The leftist portals in India have been crying and whining since the news broke that the GoI was implementing the ex-parte court order on Adani defamation case.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s recent directive to remove defamatory content targeting Adani Enterprises is simply the government acting as an administrative arm of the court.

Following the 6 September 2025 ex-parte interim injunction from the Rohini Court, media houses, journalists, and creators, including News Minute, Newslaundry, and others were legally bound to comply.

These left-leaning outlets tried to spin the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s takedown notices as “government overreach” or “pre-empting the judicial process.” Dhanya Rajendran and colleagues claimed that the Ministry was silencing journalists critical of Adani. Yet, a simple look at the facts exposes this as disingenuous posturing.

The MIB is not inventing law; it is enforcing a legitimate judicial order. Yet, left-leaning outlets and ‘journalists’ have turned this into a spectacle, claiming censorship and “preempting justice.”

Look at their reportage:

Here’s some whining too.

Govt orders takedown of 138 YouTube videos, 83 Instagram posts on Adani using court order. This includes 41 videos by ⁦@newslaundry⁩. Even a video where ⁦@kunalkamra88⁩ talks about satire https://t.co/WdQBthQpiF

— Dhanya Rajendran (@dhanyarajendran) September 16, 2025

This is disingenuous. The court found prima facie that unverified content was damaging the reputation of a company critical to India’s infrastructure, energy projects, and international investment confidence. Ignoring court orders and calling for “free speech” while disseminating potentially defamatory material is a blatant abuse of privilege.

The reality is straightforward. On 6 September 2025, the Delhi Rohini Court issued an ex parte interim injunction in Adani Enterprises Ltd vs Paranjoy Guha Thakurta & Ors., directing the removal of “incorrect, unverified, and prima facie defamatory” material. The court gave the publishers five days to comply. When they failed to act, the Ministry issued notices on 16 September 2025 to enforce the order.

This is not political interference; it is mandatory execution of a judicial directive. The Ministry’s action ensures compliance with the law, not suppression of legitimate reporting. Leftist commentators conveniently ignore that the court explicitly distinguished between defamatory content and fair, substantiated reporting, which remains fully protected.

Adani Enterprises had demonstrated before the court that repeated false reporting had caused billions in investor losses, project delays, and reputational harm, and that some defendants were aligned with anti-India interests disrupting key infrastructure and energy projects. The judiciary found a prima facie case and acted accordingly.

This is also not the first time Adani has been targeted by these so-called journalists; since 2017, there have been multiple defamation suits filed against baseless claims. Yet, News Minute and their allies continue to portray themselves as martyrs, ignoring the harm their content inflicts on investors, employees, and national economic interests.

Let’s be clear: court orders are not suggestions, and the rule of law cannot be held hostage to performative outrage. Complaining that the government is “preempting justice” while actively flouting a judicial order is hypocrisy. Those who refuse to distinguish between fair reporting and defamatory attacks cannot credibly claim moral high ground. The implementation of this court order is law, not political vendetta, and anyone who continues to frame it otherwise is willfully misleading the public.

Compliance is simple: remove unverified, defamatory content, continue fair reporting, and stop crying foul. Democracy thrives not on sensationalism but on accountability. Those unwilling to accept this simple principle should reconsider whether they are journalists or just self-styled agitators.

It is important to note that ex parte takedown orders are neither unprecedented nor partisan. Court once also restrained India Today from publishing defamatory content – In July 2024, the Delhi High Court granted an ad-interim injunction pertaining to defamatory posts against an acquitted businessman, directing removal of defamatory content from platforms including those associated with India Today Group. The court recognized the “right to be forgotten” and privacy rights, ordering the removal or masking of defamatory posts or judgments to protect the individual’s dignity from perpetual stigma. This demonstrates that the legal mechanism being used in the Adani case is standard judicial procedure, not a politically motivated attack on the media.

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The post Leftist Media Outrage Suffer Meltdown After Court Asks To Takedown Hitjob Content On Adani appeared first on The Commune.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has initiated a case against NewsClick for alleged violations of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. Searches are currently underway at two locations in Delhi, specifically the office and the residence of Prabir Purkayastha, the founder of NewsClick.

This development follows the recent arrest of Prabir Purkayastha and NewsClick’s HR head, Amit Chakravarty, who were taken into custody for their alleged involvement in spreading pro-China propaganda, in a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Notably, their arrest led to the sealing of the NewsClick office on October 3.

The FIR by Delhi Police outlines that a substantial amount of funds originated from China with the intention of undermining India’s sovereignty and inciting disaffection against the country. It also suggests that Prabir Purkayastha collaborated with a group called the People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) to interfere with the electoral process during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

On October 3, raids were conducted at 88 locations in Delhi and seven in other states, targeting the individuals named in the FIR as well as those identified during data analysis. This resulted in the seizure of approximately 300 electronic devices from NewsClick’s offices and the homes of journalists who were under investigation. Subsequently, 46 individuals, including nine female journalists, were questioned by the Special Cell in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).

NewsClick has issued a statement asserting that the actions taken against the portal are a clear attempt to suppress free and independent press in India. The statement also emphasizes that NewsClick has neither received funding nor instructions from China or Chinese entities and has not promoted or endorsed violence, secession, or any illegal activities in any way. They encourage reviewing their freely available online content to verify the accuracy of their claims.

The New York Times alleged that NewsClick got funds from a network linked to Chinese Communist Party linked US millionaire Neville Roy Singham, to promote Chinese propaganda.

ED probe found that NewsClick got ₹38.05 crore in foreign funds over 3 years which was distributed to controversial journalists like Gautam Navlakha and associates of Teesta Setalvad.

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The post CBI Files Case Against NewsClick For FCRA Violations In Chinese Funding Row appeared first on The Commune.

On 3 October 3 2023, after early morning raids conducted by the Delhi Police on several individuals associated with the leftist media platform NewsClick, the Congress party voiced its support for the portal, which is under scrutiny due to alleged ties with China.

The official X account of the Congress party, asserted that the raids, linked to Chinese funding, reflect Prime Minister Modi’s apprehension and nervousness. The party framed these developments as an attack on free speech and accused PM Modi of intimidating opposition leaders and journalists who “speak the truth.”

In a statement, the Congress party’s official handle declared, “PM Modi is scared and nervous, especially when confronted by those who question his failures. Whether it’s opposition leaders or journalists, those who speak the truth will face harassment. Today’s raids on journalists provide evidence of this.”

PM मोदी डरे हुए हैं, घबराए हुए हैं।

खासतौर से उन लोगों से जो उनकी विफलताओं पर, उनकी नाकामियों पर उनसे सवाल पूछते हैं।

वो विपक्ष के नेता हों या फिर पत्रकार, सच बोलने वालों को प्रताड़ित किया जाएगा।

आज फिर से पत्रकारों पर छापेमारी इसी बात का प्रमाण है।

— Congress (@INCIndia) October 3, 2023

These events followed the early morning raids by Delhi Police on 3 October 2023, targeting various locations related to the online portal NewsClick. Among the places searched was the residence of Abhisar Sharma, a former television journalist turned YouTuber, in connection with the NewsClick matter. Multiple journalists associated with NewsClick, including Sanjay Rajoura, Bhasha Singh, Urmilesh, Prabir Purkayastha, Abhisar Sharma, Aunindyo Chakraborty, and Sohail Hashmi, had their premises raided by the police.

Apart from the Congress party’s official Twitter handle, several Congress leaders expressed solidarity with the accused NewsClick journalists and criticized these actions as autocratic.

The early morning raids on contributing journalists at Newsclick comes as fresh distraction from the explosive findings of caste census in Bihar and the growing demand for caste census across the country. When he faces questions from out of syllabus, he resorts to the only…

— Pawan Khera (@Pawankhera) October 3, 2023

Pawan Khera, Chairman of the Media and Publicity Department of Congress, suggested that the Delhi Police raids, connected to alleged Chinese funding, were conducted to divert attention from the Caste Census report released in Bihar. He stated, “The early morning raids on contributing journalists at NewsClick come as a fresh distraction from the explosive findings of the caste census in Bihar and the growing demand for a caste census across the country. When faced with unexpected questions, he resorts to the only tactic he has in his predictable playbook – DISTRACTION.”

Digvijaya Singh, another Congress leader, expressed his dismay, saying, “Sad this is happening in a free democratic country.”

Sad this is happening in a free democratic country. https://t.co/VuapddY1qw

— Digvijaya Singh (@digvijaya_28) October 3, 2023

Shashi Tharoor, Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, questioned India’s democratic credentials and the title “mother of democracy.” He argued that the arrests of some NewsClick journalists did not reflect the actions of a “mother of democracy” and accused the government of being intolerant and undermining democracy.

In a statement on social media, Tharoor wrote, “Shocked to learn of the raids on 30 journalists in Delhi and arrests of several of them. These are not the actions of a ‘mother of democracy’ but of an insecure and autocratic state. Why does a government as strong and authoritarian as this one is, feel threatened by a news website? And that too, one that is not even ranked very high in reach or readership? Intolerance is unworthy of everything that India represents. The government has disgraced itself and our democracy today.”

Shocked to learn of the raids on 30 journalists in Delhi and arrests of several of them. These are not the actions of a “mother of democracy” but of an insecure and autocratic state. Why does a government as strong & authoritarian as this one is, feel threatened by a news…

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) October 3, 2023

Following the actions against NewsClick and its alleged links with China, old Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) between the Congress party and the Communist Party of China (CPC), as well as other instances, have resurfaced on social media.

The Congress party’s alleged connections with China, including the MoU with CPC and funding to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, have raised questions about its stance toward China, especially in light of its softer approach compared to its stance on the Indian government and journalists accused of receiving funds from China.

One significant reason for the Congress Party’s seemingly favorable stance toward China can be traced back to an agreement in August 2008 between the Sonia Gandhi-led Congress Party and the Communist Party of China (CPC). During the UPA1 government in 2008, the Congress Party and the CPC signed an MoU in Beijing to exchange high-level information and cooperate on important bilateral, regional, and international developments.

This MoU was signed at a time when Left parties in India had expressed distrust in the UPA-1 government led by the Congress Party.

Notably, the close relationship between Chinese leadership and the Congress party, particularly Rahul Gandhi, became evident during the Doklam standoff when Rahul Gandhi was reportedly seen secretly meeting Chinese officials.

Additionally, in 2020, details emerged about the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation’s (RGF) financial operations, revealing substantial contributions from the Chinese government dating back to 2006.

Rather than condemning China’s actions on the global stage, Rahul Gandhi, a Congress leader, has publicly praised China on several occasions, hailing it as an “aspiring superpower” and expressing admiration for its Belt and Road initiative.

Given these controversial aspects of the Congress party’s history and its connections with China, social media users have noted that they are not surprised by the party’s stance on actions against journalists accused of receiving Chinese funds and how it is presented as an assault on democracy.

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The post Congress Voices Support For Leftist Media Outlet NewsClick Amidst Controversy Over Chinese Links And Money Laundering Allegations appeared first on The Commune.

After government authorities discovered the link between the online portal NewsClick, which had received several crores in funding from the US and China, police on 3 October 2023 conducted raids and  detained several leftist journalists with links to leftist propaganda outlet NewsClick. The ‘journalists’ whose premises have been raided include Sanjay Rajoura, Bhasha Singh, Urmilesh, Prabir Purkayastha, Abhisar Sharma, Aunindyo Chakraborty, and Sohail Hashmi. 

As per reports, the police took away mobiles and laptops for forensics analysis which may give more information on how deep the nexus is between hostile foreign entities and some journalists. 

The Delhi Police Special Cell also searched the residence of senior CPI(M) leader and general secretary Sitaram Yechury. It just be noted that Yechury is married to journalist Seema Chisti who works as an Editor at another leftist Islamist apologist outlet The Wire, a portal run by American Citizen and Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) cardholder, and former editor of The Hindu, newspaper Siddharth Varadarajan.

However, the communist leader clarified that the raid was not targeting the CPI-M, but rather the son of a party office employee who works at NewsClick as a graphics artist.

#WATCH | Delhi: On Delhi Police conducting raids at different premises linked to NewsClick, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury says, "Police came to my residence because one of my companions who lives with me there, his son works for NewsClick. Police came to question him.… pic.twitter.com/ULoF9G7W7O

— ANI (@ANI) October 3, 2023

Also, the Mumbai home of activist Teesta Setalvad’s Mumbai was raided in the matter. In August 2023, it was reported that during an investigation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had found that Newsclick received monies from China that were used to fund NGOs, byTeesta Setalvad’s husband, son, and daughter whom some of the beneficiaries, including Abhisar Sharma and Gautam Navlakha.

Teesta Setalvad has been accused of profiting from the funds she collected for the 2002 Gujarat Riots victims and been accused of tutoring witnesses in cases filed against the Gujarat Government then-CM Narendra Modi. She has also been accused of taking funds (Rs 30 lakh) from Congress leader, the late Ahmad Patel for waging a media war against the Modi-led government in Gujarat.

As the news of the raid hit the grapevine, the left-liberal ecosystem started wailing and within minutes social media like X (Formally Twitter) there was a deluge of messages of solidarity and how the police raids were an attack on freedom of speech and democracy. They even went as far as even if any journalist was the beneficiary of funding from a hostile nation, police conducting an investigation against them was an attack on the free press.

One of the first people to give a smoke screen and cover fire was Rohini Singh who said on her X post, “Journalists raided by the police, laptops and phones taken away because journalism is the biggest crime in new India.” 

Journalists raided by the police, laptops and phones taken away because journalism is the biggest crime in new India.

— Rohini Singh (@rohini_sgh) October 3, 2023

She, however, conveniently forgot how jubilant she was when Mumbai police arrested Arnab Goswami of the Republic News Channel. She was not only happy that Arnab one of the most popular journalists had been arrested, but also in that process, passed a snide remark against Karva Chauth.

Pratik Sinha who is the co-founder of Islamic propaganda outlet AltNews with Mohammad Zubair who never loses an opportunity to paint targets on Hindu women on a regular basis, declared that the government was “crossing all limits”.

How can you target journalists/contributors associated with Newsclick? This Government is crossing all limits.

— Pratik Sinha (@free_thinker) October 3, 2023

Arfa Khanum Sherwani who once said Muslims should bide for their time and then strike wrote on X, “Mother of democracy, anyone ? In early morning raids on homes of several journalists, stand-up comics, satirists and commentators, Delhi police has started interrogations in matters “related to terror links”.

Mother of democracy, anyone ?
In early morning raids on homes of several journalists, stand-up comics, satirists and commentators, Delhi police has started interrogations in matters “related to terror links” https://t.co/pBw293hvYE

— Arfa Khanum Sherwani (@khanumarfa) October 3, 2023

But at the same time Arfa Khanum Sherwani on her propaganda portal, thewire, wrote a heartfelt article on why she will not support Arnab Goswami as a journalist.

Habitual virtue signaller, dog-whistling apologist journalist Rajdeep Sardesai said, Breaking story this morning: Delhi police special cell raids homes of several journalists/writers associated with Newsclick website. Take away mobiles and laptops.. interrogation on. No warrant/FIR shown yet. Since when did journalists become state ‘enemies’ in a democracy?

Breaking story this morning: Delhi police special cell raids homes of several journalists/writers associated with Newsclick website. Take away mobiles and laptops.. interrogation on. No warrant/FIR shown yet. Since when did journalists become state ‘enemies’ in a democracy?

— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) October 3, 2023

Dhanya Rajendran, the Editor-in-Chief of Dravidianist-Leftist portal The News Minute reposted Abhisar Sharma’s distress call. Her outlet on the other hand covered the incident as if it was a crackdown on free-speech with a headline “Delhi police raids houses of several journalists, political commentators” completely brushing under the carpet the fact that NewsClick peddled Chinese propaganda and has ties to the Chinese Communist Party. 

All hell broke loose when The New York Times exposed the ties of an American businessman named Neville Roy Singham and his association with the Chinese government and his financial support to an Indian leftist propaganda outlet, NewsClick.

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The post Leftist Ecosystem In Complete Meltdown As Police Raid NewsClick For Chinese Funding And Money Laundering appeared first on The Commune.

A clipping of a video of Chinese-funded NewsClick’s founder Prabir Purkayastha has made it to social media channels. Prabir and NewsClick were in the news recently after New York Times brought out the link between China, and the Chinese Communist Party and how various organisations across the world were getting paid for pushing Chinese propaganda.

We did some digging into his past videos on COVID-19 and found the below:

This first video which was shared in March 2020, from the early days of the pandemic, discusses China’s approach to handling the COVID-19 outbreak, in order to “dispel misconceptions about its methods”. In this “report”, Prabir quotes the report presented by Bruce Aylward where he claims that China’s aggressive measures had slowed down the spread of the coronavirus there. Aylward was also notably a part of the WHO-China Joint Commission. 

Prabir also claims that China underwent various stages to control the epidemic, adapting policies to the evolving situation. He also claimed that China’s response included rapid identification of the virus, genome sequencing, development and distribution of test kits, a lockdown of Wuhan, centralized quarantine, and community support to control the outbreak effectively.

Titled “How did #China Handle the #COVID-19 Outbreak?”, he keeps repeating that by 31 December 2019, China had notified the WHO of the disease, and they identified it as SARS-CO-V2 in January 2020. “If you look at the period in January, you will see how quickly they moved in after that. One is they were able to identify the genome sequence in about two weeks. Now that’s a very very fast genotyping of the sequence and they were able to upload it on the international database around January 12th or 13th so you have this first genomic sequence of the Wuhan virus as Mr. Trump would like to call it, what the world calls the SARS CoV2 virus was identified within two weeks and within another week, they had already developed test kits because, please remember, without test kits, you can’t test you only have clinical symptoms. Clinical symptoms that are not very dissimilar from the standard flu that you see around you. So the first test kits were available only around June January 21st 22nd or so by which they are able to dispatch these kits into Wuhan. Now this again in three weeks, developing both the genome sequence and the test kits is a major achievement which we must credit the Chinese scientific community.”

He also goes on to explain how centralised quarantine done by Chinese authorities helped to reduce the cases in China and how the protective gear provided by China to its medical staff ensured not one of the 42000 staff got infected. He also talks that these measures brought down the effective reproductive rates of the virus below 1 and that was how the pandemic was controlled in Wuhan. He also praised the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) for providing food and other delivery services to the people who were going to be housebound. He also says “It was all in society all in government effort that really stopped the coronavirus epidemic in China”. He also claimed that “instead of a coercive lock down what you need is a lockdown which is cooperative which allows the people to organize and allows the people also access to basic needs food water supplies of different kinds and unless we are organized as society as government to provide that this kind of lockdowns alone is not going to help” He ends the video by saying “China has shown the way but does the rest of the world understand what has happened and does it have the will to follow it”.

The second video we looked at, was titled “COVID-19 in India” was also shared in June 2020 where he discusses the COVID-19 situation in India with a fellow “journalist”.

In this video, he claims that at that point in time, India had the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Asia and that daily new cases were steadily rising. He said that despite the rising cases, lockdown measures were being eased. At that point, India ranked 7th globally in total cases, with a doubling rate of 14 days. He also shared concerns about the healthcare system’s capacity to handle the increasing cases.

He claimed that the lockdown strategy had not effectively curbed the epidemic’s growth and there was a lack of focus on contact tracing, testing, and isolating positive cases. He criticised the government’s ad hoc and ineffective approach.

He goes on to compare India to other countries like Malaysia where cases were supposedly better handled than India although there was an upsurge. He also claimed that several other countries had started to flatten their curves. He then goes on to praise Kerala which we must remember is a communist-ruled state.

Here’s what he said in the video:

“The three countries whose curves are still rising are Brazil, India, and at the moment Mexico too – but Russia has more or less starting to flatten its curves the US has also started to flatten its curves and the countries which have flattened their curves are Italy, France, Germany, Iran. Now one may say, well you know, India is a relatively poor country but if you look at Malaysia, these figures we have been showing from day one is Malaysia started a little ahead of India and had higher figures for some time. But after that, you can see how well it has been able to flatten the curve and that’s something which is really striking. If we come to the states in India, the only state which has done reasonably well in this period and even now it’s facing an upsurge is Kerala. This recent upsurge in Kerala is, of course, because of a large number of migrants who have come from other states already infected and Kerala is dealing with that at the moment. But even otherwise, if you look at the figures, you will see Kerala is the only state which controls its numbers earlier and is still able to provide that degree of isolation support that we need. ICMR and the Government of India were talking about avoided deaths, I think that’s a bogus concept because you don’t avoid deaths in the long term, you only postpone.”

He said India was not able to cut down infections due to low testing and poor isolation. Apart from Kerala, he said that India as a country was not successful in terms of contact tracing. He said “The Government of India looked upon this as if it’s a law and order problem, not a public health emergency. the government of India’s response to this has been what would be called the police response which is what the colonial administration engaged to put people in camps isolate them lock them down and hope that the epidemic will die by itself”.

It was reported later that Kerala had underreported deaths.

He continues to find fault with the relaxing of the lockdown and allowing people to visit places of worship, saying, 

“If you remove the lockdown relaxing lockdowns as we are doing which we are bound to, but we are also allowing, for instance, places of worship and other places malls to open. So those are the kind of further risk issues that are coming up”.

The video that was shared on Twitter is from a longer video where Prabir is seen discussing the COVID-19 pandemic with a NewsClick “journalist”.

In this video clip, we can see Prabir defending China over the pandemic. Here is a transcript of the entire clipping.

“Right now both Pompeo and the state department and various intelligence agencies in the US are basically saying China did not cooperate, china did not give us ABC, did not give us information, and that is why all of this happened. Now China, if you see had diagnosed that it was a novel coronavirus by around the end of Dec 2019. they informed the who, I think on 31 Dec. On the 1st to the 3rd of Jan, the Chinese equivalent of CDC, the head talked to the director of CDC, Redford, and told him what was happening. In fact, the record says that at that point in time, he was in tears, he knew what was happening. So that was one. The second part of it which they now say is that, well they didn’t really cooperate. Now ok information you claimed you had was insufficient, China locked down Wuhan, it was a complete lockdown of an 11-million city. They locked down 15 suburban areas, other cities near Wuhan, and locked down the entire province of Hubei, they locked down entire industries in China, colleges, malls, cinema halls, and all visible gatherings, all of it was locked down in all of China. So the argument that they did not tell us, doesn’t hold good because actions speak louder than words. here they were taking action, showing how dangerous it was, in their view. So if the rest of the world did not listen, it wasn’t something you can fault them on. 

Watch Prabir Purkayastha, Editor in Chief of Newsclick in 2020

He says China did not hide anything about pandemic

China reported everything timely and faithfully

It is not China's fault that others did not listen

Independent media? pic.twitter.com/iL3BYHpQr7

— Abhishek (@AbhishBanerj) August 17, 2023

This video is part of a longer video from May 2020 which is titled “COVID-19: US Blames China to Cover Up Its Own Failures”.

He claims that China with a much larger population than the US controlled the infections much better than the Americans. China has a similar climatic zone as the US and they did much better than the US. The US was trying to make China look guilty and had also said that they should pay for reparations. 

He continued to say that the experience from the SARS epidemic, avian flu, and swine flu gave China the upper hand and introduced mask culture over the last 15-20 years. He claimed that they were better prepared in terms of social practice and medical systems geared to face the pandemic. 

He also claims that even though Pompeo claimed that China didn’t give them the virus, the CDC nowhere claimed that they couldn’t develop test kits because there was no sample. He goes on to speak about the genomic sequence publication dates. He says, “When the genomic sequence was published, it was sent to Nature on the 5th or 7th, NCBI says this was submitted to Nature on the 5th Jan. The entire genome sequence was uploaded to GenBank (a public repository of genome sequences) on 11th or 12th Jan, to Virology, another such public database, and also the Influenza database maintained globally. all of these had the genome sequence. if you take the genome sequence why would you need something else? Because with the genome sequence both the Germans, charite, a very able team, developed a test kit as early as 16 Jan and WHO adopted it. A South Korean company also created a test kit in 3 weeks. CDC never complained about the lack of virus samples.”

These videos serve as evidence of the channel’s establishment with the intent to disseminate Chinese propaganda, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prabir’s actions closely aligned with the directives of his Chinese handlers, demonstrating his unwavering allegiance and compliance.

At the time of the New York Times expose, some emails exchanged between Neville Roy Singham and Prabir and the Indian counterparts were also made public. Those emails were more concerning the Galwan clash as reported here. 

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The post How Prabir Purkayastha & NewsClick Peddled Chinese Propaganda During COVID-19 appeared first on The Commune.

The New York Times on 5 August 2023 released a report exposing a vast financial network connecting Chicago to Shanghai. This network allegedly makes use of American nonprofits as a means to promote Chinese propaganda on a global scale.

The report names a “charismatic American millionaire” Neville Roy Singham who is renowned for his support of far-left causes as a socialist benefactor.

The New York Times asserts that it has traced hundreds of millions of dollars to various groups associated with Singham. These groups reportedly blend progressive advocacy with Chinese government narratives, operating across different locations from Massachusetts to Manhattan, even extending to a political party in South Africa and news organisations in India and Brazil.

The report states that “But Mr. Singham, 69, himself sits in Shanghai, where one outlet in his network is co-producing a YouTube show financed in part by the city’s propaganda department. Two others are working with a Chinese university to “spread China’s voice to the world.” And last month, Mr. Singham joined a Communist Party workshop about promoting the party internationally.” 

According to The New York Times article, while Singham claims that he does not operate under the direction of the Chinese government, there appears to be a blurry line between him and the propaganda apparatus. Notably, he shares office space with a company whose objective is to inform foreigners about “the remarkable achievements of China on the global stage.”

In New Delhi, corporate documents indicate that Mr. Singham’s network provided financial backing to a news website called NewsClick. The website’s coverage reportedly incorporated Chinese government talking points, with one video stating that “China’s history continues to inspire the working classes.”

ED Raids On NewsClick In 2021

On 9 February 2021, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted a raid at the residence of Prabir Purkayastha, the founder and Editor-in-Chief of NewsClick. ED sources revealed that NewsClick had received ₹10 crores through Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from an American company. 

NYT has published a detailed report on Chinese propaganda global financial network where Indian media NewsClick is one beneficiary.

ED raids on Newsclick in 2021 revealed that the portal received ₹38cr from China in span of three years.

1/ pic.twitter.com/s6qilTdSU9

— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) August 6, 2023

Interestingly, Prabir Purkayastha claimed to have no knowledge of the reason behind the American company’s transfer of money to his company’s account, and he could not provide any evidence of work done for that specific company.

Upon further investigation, it was discovered that another US-based company had provided ₹20 crores to NewsClick, labeling it as ‘Export Remittance.’ This transfer was made in response to NewsClick’s content uploaded on a platform called People’s Dispatch.

According to sources, it was revealed that Purkayastha had received ₹1.5 crore rupees under the pretext of maintenance. Surprisingly, he had employed an electrician with only a ninth-grade education to handle the maintenance tasks at his office. The concerning part was that this transaction lacked any documentation, making it challenging for him to provide a valid explanation to the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

In July 2021, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) made public that their inquiry into the money laundering case related to ‘NewsClick’ had unveiled that the media outlet’s promoters had received around ₹38 crores from entities potentially associated with the Communist Party of China.

As indicated by an officer participating in the money laundering investigation, it came to light that ‘NewsClick’ had been involved in financial dealings with Neville Roy Singham, a businessman with Sri Lankan-Cuban origins. Singham allegedly channeled a total of ₹38 crore to PPK Newsclick Studio Pvt Ltd from overseas sources spanning the years 2018 to 2021.

The officials, while tracking the money flow of the media outlet, stated that Singham is connected to the propaganda arm of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The Communist Connection In India

According to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the funds channeled to NewsClick were allegedly directed to Gautam Navlakha, who is facing charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) as an urban naxal, and also to a member associated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM). 

ED said the funds are routed to urban naxal UAPA accused Gautam Navlakha and one CPM office bearer too.

3/ pic.twitter.com/FH8nc0oalA

— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) August 6, 2023

Founder Editor of NewsClick, Prabir Purkayastha, and the journalist Ravi Nair have been consistently critical of the Rafale deal and other strategic economic and defense initiatives of India. Their continuous attacks on these developments have apparently sparked concern and irked China.

Now look at this. Newsclick commie leader
Prabir Purkayastha snd hitman journo Ravi Nair attacks back to back on Rafale deal and other strategic economic or defence developments of India that definitely irks China.

4/ pic.twitter.com/I3gwKMvlHQ

— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) August 6, 2023

Ravi Nair was also recently in the news for doing a hitjob on Adani for his article on AdaniWatch, an Australian NGO. 

Do you know there is an exclusive website managed by an Australian NGO only for defaming Indian industrialist Gautam Adani?

Bob Brown Foundation, supposedly an environmentalist NGO, runs adaniwatch(.)org

1/ pic.twitter.com/d9I9cc7mvd

— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) February 2, 2023

Btw, Nair is allegedly facing a defamation suit by the Adani group for writing hit-job pieces/post.

Note – check @vijaygajera thread (attached at last) how Nair is being supported by similar campaign 'Stop Adani'.https://t.co/ZlH3YpQGvo

7/ pic.twitter.com/PgCDntJgEp

— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) February 2, 2023

How Indian “Journalists” Reacted to ED Raids On NewsClick

Ravish Kumar, a former employee of NDTV, raised objections and expressed concern during the ED raids, calling them as an “assault on press freedom.”

This is BIG !!

As per NYT investigation Newsclick media portal is funded by China to do propaganda against India

Newsclick was raided by ED and whole Chinese puppet journalist lobby start labelling it attack on Press freedom

Here ex NDTV employee Ravish kumar crying after ED… pic.twitter.com/FHURHR8cGH

— THE INTREPID (@Theintrepid_) August 6, 2023

Never forget how Ravish defended Chinese propaganda portal @newsclickin during ED Raids.

Fake News Peddler @abhisar_sharma does show 'Bol Ke Lab Azad Hain Tere', but his Lab was funded by Chinese propaganda arm.#ChineseAgentAbhisar pic.twitter.com/lGmPc7Vo6f

— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) August 6, 2023

Others who supported Abhisar Sharma, known for his rabid Modi hatred and known for peddling fake news, and NewsClick, included Sayema, Ajit Anjum, Sakshi, and Kapri. 

Remember how Sayema, Ajit Anjum, Sakshi, Kapri supported NewsClick and Abhisar?

Today NY times revealed NewsClick is funded by China to do propaganda in India.#ChineseAgentAbhisar pic.twitter.com/lWH5WZwwbx

— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) August 6, 2023

So also usual leftist supporters like Rana Ayyub, Ram Guha, Swara Bhaskar, and Subhashini Ali voiced their support for NewsClick. 

Whole left propaganda army Ram Guha, Rana Ayyub, Swara and Shubhasini Ali supported Chinese funded NewsClick.

NewsClick was routing Chinese money and funding many activists.

Who are these people?#ChineseAgentAbhisar pic.twitter.com/meQ5ZPxUUl

— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) August 6, 2023

The Editors Guild, along with “notable” figures like Shekhar Gupta, Sagarika Ghose, and Arfa Khanum Sherwani, defended NewsClick when ED raids happened.

Editors Guild, Shekhar Gupta, Sagarika, Arfa

All were defending ED raids on Chinese funded propaganda portal NewsClick.#ChineseAgentAbhisar pic.twitter.com/22IAgdLasj

— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) August 6, 2023

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