In a tragic turn of events, at least 60 individuals lost their lives and over 100 were injured when a group of assailants unleashed gunfire inside a large concert hall in Moscow, Russia’s capital. The attackers also set fire to the venue, Crocus City Hall, located on the western edge of the city. This brazen assault occurred shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin secured a resounding victory in the country’s recent elections, tightening his hold on power.
CNN reported that ISIS took responsibility for the attack in a brief statement released by the ISIS-affiliated news agency Amaq on Telegram on 22 March 2024. The report stated that the statement did not offer any evidence to substantiate the claim.
The concert hall, capable of accommodating 6200 people, was hosting a performance by the Russian rock band Picnic when the attackers struck. The venue’s roof collapsed under the intensity of the blaze, exacerbating the chaos and devastation. Reports suggest that more people may have been trapped by the ensuing fire caused by explosives hurled by the assailants.
Details regarding the attackers remain scant, with authorities indicating that they were clad in combat attire. Disturbing footage circulated on Russian media and Telegram channels depicts repeated gunfire and scenes of terror as the attackers mercilessly targeted concertgoers. Reports also suggest that the venue’s security personnel were unarmed, leaving them defenseless against the armed assailants.
Russian special forces were reportedly dispatched to the scene, but the attackers managed to flee before their arrival. Authorities are now on the lookout for vehicles possibly used by the perpetrators to escape.
In a separate incident earlier this month, Russian security forces thwarted an ISIS plot to attack a synagogue in Moscow, underscoring the ongoing threat posed by the terrorist organization.
As investigations continue and the nation mourns the loss of lives, Russian officials have denounced the attack as a “bloody terrorist act,” calling for condemnation from the international community.
Back in India, in Tamil Nadu, the official mouthpiece of the ruling DMK government whitewashed the terror attack with a post on their social media X handle reading, “Shooting at concert venue”.
The news card states, “Indiscriminate attack – 40 people killed!
40 people were killed and more than 100 were injured last night in a shooting at Crocus City Arena in Moscow, the Russian capital.
The entire stadium was destroyed by fire! Who are the attackers? Do they belong to a terrorist organization? As the police, investigative agencies investigate. In the situation where Putin has been re-elected as president, this incident has caused a stir!”
An hour later they make another post updating the above stating that “Moscow shooting incident – death toll rises to 60!”
There is no mention of the ISIS even though the news that ISIS claimed responsibility has been reported worldwide; the news channel following its typical playbook made the act of terror look like a trivial incident, thus enabling terrorists.
Other instances where Sun News has behaved similarly include:
Glorifying CBE Terror Convicts
On 7 February 2024, Sun News conducted an interview featuring three terrorists implicated in the 1998 Coimbatore blast case. In the interview, these terrorists openly expressed admiration for Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and the DMK government. The terrorists, who seemed to have no remorse for their past actions, have since gained widespread attention on social media. The video, with all the background music, makes one think the terrorists were actually wronged by the justice system.
Reporting The 2022 Coimbatore Blast
Back in 2022 when the blast occurred in Coimbatore just a day before Deepavali, not one channel from local mainstream media including Sun News reported that the Coimbatore car blast was indeed linked to terrorists. Despite confirming this information with Tamil Nadu Police sources, an independent journalist Saikiran Kannan was surprised to find that none of the state’s media channels reported on these significant connections – that those arrested initially were connected to the 1998 Coimbatore bomb blasts. Upon delving deeper into the matter and engaging with senior journalists and media professionals in Tamil Nadu, he discovered that reporting the Coimbatore blast as a terror incident brought immense pressure from state government agencies. There were requests to tone down the reporting, with the government initially referring to it as a car cylinder explosion. Channels like Sun News also used the same kind of reportage when it came to the bomb blast.
Other Instances Of Fake News Peddling
Sun News has peddled fake news several times and hoodwinked the public often. Some of the instances include:
Earlier this month, Sun News attempted to weave a narrative connecting Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax (IT) raids by the central agencies to electoral bonds purchased by wrongdoers.
They also peddled fake news on the PMAY scheme.
In January 2024, a video of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s hands trembling during the inauguration of the Chennai Sangamam festival went viral, sparking rumors about his health. Sun News deleted the original clip which showed the trembling hands of the CM and shared an edited clip that removed the footage of Stalin’s trembling hands. The original video was deleted sparking netizen curiosity.
In December 2023, in the wake of the floods in Tamil Nadu, Sun News spread fake news regarding Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statements in a press conference on 22 December 2023. The outlet claimed that Sitharaman stated Tamil Nadu flood damages couldn’t be declared a national disaster. However, Sitharaman had made no such statement, instead, she said that there was no practice of declaring state disasters as national disasters.
In November 2023, Sun News propagated misinformation, suggesting that the online gambling law applied uniformly. Contrary to this, the Madras High Court ruled on a series of writ petitions filed by the All India Gaming Federation and online gaming companies. The court upheld the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Act, 2022, but specified that it only applied to “games of chance” and not skill-based games like rummy and poker. The court also affirmed the state government’s authority to regulate online gaming aspects.
Sun News posted a video on social media platform X in September 2023 quoting Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party President K Annamalai’s speech during his En Mann En Makkal yatra. Annamalai was speaking about the lack of electricity at the Marudhamalai Murugan temple. The incident that Annamalai quoted at his yatra mentions how it was Chinnappa Devar popularly known as Sandow MMA Chinnappa Devar was instrumental in getting an electricity connection for the Marudhamalai Temple in Coimbatore. Sun News posted the video with the question, “Was DMK in power in 1962?” and shared a photo of the engraved inauguration stone mentioning MGR and Chinnappa Devar, trying to prove that they fact-checked the claim and it turned out to be wrong.
In September 2021, Sun News, through its official handle had put a news card in which it claimed that BJP workers collected garbage at the Besant Nagar beach on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday and left the collected garbage in bags in the beach itself. However, BJP Tamil Nadu Youth Wing President Vinoj P. Selvam clarified that the garbage collected was taken in a corporation vehicle.
In June 2021, A tampered video of an elderly Muslim man being assaulted was shared widely which was also shared by Sun News saying that his beard was forcibly cut for not chanting ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Jai Shri Ram’. However, this fake news was busted.
In April 2021, Sun News peddled fake news about people dying due to a lack of oxygen supply at the Corona Special Ward of Vellore Government Hospital.
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