It seems like Ratan Tata led Tata group has decided to stoke an unwanted controversy by inviting a Hinduphobic and anti-India ‘journalist’ Mehdi Hasan as a speaker for their 14th edition of ‘Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest’.
As per the given information, Hasan will participate in two sessions, which are scheduled to be held on Friday (27th October) and Saturday (28th October). For first session titled, he will share will share the stage with Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
Hasan will also be participating in another session titled ‘Turn the Tide’ with ‘journalist’ Rajdeep Sardesai. The event will be held at ‘The Tata Theatre’, which is located inside the ‘The National Centre for the Performing Arts’ (NCPA) premises in South Mumbai.
The website of ‘Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest’ describes the Hinduphobic ‘journalist’ as “the British-American host of The Mehdi Hasan Show on MSNBC and Peacock.”
“He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Win Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public Speaking. He is a former anchor for Al Jazeera English and has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Guardian, among other publications,” it further reads.
The event is sponsored by Tata Steel, Tata Motors and is powered by the likes of Godrej and Kotak. The event has been hosted in association with ‘The National Centre for the Performing Arts’ (NCPA).
Hasan has also tweeted about his presence in this fest.
Why calling Hasan for this Fest is controvertial?
It is important to know that Hasan is infamous for his 2009 video where he was heard equating non-Muslims with ‘cattle’ and homosexuals with ‘paedophiles.’
He was heard saying, “Once we lose the moral high ground we are no different from the rest, of the non-Muslims, from the rest of those human beings who live their lives as animals, bending any rule to fulfill any desire.”
Here it is important to know that Hasan is of Indian descent but was raised in Britain since childhood. Although he apologized for his remarks in 2019, it becomes quite clear that his upbringing in a diverse, multicultural society could not rid him of his hatred for non-Muslims.
In April 2022, Hasan who was associated with MSNBC, vent out his frustration against India and Indian PM Modi and cast doubts on India’s secularism.
“Putin. Orban. Le Pen. We talk a lot in the West about the rise of far-right authoritarians and yet we never mention India’s Narendra Modi and his BJP. I did a deep-dive into India under Modi & new warnings of an anti-Muslim genocide,” Hasan claimed.
In the video, he equated Hindu Nationalism in India with white Supremacy in the West, which is an ideology based on race. His sinister agenda was to malign and equate Hindutva with Anti-Semitism.
In 2021, he went one step ahead and provided a platform to George-Soros-funded, anti-India activist Sunita Vishwanath to unleash her propaganda against India and Hindutva.
This decision of calling Hasan and providing him such an important platform didn’t go well with the people, as a large number of netizens were aghast at the decision. People are raising doubts on Tata Group’s intentions, and also asking them of having some sort of shame before calling such a radical and anti India anchor in India.
People may not agree, but Tata-owned companies and businesses are known for such things. They own Starbucks (which created a controversial advertisement) and Tanishq (remember anti-Hindu advertisement). They also provide funding to anti-Indian media groups and institutions such as The Wire, Harvard, Cornell, etc.
However, they market their products with a sense of nationalism (like ‘desh ka namak,’ ‘desh ke truck,’ and army-themed ads). They also fund both BJP and Congress. Basically they try to keep everyone happy.
This is certainly not done Tata.
