A story sparks outrage, disgust, anger and police investigation.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: A satirical American website may have overstepped boundaries when it decided to turn its attention to the rise in sexual assault and rape cases in India.
Satirist website National Report (nationalreport.net) published a story earlier this week which said the Indian state of Assam was getting ready for its “annual rape festival.” The story then delved into the sordid history and details of the fictitious event, explaining that the festival began in the year 43 BC, under the rule of (fictional) ruler Baalkrishnan Tamil Nadu. Baalkrishnan Tamil Nadu raped everyone in his village and now, it’s become a festival in which the man who rapes the most women even gets a trophy.
The story, written by Paul Horner, has sparked incredible outrage from the global Indian Diaspora, especially those in India and the state of Assam itself, including the Director General of Police (DGP) Jayanto Narayan Choudhury, who said he is organizing an investigation into the story after receiving so many complaints from angry citizens. What he plans to probe into, however, is not exactly clear.
So why was such an obviously offensive story written in the first place? The bottom of the article contains a link to GiveIndia.org, a very real organization that aims to provide low-income Indians with “proper education, shelter, food, help in getting out of abusive relationships, rape counseling and much more!” The National Report is also quick to point out that the charity has nothing to do with the story it published.
Nevertheless, GiveIndia is not amused by its association with the satire. The Mumbai-based non-profit organization admonished the website for running the story and requested that it be taken down immediately. It hasn’t been, and can still be read here.
In an effort to placate those that are calling for drastic action to be taken against Paul Horner and The National Report – the website’s staff has apparently even received death threats as a result of the Assam story – the site ran a satirical piece aimed at the US, called “The Great American Mass Shooting Festival Begins Next Week.” Nevertheless, it looks like the damage has been done.
The National Report is no stranger to controversy. Similar to The Onion, the National Report is a site filled with stories of events that never happened. It has fooled some big-name news outlets in the past, such as FOX News, which believed a National Report story that President Barack Obama was trying to provide funds during the government shutdown so that a Muslim museum could be kept open.
A disclaimer on the National Report’s website, which has since been deleted, said “National Report is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways. All news articles contained within National Report are fiction, and presumably fake news. Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental.”
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com