New Delhi: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said Wednesday that as India is on the rise, “sinister designs are there to set afloat a narrative by free fall of information” — a speech that comes as controversy rages over an income tax survey at the offices of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Delhi and Mumbai.
Dhankhar, who was addressing Indian Information Service probationers, asked them to watch out for such “designs” and said that the public should “not allow free fall of doctored narratives to run down our growth story”.
“We have to boldly neutralise it,” he said in his speech as the I-T department conducts survey at BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai. The department’s action has invited widespread criticism, not only from the opposition parties but also from leading media bodies both in India and internationally.
However, Dhankhar didn’t name any media organisation.
“Everything can be whitewashed. (Everything) can go down the drain if you’re not vigilant. You would reckon that in the last decade or so, a narrative was set forth by a global news house that seeks to lay claim to its reputation. The narrative was someone possessed with Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and, therefore, there is a just cause in favour of humanity to take a call,” Dhankhar said, referring to the Iraq war.
He added: “Things happened (but there were) no Weapons of Mass Destruction. Look carefully, and you will find those reputations are not firm. Those reputations have failed humanity in recent years”.
The Indian Information Service is a central Group ‘A’ Service, whose members work as media managers for the Government of India.
Also Read: Income Tax survey at BBC offices to probe ‘irregularities in transfer pricing, int’l taxation
‘Can’t afford delayed response’
In his speech, Dhankhar also referred to the Emergency period, saying how it was imposed despite nine high courts of the country upholding fundamental rights.
“(However) the Supreme Court, in the case that goes by the title ADM Jabalpur case, upturned the verdict of the high courts,” he said. “The honourable judges who were part of the bench regretted the decision in the public domain. Then Chief Justice (Y.V) Chandrachud said so. Another illustrious judge, Justice Bhagwati, also said so when he turned 90 years old. But by then it was too late,” he said, adding that “we no longer have the luxury of delayed response”.
Dhankar urged the public to do their duty to check the flow of doctored narratives in the name of free expression. “If something is wrong, if there is an invasion in the name of free expression of doctored information (which is) found by the highest court to be factually untenable and this is sought to be made a narrative, we have to do our duty (sic),” he said.
Also Read: Income Tax survey on BBC ‘intimidation, harassment’, says Editors Guild