Parashar Biswas, a journalist from Tripura, was admitted to a hospital in the state capital, Agartala.
Guwahati:
A journalist was beaten by strangers after he criticized Tripura’s chief minister Biplab Deb’s “I will not forgive” comment in state media. Deb had criticized the media at an event on Friday for publishing stories of alleged mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis by the BJP government.
Parashar Biswas, a journalist for a Bengali daily in Tripura, had just recovered from the COVID-19 infection, which he contracted while on duty. After being discharged from a COVID-19 care unit, he recorded a video in which he criticized the Chief Minister for allegedly threatening journalists.
He made the video on Friday night while in the COVID-19 spotlight.
The journalist’s post was viewed with an aggressive tone, with some social media users criticizing him for not adhering to a decent way of addressing the Chief Minister.
Biswas was beaten at his home in Ambassa, the Dhalai district headquarters, on Saturday night. He was seriously injured and was taken to a hospital in the state capital, Agartala, sources said.
“We have filed a case and we are investigating the attack,” DGP (manager) Rajiv Singh told NDTV by phone.
Subal Dey, editor of Syandan Patrika, where Mr. Biswas works, said: “He was attacked one day after the Chief Minister issued a threat against the media and within 12 hours of his posting on Facebook. We suspect this attack it was carried out by the BJP members. “
The BJP has denied the accusation. “We condemn the attack on the journalist. None of our party members are involved in this. The police have launched an investigation. If any member of the political party is involved, the law will take its course,” said Tripura BJP spokesman Nabendu Bhattacharjee.
In his Facebook post, Biswas said: “I would like to warn the Chief Minister that he should not try to threaten the media. I am posting this today. There will be many others in the future.”
At a time when the center dispatched a team of experts to Tripura to help the state government combat rising COVID-19 cases, and the state recorded the highest death rate in the Northeast, Chief Minister Biplab Deb criticized a section of the media for publishing stories of alleged mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis, on the sidelines of a ceremony for a special economic zone in Sabroom on Friday. Union Minister Piyush Goyal led the first stone by videoconference.
Deb had said that she would not “forgive” the media for their alleged “confusing” reporting. “Some newspapers and journalists are getting overexcited and confusing the people of Tripura. History will not forget them. I will not forgive them either. The people of Tripura will not forget them. Biplab Deb will not forget them. I do what I say, I keep my words. History will continue to witness it, “Deb said.
State journalists held a meeting in Agartala this Sunday and within the framework of a forum called “Assembly of Journalists”, they asked the Chief Minister to withdraw his statement against a section of the state media. The journalists said they would otherwise be forced to discuss the matter with the governor, prime minister and the Press Council of India.
“Within 24 hours of the Chief Minister’s public threat to the newspapers, a journalist has been attacked, brutally beaten. This has led to a feeling of insecurity among journalists in the state,” the Assembly of Journalists said in a statement. .
All of these developments come days after Tripura’s High Court requested reports from the state government on its coronavirus measures and infrastructure within a week or before September 18.
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