BENGALURU: Taking a cue from central BJP leaders, including Union Ministers Amit Shah, Smriti Irani, Prakash Javdekar, Piyush Goyal among others, leaders from the Karnataka BJP unit joined the chorus to condemn the arrest of Republic TV Editor-In-Chief Arnab Goswami on Wednesday.
From BJP national general secretary C T Ravi to Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayana, party leaders in Karnataka took turns to lash out at the Maharashtra government and likened the action against 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 government’s crackdown on a regional Kannada TV channel, ‘Power TV’, barely weeks ago, and termed the BJP as hypocritical. “The arrest of #Arnab- Goswami by Mumbai Police reminds the Nation of Indira Gandhi’s Emergency.
Where are the Freedom of Expression Warriors? By remaining silent today, they are proving their support for Fascism by the MVA Govt (sic) ,” said C T Ravi. “The arrest of #Arnab- Goswami is reprehensible and stinks of the nasty vendetta that flows in the DNA of @INCIndia! This glaring misuse of state power to curtail the free press is a grim reminder of the Emergency.
We should stand united and speak up to oppose this vile attack,” tweeted Dr C N Ashwath Narayana. A host of BJP leaders shared the sentiment.
“If Arnab Goswami’s arrest is an assault on press freedom, according to External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, was it an act of protecting press freedom when their own party government in Karnataka misused police force to shut down ‘Power TV’ for two weeks for exposing corruption by Chief Minister’s son?” asked AICC Secretary Dinesh Gundu Rao.
The B S Yediyurappa-led BJP government had come under fire after police raided the premises of the channel and its owner Rakesh Shetty, disrupted broadcast and blacked out the channel for days.
If Arnab Goswami’s arrest is an assault on press freedom, according to External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, was it an act of protecting press freedom when their own party in Karnataka misused police force to shut down ‘Power TV’ for two weeks for exposing corruption by CM’s son?”
— Dinesh Gundu Rao, AICC In-charge