Journalist Barkha Dutt on Friday said that she received threatening calls, full of abuses, from an unknown number following the publication of her column on Kanhaiya Kumar titled, “Meeting Kanhaiya Kumar—the Man who made ' Azaadi' an Anthem”.
On Thursday, the Consulting Editor of NDTV wrote on Twitter: “The Threats begin. Anonymous calls today calling me a M*****F*****G B***** on, "Afzal lovers Gang" whose family should die. 'Nationalists'?”
The Threats begin. Anonymous calls today calling me a M*****F*****G B***** on, "Afzal lovers Gang" whose family should die. 'Nationalists'?
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) March 4, 2016
Barkha Dutt had written the opinion piece following her exclusive chat, at the residence of a JNU professor, with JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar, who was released on bail on Thursday evening.
In the recent past following the JNU row, Barkha Dutt had written an open letter to PM Modi, “Opinion: A Letter To PM Modi From 'Anti-National Sickular Presstitute' Barkha Dutt” in which she spoke critically of PM Modi. Even more recently, she wrote an opinion piece for the Hindustan Times titled, “BJP’s contradictions on JNU are mounting”.
A number of journalists have faced threats over their reportage of the JNU row and associated issues. Recently, Ullekh NP, a Delhi-based journalist working as the Executive Editor of Open Magazine received a threatening call for his article in a weekly magazine titled Kalakaumudi. Similarly, Asianet journalist Sindhu Suryakumar has been hounded for hosting a debate on Mahishasura Jayanthi.