An FIR was filed against Republic TV editor Arnab Goswami with Tura police in West Garo Hills by the Meghalaya Pradesh Youth Congress (MPYC).
The Youth Congress accused Goswami of making “wilful defamatory attack” against Congress President Sonia Gandhi and “communalise” the mob lynching incident at Palghar in Maharashtra.
The FIR was lodged by MPYC leaders, Richard M Marak, Pangsang RN Sangma and Gamrik K Sangma with Circle Inspector of Tura Police Station.
They alleged that Goswami tried to light this communal fire despite public statements given by both the Chief Minister and the home minister of Maharashtra who clarified that the incident in Palghar had no communal angle to it.
“On top of it all, he also tried to bring the Christians and even Italy into the mix,” the MPYC leaders stated in the FIR.
“The statement can be classified as a hate speech and it is an attack on the Constitution of India and is an offence under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Information Technology Act, 2000 and guidelines of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting,” they added.
Earlier, senior Congress legislator, Ampareen Lyngdoh took to Twitter on Friday saying, “Freedom of the press must be upheld, inciting religious sentiments and character assassinations is an unfortunate offshoot of the misuse of this protected press privilege in our country. Arnab must uphold ethics in his shows where he has often crossed the line.”
Condemning the attack on Republic TV Editor, Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma tweeted, “I condemn the attack on the freedom of the press. We should respect the voice and opinions of the media which is the essence of a democratic nation. #ArnabGoswami.”