Aaj Tak journalist Anjana Om Kashyap was heckled on Tuesday by an uncouth mob while covering the latest churning in Bihar as JD(U) Nitish Kumar flipped again and joined the Mahagathbandhan along with RJD and Congress.
Kashyap, a political beat journalist, was on the ground in Patna as a part of her professional duty to report on the development that swept the state in the wake of Nitish Kumar’s decision to switch sides and join hands with his former political allies turned rivals.
As Anjana was going about her business and reporting about the tectonic shift in Bihar’s politics, a crass group among the mob began shouting slogans against her, name-calling her and hurling pejoratives to insult and humiliate her. The condemnable incident was captured on camera, showing an uncivilised rabble of people heckling a woman journalist who was reporting about a significant development having pan-India implications.
The video instantly went viral on social media, where cheerleaders of the hecklers, in the form of Congress, RJD, opposition party supporters and leaders, ‘journalists’ belonging to the Left firmament, and so-called independent ‘fact-checkers’, enthusiastically partook in the efforts to pull down the journalist and express glee over the attack.
‘Journalists’, ‘fact-checkers’, Congress leaders, and supporters extend support to the uncouth mob that heckled the Aaj Tak journalist
Utkarsh Singh, a journalist whose favouritism for RJD-Congress is rather obvious, as witnessed through his Twitter timeline, shared the video of the attack endured by Anjana Om Kashyap.
सरकार पलटने के बीच एक घटना ये भी हुई. pic.twitter.com/NeMaGSfMCv
— Utkarsh Singh (@UtkarshSingh_) August 9, 2022
Mohammed Zubair, a self-described ‘fact-checker’ who conveniently wore the cloak of being a ‘journalist’ after having denied the same years ago to feign victimhood over charges levelled against him, including hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus by posting a slew of Hinduphobic posts, felt no qualms to retweet the video of a mob heckling the Aaj Tak journalist.
Puneet Kumar Singh, yet another ‘journalist’, was also among those who shared the video and tacitly legitimised the attack against Anjana Om Kashyap.
अंजना ओम कश्यप के सामने लगे गोदी मीडिया चोर है के नारेpic.twitter.com/xaW45RYK6e
— Puneet Kumar Singh (@puneetsinghlive) August 9, 2022
Congress leaders and supporters also endorsed and cheered the attack faced by Anjana Om Kashyap. While their supreme leaders gave a catchy slogan “Ladki hu Ladh Sakti soon”, their footsies and supporters gleefully expressed joy over the heckling of the Aaj Tax journalist.
Srinivas BV, a Congress leader close to Rahul Gandhi, shared the video of the attack and pontificated that such incidents do not reflect well on the democracy of the country.
सरकार के स्टार एंकरों के सड़कों पर उतरते ही ऐसी स्थिति क्यों उत्पन्न हो रही है, ये बात चैनलों को अब विचार करने की जरूरत है…!
— Srinivas BV (@srinivasiyc) August 9, 2022
लोकतंत्र के लिए ऐसी तस्वीरें शुभ नही है। pic.twitter.com/Q2d640YhTh
Several other Congress office bearers shared the video expressing their gratitude to the people of Bihar for welcoming “Godi Media journalist Anjana Om Kashyap”.
This is How Godi Media journalist @anjanaomkashyap was welcomed by the people of Bihar.
— Nitin Agarwal (@nitinagarwalINC) August 9, 2022
Thank You Bihar ❤ pic.twitter.com/VAAtsCqQ7P
Congress supporters on social media, too, joined in denigrating the journalist and extending support to the mob of hecklers.
Even after getting so much respect, if the Godi media does not improve, then it will be in a very bad condition in the coming days because the public of India has come to know that it is completely rejected.#AnjanaOmKashyap pic.twitter.com/5aIfpRFyJj
— Afzal,N,Paranchi 🇮🇳 (@AfzalNagori16) August 10, 2022
What happened with #AnjanaOmKashyap is wrong!
— sachin_kumar🇮🇳 (@iamsachinsinha) August 9, 2022
There is no way that heckling of a woman can be justified.
But people who have an argument that she was just doing her job, that is exactly my point why it happened to her…
Anchors like them haven’t done their job for a while! pic.twitter.com/QNXCGPWJzZ
बिहार में #AOK का भव्य स्वागत "गोदी मीडिया गो बैक" और "गोदी मीडिया मुर्दाबाद" के नारो से किया गया, जब ये स्टूडियों के गुलदस्ते फील्ड में जाते है तब इनको इनकी असलियत दिखती है।। #BiharNews #GodiMedia #AnjanaOmKashyap #nitiasa pic.twitter.com/tzmF83q0Vy
— 𝐑𝐚𝐡𝐮𝐥 𝐆𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐡𝐢 𝔉𝔞𝔫® (@RahulGandhiiFan) August 9, 2022
The cheering of attack against Anjana Om Kashyap: How the Left dehumanises independent voices who refuses to cave in under their pressure
It is worth noting that the endorsement and cheering on social media for the heckling attack against Anjana Om Kashyap came from the same quarters that went into overdrive to express outrage and shock over the unacceptably criminal behaviour of Shrikant Tyagi against a fellow woman resident in his society. While the ‘fact-checkers’, the Left, Congress, and opposition leaders held forth on liberal principles such as empowering women and treating them with respect when it came to the Shrikant Tyagi episode, their adherence to the same principles was conspicuously missing when hecklers attacked a woman journalist, Anjana Om Kashyap.
For the Left and their footsoldiers, anyone who refuses to toe their line and denies promoting their Islamist propaganda becomes a fair game for attack, slander, name-calling, and harassment. Anjana Om Kashyap, to them, is one of the impartial journalists who not only refuses to yield to their diktats but also possesses the ingenuity to expose the spurious political narratives woven to hoodwink unsuspecting people.
It is for these reasons the ‘fact-checkers’, self-described journalists, Congress leaders and supporters feel no compunction in dehumanising Anjana Om Kashyap, cheering on the hecklers and extending support to them. Anyone who does not follow their directives and dares to challenge their discourse is subjected to malicious attacks, their credibility called into question, and they being labelled as ‘Godi Media’ because by doing so, the Left effectively escapes critical scrutiny and avoids answering uncomfortable questions. Instead, they paint the critics as agents of the central government and promote more such attacks against them.
