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When ToI joined hands with China to promote Northeast

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DailyBiteFeb 12, 2017 | 12:47

When ToI joined hands with China to promote Northeast

It’s official, the media in “Mainland India” is relying on Beijing for any sensitive information on India’s Northeast region.

Highly placed sources have told us that an utterly clueless media, led by some celebrity journalists from The Times of India, decided to interview Chinese president Xi Jinping to shed some light on the ground realities in India’s far-flung corner.

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The widely read The Times of India website also seems to believe that Xi will be in a better position to comment on the ongoing crisis in Nagaland -- the urban local bodies polls.

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The Times of India website seems to believe that Xi will be in a better position to comment on the ongoing crisis in Nagaland. (Photo: Screengrab/ToI)

The website recently ran a photo of the Chinese President, but identified him as Nagaland Assembly speaker Chotisuh Sazo (to keep Pakistan guessing, we believe).

While readers from the Northeast reacted with instant derision on social media, there has been no “correction” note or apology provided by the media house on the inadvertent mistake (we still believe the ToI is quiet on the matter only to maintain secrecy over its highly investigative piece of honest journalism). 

The website did update the story stealthily next day without Xi’s pic but forgot to delete readers’ comments pointing out the “mistake”.

Sources also told us that a highly informed Northeast desk of the website is still waiting for a picture of Chotisuh Sazo to be released by the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

The news story was about the ongoing crisis in Nagaland over the urban local bodies poll. The Assembly speaker Chotisuh Sazo was quoted as saying that “MLAs are free to tender their resignations or withdraw support to the leader of the House but without being coerced, forced or threatened by any group or organisation as it is illegal”.

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The ToI report said his statement "comes in the wake of Naga hohos (tribal bodies) asking their respective legislators to resign from the TR Zeliang ministry."

When we spoke to the editor of ToI’s Who-Gives-a-Damn-to-Northeast desk, he said: “We believe in providing wholesome entertainment and therefore it’s pertinent to involve Xi and his views on Nagaland. After all, the entire Northeast has to go back to China one day, isn’t it?”

The editor, who didn’t wish to be named because of the nature of his stealth mission, was referring to the popular “Go back to China” abuse that people from the northeast living in Delhi and other metro cities often get to hear.

The ToI is also planning to ask Xi about his views on terms like “Chinki”, “Bahadur” and “Momos”. In fact, it is because of such “awareness” campaigns on the Northeast by various national media groups that there has been a huge improvement in the national IQ about the region.

“I was recently accused of feigning to be from the Northeast since I don’t look ‘chinki’. My abuser told me ‘don’t try to fool us. We know the northeast well’,” complained a girl from one of the seven states. She not just wants to remain anonymous but is also planning to go for a plastic surgery to look “chinki” enough to suit the sensibilities of mainland India.

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Last updated: February 12, 2017 | 16:22
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