Gaurav Sarkar gaurav. sarkar@ mid- day. com ENRAGED by Republic TVu2019s shoddy reportage on Thursdayu2019s Jamia shooting, close to 20 people, including students, gathered outside the channelu2019s main office in Lower Parel for a peaceful protest. However, they were hauled away by the police already stationed outside the building in the Kamala Mills Compound.
After the shooting by a minor in Delhiu2019s Jamia Nagar in the afternoon, Republic TV reported that he was one among the anti- CAA protesters.
u201c Jamia protester uses gunu201d, u201c protester turns violentu201d flashed on the screen. The shooter was not participating in the protests against the Citizenship ( Amendment) Act.
But Republic portrayed him as u201c the real face of anti- CAA protestsu201d for close to half an hour. This irked several Mumbaikars who, through WhatsApp, called for an impromptu protest at 11 pm outside Wadia International Centre, where the channel is housed.
Minutes after four people arrived, the police asked them to leave. u201c Even before we could assemble, the police began dispersing and detaining us,u201d said Pourush Turel, a freelance filmmaker who was the first to reach the spot. u201c Around four of us were standing in front of a temple opposite Wadia building, waiting for others to show up before starting the protest when a couple of policemen came up to us and told us to politely move away from the temple. We obliged and moved a little ahead and sat on the footpath. Some other policemen then asked us to leave.u201d Things turned ugly when they refused to leave. u201c It all happened very fastu2026 they [ policemen] dragged me and shoved me inside a police van when I lost my balance and fellu2026 I have bruises on my arm,u201d he said.
They were taken to Worli police station. Others gradually arrived outside the office, and while some returned on being asked to do so by the police, others were detained for refusing to follow their order. u201c We wanted to send the message that they should stop broadcasting their program since it wasnu2019t based on facts. But by the time we reached, there were already over 50 policemen outside,u201d said Akshay Tarfe, 26, one of the detainees. He added that they were detained for over an hour.
Mumbai police spokesperson DCP Pranay Ashok told mid- day that u201c neither permission was taken for the protest nor the police were informed about it. Eleven protesters were detained and were released lateru201d. Both the channel and Arnab Goswami, the managing director and editor in chief of Republic TV, later issued clarifications on the u2018 incorrectu2019 reportage. u201c When initial news of shots fired at Jamia came in, there were incorrect reports on the identity of the gunman as one of the protesters,u201d said the channel, adding the mistakes were rectified on- air as soon as his identity was revealed.
u201c It was a mistake I made, I am sorry for it. Iu2019m saying it on prime time television. There is no malintent from our side, which is why we corrected ourselves,u201d Goswami was quoted as saying by the Quint.
Republic TVu2019s u2018 shoddyu2019 reportage irks students Several residents, including students, gather outside the channelu2019s main office to peacefully object to its incorrect reporting of Jamia shooting u2018 We did not have [ police] permission u2014 because it was spontaneous.
A lot of people were angry and scared at the same time because Republic TV was doing a broadcast in favour of the shooter.
We all had decided to simply stand outside their office as a mark of silent protestu2019 Akshay Tarfe, one of the protesters The police detained 11 people, who had called for a protest without permission, when they refused to leave
