymore, but just understand spin that don’t work we quickly jumped to this channel and saw nonsensical talks on completely irrelevant topics like whether people paid ticket for this show, whether this is Gujarati people’s show etc.

The worst was same group’s English news channel Headlines Today with Rajdeep Sardesai on screen. Yes just because some news organization gives you job and identity card, you technically become a journalist, but I don’t consider Rajdeep Sardesai as journalist.

Part of Rajdeep’s so called ‘journalism’ outside Madison Square Garden is captured in videos presented below:

Also watch these off-camera arguments:

On Sunday evening ahead of the Madison Square Garden event of Narendra Modi, we saw this video clip. It was speedily going viral. DeshGujarat tweeted this video with a clear title: Rajdeep Sardesai fighting outside Madison Squre Garden event. This description was given after watching the video clip. Though what exactly happened was not clear in this video, any ordinary person could figure out that Rajdeep was advancing to a person in saffron kurta and fighting with him.

Without waiting for true version, ABP News dropped its coverage from outside the Madison Square Garden and started showing discussion on ‘Rajdeep Sardesai slapped/attacked/beaten up by Modi supporters.’ This funny discussion without any basis of truth went on and went on. ABP News behaved like ‘begani shadi mein abdulla diwana’ because even Rajdeep’s patrons at Headlines Today and Aaj Tak were not showing it. That Dibang on ABP News was making remarks that this kinda incident will dent BJP’s image!

Then the Modi event, and all focus was around it.

But as soon as the event was over, the Delhi journos started posting tweets sympathizing with Rajdeep.

CNN-IBN’s Bhupendra Chaubey tweeted: Over this past week, felt as if NYC was Delhi…………… I met guy who heckled Rajdeep. He was apologizing later. But damage has been done. Indians shame themselves again; globally. To his tweet several Indians on Twitter reacted. One @vbghia told Bhupendra Chaube a lair and continued: I had my friends there too. The guy didn’t apologize. Rajdeep started it first. Another on twitter Ajayendar Al-Aryan reacted: How have Indians shamed themselves assuming one man was guilty? Stretch the same argument elsewhere? Another one @sujeet81 reacted: OK Mr. Chaubey should not be allowed anywhere near an elevator considering what Tejpal did. More reactions to this:
-Media never carries any guilt. Oh, no! Every bad egg’s behavior is his own…can’t malign everyone else.
-So by this logic! Tejpal has shamed the journo fraternity!?? Or whole Indians for that matter!

Then Shekhar Gupta too jumped in and tweeted: Shocking attack on Rajdeep. The way a certain section has been getting abusive in social media, public, this was coming. Modi must condemn.

To this tweeples reacted:
@ravikantbhat: Shocking you don’t see how abusive Rajdeep himself has been. This was waiting to happen. Just ironic. It happened in the US!
@nupur1210: I find it amazing that you think Modi, the PM of India, should condemn the ego demise of every rodent “journo” in India.

Barkha Dutt too jumped in and tweeted: Shocked to hear about attack on Rajdeep Sardesai. Unacceptable to settle disagreements in this manner. Condemnable.

Rahul Kanwal tweeted: What happened with Rajdeep was very unfortunate.

Another TV journo Shiv Aroor tweeted: Seen the video frame by frame. Man in yellow kurta started fight by grabbing Rajdeep Sardesai’s shirt. Belongs in a prison cell.

And there were thousands of tweets from all kinds of Modi, BJP, Hindu, India haters slamming what else? Modi, Hindus, Indians and Gujaratis for attack on Rajdeep Sardesai.

And Rajdeep himself also cried foul and tweeted: Great crowd at Modison square garden! except a few idiots who still believe abuse is a way of proving their machismo! Glad we caught the idiots on cam. Only way to shame the mob is to show them.

Several newspapers also carried reports on ‘Rajdeep Sardesai attacked’.

Then today morning(IST) finally someone released a video of the scene in greater length. Rajdeep was not attacked as per this clip. In fact he had attacked a common guy. He used the word ‘asshole’. Watch the video.

So what after this video? All those journos and news channels and print reports reporting that Rajdeep was attacked were false!

This lowest degree of assault with video evidence may give upto 1 year prison or $ 1,000 fine to Rajdeep. If others had not intervened, Rajdeep was already holding neck of a person. This person was a common guy, but Rajdeep was senior editor representing India Today group!

If Modi supporters were into poor behavior, there were scores of other journalists, and they too were asking all types of questions, then why no other journo had any problem? Not just journos, there were ideological opponents protesting nearby in dozens of strength close to Madison Square Garden and even outside the United Nations a day before, why nothing happened to them? Well, because they were clearly activists and their agenda was out in open, but this Sardesai was in the garb of journalist and doing activism.

For what else, just to save his face, Rajdeep Sardesai in typical Teesta Setalvad style( lower court to High Court, Supreme Court, SIT, again lower court, but I am not wrong)tweeted: First, kick and abuse while I am on cam asking questions, then release video selectively. Rule of the mob.

How laughable this tweet is? Why didn’t he say the earlier video was selective? Why don’t India Today group shows the extended version of video? If Rajdeep was first kicked and abused while he was on camera asking questions, where’s the video of that kick and abuse?

And how Rajdeep supporters who lied till today’s video surfaced now tweeting to save face. Look at this Shiv Aroor retweet: Okay, not watching any more rajdeep links. Clear case of idiots unnecessarily bullying a guy because they didn’t like his opinion.

Journos have died on duty, Rajdeep was even not slapped, in fact he attacked a commoner, but the drama of victim hood, sympathies is going on! How shocking that these people are champions of our national media! Those outside Madison Square didn’t damage camera, didn’t even call police and almost escorted Rajdeep from scuffle, but they are being tweet-abused by journos sympathizing with Rajdeep!

If someone had not captured Rajdeep attacking a commoner through his mobile phone and not posted a clip on Youtube, for how long Rajdeep and brigade’s lie could just go on and go on?

Remember, there was a gentleman who tweeted this(picture below), but before a video surfaced today which Rajdeep describes as ‘selective’, the sympathy brigade didn’t take it seriously.

Annexure:

US based Darshan Vaishnav who was present there narrates the event and also posts video

THE SAGA OF Rajdeep Sardesai !!
So after all these nonsense paddled by media that Rajdeep Sardesai was attacked !! Here is what happened real time !!
– Rajdeep takes a place and started setting up with his camera man !!
– People came to him to greet him, I was there too, saying “you are in saffron , whats the deal ” .. he got bit upset by that “joke”
Couple of people came to him to take pictures, he was “happy” that time
– person came in and just said, “Rajdeep sir, hope you do fair reporting and not the biased one”
– Rajdeep got really offended with this comment and said “Listen .. I KNOW MY JOB AND DON’T TEACH ME WHAT TO DO AND WHAT NOT TO DO, LET ME DO MY JOB ”
– By this time many people were gathered and many were Gujarati
– Rajdeep judged that and commented , “looks like this is gujju only event”
– So entire group of people got really offended and started saying “I am from andhra, I m from MP, I m from Maharashtra etc..”
– All these was before camera was rolling
– Camera started
– People shouted “Modi Modi”
– And then he started asking all crap questions like “how much did you pay for the ticket” , “why did you come here to see Modi” “Did he do anything in last 100 days” and all that crap ..
– people started shouting again, “Rajdeep looser..” “Rajdeep .hye hyee”
– couple of people did started cursing but quickly stopped by all
– then a person shouted “Rajdeep is a news trader, congress stooge”
– This time Rajdeep came into his “Macho Avatar” and removed his jacket and shouted “who said it.. come here”
– A person came in front and then Rajdeep told him “you are an asshole”
– A person replied saying “you too”
– Then Rajdeep got really angry and tried to grab that guy from shirt ..”
– That guy responded quickly and pushed him away
– people took Rajdeep and that person away to avoid any more confrontation
– lot of people started saying call the cops get him arrested and they were requested not to do that to avoid any black mark on Indian media
– I and my friends quickly pushed all people away from Rajdeep but people were really angry so started shouting against him .. we told them not to do that for our country’s sake
– Vijay Jolly jee came and tried calming everyone down
– Matter was over
– After event was over, Rajdeep was again in middle of the crowd, passing senseless comments like “People have money but no class..” and all
– He also mentioned after Modi’s speech was over that, “I am ok , because I am trending more than Modi on twitter”
– He also said that, if you want to take a picture you have to purchase my book
– At the end Media only ended up showing “Misbehavior with Rajdeep” Clip
—- THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED AND I AM TAGGING PEOPLE WHO WERE THERE AND SHARE THIS WITH AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN TO REVEAL THE TRUTH !!