Prime Time Chatgate

He painted a fantasy world in office, starring himself. In this world, he did things bigger, louder, more boldly than all who came before him—gaslighting people to question their own perceptions, memories or even sanity. It worked for him, but not at the moment. For all his hounding, Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami is now the hunted. A purported exchange on the WhatsApp messaging service between him and the former head of a TV rating company has triggered accusations that Goswami had prior knowledge of the 2019 Indian airstrike on Balakot inside Pakistan three days before it happened, that the attack was designed to drum up support for the BJP’s re-election in parliamentary elections, and he allegedly used the information to crank up his TV ratings.

Transcripts of the text exchange between Goswami and Partha Dasgupta, the former Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) head, were filed by Mumbai police as part of a supplementary charge sheet in a different case relating to manipulation of TV ratings. The Chatgate—as hyperbolic as his prime time shows—threatens to blow up on Goswami’s face. The News Broadcasters Association, headed by Rajat Sharma of India TV, demanded suspension of Republic TV’s membership with the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) till the court decided on the manipulation of TV ratings.

The text exchange drew criticism from the Opposition, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi insisting that giving out official secrets to a journalist is a “criminal act” and both giver and receiver should be put in prison. So, can Goswami be arrested? Supreme Court lawyer D.K. Garg says sharing and leaking information that could compromise national security is a serious offence. “Imagine what would have happened had this information reached our enemy country?” he says. Is there no escape hatch? Lawyer Yogesh Pratap Singh, a former IPS officer, says: “A journalist is supposed to find out confidential information from its sources. But if any mala fide is involved and if it goes beyond journalistic duty and traverses in the territory of betrayal by the keepers of confidential information pertaining to national security, then the case is serious.”

According to the WhatsApp chat transcript, Goswami texted Dasgupta three days before the February 26, 2019, airstrike on Balakot, saying “something big will happen” and “On Pakistan the government is confident of striking in a way that people will be elated”. Dasgupta tells Goswami the attack on Pakistan would give PM Narendra Modi a “majority” in the general elections. Months later, Modi surged to a landslide victory in May 2019, propelling the BJP to back-to-back majorities in Parliament. The airstrike on Pakistan followed a suicide bombing in Kashmir that month that killed more than 40 soldiers.

The arc of life played out in full circle as Pakistani PM Imran Khan—always under Goswami’s gaslight— seized the Chatgate to beat an entire nation. “The latest revelations from (a) communication of an Indian journalist, known for his warmongering, reveal the unholy nexus between the Modi govt & Indian media that led to a dangerous military adventurism to win an election in utter disregard for the consequences of destabilizing the entire region,” he wrote on Twitter.

(Inputs from news agencies)