{"id":122097,"date":"2022-07-11T19:35:25","date_gmt":"2022-07-11T14:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/?p=122097"},"modified":"2022-07-12T18:21:01","modified_gmt":"2022-07-12T12:51:01","slug":"flood-jihad-newsx-other-media-outlets-journos-communalise-silchar-floods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/flood-jihad-newsx-other-media-outlets-journos-communalise-silchar-floods\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Flood jihad’ – NewsX, other media outlets, journos communalise Silchar floods"},"content":{"rendered":"

While reporting on the Assam floods in June, The Indian Express<\/a> stated that Silchar \u2014 southern Assam\u2019s biggest town and the gateway to the three districts on the bank of the Barak river \u2014 had submerged in water unlike \u201cever before in its history\u201d. By the first week of July, the total death toll<\/a> in the state had crossed over 170.<\/p>\n

On June 26, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed that the flooding in Silchar was “man-made”. “If the embankment at Betukandi was not breached [destroyed by people], this would not have happened,” he said. Betukandi is less than 10 kilometres away from Silchar.<\/p>\n

In the first week of July, four men \u2014 Kabul Khan, Mithu Hussain Laskar, Nazir Hussain Laskar and Ripon Khan \u2014 were arrested<\/a> for their alleged involvement in causing the breach. Dyke or embankment is a structure that typically runs parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlines. Its\u00a0purpose is to keep the course of rivers from changing and to protect against flooding of the area adjoining the river or coast.<\/p>\n

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From ‘man-made’ disaster to ‘flood jihad’<\/h4>\n

Around July 5, a section of the mainstream media reported the alleged breach as ‘flood jihad’. NewsX had conducted a prime-time debate regarding flooding in Silchar. The panellists were former diplomat Bhaswati Mukherjee, former Home Ministry official RVS Mani, Aurelius Corporate Solutions founder Sumit Peer (as a political analyst), and Editorial Director at iTV Network (parent company of NewsX) Madhav Nalapat. All panellists, including the anchor, were of the opinion that “flood jihad” took place. (Archived link<\/a>)<\/p>\n

After introducing the panellists, anchor Meenakshi Upreti asked, “…this doesn’t seem like an innocuous mischief… would you say it’s a simple mischief or do you smell a more sinister plot… do you think perhaps… at the highest level the Indian government should be alerted…” Mukherjee called this incident<\/a> “a matter of internal sabotage”, “an act of treason”. Responding to Upreti, Nalapat said<\/a> that this incident was “a plan for mass murder”. All panellists opined that the incident was an attempt to destabilise the BJP-ruling state.<\/p>\n

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‘Dyke Sabotage’ Exposes Flood Jihad in Assam’s Silchar. NewsX gets you this revetting discussion.<\/p>\n

Click on the link below to watch the full debate with @MeenakshiUpreti<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/1ROOCJwJAt<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/VaspsZs6GB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 NewsX (@NewsX) July 5, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pro-BJP propaganda outlet Sudarshan News also produced a similar show. The clip is available on Facebook<\/a> and YouTube<\/a>. Sudarshan News’ chief Suresh Chavhanke also posted it from his social media handle multiple to amplify the claim further. (1<\/a>,2<\/a>,3<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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Hindi media outlet Dainik Jagran didn’t use the phrase “flood jihad” but its report stated, “There are signs of a deep conspiracy behind this.”<\/p>\n

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OneIndia published an article titled ‘Flood Jihad: Assam floods may have more than meets the eye<\/a>‘ authored by Vicky Nanjappa. Pro-BJP propaganda outlets such as The Frustrated Indian<\/a> also reported along similar lines. (Archived links 1<\/a> and 2<\/a>)<\/p>\n

“Journalists” of varying influence also described the incident as “flood jihad” \u2014 Live Hindustan’s Deputy Chief Content Producer Himanshu Jha<\/a>; India Today anchor Gaurav C Sawant<\/a>; Nishant Azad<\/a>, senior correspondent at RSS mouthpiece Organiser; the founding editor of Earshot Abhijit Majumder<\/a>; Ashwani Mishra<\/a>, special correspondent at Panchjanya; and journalist Vicky Nanjappa<\/a>.<\/p>\n