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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday, 7 August, attacked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi a day after a report by The New York Times alleged links between tech mogul Neville Roy Singham, who finances the Indian news website NewsClick, and the Communist Party of China (CCP).
"We have been saying this about NewsClick. This is a propaganda to break India. This mohabbat ki dukan has China ka samaan,” Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur said during a press conference on Monday.
The New York Times report claimed that Singham's networks fueled disinformation and influenced mainstream narratives by promoting pro-China messages.
He further said that the the "reality" of Congress, China, and NewsClick had been "exposed."
Union Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who was also a part of the press conference, said:
In response to allegations in The New York Times report that NewsClick is part of a global network used to spread Chinese state propaganda, the organisation said, "The allegations being made against us by certain political actors and sections of the media are unfounded and without basis in fact or law. Newsclick is an independent news organisation, and any insinuation that we function as a mouth-piece of the Communist Party of China or other interests is false."
"Notably, the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi has, having found a prima facie case in favour of Newsclick, granted interim protection from arrest to various officials of the company. Further, the Hon'ble Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (Special Acts), Delhi, has dismissed a complaint filed by the income tax authorities against Newsclick, finding the same to be without merit," it added.
Earlier, Thakur had taken to X (formerly Twitter) to share the article by The New York Times on the issue.
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