A Kashmiri Pandit journalist Rounak Bhat was among the seven journalists thrashed by a far right Hindu mob while covering the Hindu Maha Panchayat at Delhi’s Burari ground on Sunday.
Among the seven journalists were Shahid Tantray, Mohammed Meharban, Meer Faisal, Arbab Ali, and Meghnad Bose, Shivangi Saxena and Rounak Bhat.
While five were on an assignment for Article 14, two of them, i.e., Rounak Bhat and Shivangi Saxena were there to cover the event for News Laundry.
It is pertinent to mention that the ‘Hindu Maha Panchayat’ is a controversial event organized by Far Right Hindu organizations of India, including the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Bajrang Dal and others. The gatherings are essentially anti-muslim in nature, where calls for genocide of Muslims have been often made.
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One of the speakers at the events, Yati Narsinghanand, who was arrested in the past for hate speech at a Hindu Maha Panchayat in 2021 at Haridwar was also among the participants of the Mahasabha, since he was granted bail by the court in the Hate Speech Case.
The organizers of today’s events were the ones who had also organized an anti-muslim Hate Speech at Jantar Mantar in August 2021, where BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay and five others were arrested by the Delhi police.
Among the arrested was Preet Singh of Save India Foundation, one of the main organizers of today’s events. Although booked for hate speech, Singh was granted bail in September, 2021.
The Quint had earlier reported that the police had denied the permission for the event. The organizers had reportedly told The Quint that they were in touch with the police however they didn’t have the written permission for the event. And that the local police had told them that police had to be deployed for the event.
Rounak Bhat, a Kashmiri Pandit, was on an official assignment to cover the Hindu Maha Panchayat in New Delhi’s Burari ground where his colleague Shivangi Saxena was recognized by the Right wing mob for her reporting about the Hate Speech event last year.
Ronak said, “Around 10:30, we reached to the event and then the person speaking on the mic addressed my fellow colleague (Shivangi) and we instantly left the spot out of fear.”
He said, “It was moments later that we got an update that some journalists were detained at the site of the Hindu Maha Panchayat. We rushed to the spot and upon reaching the spot, a mob of around 10-15 people rounded Shivangi and me and started hurling verbal abuses at us. I took out my camera to record this, only to be rounded up by more men who then snatched away my camera.”
Ronak said that the mob assaulted him physically and trampled over his glass. “They snatched my equipment and continued thrashing me till the Police came,” Rounak told The Kashmiriyat.
The two were later taken to the Police station, where the duo filed a complaint against the assailants.
Meanwhile, both the Newslaundry journalists, Shivangi Saxena and Rounak Bhat, have filed a complaint at Mukherjee Nagar police station.
In another Tweet thread, Arbab added, “They were spewing venom and making communal speeches. @meerfaisal01 and I were taking interviews of people. Suddenly, a group of right-wingers came to us and snatched our cameras and phones. They asked us our names. When Meer and I told them our name, they called us jihadi.”
“They then asked for our media cards, IDs and made us delete the videos and photos in our phones. They made us sit at a separate stop, more than 50 police personnel were there but they didn’t budge. They then attacked Meer on the head and pushed me around.”
“The mob started saying that ‘we should be beaten for this’ as if covering the event was a crime and being Muslim is a crime,” he added.
He said that the two showed them their IDs but the right wingers still threatened them. Two policemen came to take them but the mob didn’t allow them. Both of them were again manhandled. “Two female police officers and two male policemen in plain clothes came to us and forcefully took us away to a secluded place,” he added.
“The police men were pushing both of us. We had no idea who they were. We thought they were also part of the Hindu mob and would soon attack us. We both were followed by around a mob of 150 right-wingers. They were calling us and saying that we’ll be beaten,” said Arbab.
“The police men pushed both of us in the police van and the mob surrounded the van and were trying to push their way into the van. @MeghnadBose93 came inside the van and asked the police to take us away. Suddenly, the van door was opened and a right winger came inside and punched the policeman sitting next to us. An injured @mdmeharban03 and another journalist came inside the police van. The police took us away to Mukherjee PS. I heard one of the mobster say ‘Inka peeche karo’.”
He added that they waited in the Police Station for an hour and later, were given two police escort cars to escort them home. “We left with the escorts for home but have been called back as the matter has reached the SP,” he said adding, “We are barely holding ourselves. On the first day on Ramadan, something like this has happened.”