Delhi: 3 Muslim journalists assaulted on duty at Hindutva event

Three Muslim journalists were assaulted at Hindu Mahapanchayat by unknown assailants in Delhi while on assignment to cover the event on Sunday.

Meer Faisal, Md Meharban, and Arbab Ali, were covering the event at Burari grounds when their cameras were snatched and their footage was forcefully deleted by people who had come to attend the event. Communal slurs were also shouted at them by the mob.

Following the attack by the Hindutva mob, Delhi police escorted five journalists, including four Muslim journalists in a PCR van stationed at the venue. The other two other journalists are Shahid Tantray and Meghnad Bose. They were taken to Mukherjee Nagar police station.

Two Newslaundry journalists were also manhandled and assaulted at the site. The journalists, Shivangi Saxena and Rounak Bhat, have filed a complaint at Mukherjee Nagar police station.

Meer Faisal in a tweet said, “I and @mdmeharban03 were beaten up because of our muslim identity by Hindu mob. Communal slurs were shouted on me at Hindu mahapanchayat at Burari ground in New Delhi. We had gone there to cover the event. We were called jihadis and attacked for being Muslims.”

In a tweet to clarify claims that the journalists were detained, DCP North West said, “Some of the reporters, willingly, on their own free will, to evade the crowd which was getting agitated by their presence, sat in PCR Van stationed at the venue and opted to proceed to Police Stn for security reasons. No one was detained. Due police protection was provided.”

Siasat.com reached out to Mukherjeenagar police who were unavailable to comment at the moment.

According to a report by The Quint, the controversial event was previously denied authorization by the Delhi police.

The Hindu Mahapanchayat is hosted by the same organization that held a similar event in Jantar Mantar last year, which included genocidal sentiments. The event was attended by, Dasna Devi temple head priest, Yati Narsinghanand among others.