Questions that Karnataka govt, particularly Priyank Kharge, must reply concerning the Swawalambi Sarathi scheme and the FIR in opposition to Sudhir Chaudhury

On the eighth of September 2023, a contemporary controversy surrounded the Congress authorities in Karnataka. BJP leaders Tejasvi Surya and Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar took to Twitter to submit a screenshot of a newspaper advert which spoke concerning the Swawalambi Sarathi scheme by the Karnataka authorities which was meant particularly for the minority communities. It seems that the commercial was not positioned by the government however by a non-public organisation known as AR-Raheem Trust.

As quickly as Rajeev Chandrasekhar posted the newspaper clipping and questioning the Karnataka authorities a couple of scheme which is particularly for the minorities solely, Mohammad Zubair of AltNews, who’s within the behavior of spreading misinformation and portray a goal on individuals’s backs, tried to “fact check” the minister.

As per an commercial hooked up by the minister in his tweet, a subsidy of fifty% of the car’s worth with a most of fifty% is being provided to spiritual minorities to buy Auto Rikshwas, Taxis and Goods autos. The Swavalambi Sarathi Scheme was launched by Karnataka Housing and Minorities Welfare Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan final month. 

Taking to X, Minister Chandrashekhar stated that the scheme is supposed completely for the non-Hindus retaining even the financially disadvantaged Hindu communities out of it. The union minister stated that it’s a brazen discrimination and violation of Article 14 of the Constitution from a celebration that goes overseas and talks of Bharat’s structure being below menace. He known as it “State sponsored Conversion inducement”.

He known as the scheme an ‘example of shameless, lazy, appeasement politics of bribing certain communities by Rahul Gandhi’s Congress in Karnataka.’

Heres one other instance of shameless, lazy, appeasement politics of bribing sure communities by Rahuls Cong in #Karnataka

Buy a car for Rs 6L, utilizing 50% subsidy, promote it the following day for Rs 5L. Cool revenue of Rs 2L.

Only out there for nonHindus and doesn’t embody poor… pic.twitter.com/x0hXuhZB0J

— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳 (@Rajeev_GoI) September 8, 2023

In the aftermath of this tweet by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a number of media retailers coated the scheme and the minister’s criticism of it on the eighth of September itself. On the morning of twelfth of September, Priyank Kharge, Congress minister within the Karnataka authorities, tweeted threatening authorized motion in opposition to Sudhir Choudhary – the AajTak anchor – for masking the information of the Swawalambi Sarathi Scheme and the way it was solely notified for minorities, not SC/STs or OBCs.

At 11:36 PM on the twelfth of September, Mohammad Zubair, who Priyank Kharge calls “chief’, was the primary to tweet that an FIR had been filed in opposition to Sudhir Chaudhury.

On the eighth of September itself, when Rajeev Chandrashekhar tweeted concerning the scheme and criticised it, Mohammad Zubair, who works in an official capability with the Karnataka authorities, particularly Priyank Kharge, tried to fact-check the information with misinformation. OpIndia coated the story extensively and listed the misinformation which was unfold by Mohammad Zubair.

Zubair had claimed the next on the eighth of September:

The scheme Swawalambi Sarathi Scheme was out there to minorities, SC/STs and OBCs – he hooked up the screenshot of an innocuous, privately run web site making an attempt to cross it off as official authorities tips.
That related schemes have been there through the BJP govt’s tenure and that the Congress was merely persevering with these schemes – he used selective screenshots from the official handles of the Minority Welfare Department, leaving out a tweet the place in 2022, that they had admitted that the scheme had been placed on maintain.
This would imply that the Congress authorities had repackaged and restarted the scheme after it was placed on maintain by the BJP – a indisputable fact that Zubair didn’t trouble mentioning.

OpIndia discovered:

The web site of the Minority Welfare Department of the Karnataka authorities particularly talked about that to be eligible for this scheme, one must belong to a non secular minority group.
The scheme was open for registration on the Minority Welfare Department of Karnataka web site.
There was no related notification on the Social Welfare Department web site or anyplace else.
There was no notification for the scheme to be relevant to SC/STs and OBCs on any of the web sites.
OpIndia spoke to the Social Welfare Department and we have been categorically informed that the scheme is barely legitimate for these belonging to the minority group, not SC/STs.
AajTak confirmed from the Ambedkar Development Corporation. They stated that the scheme was presently solely legitimate for minorities they usually have been discussing how they may make it out there for SC/STs and OBCs.
During the Karnataka price range after coming to energy, the Congress govt had stated that this scheme could be made out there for SC/STs, however no notification to that impact was issued – registration had solely been made stay for minorities.

OpIndia’s report on the misinformation unfold by Mohammad Zubair and the FIR in opposition to Sudhir Choudhury may be learn right here.

While all of this was within the public area, there was nonetheless an FIR filed in opposition to AajTak’s Sudhir Choudhury for masking a information merely asking questions.

What must be particularly famous right here is that had the Congress authorities introduced a scheme particularly for the minority group, these questions wouldn’t have been raised. The truth stays that the Congress govt introduced in its price range that the scheme could be carried out for SC/STs, OBCs and Minorities, nonetheless, when it got here to implementation, it solely notified it for minorities and never SC/STs and OBCs.

It is pertinent to notice that after the tweet by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, solely on the eleventh of September did the Karnataka Govt concern a notification extending the scheme to OBCs. Interestingly, this notification has nonetheless not been uploaded to any govt web site but. Also, there isn’t any SC/ST notification but both – if there may be one, it has not been uploaded on any govt web site.

This notification which has been obtained by OpIndia was handed solely 3 full days after the tweet by Rajeev Chandrasekhar and on the very day that Sudhir Choudhury did his report.

Given these developments, the Congress authorities and particularly Priyank Kharge must reply a number of questions.

The concern was raised by Rajeev Chandrasekhar on the eighth of September. At the time this concern was raised, there was clearly no notification within the public area which prolonged this scheme to SC/STs and OBCs. The notification extending it to OBCs was solely handed on the eleventh of September, a full 3 days after the difficulty was raised. Why did the Congress govt not cross this notification earlier?
If a notification was handed on the eleventh of September extending this scheme to OBCs, why has it not been handed for SC/STs but – as was promised within the price range?
If it has been handed, why has it not been uploaded to any authorities web site or made public by Karnataka govt?
The notification extending it to OBCs was clearly handed as a injury management measure after the difficulty was raised by Rajeev Chandrasekhar. In that case, the story was correct and there was no misinformation that had been unfold both by Rajeev Chandrasekhar or by the media. If that’s the case, Mohammad Zubair, who works formally with the Karnataka govt as knowledgeable by Priyank Kharge himself, had unfold misinformation calling this as pretend information, based mostly on an innocuous, inauthentic web site. Will Priyank Kharge then rethink his affiliation with ‘Chief’ Mohammad Zubair?
Since Mohammad Zubair was himself spreading misinformation in an effort to fact-check Rajeev Chandrasekhar, will the Karnataka authorities now file an FIR in opposition to Mohammad Zubair, whom Priyank Kharge calls “chief”?
The FIR was filed solely in opposition to Sudhir Choudhury for his AajTak present. The AajTak present aired on the eleventh of September – the very day that the notification was issued by the government. Did the Congress govt wait until some media organisation coated this information after they secretly handed this notification so they may make that media home/journalist/anchor right into a scapegoat?
Mohammad Zubair additionally tried to discredit the information by utilizing selective screenshots of the responses by the minority division in 2022 to assert that the scheme was energetic through the BJP tenure as properly. While the scheme was certainly energetic, it had been halted in 2022 – a screenshot that Zubair selectively refused to publish. Since Priyank Kharge claims that his “fact-checking unit”, which Zubair is part of, is non-partisan, will it’s taking motion in opposition to Zubair for spreading misinformation?

The Karnataka authorities and Mohammad Zubair have clearly used the malicious FIR in opposition to Sudhir Choudhury to discredit correct information which was printed on the eighth of September. Essentially, the information printed on the eighth of September was correct and continues to be correct since no notification for the SC/ST group has been notified but. After the information received traction, the Karnataka govt stealthily notified the scheme for OBCs 3 days after the information. It refused to make it public and when Sudhir Choudhury coated the information, they filed an FIR in opposition to him so they may then use the FIR to assert that each one information, for the reason that eighth, about this scheme, was pretend information.

There seems to be a transparent nexus between Priyank Kharge and Mohammad Zubair of AltNews, to unfold half-baked ‘fact-checks’ so as to discredit opposed information in opposition to Congress after which launch a witch-hunt in opposition to these journalists and activists who don’t agree with them politically or publish genuine information that doesn’t go well with their political ends.

The modus operandi appears easy – First, Mohammad Zubair makes use of selective screenshots and half-truths to “fact-check” the information which doesn’t sit properly with Congress. Based on that “fact-check”, which is definitely misinformation, Priyank Kharge jumps into motion and begins threatening individuals with authorized motion. Thereafter, FIRs are filed in opposition to the person to intimidate them, thereby discrediting the information fully and making certain that others who may discuss concerning the information are silenced. There appears to be lots that the Congress occasion, the Karnataka govt and particularly Priyank Kharge must reply. While one is just not stunned that Congress is taking the assistance of Islamists and their sympathisers to seemingly take pleasure in a political witchhunt and silence those that converse up in opposition to them, the impunity with which dissidents are being silenced actually makes one marvel what the tropes about “pyaar ki kheti’ have been all about.