A young man in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar was allegedly beaten up by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers for criticising the government during a news show.
Journalist Narendra Pratap was hosting a show for the channel ‘Bharat Samachar’ and the crowd gathered around was being asked questions about the government’s work. The youth, identified as Adnan, was part of the crowd.
Pratap told The Indian Express, “BJP workers were raising slogans in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ whenever someone said something unfavourable. When they saw this particular person, they vented their anger on him.”
In a video that has emerged, Adnan can be heard saying that the condition of the roads has not improved and the problem of unemployment remains.
“I was passing by. I saw there was a show going on so I participated. I said there was no work happening. They started saying things like I am a terrorist. Then they started beating me up. They were BJP people,” The Quint quoted Adnan as saying.
Pratap further told The Indian Express that it took some time to get the situation under control. “He was badly beaten. It appears that he is afraid to get a police complaint filed.”
A senior police official in Muzaffarnagar told Deccan Herald that no complaint has been lodged yet.
The incident occurred the same day that a group of saffron-clad men were filmed beating up two Kashmiri dry-fruit sellers.