The group included Ragini Tiwari, a self-proclaimed Hindutva leader who has been booked in the past for hate speech during the farmer protests. Viewers were informed that Pawan Hans conducts rides for pilgrims at Vaishno Devi and how the company hiring Muslims is, obviously, a “security concern”.
This point was driven home multiple times in the “debate” that followed. Chavhanke introduced his panel: Vishva Hindu Parishad national spokesperson Vinod Bansal; Supreme Court advocate Shashank Bajpai, and “aviation expert” Himanshu Hota.
Hota is also the chief operating officer of Sudarshan Aviation Private Limited and – spoiler alert – Chavhanke is a member of its board.
During the debate, advocate Bajpai claimed he had accessed a memorandum of understanding between Pawan Hans and Jamia Millia Islamia which purportedly said the university would send students to Pawan Hans for recruitment.
Here, we must hit pause and explain. As the Wire reported: “Jamia Millia Islamia started the Bachelor of Science in aeronautics course in partnership with Pawan Hans Limited. The course is offered to 60 students in two batches – Avionics and Mechanical – of 30 each.” Of 38 candidates selected this year, the Wire said, 13 are Muslim.
But facts are not facts for VHP’s Bansal, who told Chavhanke, “Paisa deta hai Hindu aur maza leta hai jihadi.” Hindus give the money and jihadis reap the benefits.
Chavhanke then said, “Even Saudi Arabia’s aviation sector does not have 100 percent reservation for Muslims. Even they take foreign experts.”
Aviation expert Hota then took a detour into conspiracy theories revolving around the death of chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat last year in a helicopter crash. “It [Pawan Hans] is a departmental service provider and is used for IAS officers, politicians and ministers...This reeks of jihadi conspiracy, because they could cause mechanical damage...only a few days ago we lost a CDS.”
He also used Jamia offering courses in multiple languages as “proof” of its perfidy. “If you pick up their syllabus, you’ll see they only teach Muslim languages, Parsi and Turkish. Their MA and PhD are all in these languages.” Chavhanke concurred, describing Jamia and Pawan Hans as being in an “immoral alliance”.