On Tuesday, several leftist students at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) assaulted a Janam TV journalist while he was reporting about the BBC documentary screening at the campus. The journalist who was attacked has been identified as Gowtham Narayanan and he is employed at a Malayalam news channel named Janam TV.
The video of the incident was shared by Janam TV on Twitter which said that the journalist and the cameraman who accompanied him were attacked by the leftist jihadis at the JNU campus. According to Janam TV, the duo was attacked by the leftist students while they were reporting about the illegal screening of the banned BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
ജെഎൻയുവിൽ ജനംടിവി സംഘത്തിന് നേരെ ആക്രമണം; അഴിഞ്ഞാടി ഇടത്, ജിഹാദി അക്രമി സംഘം #JNUCampus #JNUSU #JNU #Documentary pic.twitter.com/scuXIBJUaC
— Janam TV (@tvjanam) January 25, 2023
The reporter in the video could be seen pushed by the JNU student who later hit the former in the back. Meanwhile, other leftist students could be seen arguing with journalist Gowtham Narayanan after he posed a few questions about the illegal screening. The leftist students also raised slogans before they launched an attack on the journalist and the cameraman.
The controversy around the screening of a propaganda BBC documentary on the JNU campus heated up as the JNU administration allegedly cut power and internet connections at the student union’s office to stop the illegal screening of the banned documentary. On January 25, the leftist student body named JNU Student’s Union claimed that after the power supply was cut, stones were pelted at them by ABVP as some students gathered to watch BBC’s controversial docuseries on the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The students claimed that stones were hurled at them when they were watching the documentary on their mobile phones as the screening could not be held. ABVP on the other hand has refuted the accusations. Moreover, a senior police officer stated that no such incident was reported to the police.
The JNU administration on the other hand stated that there was a major power line fault that was being fixed. “There is a major power line fault at the university. We are looking into it. The engineering department is saying it will be resolved at the earliest,” the JNU administration said. Notably, the JNU administration had refused to permit the screening and had said that disciplinary action would be taken if the documentary was screened.
Earlier, a case was filed against the JNUSU for intending to show the banned documentary on the JNU campus. Last week, India denounced the controversial BBC documentary series on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, described as a ‘propaganda piece’ designed to push a discredited narrative. “We think this is a propaganda piece designed to push a particular discredited narrative. The bias, lack of objectivity, and frankly continuing colonial mindset are blatantly visible,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said during a weekly media briefing.
Apart from JNUSU, many other student organizations at different universities attempted to show the BBC documentary. Earlier, Student Islamic Organisation (SIO) & Muslim Student Federation known as the Fraternity group at Hyderabad Central University (HCU) organized a screening of the BBC documentary inside the campus on Monday. More than 50 students from these groups attended the screening.
Also, the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala, has announced that they will screen the controversial documentary on Tuesday evening in the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram despite stiff opposition from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
