Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, on Monday threw his weight behind NDTV after the central government’s probe agency, the CBI, raides the houses of the channel’s owners, Prannoy Roy and his wife Radhika Roy.
Kejriwal tweeted, “We strongly condemn raids on Dr Roy n NDTV group. Its an attempt to silence independent and anti-establishment voices.”
We strongly condemn raids on Dr Roy n NDTV group. Its an attempt to silence independent and anti-establishment voices
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) June 5, 2017
Meanwhile, one of channel’s popular journalists, Ravish Kumar took to Facebook to challenge the Centre’s Narendra Modi government to come face to face in front of a LIVE camera if it wished to finish off the NDTV.
In a powerful Facebook post, Kumar wrote, “So you intimidate ans threaten us and put everyone including the Income Tax department against us. See we are trembling in fear. Now employ your stooges on social media to defame us. But amidst the fashion of media playing in your lap, there’s one media house that refuses to do so. Your success will be when every sings ‘thousands of Indian media houses play in your lap.’ NDTV hasn’t come into existence so easily, even you know that. If you are so happy to see our end, then let’s come face to case someday on chairs. We and you will be there and there will be live camera.”
The CBI’s extraordinary raids on the houses of the NDTV promoter and veteran journalist Prannoy Roy has come just days after the channel’s anchor, Nidhi Razdan, had on-air altercation with a BJP spokesperson, Sambit Patra.
Razdan had told Patra to leave the show if he did not apologise after he accused the NDTV of spreading misinformation with an agenda.
A defiant NDTV, meanwhile, posted a message on its website promising to fight ‘the attempts to blatantly undermine democracy and free speech in India.’
Its statement said, “This morning, the CBI stepped up the concerted harassment of NDTV and its promoters based on the same old endless false accusations. NDTV and its promoters will fight tirelessly against this witch-hunt by multiple agencies. We will not succumb to these attempts to blatantly undermine democracy and free speech in India.”