Harsh Mander with his organization ‘Karwaan-e-Mohabbat’ published a report on the police action at the Aligarh Muslim University that absolved the st… - Nupur J. Sharma

I speak as the Editor of OpIndia when I say that our platform itself believes that majority media houses have lost their ethical code. We have over 300 articles filed under “Media lies”. To ask us then, to conform to the ethical standards set by the very institution we oppose is a monstrosity at myriad levels... The moment you censor thoughts, you kill the soul of a man and the spirit of the writer. I oppose any regulation that may just as easily morph into tools of censorship.

The only problem with WSJ’s report is that Ankur Sharma has never said such a thing. Every time that they have spoken to the media, Ankit Sharma’s family has always maintained that Tahir Hussain is responsible for his death. Even the FIR filed by the Police on the basis of the statement given by the family holds the AAP leader as the accused party. It was quite clearly a malicious lie that was peddled by the WSJ. Speaking to OpIndia Editor Nupur J Sharma, Ankur Shamra flatly refuted the quote that was attributed to him by the WSJ. “I have never said this madam, the people who murdered my brother were not shouting Jai Shree Ram”, he said. Elsewhere, he has also accused the WSJ of lying. Quite clearly, it was either a monumental mistake on the part of the WSJ or it was a malicious lie that was generated solely to cast aspersions on the ruling party at the Center. Given how the media has behaved during the entire saga, one is forced to assume that it’s the latter.

Jai Shri Ram’ is a widely popular slogan among Hindus that literally means ‘Glory to Shri Rama’. Lord Ram is a Hindu God who is loved and cherished by Hindus across the world. However, in recent times, attempts have been made to restrict the slogan to only those groups that endorse ‘Hindutva’, that is, the ideological stance of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Thus, the WSJ’s report that claimed that Ankur Sharma had told them that his deceased brother was attacked by a mob chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ was naturally interpreted by people across the political spectrum that the murder was committed by a Hindu mob.