The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has expressed concern at the growing trend of violent attacks by rightwing outfits against journalists in Maharashtra. "Disagreement with views cannot be the reason to attack media houses. The media must be allowed to remain independent, and encouraged to resist pressure tactics, from whichever direction they come," said IFJ president Christopher Warren.
On February 19, activists of the rightwing Sambhaji Brigade ransacked the office of Loksatta, an Indian Express group publication in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. Armed with rods, they destroyed computers, broke window panes and burnt files. They also damaged office furniture and beat up two employees who were present in the office.
The mob, shouting slogans glorifying the Sambhaji Brigade and Shivaji, went on the rampage supposedly because Loksatta had not published any article on the occasion of Shivjayanti, the anniversary of Maratha king Shivaji. On their way back, they also burnt down a motorcycle with Loksatta written on it.
The following day, seven activists of the Shambaji Brigade forcefully entered the office of Lokmat newspaper in Pune and ransacked the place in protest against a poem in the Marathi daily's Sunday supplement on Shivaji Maharaj. They threatened the employees for having published the poem by late GD Mudgulkar which referred Sant Ramdas Swam as Shivaji's guru, Assistant Commissioner of Police DC Shepal said.
He said the activists entered the office and handed over a memorandum first against the publication of the poem in the Sunday supplement on February 19 and then put a few computers in the room upside down and also broke the flower pots.
The Sambhaji Brigade, a splinter group of the Maratha Seva Sangh, an organisation active in "promoting the cause of Marathas" came into the national spotlight in January 2004 after their vandalising of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) in Pune, Maharashtra, one of the country's premier research centres for Orientology.
They were protesting against the institute's "involvement" in maligning the name Shivaji. The attackers were reacting to a "derogatory" remark on Shivaji's parentage, made by the American author James Laine in his book 'Shivaji: A Hindu King in an Islamic Kingdom'. The 150-strong mob barged into its premises, ransacked the library, destroyed thousands of rare books, ancient manuscripts, old photographs and priceless artifacts, and took away some invaluable historical texts.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Thursday said action will be initiated against the Sambhaji Brigade whose activists were involved in ransacking of two newspaper offices in the state. Deshmukh was addressing journalists after a Cabinet meeting.
The attacks in Ahmednagar follows closely on the attack on February 8 on Zee TV in Mumbai. Members of the Shiv Sena, led by Sena's student wing, Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena (BVS), ransacked the office of the TV channel. The attack was because of a skit on the Shiv Sena by Zee Marathi. A skit titled 'Kaka Mala Vachva' (uncle, save me) was presented at the Zee Marathi annual awards, allegedly commenting on the tussle within the Thackeray family that led to the exit of Sena leader, Raj Thackeray, from the Sena.
Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray justified the attack the following day in a front-page article in party mouthpiece 'Saamna', and said the outburst was in response to the "obnoxious" skit. "A thousand thanks to you...keep the flame alive...we need to protect Mumbai from such (distasteful) people," Thackeray said.
Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray and Zee TV chief Subhash Chandra Goyal met in Mumbai on February 16 in a bid to resolve misgivings. After the meeting at the residence of state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Nitin Gadkari, the Zee TV chief was reported to have expressed an apology if the skit had offended the Thackeray family. The Sena executive president reportedly said the issue was over for him."
"Diversity of opinion and tolerance of views in a multicultural society is a hallmark of a vibrant democracy. Those who perpetrate these attacks must be severely dealt with. These self-appointed censors cannot be allowed to intimidate and stifle a free press," said Warren.
