Railways orders probe on distribution of 'propagandist' newspaper on train

The divisional railway manager, Chennai said an enquiry in the matter is being conducted by the DRM Bangalore

Distribution of a "propagandist" newspaper to passengers on board the Bangalore-Chennai Shatabdi Express has kicked up a row, prompting the Indian Railways to order a probe into the matter.

The train passenger Gopika Bashi, a gender justice campaigner, flagged on twitter, about the distribution of a newspaper, which was not authorised.

"This morning I boarded the Bangalore-Chennai Shatabdi Express only to be greeted by this blatantly propagandist publication on every other seat - The Aryavarth Express. Had never even heard of it. How is @IRCTCofficial allowing this?" Bashi wrote on the microblogging site on Friday.

The Aryavarth Express, which was distributed as complimentary, carried headlines such as “Genocide of Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists under Islamic rule needs to be recognised” and “UN should label Aurangzeb as perpetrator of holocaust like Hitler”. The Aryavarth Express is published from Bengaluru.

The IRCTC has admitted that the paper -- The Aryavarth Express -- was "unauthorised". "We have ordered an enquiry into this and action will be taken against those responsible. This paper is not among the IRCTC-approved publications," IRCTC spokesperson Anand Jha said.

Sources said the IRCTC, the ticketing-and-catering arm of the railways, has approved Deccan Herald and a Kannada newspaper as the two publications to be distributed on board trains in the region. These newspapers are distributed on board by IRCTC licensees.

In a tweet later, IRCTC said the newspaper in question was found inside the regular approved newspapers as an insert.

"The newspaper vendor has been strictly advised to avoid any such inserts in future. Onboard monitoring staff will keep a strict vigil of the same. The licensee of the train has also been counselled," it said.

In a reply to the IRCTC tweet, Bashi countered the claim made by the rail subsidiary, saying "it was not an insert".

Southern Railway Zone also said that Divisional Railway Manager, Bengaluru, will probe the issue. "We are sure that Bengaluru Division would take appropriate action", Southern Railway tweeted.

Criticising the incident, Congress MP B Manickam Tagore and Karti Chidambaram, also questioned how such a newspaper found its way on board a train. "Will Hon'ble Rail minister order an inquiry into it? Whether it's the proved policy of the @RailMinIndia to allow propaganda material in the Shatabdi express? Will write and raise the issue in Loksabha.#IndiaAgainstHate," Tagore tweeted.

However, the licensee, learnt to have informed the railway officials that the paper got circulated as a supplement inserted by the newspaper vendor into the approved newspapers. He also informed the railways that he or distributing boys were not aware of its content, the railways said.

In premium trains like Rajdhani, Shatabdi Duronto, the IRCTC distributes newspapers to passengers as a complimentary.

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