ARREST OF INDIAN TV HOST SETS OFF POLITICAL AND MEDIA STORM
▶ Supporters say arrest of right-wing broadcaster Arnab Goswani is attack on freedom of speech
The arrest of a right-wing television news presenter for allegedly abetting a suicide is stirring controversy in the Indian media industry.
Arnab Goswami, editor-in-chief of Republic TV and a supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was arrested in Mumbai on Wednesday in connection with the death in 2018 of interior designer Anvay Naik.
Naik left a suicide note that said Goswami and two others owed him more than 54 million rupees ($732,000).
Naik designed the studios of Republic TV in 2018 after Goswami, 47, founded the channel with the financial backing of a leader from Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
Bombay High Court yesterday rejected Goswami’s request for interim bail – temporary release until his bail application could be heard by a lower court. It also directed the sessions
court where Goswami filed his bail application to issue a decision within four days.
The early morning arrest of Goswami at his home in Mumbai set off a storm in political and media circles. Supporters and opponents accused each other of undermining India’s press freedom and democracy.
The presenter denied the charges and accused the Maharashtra state government of carrying out a political vendetta. Goswami also accused police of assaulting him and his relatives during the arrest and remains in custody.
Maharashtra state is ruled by an alliance of Mr Modi’s opponents, including India’s opposition Congress party.
The coalition recently became the target of Goswami’s tabloid-style coverage, particularly after the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June.
Senior ministers condemned the arrest of Goswami. They said that the state government’s
action reeked of fascism and amounted to muzzling press freedom and democracy.
Interior Minister Amit Shah said the Congress and its allies shamed democracy by arresting Goswami.
“Blatant misuse of state power against Republic TV and Arnab Goswami is an attack on individual freedom and the fourth pillar of democracy,” Mr Shah tweeted.
Hashtags trended on Twitter in support of the presenter, and BJP supporters staged protests in several cities.
Others said the BJP was no stranger to targeting India’s journalists.
India slipped to 142nd in the 2020 Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, down two places on last year.
About 50 journalists have been arrested or charged with serious offences, including terrorism, during the coronavirus pandemic, most of them in BJPruled states.
Goswami is known for his aggressive nightly debates, where he routinely shouts down opponents of Mr Modi.
He has been accused of disregarding reporting ethics in support of the prime minister’s Hindu right-wing party.
In recent months, Goswami sharpened his attacks on the Maharashtra government, including personal jibes against the State Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Goswami’s programmes have been highly critical of the state government and Mumbai Police, especially over the investigation into Rajput’s death. That became an election issue in the actor’s home state of Bihar, where a BJP alliance is fighting to retain power.
Goswami accused Mumbai Police of bungling the investigation and allegedly shielding a Bollywood-linked drug mafia.
His channel ran a campaign against a Muslim missionary group and blamed it for spreading the coronavirus.
It hosted debates on the “inefficient” Mumbai Police, which led to charges of defamation last month.
Goswami and his channel were also recently charged with bribing a TV ratings company to rig audience figures to win benefits from advertisers.
“Undoubtedly he has been provocative,” Indian columnist Mohan Guruswamy told The National.
But he dismissed the portrayal of Goswami’s arrest as an attack on the media, saying he was accused of not paying a businessman who then committed suicide.
“It has nothing to do with press freedom,” he said.
Goswami and his politics have polarised opinion in India and there is no one view on the significance of his arrest in Mumbai