Congress announces state-wide protest

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Congress, while demanding the arrest of Republic TV’s editorin-chief Arnab Goswami over the leaked chats related to Balakot airstrike two years ago, on Tuesday announced to stage a state-wide protest.

Maharashtra Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat said, “In the leaked chats between Arnab Goswami and former BARC chief Partho Dasgupta, very serious information has come to the fore. It appears Goswami was in the know about the airstrike as part of Indian defence forces’ retaliation in response to the Pulwama terror attack in February 2019.”

“Goswami appears to know about the airstrike three days in advance. Goswami, in one of his chats, has said that it was revealed to him by a big name in the (Narendra) Modi government. Thorough investigation and arrest of Goswami is a must as the issue relates to national security,” he added.

Thorat further said that the party will stage protest in all the districts to press the demand.

In a statement on January 19, Goswami said, “It is beyond absurd to suggest that expecting India to strike back at Pakistan, after the Pulwama attack, was a crime. It was publicly available information and thousands of journalists reported, wrote, broadcast and analysed in the same direction after Pulwama. I am horrified that the Congress party thinks that any journalist in India expressing the views publicly stated by the Government is committing a crime.”

Arnab Goswami.