By India Tomorrow News,
New Delhi, 21 April 2014: A day after veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar was criticized for his alleged support to senior BJP leader and candidate from Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency, Nayar’s friends and human rights, after meeting him on Sunday, claimed he still thinks that the “that BJP is a communal and divisive party and it would not be good for the country if BJP comes to power.”
In a statement, noted human rights lawyer N.D. Pancholi and Anil Sinha said that they met Nayar on Sunday at his residence in Delhi and discussed the controversy over his alleged support to Jaitly during his recent visit to Amritsar.
Nayar told them that he visited Amritsar as a private affair and also met Jaitly but didn’t address any public meeting or made any public appeal for Jaitly. Group Editor of NDTV Barkha Dutt also met him in hotel where she has requested for a video bite.
“She asked questions about BJP, Modi and Arun Jaitly. Mr. Nayar commented that BJP is a communal and divisive party and it would not be good for the country if BJP comes to power. About Jaitly he said that he has a good reputation, he is well read, and he was with him imprisoned in Tihar jail during emergency and that he is a family member,” a joint statement of Pancholi and Sinha reads.
“About Narendra Modi he commented that Modi is a collateral damage and made some other unpalatable remarks. However the part of the interview where Mr. Nayar dubbed BJP as communal and divisive party and not good to assume power and the other unpalatable remarks was not telecast for reasons best known to the NDTV,” the statement further reads.
According to the statement Dutt started the TV program telling that there were persons who are backing Jaitly without backing the party and she mentioned Nayar’s name as one of such persons who were in Amritsar for this purpose.
NDTV telecasts this 59 minutes long program ‘The Amritsar Paradox’ on Friday where only 24 second of Nayar’s bite was used and it gave a sense that he was in town to support Jaitly.
Users of social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter, posted harsh comments over this controversy.
“We the undersigned are pained to read certain comments being made against Mr. Nayar in social media about his visit to Amritsar which in our opinion are distorted, uncalled for, unwarranted and injustice to a person who has all throughout his life been fighting against communal and obscurantist forces,” the statement reads.
