India's Arnab Goswami celebrated Pulwama attack 'like crazy'

Firebrand Indian TV anchor Arnab Goswami has once again landed himself in controversy as his leaked WhatsApp chat, which is part of a Mumbai police charge-sheet against him, showed he celebrated Pulwama attack ‘like crazy’, ARY NEWS reported.

The screenshots of a WhatsApp conversation between Arnab Goswami and the former Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) CEO Partho Dasgupta are making rounds on social media besides also being quoted by Indian media.

The messages discuss the Pulwama attack on February 14, 2019, in which 40 Indian soldiers were killed, with Goswami rejoicing and writing to Dasgupta about how the attack has helped his channel. ‘This attack we have won like crazy,’ he wrote to Dasgupta.

The message from Goswami proved how the Pulwama incident was political maneuvering from Narendra Modi-led BJP government as he even did not hesitate to murder Indian soldiers for his political gains.

Goswami knew about Balakot strike, Article 370    

The Whatsapp chat between Arnab Goswami and BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta also revealed that the latter was aware of Indian plans to conduct a strike inside Pakistan and scrapping the article 370 in occupied Kashmir.

According to the chat shared by The Hindu, Mr. Goswami during a conversation texted to Mr Dasgupta, “On another note something big will happen”. “No sir Pakistan. Something major will be done this time.”

The 2019 Indian general election was just a few months away at that time.

Mr. Dasgupta pressed for further clarity, asking Mr. Goswami, “Strike? Or bigger”. And Mr. Goswami responded, saying that it would be “bigger than a normal strike”. Then he went on to add, “And also at the same time something major on Kashmir.”

The conversation has revealed how the Indian Air Force was used as a tool to further the plans of the reelection of a Modi-led government while spreading lies regarding terror hideouts in Balakot.

Goswami influenced authorities to get better TRPs for his channel

It has also exposed how Arnab Goswami used his influence in Indian government to render the TRAI toothless aimed at getting desired TRPs.

In one such conversation shared on local outlets, on April 4, 2019, just days before the general elections, Mr. Dasgupta asked Mr. Goswami to stall the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI)’s proposal to make the BARC’s viewing data public instead of just supplying it to the channels.

Dasgupta told Goswami that if the data is made public, many channels could be blacked out by Multi System Operators (MSOs) and Local Cable Operators (LCOs).

Read More: Pakistan rejects Modi’s statement, says biggest beneficiary of Pulwama attack was BJP govt

Goswami assured him that when the BJP government returns, the TRAI won’t have teeth and two days later, the Republic TV anchor responded that, “a strong message has been conveyed to TRAI.”

He also asked Mr. Dasgupta to send him points on how these reforms could politically hurt the government.

The reference to “AS” is also made repeatedly in the transcript, with Mr. Goswami claiming to have a close relationship with him. The initials have not been spelt at any place in the transcript.