Arvind Kejriwal who loves to be in the media these days is now taking action against the journalists who are speaking against the government. In an incident, as many as seven journalists of the Hindustan Times were removed from the Delhi government official media WhatsApp group meant for sharing press notes, including a daily health bulletin.
The incident reportedly occurred on May 6 after Hindustan Times had published a report headlined, “Anatomy of Capital oxygen crisis: 5 things Delhi govt didn’t get right”. The report has put forward how the Delhi government had failed to address the crucial issue including the shortage of oxygen, its allocation, and cryogenic tankers.
While no official clarification has been given by the government’s Chief Media Coordinator, Vikas Yogi, it seems to be clear that the report has upset the Kejriwal government and resulted in the removal of seven journalists including Sweta Goswami, the author of the report.
The incident caught attention when IANS journalist Navneet Mishra took to Twitter and posted a screenshot of how the journalists from Hindustan Times were expelled from the group for questioning the government.
Furthermore, it is important to understand that while there were 197 members including the senior journalists also, only a few have come forward to question the Kejriwal administration for this action.
A reporter who has been in the WhatsApp group since 2016, wrote, “The representatives of the government should give an explanation to other reporters in the group. Ignoring questions from multiple reporters, who you also know personally, is insulting.”
Beyond that, one of the journalists who were there in the group in a report said mentioned how the state government hasn’t responded to their questions.
“For instance, once the lockdown happened, they didn’t arrange for a mechanism for us to directly question Kejriwal at his press conference. Kejriwal holds a press conference every day, but how is it a press conference if you’re not taking any questions?”
The reporter further explicitly asked the government if they are trying to intimidate journalists through these actions?
“It’s disgusting and shameless. This is just bad behaviour from a party that claims to be the alternative, it just reflects so poorly on them. We need to look at this from a larger perspective, as to what they are trying to do. Are they trying to intimidate journalists, scare them? What exactly are they aiming for here?” the reporter added.
It was only recently revealed through RTI that the AAP government has spent 150 crores on ads in the first 3 months of 2021, approximately 1.67 crores daily for ads.
Meanwhile, no comments have been made by the expelled journalist yet.
