Love Modi Or Hate Him, But Please Don't Get Violent

It’s been trending all over the news since yesterday! Leading journalist and ex- Editor-in-Chief of CNN-IBN, Rajdeep Sardesai was heckled and assaulted (and some sources say slapped) by a mob of incensed Modi supporters. The group was apparently angry over his coverage of the 2002 Godhra Riots when he was a correspondent with NDTV. The tussle began when Sardesai tried to peacefully ask a question to the supporters but met with a comment asking him to move to Pakistan along with his family. Clips uploaded on YouTube don’t clearly show how the conflict started. Some say a man clad in a Saffron robe slapped Rajdeep while others say the reporter lost his patience as a man kept abusing him throughout his live report.

Sardesai later took to his Twitter account to express outrage.

Great crowd at Modison square garden! except a few idiots who still believe abuse is a way of proving their machismo! #ModiAtMadison

— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) September 28, 2014

Super speech by Modi; not so super behaviour by some bhakts. Guess some things won't change.

— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) September 28, 2014

Another version, this time from NaMo Bhakts says that it was Rajdeep who first resorted to violence. This YouTube video kind of lends credence to that theory, though the video is edited, hence we are unable to know for sure.

What is clear though is that Rajdeep was subjected to gross provocation and abuse. The hate continued on social media after the incident with tweets such as these

@sardesairajdeep why did this guy actually came in between to stop that guy? He should have beaten u black n blue pic.twitter.com/Ru3t7o7dPF

— Vinay Gupta (@vinaykumargupta) September 28, 2014

Is it, @sardesairajdeep ? Shame on u ! You used ur own channel crew 2 slap u, to defame Modiji. via @RajatSharmaIive @haridasdr

— Ashok Tewari (@Vamadevananda) September 28, 2014

However, thankfully there were also a few reasonable people on Twitter who condemned the violence

@sardesairajdeep I am sorry you had to go through what you just did, but just goes to prove that you are doing your job well! Go Rajdeep!

— Bodhisattva Sen Roy (@insenroy) September 28, 2014

I wanted to RT @sardesairajdeep and express solidarity with him, but can't. (I'm blocked.) I stand by Rajdeep's right to free speech.

— Nakul Shenoy (@nakulshenoy) September 28, 2014

Later in the day, Prime Minister Modi delivered a personal message to Sardesai through Gautam Adani, expressing his unhappiness while New York City stood witness to the rowdiness of his political fans.

Our stand on this incident is clear. Free speech and healthy debate are the bulwarks of democracy. It's one thing to get pro and anti Modi topics to trend on Twitter, another thing altogether to resort to violence and abuse to put your point across. That's not cool.