New Delhi : Amit Malviya, head of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Information Technology unit, said that he had not meant to warn journalists about “defaming” politicians.
“But if some people see this as a warning, it is their interpretation,” Malviya, who heads the battery of workers involved in seeding social media content for the party, told IANS.
Malviya was referring to the tweet he sent out about a lower court conviction of a well-known Karnataka journilist, Gouri Lankesh.
“Prahlad Joshi, BJP MP from Dharwad, gets Gouri Lankesh convicted in a defamation case. Hope other journos take note,” Malviya, who directs the ruling party’s digital strategy, tweeted.
Malviya has been severely criticised for the threatening tone of his tweet against journalists.
“I just wanted to emphasise that people should desist from writing without proper facts,” Malviya said.
Joshi himself took on a milder tone than Malviya, saying journalists writing about someone should take his/her version too.
“I wouldn’t say this is a warning. My only submission is that journalists writing about a person or persons should publish their side of the story too,” Joshi told IANS.
Joshi had filed a defamation suit against Lankesh for a report published in January 2008.
The court sentenced her to six-month imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000, but Lankesh obtained an anticipatory bail from the same court and is appealing the case.