ABP News editor gets death threats for his reporting on Kasganj violence

One of the editors of ABP News, Pankaj Jha, has stated that he has received death threats for his reportage on Kasganj communal violence. ABP News was one of the first news organisations to counter rumours being spread about the violence in Kasganj.

When the incident was first reported, it was being rumoured that ABVP activists were attacked for raising the national flag and chanting nationalist slogans. News anchors such Aaj Tak‘s Rohit Sardana only helped legitimise such conspiracy theories.

In contrast to this, ABP News was one of the first news channels to counter these rumours through wide coverage on Kasganj. In its report – Desh Bhakti Ke Naam Par Danga – the channel showed that both communities were celebrating Republic Day when the altercation began. In its back-to-back reports, the channel not only brought a clear picture of what could have triggered the clashes, but also put out the alleged provocative speech made by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Rajveer Singh.

These reports seemed to have irked some people. ABP editor Pankaj Jha has stated that he has been receiving threat calls since this morning. These callers have given threats to abduct his daughter and are questioning him for his reports on Kasganj. Jha in a series of tweets has shared the numbers of these callers and said that several of them have hurled abuses at him.

According to Jha, he has informed the police about these phone numbers and text messages.