New Delhi: A case filed by Kerala Police against Asianet TV news anchor Vinu V. John — for a comment he allegedly made about CPI(M) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Elamaram Kareem in March — has triggered a political showdown in the state.
The FIR was filed on the basis of a complaint filed by Kareem in April. According to the FIR, a copy of which is with ThePrint, John had called for an attack on him, and insulted him as well as his family.
“The presenter said that the complainant must be attacked… the vehicle he is travelling in must be smashed and people travelling with him must be kicked out… Should be punched in the face like Yaseer,” the FIR filed by Thiruvananthapuram Police reads.
The FIR is dated 28 April, but the allegation dates back to a 28 March TV discussion on an incident the same day — where an auto driver named Yaseer (identified only by his first name) was allegedly beaten up by supporters of a two-day nationwide trade union strike for ferrying a patient to hospital in Malappuram.
Kareem, while speaking about the attack on Yaseer, had allegedly said, “We had given the strike call two months ago… Now they say someone was scratched and pinched.”
The MP is also the general secretary of Centre for Indian Trade Unions, the CPI (M)’s labour arm.
John allegedly asked on his show how “a particular CPI(M) parliamentarian would have reacted if he had been assaulted by supporters” of the shutdown, according to a report in The Telegraph.
On Wednesday, Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala state assembly, V.D. Satheesan of the Congress, sought to draw a parallel between the case against John and the police investigations against AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair, who was released on bail Wednesday.
“We all condemned the Modi government’s decision to slap a series of cases against AltNews Editor Mohammad Zubair and his subsequent arrest. But in Kerala, the government booked a news anchor for raising criticism against an MP. This is real fascism,” Satheesan said in the assembly, and added that the state government must withdraw the case.
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Anchor booked under bailable sections
John has been booked under IPC sections for criminal intimidation and intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, among others, and sections of the Kerala Police Act. Since the sections are bailable, police said, John wasn’t arrested.
Speaking to ThePrint, Thiruvananthapuram Police Commissioner Sparjan Kumar said, “These are all bailable sections. We had informed him through a phone call to visit the police station, but he stated that he has been busy working — travelling to and for work.”
Speaking to ThePrint Friday, John said, “I had applied for passport renewal in June and was given the renewed passport on 27 June. However later, on 17 June, I was asked by the passport office through a notice to surrender my passport, asking for an explanation on why I didn’t mention about the criminal case lodged against me. I submitted my response Thursday. Only when they informed me, did I come to know of the case. I asked the station house officer Peroorkkada, Trivandrum about it. He then confirmed the FIR against me”.
The anchor said that, so far, the police haven’t issued him any notice or summoned him.
“During the show, I only intended to show the miseries of the common man — through visuals and transcripts and criticised the apathy of political leaders. I didn’t go against the strike but wanted to convey that the common public’s agony shouldn’t be trivialised. They shouldn’t be degraded. There was no call for violence or attack on the MP, I was only trying to explain how the poor suffer in these strikes through three such incidents,” the anchor said.
“My stance remains unchanged. The criminal case will be dealt with legally. The ruling party is using this tactic to silence critics,” he added.
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