Pune: The car of journalist Nikhil Wagle was attacked on Friday allegedly by BJP workers in Pune while he was travelling to attend an event, officials said.
They were protesting his remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior leader LK Advani after the ruling party patriarch was awarded the Bharat Ratna.
A Deccan police station official said BJP workers threw ink on the car in which Wagle and two others, Aseem Sarode and Vishwambhar Choudhary, were travelling under police protection to the ‘Nirbhay Bano’ event organised by Rashtra Seva Dal in Singhad Road area here.
Television visuals showed BJP workers mobbing the car at Khandoji Baba Chowk and vandalising it, resulting in the vehicle’s windscreen and side panes getting damaged.
Wagle managed to reach the venue of the event under police protection, the official added.
Addressing the ‘Nirbhay Bano’ event, Wagle said, “I forgive all those who attacked me. I have been attacked six times earlier and this was the seventh.”
Workers from the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi were engaged in a standoff outside the Rashtra Seva Dal premises earlier, with protesters saying they would now allow Wagle to speak at the event.
Earlier in the day, a case was registered here against Wagle for allegedly making offensive remarks against the PM and Advani.
“Nikhil Wagle has been booked under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 500 (defamation) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the IPC at Vishrambaug police station. We are probing the matter further,” the official said.
Senior BJP leader Sunil Deodhar had filed a complaint against the 64-year-old journalist at the Vishrambaug police station on Tuesday over the controversial comments, he said.
The senior scribe made the alleged defamatory remarks on social media platform X against Modi and Advani after the Centre announced that the latter would be conferred with the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour.
Pune BJP had also requested the police to deny permission to the ‘Nirbhay Bano’ event.
Pune city Shiv Sena president Pramod Bhangire said they were not opposing the event but only the participation of Wagle.
“We condemn Wagle’s remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP veteran L K Advani. By making such remarks in his social media posts, he has created rift between communities,” Bhangire said.
Editors Guild condemns attack
The Editors Guild of India on Saturday condemned an attack on senior journalist Nikhil Wagle in Pune and expressed concern about the police’s action of registering a case against him over a controversial comment, while the Congress said the incident reflected the collapse of rule of law in Maharashtra.
“The Editors Guild calls on the administration in Pune and the Maharashtra government to book the guilty,” said a statement.
It also noted that First Information Reports (FIRs) were registered against Wagle over his statement, and expressed deep concern about the “misuse of criminal laws against journalists in an effort to intimidate and harass them.”
“We urge law enforcement agencies to exercise restraint before registering complaints against journalists as an FIR, lest the process of investigation becomes a punishment itself,” the Guild said.
