BJP, central ministers slam Arnab Goswami's arrest; Congress terms reaction ‘selective outrage’

NEW DELHI | MUMBAI: Union Cabinet ministers and BJP leaders condemned the arrest of Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami by the Maharashtra Police in a two-year-old suicide abetment case, calling it “an attack on press freedom”.

Congress, which is part of the ruling alliance in Maharashtra, called BJP’s reaction a “selective outrage” and asked why that party was silent over the arrests of journalists in BJP-ruled UP allegedly for their news reports critical of the government. Media bodies such as the News Broadcasters Association and Editors Guild called for fairness in the probe, and condemned the “manner in which Goswami was arrested”.

Union home minister Amit Shah said Congress and its allies had shamed democracy once again. I&B minister Prakash Javadekar, external affairs minister S Jaishankar, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, railways minister Piyush Goyal, IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and women and child development minister Smriti Irani too tweeted condemning the arrest.


BJP president Jagat Prakash Nadda, in a tweet, said the arrest was at the behest of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi.

Congress’ Supriya Shrinate said the “law will take its own course” and said no “innocent person will be punished”. Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh said the arrest was “as per law”.

The broadcasters’ body said while it did not agree with Goswami’s type of journalism, it denounced “the retaliatory action, if any, by the authorities”.