On the day “New Delhi”—as in Arun Jaitley, the Editors Guild of India, and other motormouths and gasbags—were angst-ing over Congress president Rahul Gandhi terming ANI editor Smita Prakash a “pliable journalist”, a more horrifying drama was playing out in faraway Kerala.
A real physical assault.
BJP-RSS hooligans attacked journalists and camerapersons covering their continuing attempts to shame 50 per cent of India, by cocking a snook at the Supreme Court, by preventing women in the menstruating age from entering the Sabarimala Temple.
One of those injured was Shajila Ali Fathima of the Kairali news channel.
Her valiant attempt to carry on with her assignment, even as tears flowed from her eyes, was captured by a Mathrubhoomi photographer.
In The Telegraph, Calcutta, she recounts what happened—which has not moved any of the worthies who took pole position in l’affaire Smita Prakash.
“They screamed that I would be killed if the footage I had went on air. Then they began attacking us. It’s as if they had preplanned the attack, since there were 6-8 men around each of us”
The attack on journalists to remove all trace of evidence is straight from the Ayodhya playbook of 1992, where reporters and photographers were manhandled and roughed up in the presence of BJP worthies.
IJR 