Time8, an online news channel in Assam files complaint with Guwahati Police after live broadcast gets hacked by Muslim extremists from Pakistan
Live broadcast of Time8 news, an online news channel based in Assam, gets interrupted by a display of Pakistan’s flag, scrolling tickers saying “Respect Holy Prophet” with a hymn dedicated to the Prophet playing in the back.
A Pakistan hacker group called “Revolution PK” has been held responsible for the interruption.
Pakistani cyberattack in Assam
On June 9, a cyberattack was carried out against Time8, an online news network of Assam with more than 7 million followers on various social media platforms and an average monthly video views of about 600 million.
It was hacked during a live stream and the broadcast was replaced with the Pakistani flag, running ‘Respect Holy Prophet’ tickers as a hymn dedicated to Prophet Mohammed was being played.
Time8 alerted the respective authorities in due time and filed a complaint with the Guwahati police regarding the incident. As the complaint is being investigated, a Pakistan-based hacking group ‘Revolution PK’ has been held accountable for the cyberattack on Time8’s YouTube account.
The founder and managing editor of Time8 Digital News Network, Utpal Kanta commented that the self-proclaimed Pakistani hacker group, Revolution PK, temporarily hacked the Time8 YouTube channel during a live stream and replaced the news broadcast with the Pakistani flag while running ‘Respect Holy Prophet’ tickers below. Following this news, the hashtag ‘Revolution PK’ began trending on social media.
Calling it an act of cyberterrorism, he condemned the incident in the strongest words and also expressed concern over the matter, deeming it pertinent as it relates to national security at large.
Mr Utpal Kanta claimed that the hackers did not only intend to express their religious views on the public news channel without authorization but also intended to defame the channel as well as the Indian nation as they reportedly shared clips of the hacking on Twitter and Facebook, provocating some Twitter users to express their support by tweeting in favour of Revolution PK and lauding them for hacking Time8, an Indian news channel.
How the event is relevant to the unrest at large
This was seen to happen most likely in the light of offensive remarks made by BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma on Prophet Mohammed and BJP’s former Delhi unit media chief, Naveen Kumar Jindal, who later shared the same on Twitter.
The controversial comments triggered a major backlash all over India and even angered several Muslim countries. Faced with allegations, BJP suspended Nupur Sharma for six months while Naveen Jindal was expelled over the remarks asserting that the comments represented views of “fringe elements” and not the party at large.
Since the incident, several parts of the country have been witnessing massive protests and violence since yesterday over the inflammatory remark including Assam.
Curfew orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which bans gatherings of four or more people, have been imposed in three Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakand districts of Assam, following a protest in Cachar on Friday.
Assam chief minister Hemanta Biswa Sarma asserted that the state government is closely monitoring the law-and-order situation in the state amid communal tensions. “We are keeping a watch on law and order, and also ensuring that communal harmony is maintained,” Sarma said.
In regards to the comments made by now suspended BJP spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Jindal that triggered violence Sarma said that since the Government of India has already reacted to it and their statement is already within the public domain, he doesn’t believe that the state government can add much to the controversy.
Read More: Asianatimes.com
