The CEO of OpIndia, Rahul Roushan, and Editor-in-Chief, Nupur Sharma, have been booked by Thiruninravur Police, which falls under the jurisdiction of Avadi city police commissionerate, for spreading “fake news” about alleged attacks on migrants from Bihar in Tamil Nadu. The police have booked the case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 153-A and 505.
The case against Rahul Roushan and Nupur Sharma was filed by Surya Prakash, IT Wing head of the ruling DMK, who accused the portal of creating panic among the public, defaming the government, and inciting violence between locals and migrants.
The OpIndia article, which was published on 3rd March 2023, was based on the report of Hindi Daily Dainik Bhaskar which stated that several migrant labourers from Bihar working in Tamil Nadu were attacked and that more than a dozen of them had lost their lives. However, these reports were found to be exaggerated with many incidents cited in the article being altercation in other states.
Nevertheless, there have been several incidents of violence reported against workers from other states. North Indian labourers were attacked in Chennai by a Vizhupuram man who claimed that their jobs were taken by Hindi speakers, and a Bengali construction worker who was stranded near Kelambakkam in Chengalpattu district was blindly attacked by local youths who mistook him for a thief, to name a few such incidents in Tamil Nadu where migrant labourers are attacked in last few days.
In a video that went viral on social media a Tamil-speaking man can be seen verbally abusing and assaulting north Indian passengers on the train.
This hate and animosity against migrant workers have been fuelled by several local leaders, especially from the DMK as well as several YouTube channels. However, no action has been taken against those who peddled xenophobia.
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