It seems that the tide is not favoring infamous firebrand of Indian media Arnab Goswami these days. He has been embroiled in the rating scam probe for the past few months. The same probe has revealed that Goswami knew about the Balakot incident of 2019 three days earlier.
The charge sheet pertaining to the investigations contains a transcript of the WhatsApp conversation between Goswami, the chief editor of Republic TV, and Pratho Dasgupta, the locked up head of ratings company Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC). The reported conversation shows that Goswami told Dasgupta on Feb 23, 2019, “On another note something big will happen’.
Three days later, the Indian Air Force conducted a strike in what it called the terrorist training camps, but in reality, destroyed a couple of our trees and crows. The incident brought the two archrivals in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation and the entire region on the brink of war.
The excerpts from the purported conversation show:
Arnab Goswami: “No sir Pakistan. Something major will be done this time.”
Partho Dasgupta: “Good.”
Partho Dasgupta: “It’s good for the big man in this season.”
Partho Dasgupta: “He will sweep polls then.”
Partho Dasgupta: “Strike? Or bigger.”
Arnab Goswami: “Bigger than a normal strike. And also at the same time something major on Kashmir. On Pakistan, the government is confident of striking in a way that people will be elated. Exact words used.”
After the airstrike, Dasgupta asked Goswami if that’s what he was talking about. He answered in affirmative and added that there are more to come. The anchor also wrote after the Pulwama Attack that caused the death of 40 Indian soldiers, “This attack we have won like crazy.”
While these conversations are also the tip of the iceberg, they are damning evidence that Goswami was toeing the government line instead of showing the world truth. Many Indians are criticizing the government as well and propounding that the Balakot strike was just a charade to garner more votes in elections.
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