I am not brave, I'm just a journalist: Rohini Singh responds to Jay Shah's lawsuit threat
As a response to Jay Shah's press statement, the reporter from The Wire who wrote the investigative piece posted on Facebook.
Published: 09th October 2017 11:48 AM | Last Updated: 09th October 2017 08:48 PM | A+A A-

Journalist Rohini Singh (Photo | Facebook)
Responding to Jay Shah's lawsuit, Rohini Singh from The Wire who broke the investigative piece posted on Facebook saying that her primary job "is to speak truth to power. To question the government of the day."
On Sunday, after The Wire published an article questioning transactions made by BJP President Amit Shah's son Jay Shah's firm. Jay said that he would sue The Wire and their reporter Rohini Singh for Rs 100 crores.
Also Read: Amit Shah’s son to file Rs 100 crore criminal defamation suit against The Wire over article
Also Read: Congress, opposition parties demand probe into allegations against Amit Shah's son Jay
Her Facebook post reads, "I don't want to write a sanctimonious status note on what other journalists should do. I can only speak for myself. My primary job is to speak truth to power. To question the government of the day. In 2011 when I wrote the story on Robert Vadra's dealings with DLF, I don't remember the sort of backlash that I see now. There were no 'only whatsapp or FaceTime audio from now' sort of messages from sources. No seeking to shift the location of meetings to cafes resembling dungeons! A person close to a senior BJP leader brags our call record details are with the party bosses. (Good for them, I say!;)) And of course the low level slander campaign online.
"Intimidation and harassment are tools often used by powerful people to get journalists to toe the line. As someone famously once said and I paraphrase, news is something someone wants to suppress, everything else is advertising. I don't know about others but I don't wish to lose focus of that. I would rather quit journalism than do the sort of reportage that I see often around me. Many of you have been extremely kind to me and are investing me with qualities I probably don't have. I don't do the sort of stories I do because I am ' brave'. I do them because that's journalism and not bravery."