Violent attack on Arnab Goswami: a threat to freedom of expression

You love him or hate him but you can’t ignore him. Arnab Goswami is definitely awkward at times, persistent, repetitive, bellicose and loud. But an attack on Arnab and wife on the intervening night of April 22 and 23^rd by two congress goons for referring Sonia Gandhi by her maiden name and questioning her silence over Palghar issue is despicable. Arnab’s high-pitched debated on Palghar has spooked the Congress party. Jharkhand State Congress party filed a complaint and demanded FIR against Arnab for making, “instigator, derogatory and defamatory”. Spooked by the uncomfortable questions, in the “Puchata Bharat”, levelling the charges of fuelling disharmony between religious groups, various state Congress party cadres lodged a slew of complaints against Republic channel and Arnab. Soon, a troll brigade carried out similar propaganda on social media as well.

Main stream media slyly evaded the coverage of bone-chilling brutality of a frenzied mob attacking two sadhus and their driver while the police watched the gruesome incident as irresponsible bystanders. Arnab and Republic channel questioned the silence of media and various political groups. He launched a searing attack on Congress party for its silence. Mincing no words, he argued if the party would adopt similar stand had the victims belonged to minority community. In the past seven decades of India’s independence, the grand old always circumvented scrutiny and evaded political accountability. Its authority and actions remained unquestioned and unchallenged. A feudal approach became integral to their functioning. They brooked no criticism and never felt the need to explain themselves for any inimical actions what so ever.

Freedom of Expression (FoE) has been a catchy phrase for them. They conveniently draped it when suited their interests and impetuously forlorn the paradigm when its authority was contested. In a crowd sourced thread on FoE Anand Ranganathan busted the myth of Congress party’s commitment to FoE; a propaganda euphemistically spread by the Leftist cabal, the inveterate lackeys of the GOP ¹.  In fact, Censorship on media, trampling of freedom of press during 1975 emergency is the true manifestation of Congress party’s dubious credentials on FoE. The party has been intolerant towards any criticism honest or otherwise and always dealt any censure with an iron fist. The dynasty, has the legacy of silencing strident critics through constitutional, legal and other tools. In line with the legacy bequeathed, the party, its current president and her children have always demonstrated their utter disrespect towards India’s institutions, systems and irreverentially peddled news through pliable media for greater political mileage.

The attack perpetrated by party workers at the behest of the higher ups on the fourth pillar of democracy for blurting inconvenient truths and the cynical justification offered by the Congress stalwarts reaffirms the sense of entitlement of GOP. The so-called open, liberal, secular and progressive Lutyens brigade has always been the hand maiden of the party. This brigade, which outrages at the drop of the hat when the narrative doesn’t suit their interests, has anticipated maintained a stoic indifference to the lynching of the Sadhus.

The Cabal which triggered a row over similar events in the past and grabbed international headlines with fake award wapsi exercise, as a mark of protest, refused to even condemn the Palghar event. The apathy of the party and liberal brigade as well exposing their double standards and underscored the stunning nexus between both of them. Towing the line of the GOP, none of the media outlets has even condemned violent attack on Arnab. The blatant intimidation to force a journalist into silence hardly evoked any response from the fourth pillar of democracy. Suffice to say, they acknowledged the attack and endorsed the silencing of inconvenient voices. The sham outrage and the selectivity of the liberal brigade and elites is now glaring exposed.

Not a single media outlet had the temerity to call the high-handedness of the dynasty.
The irony of the intolerant brigade and the entitled Lutyens gang, is incorrigible and irredeemable!!! But still they continue to hold the badge of mirroring the voices of people.

After much dilly-dallying the Press Council of India (PCI), condemned the violent attack against Arnab Goswami but it wasn’t unequivocal. The statement lacked the fair intent and glaringly exposed the chinks the armour of the Indian media solidarity. Downplaying the attack, the statement even added, “Violence is not the answer even against bad journalism”. The new paradigm of good and bad journalism (bearing eerie resemblances to the doctrine of good and bad terrorism used by certain countries to white-wash their insidious agenda) has exposed the hypocrisy of the media fraternity. Media’s half-hearted response inadvertently ascertained the prominent notions of media collusion with the political masters.

Refusal of the Mumbai police to register case against Congress workers for the attack on senior journalist, meek condemnation of the PCI and the ineptness of the servile Maharashtra Chief Minister is yet another confirmation that FoE is still a myth in India and reestablishes the invincibility of the dynasty.

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