“I cracked the skull of Nishu’s father. Do you know which section this crime attracts? Section 307. He needed 60 stitches. The man who was about to die was being taken away in an ambulance. His daughter was standing outside the police station and saying that if her father did not get justice, she would consume poison and die. But I was not even jailed. The world should know this. I was roaming around freely the entire night.”

When Hindutva fanatic Swatantra Bhardwaj said this on a podcast, he was not merely recounting an alleged assault, he was boasting about it, while pointing to his purported proximity to power. In the same podcast, Bhardwaj claimed BJP cabinet ministers Kapil Mishra and Chirag Paswan, as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, were his “bade bhaiyas” (big brothers), and hence there was no action against him. 

When the video began circulating widely on social media around September 2, it triggered demands for his arrest. He was initially booked under Sections 115(2) and 126(2) of the BNS, relating to causing simple hurt and wrongful restraint. It was only after CJP representatives protested outside the Parliament Street station and online outrage mounted, that the Delhi police added more stringent Sections to the FIR. He was nabbed in Bulandshahr on September 4.

Bhardwaj now faces criminal charges under Sections 115(2), 126(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with provisions of the POCSO Act and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, with an attempt-to-murder charge also invoked in the case. On September 7, he was sent to 14-day judicial remand.

Even as Bhardwaj’s own account triggered public outrage and demands for his arrest, sections of the mainstream media appeared reluctant to describe him in terms that reflected the gravity of what he had said. Instead, reports variously presented him as an ‘influencer’, ‘activist’, ‘YouTuber’ and, in one particularly curious formulation, a ‘goon activist’ — euphemisms that seemingly tried to downplay the nature of his alleged crime and Bhardwaj’s brazen boasting about it.

In a news bulletin on September 4, India Today referred to Bhardwaj as an ‘activist’. As the anchor termed the alleged assault as the ‘activist Swatantra case’.

As this video started attracting significant backlash, the channel prefixed ‘activist’ with the term, ‘goon’ in a bulletin posted later in the evening. They captioned an interview with Azad on her father’s assault as: “Biggest exclusive on goon activist row…”

The rather unusual coinage ‘goon activist’, an oxymoron and, arguably, a paradox, attracted even more flak. “What is “goon activist”? Instead of making up these absurd terms, why not just call a terror-monger a terror-monger?” a user commented. Journalist Parth MN wrote: “Thanks to India Today, there’s a new kind of activist in town: Goon activist. If human rights activists speak for human rights and climate activists speak up about climate change, what do goon activists advocate for?” 

On September 4, as CJP demonstrators were assured by the police that Bhardwaj would be arrested within 72 hours, news agency ANI posted an exclusive interview with Bhardwaj, where the accused altered his earlier narrative and claimed that he acted in ‘self-defence’ when he hit Kumar in the head with his ‘kada’. In the now-deleted tweet, ANI also described Bhardwaj as an activist. 

Later, they reuploaded the same clip after removing the word, activist. In the clip, Bhardwaj also claimed, “The podcast clip that is being shared on social media by Rahul Gandhi and others is fake. Those saying that I was released because of the influence of Kapil Mishra, I want to tell them that Kapil Mishra and Chirag Paswan are like my brothers. People should understand what was said in sarcasm.” 

Reporting on his arrest on September 5, India Today again referred to him as an activist in the headline: ‘Crackdown on Swatantra Bhardwaj: Activist arrested, sent to 1-day custody’. Other outlets like Business Today and The Federal, too, referred to him as an ‘activist’.

The same day, NDTV managing editor Padmaja Joshi put out an X post, referring to Bhardwaj as a ‘Youtuber’. Social media users were quick to point out that the accused did not even have a YouTube channel, at least not one with any significant following.

One user on X wrote: Amazing Padmaja, India today’s “GoonActivist” overnight becomes a “YouTuber”…What a Changeover..” while another quipped: “Yesterday @ndtv called him an “influencer”. Then “activist”. Today he’s a “YouTuber”. Is it possible Swatantra might even be an Adani employee?”

Reporting that Bhardwaj was sent to one day of judicial custody by a Delhi court on September 6, The Indian Express termed him simply as an ‘influencer’, which generally refers those who create content online, with the headline: ‘Influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj sent to one day judicial custody’.  

Across its reportage on the issue, The Times of India stuck to describing Bhardwaj as an ‘influencer’ in its headlines. One report, published on September 4, traces his journey from “social media fame to detention”. The headline reads: “From social media fame to detention: Inside influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj’s online persona” while the strap states, “…Known for his provocative online persona, Bhardwaj has made waves with his controversial statements and political affiliations, posting on Hindutva themes and criticism of Muslims…”

After Nishu Azad alleged that her house was pelted with stones and bricks by ‘BJP-affiliated goons’ following Bhardwaj’s arrest, TOI reported on the issue on September 6 with the headline: ‘CJP activist alleges stone pelting at home hours after ‘influencer’ Swatantra Bhardwaj’s arrest’. 

This story was originally published by Alt News and has been republished with permission.