Plato had once said that "No one is more hated than he speaks the truth." This holds true for our fearless reporters as well. There are four pillars of democracy - Judiciary, Executive, Legislature and Media. Media makes people aware of the wrongdoings of the other three pillars. If the media is scared and weakened, the remaining three pillars will also be weakened.
On April 1, there was an attempt to weaken the fourth pillar of democracy in West Bengal where Assembly elections are going on. During the election coverage in Kespur, our reporters' cars were attacked with sticks, hammers, stones, etc.
The deadly attack on our team took place just 100 kilometres from Nandigram, where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was present. But even after 24 hours have passed, they have not condemned the attack so far.
Mamata Banerjee usually creates a hue and cry and talks about an attack on democracy, which makes big tweets about freedom of the press, however, she has not said anything about this attack. This is the real politics of our country. Today, we want to tell you that it is not easy to show the truth, True journalism also has to risk life and we never hesitate to do so.
It was a clear case of mob violence that was trying to suppress the true voice of journalism.
We want to bring to the fore what exactly happened on Thursday. The team of our Bengali channel Zee 24 Ghanta was in Kespur. We went there after getting to know of an attempt to capture a polling booth. Zee Media reporter Maitree Bhattacharya and her colleagues left for that polling booth.
When our team was on the way, we saw the convoy of BJP candidate Pritish Ranjan from Kespur. Our team tried talking to him. However, in the meantime, a violent mob came out of the nearby areas and attacked BJP candidate Pritish Ranjan's car. The mob started pelting stones in their cars. Some people also chased our car because Zee Media was written on our car.
The people made a powerful stone pelting on their car. All the mirrors of his car were smashed with sticks and he also tried to attack Pritish Ranjan. When we were coverage of the entire incident, some people started chasing our car also. Because Zee Media was written on our car.
Those who attacked our team didn't want us not to show the truth. However, not everyone has the ability to show the truth. But Zee News walks the path of truth and even though the highway of lies may draw people's attention for a few days, it is never sustainable.