Several residents, including students, gather outside the channel's main office to peacefully object to its incorrect reporting of Jamia shooting
The police detained 11 people, who had called for a protest without permission, when they refused to leave
Enrages by Republic TV's shoddy reportage on Thursday's Jamia shooting, close to 20 people, including students, gathered outside the channel's 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.
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After the shooting by a minor in Delhi's Jamia Nagar in the afternoon, Republic TV reported that he was one among the anti-CAA protesters. "Jamia protester uses gun", "protester turns violent" flashed on the screen. The shooter was not participating in the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. But Republic portrayed him as "the real face of anti-CAA protests" 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. "Even before we could assemble, the police began dispersing and detaining us," said Pourush Turel, a freelance filmmaker who was the first to reach the spot. "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."
Things turned ugly when they refused to leave. "It all happened very fast…they [policemen] dragged me and shoved me inside a police van when I lost my balance and fell… I have bruises on my arm," 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. "We wanted to send the message that they should stop broadcasting their program since it wasn't based on facts. But by the time we reached, there were already over 50 policemen outside," 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 "neither permission was taken for the protest nor the police were informed about it. Eleven protesters were detained and were released later".
Both the channel and Arnab Goswami, the managing director and editor in chief of Republic TV, later issued clarifications on the 'incorrect' reportage. "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," said the channel, adding the mistakes were rectified on-air as soon as his identity was revealed.
"It was a mistake I made, I am sorry for it. I'm saying it on prime time television. There is no malintent from our side, which is why we corrected ourselves," Goswami was quoted as saying by the Quint.
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