SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
After receiving intense backlash for publishing a front-page advertisement painting convicted rapist Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh as a good man, The Hindu has issued an unconditional apology on Sunday, September 13, for the act.
The full-size page advertisement titled – What is Dera Sacha Sauda? (Facts vs Fiction) – appeared in the newspaper’s northern India edition, including New Delhi – completely whitewashed the murderous reality of Ram Rahim and painted him as a messiah.
“7.5 crore people freed from addiction,” “35.40 crore trees planted,” “33.85 lakh units of blood donated,” “22 Guinness World Records”- the more you read, the glossier he emerges. These are the organisation’s own figures, presented as fact, with no attribution or corroboration.
The 59-year-old Dera Sacha Sauda chief is convicted of raping two female disciples. He was sentenced by a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court to 20 years in prison. It is this sentence that he is serving. He is also charged with murder, cheating, criminal conspiracy and intimidation under the Indian Penal Code (now BNS). In one case, he was acquitted, and one is ongoing.
Ram Rahim is currently out on a 21-day furlough. Questions have been repeatedly raised about his furloughs and paroles, but the judiciary fails to provide clarity.
The advertisement came as a shock to many journalists. In June this year, the newspaper published an infographic article stating that Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh had spent approximately 13.5 per cent of his jail sentence outside jail. Saturday’s advertisement seems to be a complete U-turn.
Alumni of Asian College of Journalism (ACJ) lambasted former editor-in-chief N Ram and Director of The Hindu Group, Malini Parthasarathy, questioning their decision to give prominent advertising space to an organisation led by a convicted rapist.
“The Hindu deeply regrets the publication in its Delhi, Mohali, and North India editions of an offensive front-page advertisement titled ‘What is Dera Sacha Sauda? (Facts vs Fiction)’ and alleging, among other things, that there was a conspiracy against the convicted rapist, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, head of the Dera Sacha Sauda, by ‘drug mafias and forces opposed to the Dera,’” read the apology letter.
SOURCE : SIASAT
