Journalist alleges assault by BJP workers in Kathua
A journalist with a Hindi daily was allegedly assaulted by BJP activists in Kathua during a protest demonstration against the Pahalgam terror attack. The incident took place at Kalibari Chowk in Kathua on Wednesday.
A purported video of the incident, in which journalist Rakesh Sharma is allegedly being assaulted, has gone viral on social media.
Sharma said he was covering a protest demonstration by BJP MLAs from Kathua district against the Pahalgam attack. Legislators Devinder Manyal, Rajiv Jasrotia and Bharat Bhushan were present during the incident.
Sharma alleged that when he asked pointed questions to the BJP MLAs regarding the failure of the Central government to check infiltration, a party activist started misbehaving with him. When the journalists present on the spot decided to boycott the event, some of the party activists allegedly thrashed Sharma.
On Thursday, journalists held protest demonstrations against the incident in Kathua and Jammu.
The J&K Congress has also criticised the incident and the spokesperson of party’s UT unit, Ravinder Sharma, said asking questions to BJP leaders by the journalists seems to have become a crime.
