Several BJP ministers including Amit Shah, Smriti Irani, Yogi Adityanath have come in support of Arnab Goswami, the Editor-in-chief of Republic TV.
New Delhi: Republic TV founder and editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami was detained today by Maharashtra Police in a 2018 abetment of suicide case of an interior designer and his mother. Two other people — named Feroz Shaikh from Kandivali and Nitesh Sarda from Jogeshwari, have also been arrested in a joint operation by the Raigad Police and the Mumbai Police.
High drama at Arnab’s house
Mumbai crime branch team under assistant inspector Sachin Waze, City police’s Special Operation Squad, and Alibaug police led by SP Ashok Dudhe, reached Arnab’s Mumbai’s residence at 6AM. Fearing chaos and disturbances, the police kept the operation secret. Even the local police had no information of the journalist’s arrest, sources said.
BJP ministers come in support of Arnab Goswami
Several leaders and ministers of Bhartiya Janata Party have backed the Republic TV chief and criticized the Government of Maharashtra for arresting him. Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted, “Congress and its allies have shamed democracy once again. Blatant misuse of state power against Republic TV and Arnab Goswami is an attack on individual freedom and the 4th pillar of democracy. It reminds us of the Emergency. This attack on free press must be and WILL BE OPPOSED.”
Shades of the Emergency! The arrest of Arnab Goswami is an attack on the freedom of press. Those who really believe in this freedom must speak up!” – tweeted MEA S. Jaishankar.
Union Minister Smriti Irani also wrote on Twitter in support of Arnab Goswami, “Those in the free press who don’t stand up today in support of Arnab, you are now tactically in support of fascism.” She also added that, “You may not like him, you may not approve of him, you may despise his very existence but if you stay silent you support suppression. Who speaks if you are next?”