Hindu group assaults Mysuru journalist at protest against temple demolition

Mohammed Safdar Kaiser, Chief Editor of an Urdu daily, was assaulted by the Hindu Jagarana Vedike members when he was covering their protest on September 16.
Angered mob assaulted the journalist
Angered mob assaulted the journalist
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On Thursday, September 16, a Hindu organisation assaulted a Mysuru-based journalist of an Urdu daily during a protest against the demolition of temples in the city. The Chief Editor of Kausar News, Mohammed Safdar Kaiser, was assaulted by members of Hindu Jagarana Vedike, suspecting him to be an ‘unknown’ person at their protest. The incident happened in Kote Anjaneya Swamy temple in Nanjangud taluk of Mysuru, where the members were demonstrating. No case has been registered following the incident.

The New Indian Express reported that the journalist was recording the speech of Hindu Jagaraa Vedike leader Jagadish Karanth. The mob objected to the recording of the event and questioned him. They then reportedly roughed the journalist up, demanding him to delete the video. They later assaulted him although he told the mob that he’s a journalist, the report stated.

In the video of the incident that has been circulating on social media, one can see the members of the Hindu organisation shouting at the journalist and attempted to assault him even though the police tried to move him to a safer place.

Mysore District Journalist Association condemning the incident and wrote a letter to city police commissioner Chandragupta, demanding action against the culprits and protection for journalists covering religious events.

“The assault on journalist Mohammed Safdar Kaiser, who was covering a protest by Hindu Jagarana Vedike, is condemnable. We demand appropriate action be initiated against the assailants. The association requests you to provide security to the journalists who cover religious events to prevent such incidents from happening again,” the letter read.

The Mysuru district administration has been demolishing temples built on the public land following a Supreme Court order. This drew ire from pro-Hindu organisations, the opposition parties and also members of the ruling-BJP in the state. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had also directed officials after the row to wait for guidelines for the demolition process after the backlash.

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