Arnab Goswami has penned an emotional note for his supporters after he was left overwhelmed by a group of people, who walked to express their solidarity for the Republic TV founder. This came just days after the TV anchor targeted Salman Khan with ‘senior citizen’ and ‘Bigg Boss of drugs’ jibes.
A note by Goswami read, “To all those who walked for me and Republic, I am deeply grateful and overwhelmed. As you all know, the entire state machinery has been deployed against us. But what they cannot stop the citizens from doing is protesting peacefully, without breaking the law. Why were citizens questioned for walking in Mumbai? Is walking also a crime? How dare the police ask whether there was a conspiracy behind walking? We can all walk and talk freely anywhere in the country. We will not be restrained or terrorised anymore. This is a free country.”
Republic TV broadcast a video of a group of people walking by wearing T-shirts bearing Goswami’s photo. According to Republic TV, those staging a walk in support of its editor were stopped and ‘questioned’ by the Mumbai Police.
The development came amidst several senior executives of the channel facing intense grillings by cops in connection with the TRP scam. Republic TV claimed that its senior members had, so far, faced over 150 hours of questioning. Among those being questioned by the Mumbai Police have included Output Editor Sagarika Mitra, Senior Associate Editor Shivani Gupta was called in for questioning by the Mumbai police. Earlier, Republic TV’s Senior Associate Editor Shawan Sen and Executive Editor Niranjan Narayanaswamy were questioned on Saturday.
Goswami and his TV channel have been embroiled in TRP scam unearthed by the Mumbai Police. The Republic TV founder has denied the allegations and has threatened to sue Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh.
Goswami had also triggered a controversy by launching repeated attacks on Bollywood actor Salman Khan for his silence on the death of Sushant Singh Rajput. He had also used disparaging jibes such as ‘senior citizen’ and ‘Bigg Boss of drugs‘ for Salman, prompting the famous actor to take an indirect dig at the TV anchor.
