Monday, January 14, 2013

Public statement from Shabnam Hashmi

'bhedam' among the 'seculars', perhaps?

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: sri 
Date: Sat, Jan 12, 2013 at 7:59 AM
Subject: Public statement from Shabnam Hashmi
To:


If this is true, then it is great news.


PUBLIC STATEMENT

I was in Gujarat for over six months and returned to Delhi two weeks
ago. While in Gujarat I was asked to appear on different television
channels constantly. On one such talk show on Times Now I felt that I
was especially being pushed into a corner and it was an absolutely
unbalanced panel, I told the Times Now guest coordinator that I will
not come on the channel any longer. It continued for about a week or
so. Then a representative came from Mumbai and met me in Gujarat
office and ensured that it will not happen in future and requested me
to come for the Talk Shows.

I agreed and went again whenever I was called.

On December 28, 2012 I released a public statement in Delhi regarding
the Gujarat Verdict 2012 and resigned from various UPA committees that
I was part of. On the same day I was invited to Times Now and I found
the same attitude of being highly aggressive towards me.

January 2, 2013 -I filed a police complaint against Mr Akbaruddin
Owaisi in Parliament Street Police Station against the hate speech
which he made in Andhra Pradesh. I was called on Times Now and met the
same uncivilized and aggressive behavior.

On January 4, 2013 I put the status on my facebook ‘TIMES NOW- MY
STATUS- NOT AVAILABLE-GOODBYE MR ARNAB GOSWAMI- SORRY FOR DENYING YOU
THE PLEASURE OF BEING THE 'CONSCIENCE KEEPER'.

All hell seems to have broken out since then. I have been receiving
calls after calls from various Times Now reporters. They have barged
into Anhad several times, threatening to do stories against Anhad and
me.

Anhad has been running from 23, Canning Lane’s Garage for 5 years now.
There have been over 30-40 press conferences big and small at Anhad
itself attended by all media fraternity including reporters from Times
Now. Times Now reporters have come and taken my interviews in this
office tens of times, they have attended press conferences, sent their
ob vans and pick up cars for Talk Show.

They have suddenly come up with the new evidence Now that Anhad runs
from 23, Canning Lane, New Delhi which is Dr Syeda Hamid’s garage.

Despite being informed by my colleagues that the garage was provided
to us free, they have asked me the same question four times-How much
money you pay?

Anhad has been a space where scores of journalists and media friends
have come and visited. We have always respected the media and continue
to do so and Anhad has received tremendous support from the media
fraternity across India and we greatly value and respect that.

Yes, Anhad runs out of 23, Canning lane, New Delhi-110001, Yes we have
FCRA, we raise resources through funding agencies both foreign and
Indian, from friends and corporates, Yes we have taken on
fundamentalists of all hues.

This is the first time that we are faced with a situation where I
personally in 32 years of my grass root activism and Anhad as an
organisation in its 10 yrs of work feel being harassed, stalked, and
blackmailed.

Shabnam Hashmi
January 10, 2012
10am

1 comment:

souixsie said...

Pure schadenfreude!