On April 3, five journalists, four of whom were Muslims, were allegedly attacked by a Hindu mob while covering a Hindu Mahapanchayat at Delhi’s Burari Ground.
The journalists in question were freelancers Arbab Ali and Meer Faisal; photojournalist Mohammad Meherbaan and The Quint’s principal correspondent Meghnad Bose as well as a fifth journalists who, fearing intimidation, wishes to remain anonymous.
The event was organised under the banner of the ‘Save India Foundation’, which is run by Preet Singh, a follower of controversial Hindu priest Yati Narsinghanand; and Pinky Chaudhary, a Hindu Raksha Dal leader.
Singh was also involved in organising a rally at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar last year, where several anti-Muslim slogans were raised, as were calls for violence against Muslims. Narsinghanand, who was also present at Burari Ground, had raised calls for the genocide of Muslims and had told his followers to take up arms for his cause. Both these individuals had been arrested and were subsequently released on bail.
Similar calls for violence were made at the Mahapanchayat at Burari.
After the Hindutva mob attacked the journalists and snatched their cameras and equipment, the scribes were put in a police vehicle for protection and taken to the Mukherjee Nagar police station, where they remained for 12 hours.
Speaking about how the journalists were targeted and detailing the events of the day, Arbab Ali speaks to The Wire’s Sumedha Pal and Nikita Jain.