Published 13:46 IST, October 26th 2020
#IAmRepublic resounds as top trend on Twitter in India; netizens back Republic & Arnab
The people of India showed their support to the Republic Media Network & Arnab Goswami amid the Mumbai Police's witch-hunt, making #IAmRepublic top trend
Amid the ongoing witch-hunt against the Republic Media Network by the Param Bir Singh-led Mumbai Police, the people of India are firmly standing behind Arnab Goswami & team & there is no better proof as #IAmRepublic became the number one trend on Twitter in India in a matter of hours, with support pouring in for the network.
The people of India backed Arnab Goswami and Republic to carry on fighting for the truth, pledging their unending support to the Network and its affiliates.
Arnab's statement
With Param Bir Singh-led Mumbai Police summoning more Republic journalists, the network's Editor-in-Chief issued a statement saying, "I am sharing with a sense of disbelief that Param Bir has intensified attack on my journalists. He has started a series of summons. Journalists from our Delhi, Noida and Mumbai operations have been summoned. They are all being given under 24 hours notice. Even when some are recovering from COVID, the Mumbai police says they have to travel and be before their police stations. Apparently, he has asked his cops to go "all-out". During the interrogations, we are being told to tone down or else Param Bir will file more fake cases against us. In all, we have endured 150 hours of semi custodial interrogation. They say they want to 'break us'. As it is now public knowledge one of the interrogators is a Shiv Sena leader who has pending cases for charges like extortion. All Republic employees and journalists are resolutely fighting this. For us, this is a battle we are certain to win. We are exercising legal remedies. The courts will hear the people. I am shocked that the Uddhav government has endorsed the use of the 1922 British era law against my network. I say once again, the time has come for a mass movement against this injustice. I am a self-made media entrepreneur. I will fight my battle from Mumbai. The people of Mumbai and the people of India are with me. By way of this message, I am calling upon the people of India to fight this madness that the rogue cop and his insecure political masters have unleashed. Please share this message. In whichever way you can. We have to win this."
Mumbai Police’s witch-hunt on Republic
The latest summons came after Republic’s Deputy Editor Shawan Sen and Executive Editor Niranjan Narayanaswamy were questioned on Saturday. The duo were questioned again on the story about Mumbai Police officers being unhappy with commissioner Param Bir Singh amid the witch-hunt against Republic. The journalists maintained that they won’t reveal their sources.
Editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami had also lent his solidarity to his staff at the NM Joshi Marg police station where the questioning took place.
"It is quite clear to the people of India that Param Bir Singh has been caught and tapes released show he has put up fake witnesses. It is also a fact that 1000 journalists of the Republic Media Network now face an FIR. I want the people of India to know that the clause used by Param Bir Singh is a 98-year-old clause dating back to 1922 of the British Raj," said Arnab Goswami.
Updated 19:22 IST, October 26th 2020