At the recently concluded NDTV Yuva conclave in New Delhi, Samajwadi Party leader and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav went overboard and spoke about killing a journalist. While talking with NDTV journalist Ravish Kumar, Akhilesh Yadav was narrating an incident where he was called ‘Aurangzeb’ by a Delhi journalist. According to Akhilesh the ‘Aurangzeb’ incident had infuriated Akhilesh, he did not like the audacity of the journalist at all who had given him the title after the infamous, dictatorial Mughal emperor. When probed by Ravish Kumar regarding the incident Akhilesh Yadav went on to narrate that he had conducted a meeting with the said journalist after the newspaper article had come out in which he had threatened the journalist with an FIR.
Narrating the incident the Samajwadi Party chief said, “Once I summoned a journalist from Delhi who had called me Aurangzeb. I regret letting him get away. I should have killed him with a sword like Aurangzeb.” Ravish Kumar meekly asked him to reconsider his statement but Akhilesh chose to defend his statement by adding that he has said so because he was angry. He further went on to add that since the journalist was left unhurt therefore it proved that Akhilesh was not cruel and dictatorial like Aurangzeb.
A former CM making such an irresponsible statement in an event of a mainstream media channel in the country should have ideally made it to the headlines of newspapers. Akhilesh Yadav however seems to be getting away after making such a violent statement all thanks to his closeness with the leftist cabal which dominates Indian media houses. The liberal media is surprisingly quite after a politician has made a threatening comment against someone from their fraternity. The reception of Akhilesh’s violent comment at the conclave was dangerous to say the least, his comments were met with loud cheers and clapping which shows the lack of sensitivity in the crowd present at the conclave. Ravish Kumar too tried to undermine the gravity of the statement by trying to bring in Nidhi for another question.
Akhilesh Yadav not just openly sent out a threat but also spoke about how he could have ‘paid more’ to the journalist to not write negative comments about him in newspapers. He revealed his mindset of manipulating the media live in an unabashed manner which he is so used to. The media silence after this incident is shocking considering it was an unveiled threat to someone from their fraternity and yet the media houses have refused to condemn the statement issued by Akhilesh Yadav. If not for a certain link between the two Akhilesh would have definitely been branded a villain by now. The media silence betrays their fascination with anyone who plans to challenge PM Modi and BJP. A very pathetic scene for India will follow through if parties like SP and leaders like Akhilesh Yadav manage to come to power in states or the country again. Akhilesh Yadav and Ravish Kumar both need to apologize for being party to such a vile interaction on such a big platform and this apology should be issued as soon as possible. Ravish Kumar and NDTV also need to clear their position on where they stand with Akhilesh Yadav on this specific issue, it is ok to challenge the press but to issue threats of violence against a specific member of the press is an attack on Freedom of Expression. Ravish Kumar, given his frequent canards on ‘emergency’ and ‘threat to FOE’, should know better than that.