Arnab Goswami ‘attacked’

Summary

Arnab Goswami, a prominent Indian journalist, was attacked following his vocal criticism of the silence from political leaders, particularly Sonia Gandhi, over the Palghar lynchings, where two Hindu monks and their driver were killed, and he received subsequent legal protection from the Supreme Court of India.

Abstract

The incident began on April 16, 2020, when a mob in Palghar lynched two Hindu monks and their driver, despite the presence of police officers who were reportedly injured while attempting to intervene. The killings, attributed to mistaken identity, sparked outrage, with Arnab Goswami, the co-founder of Republic TV, publicly questioning the silence of Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi on the matter. His comments led to a heated response from Congress party members and resulted in his being attacked by two individuals, later identified as Youth Congress workers. Goswami then accused Sonia Gandhi of being responsible for the attack, leading to a series of legal actions both against him for his inflammatory language and by him against his attackers. The Supreme Court of India granted Goswami protection from coercive actions for three weeks, staying all FIRs except one, which was seen as a significant victory for freedom of speech and the press.

Opinions

The author suggests that the silence from political leaders, especially Sonia Gandhi, on the Palghar lynchings is a point of concern and reflects a moral crisis.
There is a sentiment that the police's inaction during the lynching is alarming and raises questions about the security of citizens.
The article implies that there is a selective application of Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and expression, favoring certain media houses and political figures.
The author expresses skepticism about the average citizen's ability to access justice and high-quality legal representation, such as that provided by Mr. Harish Salve, due to financial constraints.
The piece highlights the deafening silence from political parties across the spectrum in response to numerous lynching incidents, suggesting that silence has become an accepted norm in the country.

The silence of the country on the Palghar lynchings

Courtesy Of Republic Network

The darkest place in hell is reserved for those who maintain neutrality at the times of moral crisis.

— Dante

Let’s start from the start so as to understand what exactly happened.

On 16th April 2020, a vigilante group lynched two Hindu Sadhus and their driver in presence of the policemen who were supposedly injured when they intervened to save the two sadhus thus to no avail. Moreover, videos have surfaced of the two sadhus begging for their life and mob attacking them viciously and inhumanely, in presence of the Police. The reason for these killings of the two sadhus who were on their way to a funeral was cited as ‘mistaken identity’ which to be honest does sound a bit absurd.

To all of this Arnab Goswami, the Co-founder of the Republic TV questioned the Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi for her silence on such an important issue as this, he said and I quote,

“Italy waali Sonia Gandhi…aaj woh chup hain, man hi man main mujhe lagta hai woh kush hai…woh khush hai ki santon ko maara gaya, jahan pe unki sarkar hai. Report bhejegi woh…woh Italy main report bhejegi…main bol raha hun…jahan pe main ne sarkar bana li, wahan pe Hindu santon ko main marwa rahi hun. Aur wahan se waah waahi milegi usko…’waah beta waah, bahut accha kiya Sonia Gandhi Antonia Maino’;

which incited and angered the congress party and its supporters vastly.

On 23rd April, around midnight when Arnab was returning to his Worli residence with his wife, his car was attacked by two bike-borne men who were youth congress workers as per him. After this incident in a video, he further bashed Sonia Gandhi, holding her responsible for the incident and announced that she would be responsible if anything were to happen to him. Goswami filed FIR against them and meanwhile the various wings of Congress in Maharashtra, Delhi, Chhatisgarh, Bihar, and Punjab also filed complaints against him for use of inflammatory language on his show.

On 24th April 2020 the bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and MR Shah of the Supreme Court Of India granted him protection from any coercive action for 3 weeks in the various cases filed against him, the court also stayed all FIRs except the one registered in Nagpur. Arnab expressed gratitude to the SC for upholding his right to report. Republic’s lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, former AGI called this judgment as a big win for the media fraternity and Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution.

Let’s get to the main point

Amidst whole of this chaos, people are forgetting the crux of this issue; it is deeply saddening and horrific that three innocent people were brutally killed as they kept begging for their lives in the presence of the Policemen. Even after all of this, I still don’t understand how and why these people were lynched; they did nothing, there was no communal tension, the police was with them when they were being lynched! The most frightening question is that why the Police was complicit with 3 people being lynched in front of their eyes in the broad daylight. These incidents make me question my security indefinitely as if anyone can get away with a murder and there is no form of explanation or assurance from the Party Chiefs.

This Silence is deafening!

Edit: Update with recent reprieve given to Mr. Arnab, the editor of Republic Media. Mr. Harish Salve, the costliest lawyer in India is his lawyer.

There have been lynching of so many poor people, citizens & political parties across party lines in the country was quiet. Silence has become the new norm in our country. Article 19 9(1)(a) – Freedom of Speech & Expression, is it only for certain media houses in favor of the ruling party and ruling party political leaders?

It is time every citizen of India asks this question. Can a common man of India get justice if the same thing had occurred? Because he cannot afford Mr. Harish Salve…