Employees of national broadcaster Doordarshan on Friday came under attack, reportedly from NSUI members and workers of Congress leader Udit Raj, during a political debate. DD news anchor Ashok Shrivastav was attacked by NSUI goons and members of Udit Raj’s team for trying to stop them from creating a ruckus during a news debate.
In a statement released by Ashok Shrivastav, he said that the attack was pre-planned and an attempt to intimidate journalists from carrying on with their duties.
He also highlighted that Congress leader Udit Raj’s OSD was also involved in the attack and that the incident would likely be politicised by the party to condone the riotous tendencies of its members and dehumanise journalists who ask tough questions of them.
“Today, during the recording of my program, some boys from NSUI came from JNU and there were some people from Udit Raj’s team, they created a ruckus and misbehaved as soon as the program started. My producer and I tried to stop them but some of them attacked my producer from behind. I intervened and caught one attacker,” Shrivastav told OpIndia.
“Before handing him over to security, some people surrounded me and pushed me down as well. Later, it was found out that Udit Raj’s OSD was also involved in instigating the boys. Now, Udit Raj is trying to turn this into a political issue. It is also suspected that some boys were under the influence of alcohol. Currently, the matter is being looked into by the police,” he further added.
Congress leader Udit Raj took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to defend the attack claiming that a new “trend” has been established with the thrashing of a news anchor for his “devotion” to PM Modi.
दूरदर्शन स्टूडियो में डिबेट की रिकॉर्डिंग के समय मोदीभक्ति के बारे में जब एंकर से सवाल पूछा तो मारा पीटा गया। नया ट्रेंड स्थापित हो रहा है । @INCIndia @PTI_News @ANI
— Dr. Udit Raj (@Dr_Uditraj) February 23, 2024
Many other DD journalists also debunked the claims made by Udit Raj on X and exposed how the NSUI members and his workers had deliberately created a ruckus during the news show.
Lal Chandra Singh, senior correspondent with DD News, exposed the lies peddled by Udit Raj, stating that the attack in their studio was pre-meditated.
“Wrong, 4 goons had already planned and they did everything as per their plan. The anchor was telling them that we are coming to you with a mike but they felt that this would not fulfil their plan, so they created a ruckus, pushed and even fought,” he responded on Udit Raj’s tweet.
बिल्कुल ग़लत, 4 गुंडे पहले से ही प्लान करके आए थे और उन लोगों ने सब कुछ अपनी योजना के मुताबिक ही किया। ऐंकर उनको कह रहे थे कि हम आपके पास माइक लेकर आ रहे हैं लेकिन उनको लगा कि इससे तो उनका प्लान पूरा नहीं होगा तो उन्होंने हंगामा कर दिया, धक्कामुक्की की और मारपीट भी की। मत कीजिए।
— Lal Chandra Singh LC (@lcsingh73) February 23, 2024
Similarly, Kriti Wadhera, an anchor with DD India, revealed that NSUI goons came to the studio as an audience and created a ruckus during the debate. She further revealed that the goons along with the Congress workers tried to harm the anchor and the entire production team.
“We all highly condemn whatever happened in Doordarshan headquarters with senior Anchor @AshokShrivasta6.NSUI goons came to DD’s recording as an audience and made a ruckus during the debate. Tried harming Anchor and the entire production team where Congress workers were in their support,” Kriti Wadhera tweeted.
We all highly condemn whatever happened in Doordarshan headquaters with senior Anchor @AshokShrivasta6.NSUI goons came to DD's recording as audience and made a ruckus during debate.Tried harming Anchor and entire production team where Congress workers were in their support https://t.co/oS3baMxmyE
— Kriti Wadhera (@WadheraKriti) February 23, 2024
“Media is the strongest pillar of democracy and attacks on media cannot be tolerated. Congress has nothing left now so they are attacking senior media persons,” she said in a subsequent tweet.
