‘This is an organised crime by Right wing groups,’ says Sindhu Sooryakumar of Asianet

Asianet’s chief coordinating editor and anchor Sindhu Sooryakumar has been receiving threatening and abusive calls since Friday after a heated discussion on her show. Sooryakumar was discussing the controversy over Human Resource and Development minister Smriti Irani’s references to the goddess Durga and demon Mahishasur in the Parliament.

Irani’s comments pertaining to a pamphlet about Durga and Mahishasur were expunged from the Rajya Sabha records on Friday, following instructions of Chairman M Hamid Ansari.

The police traced five of the callers, arrested them and then released them on bail after Sooryakumar filed a complaint with the city police commissioner of Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. “The police told all media that the persons arrested belong to the BJP, RSS,” said Sooryakumar. She said that the callers justified their abusive comments by saying that they had read about the incident on their Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh whatsapp group.

Sooryakumar told Newslaundry that callers described her as a sex worker and widely circulated her number. They were under the impression that she had repeated Irani’s comment, which suggests the callers hadn’t watched Sooryakumar’s show since the person who actually did so was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

“BJP spokesperson Mr VV Rajesh participated in the discussion,” said Sooryakumar. “He quotes Smriti Irani’s comment more than two times in this discussion.” She added, “As a moderator, as an anchor, I never quoted Smriti Irani’s comments. I never supported or rejected that comment because my focal point was if some groups or some tribes were celebrating Mahishasura Jayanti, it is their freedom and our Constitution allows that.”

Sooryakumar told Newslaundry that Rajesh has also been receiving such calls. She said he called her up to tell her that he has clarified to the callers that he was the one who had quoted Irani when he appeared on Sooryakumar’s show, Cover Story.

Journalists in Kerala have come out in support of Sooryakumar and organised a protest march. The incident has also been condemned by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

Sooryakumar said Cover Story, which she has been anchoring for the past nine years, would continue unchanged. She’s already recorded another episode, again on Irani. “I’m not afraid of any threat,” said Sooryakumar. “But this is an organised crime by the Right wing groups.”

Listen to our interview with Sooryakumar here.