Terrorising media, attacking its freedom cannot be tolerated: BJP slams attack on Asianet News

The Bharatiya Janata Party has condemned the targetting of Asianet News Network's Kochi office by members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-backed Students Federation of India. BJP's Kerala in-charge and former Union Minister Prakash Javadekar. "I strongly condemn this heinous attack by the SFI on Asianet News. If you have any complaint about the news, you make it in a process. But there is no justification for violence. The terrorism they have spread is condemnable. The state government must arrest all those who entered the Asianet News office and created violence. Attack on press freedom cannot be tolerated," he said.

To recall, a mob of 30 SFI activists had barged into the Asianet News Kochi office on Friday evening at 7:30 pm. The mob forced their way past security personnel, entered the fourth-floor office and indulged in sloganeering and protest. They also intimidated some Asianet News staff. 

So far, only eight out of the 30 have been arrested. They have been booked under charges of unlawful assembly, criminal trespass and intimidation. This is despite Kochi City Commissioner K Sethuraman's statement that action will be taken against the SFI members regardless of the position they hold. That includes District Secretary Arjun Babu. 

The officer also assured that there would be an investigation into whether there was a conspiracy behind the violence.