CNN takes note of rising anti-India racism in US but quotes Islamist and anti-India bigots: Details
On Sunday (16th November), the controversial Cable News Network (CNN) reported on rising anti-India racism in the United States but ended up quoting notorious Islamists and anti-India bigots. The Amercian news media company, which otherwise has a history of pedding anti-India propaganda, published an article (archive) titled ‘Racists are now openly targeting Indian Americans.’ CNN highlighted how Indian-origin FBI Director Kash Patel, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy were abused by white Christian nationalists for wishing their followers on Diwali. Screengrab of the article published by CNN “Some Indian American conservatives seem shocked that segments of the political right are now taking aim at them,” the article noted. CNN atributed the rising anti-India racism to the ‘political right’, rise of ‘fringe figures’, and US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration. “Some members of the MAGA coalition are openly suggesting that only white Christians belong in America,” it added. While it was evident that the American news channel published the article to berate the Republicans and champion the cause of anti-racism, CNN roped in individuals known for anti-India and anti-Hindu rhetoric. 1. Raqib Naik One of the experts quoted by CNN happened to be Raqib Naik. He was referred to as the Founder and Executive Director of the ‘Center for the Study of Organized Hate.’ “Raqib Naik, the center’s founder and executive director, said that his team recorded nearly 2,700 posts promoting racism and xenophobia against Indians and Indian Americans in October alone,” the American news company claimed. For starters, Naik is an Islamist and a vicious fake news peddler. He is the founder of anti-Hindu disinformation outlet ‘Hindutva Watch,’ the Twitter account of which was withheld in India in January 2024. HW started as a Twitter handle in 2019, & its website also became operational in the same year. It had no fathers until owned by Raqib Hameed Naik in 2023 with the help of WaPo journo Pranshu Verma. Verma didn’t even check the dates claiming it was founded in April 2021!(2/n) pic.twitter.com/D4xfOF1OHB— DisInfo Lab (@DisinfoLab) September 30, 2023 The anti-India radical is infamous for denying the Hindu genocide perpetrated by Islamists in the Kashmir Valley in the early 1990s. Naik had previously mocked the Hindu ‘Shivling’ found inside the Gyanvapi mosque in Kashi. Despite this, CNN presented Naik as a researcher on ‘anti-India bigotry’ on social media. 2. Rohit Chopra The American news media company also quoted one Rohit Chipra, who was introduced as a Professor at Santa Clara University in the US. “(He) studies far-right online communities and…co-authored the reports for the Center for the Study of Organized Hate with Naik,” it stated. Chopra runs a Hinduphobic X handle by the name ‘IndiaExplained,’ which was previously suspended for calling for the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Nanrendra Modi. The Twitter poll ran by Rohit Chopra. Chopra encouraged his followers to participate in a poll about how the Indian Prime Minister would be killed by his own Home Minister Amit Shah. In one tweet, the vile Professor shared a picture of Narendra Modi and claimed, “Dressed like he’s headed to rape a devotee, murder a wife or start a riot.” After his tweets went viral, he was de-platformed by prominent global think tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF). Tweet by Rohit Chopra According to NDTV journalist Shiv Aroor, the same ‘Professor’ was being investigated for child pornography several years ago. This explains why he had gone all out to defend ‘Dismantling Global Hindutva’ conference and downplay the explicit Hinduphobia generated throught the single event. Interestingly, CNN had no qualms to rope him in as an ‘expert’ on anti-India racism in the US. Chopra who has consistently fuelled anti-India and anti-Hindu rhetoric told the American news channel, “This should serve as a kind of wake-up call — that racism that’s directed at people of color and minority groups, you are not exempt from. And maybe that should spark some kind of reflection about questions of solidarity with other vulnerable groups.” 3. Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan Another controversial ‘expert’ quoted by CNN in its article happens to be Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan, who works as an analyst at Institue for Strategic Dialogue (ISD). He had previously attempted to donwplay ‘love jihad’ as a conspiracy theory, despite 1000s of documented cases. For the unversed, it is a ploy to convert non-Muslim women to Islam under the pretext of love (often by concleaing one’s true identity). The propagandist, who is yet to squeak a word about ‘Bhagwa love trap‘ campaign and its far reaching effects, had targeted OpIndia for a hit-piece by ‘TheWired’. “Siddharth tells WIRED that the narratives in these articles are then picked up and spread on other platforms such as X and
On Sunday (16th November), the controversial Cable News Network (CNN) reported on rising anti-India racism in the United States but ended up quoting notorious Islamists and anti-India bigots.
The Amercian news media company, which otherwise has a history of pedding anti-India propaganda, published an article (archive) titled ‘Racists are now openly targeting Indian Americans.’
CNN highlighted how Indian-origin FBI Director Kash Patel, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy were abused by white Christian nationalists for wishing their followers on Diwali.
“Some Indian American conservatives seem shocked that segments of the political right are now taking aim at them,” the article noted.
CNN atributed the rising anti-India racism to the ‘political right’, rise of ‘fringe figures’, and US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration. “Some members of the MAGA coalition are openly suggesting that only white Christians belong in America,” it added.
While it was evident that the American news channel published the article to berate the Republicans and champion the cause of anti-racism, CNN roped in individuals known for anti-India and anti-Hindu rhetoric.
1. Raqib Naik
One of the experts quoted by CNN happened to be Raqib Naik. He was referred to as the Founder and Executive Director of the ‘Center for the Study of Organized Hate.’
“Raqib Naik, the center’s founder and executive director, said that his team recorded nearly 2,700 posts promoting racism and xenophobia against Indians and Indian Americans in October alone,” the American news company claimed.
For starters, Naik is an Islamist and a vicious fake news peddler. He is the founder of anti-Hindu disinformation outlet ‘Hindutva Watch,’ the Twitter account of which was withheld in India in January 2024.
HW started as a Twitter handle in 2019, & its website also became operational in the same year. It had no fathers until owned by Raqib Hameed Naik in 2023 with the help of WaPo journo Pranshu Verma. Verma didn’t even check the dates claiming it was founded in April 2021!
— DisInfo Lab (@DisinfoLab) September 30, 2023
(2/n) pic.twitter.com/D4xfOF1OHB
The anti-India radical is infamous for denying the Hindu genocide perpetrated by Islamists in the Kashmir Valley in the early 1990s. Naik had previously mocked the Hindu ‘Shivling’ found inside the Gyanvapi mosque in Kashi.
Despite this, CNN presented Naik as a researcher on ‘anti-India bigotry’ on social media.
2. Rohit Chopra
The American news media company also quoted one Rohit Chipra, who was introduced as a Professor at Santa Clara University in the US.
“(He) studies far-right online communities and…co-authored the reports for the Center for the Study of Organized Hate with Naik,” it stated.
Chopra runs a Hinduphobic X handle by the name ‘IndiaExplained,’ which was previously suspended for calling for the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Nanrendra Modi.
Chopra encouraged his followers to participate in a poll about how the Indian Prime Minister would be killed by his own Home Minister Amit Shah.
In one tweet, the vile Professor shared a picture of Narendra Modi and claimed, “Dressed like he’s headed to rape a devotee, murder a wife or start a riot.”
After his tweets went viral, he was de-platformed by prominent global think tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF).
According to NDTV journalist Shiv Aroor, the same ‘Professor’ was being investigated for child pornography several years ago.
This explains why he had gone all out to defend ‘Dismantling Global Hindutva’ conference and downplay the explicit Hinduphobia generated throught the single event.
Interestingly, CNN had no qualms to rope him in as an ‘expert’ on anti-India racism in the US.
Chopra who has consistently fuelled anti-India and anti-Hindu rhetoric told the American news channel, “This should serve as a kind of wake-up call — that racism that’s directed at people of color and minority groups, you are not exempt from. And maybe that should spark some kind of reflection about questions of solidarity with other vulnerable groups.”
3. Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan
Another controversial ‘expert’ quoted by CNN in its article happens to be Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan, who works as an analyst at Institue for Strategic Dialogue (ISD).
He had previously attempted to donwplay ‘love jihad’ as a conspiracy theory, despite 1000s of documented cases. For the unversed, it is a ploy to convert non-Muslim women to Islam under the pretext of love (often by concleaing one’s true identity).
The propagandist, who is yet to squeak a word about ‘Bhagwa love trap‘ campaign and its far reaching effects, had targeted OpIndia for a hit-piece by ‘TheWired’.
“Siddharth tells WIRED that the narratives in these articles are then picked up and spread on other platforms such as X and Telegram, noting how “in some of these places there’s even more explicit calls for violence against Muslims or for the removal of Muslims.” Such narratives fall under the umbrella of Hindutva, or Hindu nationalism, a political ideology which claims that India is a Hindu nation under threat from outside influences such as Islam and Christianity,” an article by ISD pointed out.
The Institue for Strategic Dialogue, where Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan works as an analyst, has peddled lies not only about Hindutva and attempted to blame ‘Hindu nationalism’ (albeit without evidence) for the 2022 Leicester riots.
