Now, a section of media is quoting Gen Shah as denying the report adding that he was never there at the meeting involving Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Irani.
As for our report, we got the lead from a website ummid.com, which had quoted Milli Gazette. We clearly attributed to both the sources in our report.
But because the allegations were serious, we had to give the stakeholders an opportunity to respond and clarify.
We contacted AMU’s VC office at 13.36 on 29 February. The PRO, Rahat Abrar, confirmed that he was aware of these reports being circulated in social media but declined to comment.
(Listen to the audio below.)
That’s precisely what we reported.
The question is if Gen Shah was not present in the meeting as he claims now, why did his office not clarify on 29 February when we contacted precisely for that purpose.
We don’t know the reason why Gen Shah has issued a denial now. But even in his reported denial he confirms that Irani threatened to close down the AMU campuses.
We also made at least a dozen calls to the HRD ministry between 13.40 and 13.55 the same day, but there was no response.
We then contacted Chandy on his mobile, but he too did not return our call.
And that’s precisely was reflected in our report. We did everything that’s required of a responsible journalist and, therefore, we stand by what and how we reported them.