NEW DELHI: Two reporters belonging to NDTV were reportedly beaten up by the mob of so-called “Pro-CAA protesters“, during the violence in Delhi.
The NDTV journalists Arvind Gunasekar and Saurabh Shukla were ‘filming a mosque being set on fire’ when they were badly beaten up by the angry mob.
According to a report by NDTV, Gunasekar was gherao by a mob wielding stones and sticks.
The mob hit him on the face and was about to be brought down lathi on his head when his colleague, Saurabh Shukla, intervened.
“The lathi hit Saurabh instead; he was also punched on the back and the stomach and hit on his leg; he is currently limping. Arvind lost three teeth in the attack,” the report added.
A third woman journalist had reportedly pleaded with the mob that was to let them go.
‘Our people- Hindus’
Taking to Twitter, NDTV’s Executive Editor Nidhi Razdan wrote, “Two of my colleagues Arvind Gunasekar and Saurabh Shukla were badly beaten by a mob just now in Delhi, they only stopped beating them after realising they are “our people- Hindus”. Absolutely despicable.”
Another senior functionary of NDTV, Suparna Singh, wrote, “Both @arvindgunasekar and @Saurabh_Unmute showed exemplary courage…they are getting medical attention now.”
Many others took to Twitter to condemn the news.
Payal Mehta who is a special correspondent for CNN News18 wrote on Twitter that the mob allowed the duo to go after her colleague “pleaded to the crowd with folded hands to let them go”.
“Two journalist @arvindgunasekar bleeding with a broken tooth and @Saurabh_Unmute beaten up for doing their job!! @Runjhunsharmas pleaded with the crowd to let them go!!! WTH is going on!!! Pls intervene @AmitShah ji..pls (sic),” she added in another tweet.
Another journalist from CNN News18, Uday Singh Rana added, “The mob asked @Runjhunsharmas to go but held @arvindgunasekar back. She and @Saurabh_Unmute did not leave Arvind behind. This is the kind of solidarity we need. Power to all three of them,” Rana took to Twitter to recount.
“Arvind is badly hurt, they’re on their way to a hospital,” he wrote on Twitter.
‘Don’t click pics, enjoy view’
A number of journalists across media organisations took to Twitter and wrote on being cornered while reporting on the Delhi riots.
Narrating the chilling account, News18’s Runjhun Sharma said the “scenes were scary as men wielding swords, iron rods and hockey sticks assaulted Arvind while Saurabh Shukla and I folded our hands and pleaded with the mob to let the three of us go. We were constantly saying ‘maaf kar dijiye (forgive us)’, ‘galti ho gai (it was a mistake)’, ‘hum patrakar hain (we are journalists).”
The Editors Guild of India too issued a statement on Tuesday calling the attacks a “direct assault on press freedom”.
Reports of violence and arson continue to trickle in from Maujpur, Jaffrabad and Kardampuri areas and at the time of writing the article 13 people, including a police head constable, have died in the rioting that has continued sporadically across several localities since Saturday.
Rioters used stones, sticks and country-made firearms as pro and anti-CAA protesters clashed.