On January 30, Ashok Shrivastav, journalist, DD News, demanded action against Arun Rajbhar, National General Secretary, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), after he threatened Shrivastav on social media platform Twitter.
In his tweet, Shrivastav said, “Today Akhilesh Yadav’s security personnel beat up a journalist, I wrote against it, OP Rajbhar Ji’s son Arun Rajbhar Ji threatened to beat me up.” He further urged Home Minister, UP Police and Election Commission to take action against Rajbhar. “Please take action in this matter. This is an attack on the media on journalists,” he added.
आज #Akhilesh_Yadav के सुरक्षाकर्मियों ने एक पत्रकार को पीटा, मैंने इसके विरोध में लिखा तो @oprajbhar जी के बेटे @ArunrajbharSbsp जी ने मुझे पीटने की धमकी दी। @HMOIndia @Uppolice @ECISVEEP कृपया इस मामले में कार्यवाही करें। ये पत्रकारों पर मीडिया पर हमला है। pic.twitter.com/UbIBEKzI7H
— Ashok Shrivastav (@AshokShrivasta6) January 30, 2022
Rajbhar, whose party is an ally of the Samajwadi Party (SP) for the upcoming UP Assembly elections, in the now-deleted post, had said, “Journalists like you should be thrashed. You should get a reward for the bootlicking.”
Shrivastav, in a tweet, had condemned the incident in which Akhilesh Yadav’s bodyguards had thrashed journalist Khalid Chaudhary. He had said, “When SP was in power, journalist Jagendra was burnt alive for writing against a minister. Today, bodyguards of Akhilesh Yadav thrashed journalist Khalid Chaudhary in front of him. New SP or same SP?”
जब सपा सरकार थी तब पत्रकार जगेंद्र को एक मंत्री के खिलाफ लिखने पर ज़िंदा जला दिया था।
— Ashok Shrivastav (@AshokShrivasta6) January 30, 2022
आज ग़ाज़ियाबाद में #Akhilesh_Yadav के सामने उनके बॉडीगार्ड्स ने पत्रकार खालिद चौधरी की पिटाई की।
नई सपा या वही सपा ???
This tweet by Shrivastav irked the politician and SP ally who said responded with a threat saying the journalist should be thrashed.
Akhilesh’s bodyguard thrashed journalist
On January 29, during a press meet, journalist Khalid Chaudhary was thrashed by the bodyguards of former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav when he was trying to ask questions. In the video, the journalist could be heard saying, “Don’t thrash me”, but the bodyguards and SP workers kept pushing him.
जय समाजवाद @rohini_sgh ✊👊 pic.twitter.com/xhGnLDmIf6
— Naweed (@Spoof_Junkey) January 29, 2022
This is not the first time journalists have been thrashed in Yadav’s presence. In March 2021, a ruckus broke out between a group of journalists and the supporters of Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav at a hotel in Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. Yadav was in the city to attend the wedding of an MLA and had conducted a press conference at the said hotel on Thursday evening. During the ruckus, a reporter named Fareed Shamsi (identified as the one with a dark blue shirt) took a severe blow to his nose from Yadav’s security guard’s rifle. He was also pushed aside by a Samajwadi party supporter, who stood adjacent to him.
