Arnab: When The Past Catches Up...
The Mumbai Police arrested Republic TV Chief Arnab Goswami on Wednesday. Since his arrest, Delhi’s BJP leaders are crying hoarse over infringement of ‘freedom of expression.’ At the same time, human rights activists who are fighting for freedom of expression are caught in a bind. Through his channel, Goswami has been misusing freedom of expression for several years now. Supporting the anti-people policies of the government and cheating the people through fake news, he has betrayed the principles of journalism. Republic TV lost its reliability long back and has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. But then, it is dangerous to remain silent when a government attacks the head of a media house. As it is, the Centre has attacked the media in different forms all over the country. Several journalists are in jail.
In this context, the nation has to stand with him if his arrest is in violation of freedom of expression. But in this case, the head of Republic TV was not arrested as a fallout of a violation of freedom of expression. How right is it then to protect a famous journalist who is an accused in a criminal case on the pretext of ‘freedom of expression?’ This question has arisen in the Goswami incident. When the government is already attacking the media in different forms, maintaining silence in the Goswami episode could also encourage politicians to launch more attacks against the media.
But, there is no way to term as journalism what Goswami has been practicing over the last few years. Everyone who watches his channel vouches for this. In one way, Goswami has misused freedom of expression in all possible ways and has caused embarrassment to the media. Recently, Goswami was in the news for his involvement in the alleged TRPs scam. He is facing allegations of creating fake TRPs and cheating the people and advertisement agencies. In a way, this is an attack on the principles of journalism. By making people watch his channel to increase TRPs, he cheated the TRP agency. Already, several advertisement agencies have boycotted Republic TV. If investigation had gathered steam, Goswami had to be in jail for falsely boosting TRPs. But, he is now in judicial custody for a case dating back to two years. The cops have acted against Goswami in a criminal case in which he is involved in his personal capacity. A resident of Kavir, Alibagh, interior designer Anvay Naik and his mother Kumuda committed suicide at their home in 2018. Police later revealed that in his death note, Naik had written: “Arnab Goswami and his associates have been harassing me over my dues of Rs 5.40 crore. Under extreme financial duress, I have decided to kill myself.” On the insistence of his family for an investigation, the police have proceeded against Goswami.
Recently in the actor Sushant Singh Raj’s suicide case, the same Republic TV created a furore over the incident. It tried hard to project the actor’s death as a murder. It also tried to connect Sushant Singh’s suicide with the drug mafia. When Goswami could make baseless allegations against people over Sushant Singh’s suicide, it is the duty of the police to investigate the case in which an industrialist has named specific persons in his death note. How fair is it for Goswami to try to protect himself using his identity as a journalist when he has so far consistently worked in favour of politicians using his channel?
In the past, Tarun Tejpal, editor of the most progressive, anti-BJP publication, Tehelka, was imprisoned for sexual harassment against a woman. Then neither progressives nor human rights activists spoke in support of Tejpal because the case was in no way connected to freedom of speech and expression. Society had unequivocally condemned what Tarun Tejpal did intoxicated by a heady mix of money, publicity, and power. In this situation, demanding that Goswami – head of a TV channel that has absolutely no reliability and who has allegedly cheated in a financial matter - should not be arrested for being a journalist is a betrayal of journalism. The family of Naik has appreciated the police for the arrest of Goswami. It is inhuman to not demand justice for Naik’s family when we seek justice for Sushant Singh.
The leaders of the ruling party at the Centre, who have so far assaulted media and journalists in various forms for writing against the government, are now shedding crocodile tears over Goswami’s arrest. But nobody is explaining how freedom of speech/expression has been violated in this case. At the same time, Goswami is facing charges in the fake TRP case which also have to be investigated. If Goswami is proved to be involved in the case, he should not get any leeway for being a journalist. He has to be held accountable for all his misdeeds.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
