NEW DELHI: The CBI’s extraordinary raids on the houses of the NDTV promoter and veteran journalist Prannoy Roy has come just days after the channel’s anchor, Nidhi Razdan, had on-air altercation with a BJP spokesperson, Sambit Patra.
Razdan had told Patra to leave the show if he did not apologise after he accused the NDTV of spreading misinformation with an agenda.
A defiant NDTV, meanwhile, posted a message on its website promising to fight ‘the attempts to blatantly undermine democracy and free speech in India.’
Its statement said, “This morning, the CBI stepped up the concerted harassment of NDTV and its promoters based on the same old endless false accusations. NDTV and its promoters will fight tirelessly against this witch-hunt by multiple agencies. We will not succumb to these attempts to blatantly undermine democracy and free speech in India.
ALSO READ: Watch: NDTV anchor Nidhi Razdan humiliates BJP Sambit Patra on live show
“We have one message to those who are trying to destroy the institutions of India and everything it stands for: we will fight for our country and overcome these forces.”
The raids on Roy evoked angry reactions from journalists, historian and social activists, all of whom dubbed it an undeclared emergency.
Here are some of the reactions:
https://twitter.com/sanjivbhatt/status/871603413036834816
https://twitter.com/pbhushan1/status/871627624820473856
https://twitter.com/sardesairajdeep/status/871600665440641024
https://twitter.com/sagarikaghose/status/871595240045412352
https://twitter.com/RazdanNidhi/status/871595543041941504
https://twitter.com/vikramchandra/status/871616804279529472
https://twitter.com/VishnuNDTV/status/871606983929081856
https://twitter.com/ajaishukla/status/871569430416732160
https://twitter.com/LambaAlka/status/871599641871007744