Days after Telangana Police detained 2 women journalists for interviewing a farmer who criticised the Telangana government, Telangana Chief Minister Anumula Revanth Reddy said that anyone using offensive language for him and his family would be stripped and paraded in public.
He said that his government would not hesitate to enact or amend legislation to control such language. Speaking in the state assembly during the motion of thanks to the Governor on Saturday (15th March), Reddy said he would not tolerate abusive language used against him and his family on social media in the name of journalism.
“Let the media organisations, their associations, I&PR and other authorised agencies define a journalist, list out their names and give them to the government. They can be exempted. Others will be treated as criminals and action will be taken as per law,” he said.
Reddy criticised the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party for condemning the detention of two women journalists. “My blood boils when I hear such abusive language directed at my family members. Why is KCR not disturbed when such language is used against my wife and daughter?” Reddy lashed out.
Alleging that the BRS was trying to mentally harass him for political gains, Reddy advised K Chandrashekar Rao, “Do not be under the impression that you can derive political mileage by hurting us psychologically. If you cross the line, the consequences will be dire. I am being tolerant and stopping the youth or else they will hit the roads, strip you all before beating you black and blue.”
Reddy warned the people posting on social media against him that his supporters would retaliate against abusive trolling. He said that he prevented his supporters from taking any action as he was committed to upholding the law. “If these trolls hide behind anonymity, we will expose them and thrash them,” he said.
“They (BRS) condemned the arrest of two women journalists recently, who had posted derogatory and abusive language against my family members and me. I have been patient, but how long should I be tolerant and when bad language has been used in social media posts against the women in my family?” a visibly angry Reddy questioned.
Two women journalists were arrested in Telangana
On Wednesday (11th March) Hyderabad Police detained senior journalist Revathi Pogadadanda and her colleague Tanvi Yadav in connection with the interview of a farmer who allegedly used derogatory language to show his dissatisfaction with the Anumula Revanth Reddy-led Congress government in Telangana.
The interview was posted by a digital news platform the Pulse News Break which is run by Revathi. A case was filed by the police against the journalists based on a complaint filed against them. The police alleged that the interview was shot inside the BRS office.
The Telangana government faced major backlash from the leaders of the BRS for arresting the journalists.
