Vizag media office attacked over ‘VSP privatisation’ report; journalists slam TDP govt

Goons allegedly bearing allegiance to the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) attacked a Deccan Chronicle office in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday afternoon (July 10), destroyed the security post, ransacked furniture, and burnt the name board of the newspaper, according to a report by the newspaper.

The newspaper said the attack was in gross violation of all norms of democracy and rule of law, and that it was carried out despite a promise by the TDP-led alliance in the recent elections that “it would restore law and order in Andhra Pradesh”.

The attack was reportedly to protest against an article in the newspaper titled, “Alliance takes U-turn on VSP privatisation”, which said that the alliance government in Andhra Pradesh was changing its stand regarding the privatisation of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP).

The publication said it carried the report based on a statement by an AP minister, and that the same news had appeared in other national and financial dailies.

Journalists’ body condemns attack

A day after the attack, the Indian Journalists Union released a statement condemning the “blatant attempt to attack and muzzle press freedom”.

“The attack on the Deccan Chronicle office in Vizag on Wednesday, orchestrated by a mob of Telugu Desam party (TDP) supporters, will go down in the annals of the country’s history as a rare macabre act on press freedom. Deccan Chronicle is not only a responsible publication but also one of the oldest English publications operating in the Telugu states for decades. Adhering to their editorial principles, a news item titled “Alliance takes U-turn on VSP privatisation’ was published. Reacting to the news report, which was related to TDP’s stand on the Vizag steel plant issue, the TDP supporters thought the best way to protest was to take law and order into their own hands and torch the display board of the office in full public view.

“It is disappointing to see that the party, which has just won the election with a popular mandate in Andhra Pradesh, has not taken any stern action to rein in their cadre who resorted to intimidation and tried to muzzle a section of neutral media. As a responsible regional party that has been in the political landscape for more than four decades, the TDP should know that there are other recourses the party can take if it doesn’t agree with the news written about them. TDP or any other political party should maintain restraint and strengthen the democratic process instead of undermining it.

“I strongly condemn the attack perpetrated by the TDP supporters and demand that the government take stringent action against the accused to ensure that this incident doesn’t become a precedent for political parties to take this path,” read the statement signed by Amar Devulapalli, Steering Committee member of the IJU.

‘Better knowledge of Molotov cocktail than Art 19(a)’

Describing the “premeditated” attack on its office premises on the Visakhapatnam-Bheemili Beach Road with the activists carrying a bottle of petrol, the reputed newspaper said “the TD goons had greater understanding and working knowledge of the Molotov cocktail rather than Article 19(a) of the Constitution”.

The report said that members of the Telugu Nadu Students Federation and the TD Women’s wing were in the forefront of the group.

Women journalists abused

Women journalists of the Deccan Chronicle confronted the attackers and asked them to discuss their concerns peacefully. The gang responded with abusive language and rushed towards the staff menacingly. One woman activist reportedly asked another to throw a flaming petrol bottle against the printing unit.

Since the attackers turned a deaf ear to the pleas of the women journalists to refrain from violence, the Deccan Chronicle staff, led by its women journalists, formed a human chain in a show of nonviolent resistance.

The attackers, however, only became more aggressive and began pushing the women journalists, touching them inappropriately. They also began throwing stones at the main building which housed the expensive printing equipment. The newspaper’s staff managed to hold the fort and prevented them from reaching the main building.

Police arrive, goons flee

In the meantime, the staff had given an emergency call to the police commissioner of Visakhapatnam, who sent a contingent of policemen to the publication’s office. On the arrival of the policemen, the attackers fled the scene.

The attackers during the entire incident kept shouting slogans like, “We will see how you will publish a paper ever again”.