BENGALURU: Taking a cue from central BJP leaders, together with Union Ministers Amit Shah, Smriti Irani, Prakash Javdekar, Piyush Goyal amongst others, leaders from the Karnataka BJP unit joined the refrain to sentence the arrest of Republic TV Editor-In-Chief Arnab Goswami on Wednesday.
From BJP nationwide common secretary C T Ravi to Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayana, get together leaders in Karnataka took turns to lash out on the Maharashtra authorities and likened the motion in opposition to the journalist, arrested in an abetment to suicide case, to the Emergency declared by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Moments later, Karnataka Congress leaders questioned the BJP authorities’s crackdown on a regional Kannada TV channel, ‘Energy TV’, barely weeks in the past, and termed the BJP as hypocritical. “The arrest of #Arnab- Goswami by Mumbai Police reminds the Nation of Indira Gandhi’s Emergency.
The place are the Freedom of Expression Warriors? By remaining silent in the present day, they’re proving their assist for Fascism by the MVA Govt (sic) ,” mentioned C T Ravi. “The arrest of #Arnab- Goswami is reprehensible and stinks of the nasty vendetta that flows within the DNA of @INCIndia! This obtrusive misuse of state energy to curtail the free press is a grim reminder of the Emergency.
We must always stand united and converse as much as oppose this vile assault,” tweeted Dr C N Ashwath Narayana. A bunch of BJP leaders shared the sentiment.
“If Arnab Goswami’s arrest is an assault on press freedom, in response to Exterior Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, was it an act of defending press freedom when their very own get together authorities in Karnataka misused police power to close down ‘Energy TV’ for 2 weeks for exposing corruption by Chief Minister’s son?” requested AICC Secretary Dinesh Gundu Rao.
The B S Yediyurappa-led BJP authorities had come below hearth after police raided the premises of the channel and its proprietor Rakesh Shetty, disrupted broadcast and blacked out the channel for days.
If Arnab Goswami’s arrest is an assault on press freedom, in response to Exterior Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, was it an act of defending press freedom when their very own get together in Karnataka misused police power to close down ‘Energy TV’ for 2 weeks for exposing corruption by CM’s son?”
— Dinesh Gundu Rao, AICC In-charge
