Barkha Dutt has likened Rajdeep Sardesai’s silence on her ‘war’ with Arnab Goswami as complicity to the Times Now’s editor-in-chief’s call for the trial of media.
For my friend @sardesairajdeep – my column- When an editor asks for media to be put on trial- silence is complicity https://t.co/3Erj7yoRAe
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) July 29, 2016
Barkha last week had taken to Facebook to slam Arnab for allegedly calling to gag Indian media. Even in her Facebook post, she had criticised the members of her fraternity for their political correctness and ‘timid silence.’
The popular NDTV anchor had written, ““Imagine, a journalist actually exhorts the government to shut down sections of the media, misrepresents them as ISI agents and terror sympathisers, calls for them to be tried and acted against.
Also Read | “Bully on TV who took chamchagiri to new heights with PM interview. Thy name is Arnab!”
“And yet, I pressed the pause button and decided I didn’t wish to speak on the issue and aggravate the controversy. Maybe, I was influenced by the fact that both Barkha and Arnab have been former colleagues and I have respected their work.
“Maybe, having been bitten in the past, I didn’t want to join the viper’s den which platforms like Twitter have been reduced to: 24 X 7 rage machines where every attempt is made to throw darts at public figures, often under the guise of anonymity.
“Maybe, I just like to see myself as a nice guy who doesn’t wish to see more unpleasantness around him.”
Rajdeep’s ‘silence’ aside, many journalists have come forward in support of Barkha. NDTV’s Ravish Kumar wrote a hard-hitting blog on Friday. A similar critical opinion piece was written by ABP’s Abhisar Sharma the same day.
Social media users too have been condemning the comments made by Arnab, who’s lately become notorious for allegedly towing the BJP line through the coverage on Times Now.
Next: Rajdeep Sardesai on “Why I will not speak on the Arnab-Barkha ‘war'”
