Thackeray defends attack on IBN

Bal Thackeray is unwilling to admit that the Shiv Sena attacked the media when party activists ransacked IBN-Lokmat’s office and beat up a couple of journalists on Friday.
“Will you call it an attack on the media if a journalist’s wife beats him up for his wrongdoings?” the Sena chief asked.

Thackeray on Monday said the partymen had attacked a person, Nikhil Wagle, and not the entire media. Other political parties too had targeted the media in the past, he said.
“Ashok Chavan and RR Patil should clarify if they will call it an attack on the media when a journalist is beaten by his wife for his wrong deeds, Thackeray said in an editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamna. “It has become necessary to define a journalist.”

“Some people attack the Sena and hit the Sena chief below the belt just for the sake of publicity,” he said. “If someone beats these people they cry that the media has been attacked. They expect people to agree with all their views. I do not call this journalism.”
He said a person had been attacked. “It has no connection with the media. I do not need to learn journalism from a person like Wagle.”

Thackeray also accused Wagle of being crazy for publicity. “Two days after Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, Wagle’s newspaper Mahanagar had raised doubts about Sonia Gandhi’s character in a report,” he said.

“At that time, Congress workers had dragged him to the police station. He later apologised. What is so wrong if Shiv Sainiks could not control their feelings?”

Even the NCP had targeted the media in the past, he said. To substantiate his argument, Thackeray has listed attacks by the Congress and the NCP leaders over media houses like Zee TV, Loksatta, Nava Kal, and even IBN. “Ashok Chavan had assured stern action against the attackers at that time. What happened to that assurance?”