Journalist Deepak Chaurasia heckled at Shaheen Bagh, FIR registered
Delhi's Shaheen Bagh has grabbed the attention of world media with praises being heaped on women, who are leading the protest against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). But on Friday, the epicenter of all action earned poor headlines after senior journalist Deepak Chaurasia was heckled. The video of the assault went viral and later an FIR was registered by Delhi Police.
CAA, that gives preferential treatment to non-Muslims from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh when applying for Indian citizenship invited protests from across the nation. However, it was the agitation at Shaheen Bagh that garnered maximum attention. The protest started with women sitting on roads after sunset, demanding a rollback, and gradually became bigger with even politicians like Shashi Tharoor visiting it.
The protest reached courts when a petitioner asked to get the Shaheen Bagh-Kalindi Kunj stretch cleared, which has been closed due to the agitation leading to traffic congestion. Refusing to pass an order, Delhi High Court said police should do something after assessing the on-ground situation. The order was passed on January 14, but cops failed to make any headway.
It's only obvious that Shaheen Bagh is flooded with reporters and camera crew, but the way Chaurasia was dealt with is condemnable. In the clip, the senior TV anchor was seen giving his P2C (Piece to camera), when a couple of protesters gheraoed him, stopping him from speaking. Chaurasia's camera-person was also heckled and they had to cut short the shooting.
सुन रहे हैं कि संविधान ख़तरे में है, सुन रहे हैं कि लड़ाई प्रजातंत्र को बचाने की है! जब मैं शाहीन बाग की उसी आवाज़ को देश को दिखाने पहुँचा तो वहाँ मॉब लिंचिंग से कम कुछ नहीं मिला! #CAAProtests #ShaheenBagh pic.twitter.com/EhJxfWviTp
— Deepak Chaurasia (@DChaurasia2312) January 24, 2020
The attack was inevitably condemned by other journalists and civil society members. "Unacceptable heckling/manhandling of senior journalist @DChaurasia2312 at Shaheen Bagh. You have a problem with a section of the media? Just switch off the channel.. breaking cameras, manhandling journalists is plain and simple goondagiri. Culprits should be arrested," tweeted Rajdeep Sardesai And Nidhi Razdan tweeted that the attack is unacceptable.
Subsequently, the Consulting Editor of News Nation TV channel filed a complaint and an FIR was registered. An FIR under IPC Section 394 (Voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) has been lodged against unknown persons, said Deputy Commissioner of Police, South East, Chinmoy Biswal.
Let’s be honest here about a section of Indian media. Muslim women were protesting. You go there to delegitimise their voice. You behave like a goon. Your intention wasn’t to report. Your intention was to demonise Muslims. Again.
— Rohini Singh (@rohini_sgh) January 24, 2020
Buoyed by Chaurasia's incident, Delhi Police has asked Yoga teacher Baba Ramdev to not visit Shaheen Bagh, reports India Today. Earlier in the day, he asked students to skip protests and continue their studies. "I would appeal not only to JNU but students from the other universities to leave the aandolan (protests) to the political parties otherwise they will be rendered unemployed," he said.
