Intolerance much? FIR against Bengaluru journalist for story on Kumaraswamy's son

The Bengaluru police have filed a first information report (FIR) against Vishweshwar Bhat, editor of Kannada daily Vishwavani, for publishing alleged derogatory remarks against K. Nikhil, son of Chief Minister H.D. Kumraswamy.

The row comes at a time when the Congress-JDS alliance performed miserably in the Lok sabha elections.

The Congress and the JD(S) just won two seats each out of 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. 

The FIR has been registered based on a complaint filed by Pradeep Kumar S.P., general secretary of the Janata Dal (Secular) Legal Cell with the Srirampura police here on Sunday. Mr bhat has been charged with defamation, forgery and cheating.

On Saturday, Mr Bhat had published a source-based article in his newspaper on an alleged heated conversation between Nikhil Kumaraswamy and his grandfather, former prime minister HD Deve Gowda. The aricle, according to the complaint, was meant to damage the reputation of the young politician and extract money.

The conversation took place on friday at a hotel in Mysuru.

According to Mr Bhat's report, Nikhil Kumaraswamy experienced a breakdown after losing the mandya seat .The reports claimed that the Gowda's grandson was unhappy that his cousin was fielded from Hassan, which was his stronghold and he was unhappy that there was no support from his family party, to secure his victory in the beginning of his political career.The report also stated that the young politician was ashamed because he lost his seat to a woman.

Nikhil Kumaraswamy lost his Mandya seat to a BJP-backed  Independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh.

A media channel reported that Vishweshwar Bhat got a call from Nikhil Kumaraswamy twice on sunday, in his second call Nikhil allegedly threatened to take legal action against him.

"It is a dangerous trend for democracy and you can't control the media as social media is so active these days.", Vishweshwar Bhat told ANI.

Vishweshwar Bhat,editor of Kannada daily,Vishwavani, against whom a case has been registered for publishing alleged derogatory remarks against K.Nikhil,son of Karnataka CM: It's a dangerous trend for democracy & you can't control the media as social media is so active these days. pic.twitter.com/0RuYbHzJ4x

— ANI (@ANI) May 27, 2019

The incident sparked a debate on twitter, with BJP MP's hitting out at the the Congress-JDS government for curtailing press freedom.

Curtailing FOE has become the only job of @hd_kumaraswamy!!

After witch-hunting the RW SM activists, now Co-Ja govt is after the popular media houses & it's editors.
 

#EmergencyInKarnataka pic.twitter.com/UdvZ4pze0J

— Vishweshwar Bhat (@VishweshwarBhat) May 27, 2019

False FIR has been reg against @VishweshwarBhat, for publishing merely a news article!!#EmergencyInKarnataka pic.twitter.com/55JYqAkxgP

 

— Shobha Karandlaje (@ShobhaBJP) May 27, 2019

No such incident as reported had taken place, and the whole news item was a figment of imagination, the complaint alleged.