This year marks the beginning of the 50th year since the imposition of Emergency, the darkest chapter of Indian democracy when all civil and constitutional rights were curtailed. While that Emergency was lifted after 21 months, the Emergency mindset seems to persist within the Congress even after five decades. What else could be the reason behind intimidating, threatening, holding hostage and harassing a journalist for asking an innocuous question during a scheduled interview?
Just as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP), Rahul Gandhi, was about to land in Dallas, USA, his Overseas Congress leader, Sam Pitroda, invited a journalist from a well-known Indian media house for a pre-scheduled interview. As narrated by the reporter, Rohit Sharma, the interview was progressing smoothly until he asked whether Rahul Gandhi would be raising the issue of attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh during his meetings with US government officials. This question did not sit well with either Pitroda or the other Congress persons in the hall.
In a swoop, Sharma’s phone was snatched away. He was asked to delete the clip, but when he refused, his phone was forcibly unlocked by being brought close to his face. By that time, Pitroda had left to receive Rahul Gandhi. The video was deleted. However, the journalist’s ordeal did not end there; he was made to remain in the room, as a hostage, for an agonising 30 minutes.
What is most baffling here is not the conduct of the Congressmen. We will see why in the next few lines. What is particularly striking is the way a question about attacks on Hindus riled the Congressmen so much. What was so ‘controversial’ about asking whether their leader would raise the issue or not? If Pitroda was unsure, he could have simply deflected the question. To hold a reporter hostage and subject him to such intimidating behaviour over an innocuous question reveals the Congress party’s deeper issues with everything Hindu.
When the shocking treatment of the journalist hit social media platforms, all Sam Pitroda could say was he would ‘look into it’. It was only after Prime Minister Narendra Modi linked the incident to Rahul Gandhi’s false claims about the constitution that Pitroda reportedly called the journalist to apologise. It is not rocket science to understand that he must have been directed to do so, as the matter had become politically untenable. The top leadership of the Congress, including Rahul Gandhi, continue to maintain a deafening silence on the disturbing turn of events in Dallas.
This brings us back to the original concern: the Congress party’s treatment of the media. In his speeches, Rahul Gandhi frequently berates media persons for not providing him and other anti-Modi parties with fair coverage. He even singles out individual reporters and humiliates them publicly for no reason, but their caste. In Karnataka, police have visited the homes of YouTubers to interrogate them, simply for criticising the Congress using quotes from its own leadership.
The humiliation is not limited to those who are critical of the Congress. Even reporters who are known for giving optimum coverage to Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and other party leaders in the most charitable manner, are ostracised and insulted by spokespersons if they stray ‘off-script’ even once. This ensures the message goes across to others.
Ironically, freedom of the media is one of the favourite topics of the LoP. Perhaps he could make it a bit more convincing by shedding the Emergency mindset that his party displays at the drop of a hat.
The author is Advisor, Prasar Bharati and Senior Journalist. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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