By IANS
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prefers to look the other way as fringe elements among the Hindu rightwing have increasingly targeted media.
The latest attack came Saturday when a mob of around 20 people, calling themselves members of the Hindu Samrajya Sena, ransacked the office of the NDTV television news network in Ahmedabad, the main city of Gujarat where the BJP last month retained power for a third term.
The same night, unidentified people threw stones at the NDTV office in Bhopal, capital of another BJP-ruled state, Madhya Pradesh.
In the Gujarat attack, the radical Hindu activists were protesting against an SMS opinion poll being conducted by the TV channel, asking its viewers to name their candidates for Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour.
The list included painter M.F. Husain, who has been away from India following a number of court cases filed against him by Hindu groups alleging his works hurt their religious sentiments.
The attackers ransacked the office, broke windowpanes, air conditioners and electrical fittings and damaged other equipment. A staff member was beaten up with hockey sticks.
While Gujarat’s Home Minister Amit Shah condemned the attack, the party was yet to do so.
BJP spokespersons here refused to comment on the incident. “Who will support violence? However, I cannot comment on the issue,” a BJP office-bearer told IANS here, not wishing to be identified.
“Since it concerns the Sangh Parivar (the family of ideological organisations), you should ask them,” said another BJP leader, not wishing to be quoted.
BJP leader Vinay Katiyar, who otherwise never fails to comment on issues, said: “I am not aware of the incident as I was away in Ayodhya. As such, I cannot comment on the issue.”
The attack has shocked media persons and media observers.
Veteran media critic Sevanti Ninan told IANS: “Clearly, Gujarat has a very different set of standards of press freedom from the rest of the country. I am amazed at how they (the culprits) get away with it (the vandalism).”
Ninan said that the central government should take up the issue with the state government.
Gujarat has been witness to more and more incidents like Saturday’s. The Maharaja Sayajirao University in Vadodara had last year hit headlines after a student was jailed and the dean of the fine arts faculty suspended following a complaint from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students wing of the BJP.
In neighbouring Mumbai, the office of the STAR news channel was attacked last year by Hindu activists for airing an interview of a couple who had to run away from Ahmedabad after their inter-religious marriage.