Arnab Goswami misquotes Ambedkar, calls Mahatma Gandhi – “Mohanchand” Karamchand Gandhi
In a familiar high-pitched hyperbolic monologue, another episode of Arnab Goswami’s Daily Newshour ‘The Debate’ wrapped up on August 22. The topic chosen for the hour-long debate was – “What’s wrong with chanting Bharat Mata Ki Jai?” in the wake of former J&K CM Farooq Abdullah being heckled by a crowd in Srinagar two days after he chanted the slogan in Delhi. The show started with Goswami urging everybody to shout ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ended with a lecture on the Indian Constitution by BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra. In between, there were comical moments like Abdullah accidentally referring to Goswami as ‘pagal’ and hastily correcting his faux pas. However, the gaffes were not limited to Abdullah and this article is about the ones that Goswami made during the length of the show. These were originally pointed out by Shuddhabrata Sengupta, an artist, curator and writer with the Raqs Media Collective.
“Mohanchand Karamchand Gandhi”
While exposing so-called “pseudo-nationalists”, Arnab Goswami said that these are the people who have floated the false rhetoric of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ being an “RSS conspiracy”. Posing a question at Prof Visweswara Rao he asks, “Was Mohanchand Karamchand Gandhi a member of the RSS?” He can be heard making the statement from 35:03 to 35:11.
Goswami’s intention was to portray Mahatma Gandhi’s nationalism by citing that he had inaugurated the Bharat Mata temple in Varanasi in 1936. However, while doing so, he mispronounced the name of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
Misquoted Dr B.R. Ambedkar
“We don’t have to shout ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ to prove our patriotism,” said Prof Rao 40 minutes into the debate. Interjecting, as always, Goswami accused him of “appropriating Ambedkar”.
“You, who dismissed ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ as jingoistic, what will you say to Dr B.R. Ambedkar, who you tried to appropriate at every leg and opportunity, when he wrote and I quote – The slogan Bharat Mata Ki Jai electrified the whole nation whereas if one were to raise the slogan as India Mata ki Jai, it would look fanciful and uninspiring,” shouted Goswami (from 40:00 to 40:24), concluding that Ambedkar supported the ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ slogan.
As it turns out, the quote was actually not made by Dr B.R. Amdebakar. A basic Google search reveals that the lines Goswami attributed to Ambedkar are a part of a book written by Dr Raj Kumar, titled “Ambedkar and His Writings: A Look for the New Generation” and published in 2008.
The book, which is the author’s study of Ambedkar’s work for the Depressed Classes, mentions the lines in the context of India being referred to as “Bharatvarsha”. He writes that “the name India was given to the country by foreigners” and that “a proper noun is never translated”. The difference between “India” and “Bharatvarsha”, Dr Kumar writes, is visible when the two are interchanged in the slogan. Therefore, it is clear that the statement was never made by Ambedkar but was the author’s opinion.
While calling Mahatma Gandhi “Mohanchand” Karamchand Gandhi might have been a slip, it is ironical that Goswami was browbeating his panelists on nationalism and history and ended up attributing a factually incorrect quote to Ambedkar.
courtesy : courtesy
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'Go back to your own country': Indian-origin taxi driver attacked in Dublin
London, Aug 5 (PTI): An Indian-origin taxi driver based in Ireland for over 23 years has become the latest to be targeted in an unprovoked attack in the capital Dublin, with local police (Gardai) launching an investigation into the violent assault.
Lakhvir Singh, in his 40s, told local media that he picked up two young men in their 20s on Friday night and dropped them at Poppintree, in the Ballymun suburb of Dublin.
Upon arriving at the destination, the men are said to have opened the vehicle door and struck him twice on the head with a bottle. As the suspects fled, they reportedly shouted: "Go back to your own country".
"In 10 years I've never seen anything like this happen," Singh told ‘Dublin Live’.
"I'm really scared now and I'm off the road at the moment. It will be very hard to go back. My children are really scared," he said.
A Dublin police spokesperson said Singh was taken to the city's Beaumont Hospital with injuries determined as not life-threatening.
"Gardaí are investigating an assault reported to have occurred in Poppintree, Ballymun, Dublin 11 at approximately 11:45 pm on Friday, 1st August 2025. A man, aged in his 40s, was brought to Beaumont Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injury. Investigations are ongoing," the spokesperson said.
The incident followed an Indian Embassy advisory, also issued on Friday, expressing safety concerns following recent attacks in and around the capital Dublin and urging Indian citizens to take safety precautions.
"There has been an increase in the instances of physical attacks reported against Indian citizens in Ireland recently,” states the advisory.
“The embassy is in touch with the authorities concerned in Ireland in this regard. At the same time, all Indian citizens in Ireland are advised to take reasonable precautions for their personal security and avoid deserted areas, especially at odd hours," the statement reads, adding emergency embassy contact details as 0899423734 and cons.dublin@mea.gov.in.
It came in the wake of a brutal attack on a 40-year-old Indian man at Parkhill Road in the Tallaght suburb of Dublin on July 19, described as “mindless, racist violence” by locals.
The Gardai had opened an investigation into the case and Indian Ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra was among those who took to social media to express shock over the attack.
“Regarding the recent incident of physical attack on an Indian national that happened in Tallaght, Dublin, the embassy is in touch with the victim and his family. All the requisite assistance is being offered. The embassy is also in touch with the relevant Irish authorities in this regard,” the embassy said in a social media post days after the incident.
A Stand Against Racism protest was also held by the local community in condemnation of what was described as a "vicious racist attack" and to express solidarity with migrants.
Last week, Dr Santosh Yadav took to LinkedIn to post details of a “brutal, unprovoked racist attack”.
The entrepreneur and AI expert stressed that it was not an isolated incident and called for “concrete measures” from the governments of Ireland and India to ensure Indians feel safe to walk the streets of Dublin.
His post revealed that a group of six teenagers attacked him from behind as he walked to his apartment in Dublin.
“This is not an isolated incident. Racist attacks on Indian men and other minorities are surging across Dublin — on buses, in housing estates, and on public streets. Yet, the government is silent. There is no action being taken against these perpetrators. They run free and are emboldened to attack again,” reads Yadav's post.
Fine Gael party Councillor for Tallaght South, Baby Pereppadan, was among those who expressed concern following last month’s attack.
“People need to understand that many Indian people moving to Ireland are here on work permits, to study and work in the healthcare sector or in IT and so on, providing critical skills,” he said.
Another violent anti-Indian attack in Ireland
— Journalist V (@OnTheNewsBeat) August 5, 2025
Taxi driver Lakhvir Singh was attacked with glass bottles while doing his job pic.twitter.com/mtkwhLWISx
