Published 13:54 IST, November 4th 2020
'Arnab's arrest symbol of totalitarian tendency to weaken democracy,' blasts Rajnath Singh
Reacting on the physical assault and arrest of Republic Media Network's Arnab Goswami by the Mumbai Police, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has issued statement.
- India News
- 3 min read
Reacting on the physical assault and arrest of Republic Media Network's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami by the Mumbai Police, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has issued a statement. In a tweet in Hindi, the Raksha Mantri said that the treatment of senior journalist Arnab Goswami is a symbol of the "totalitarian tendency to weaken the fourth pillar of democracy and suppress the tone of protest." He said that Congress should keep in mind the instances, including the Emergency, which show that the governments which oppress the press, suffer badly.
'Congress should keep in mind...'
Several Union Ministers are among those who have condemned the arrest as a reminder of the Emergency. "We condemn the attack on press freedom in Maharashtra. This is not the way to treat the Press. This reminds us of the emergency days when the press was treated like this," tweeted Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar.
'My son was beaten-up'
On Wednesday morning, the entire country witnessed the operation of a police state in Maharashtra. At 7:45 am, Republic Media Network’s Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami house was encircled, his home was barged into, cameras forcefully turned off, he was physically assaulted and dragged out of his home in a police van. Arnab was not served summons prior and not even allowed access to his legal team.
As Arnab was being manhandled and pushed into a police van, by a battalion of armed police officers, he said, “They hit me. They physically assaulted me. I want to tell the people of India to fight for us.” He said, “my son was beaten-up.”
With regard to his legal team, Arnab Goswami was blocked by the Mumbai Police vis-a-vis having legal aid present. Encounter cop Sachin Vaze declared to Republic TV - Arnab Goswami has been arrested under the grave section of 306 of the IPC, in a mocked-up case. It may be recalled that fake charges of suicide were levelled against Arnab Goswami in 2018. The matter was investigated by the Mumbai Police and closed by a court of law after a closure report by the police noted that no case was made out.
The Mumbai Police also blocked Republic Executive Editor Niranjan Narayanswamy and Senior Associate Editor Sanjay Pathak from entering Arnab's residence. When Niranjan said that it is his right to report, he was thrown out of the building and the Mumbai Police wanted his phone.
Updated 13:54 IST, November 4th 2020