Not Scared of BJP: Woman Journalist Heckled at Sabarimala Protests

Shajila Ali Fathima, a cameraperson with Kairali TV, was heckled by BJP workers while covering Sabarimala protests. 

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/Altered by The Quint)

A woman journalist was allegedly heckled by protesting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers on 2 January in Thiruvananthapuram after violence to protest the entry of two women of menstrual age into the Sabarimala temple on Wednesday, 1 January, virtually brought the state down to its knees.

A photo of a man pointing his finger at Shajila Ali Fathima, a cameraperson with Kairali TV, and a subsequent photo of a crying Shajila went viral on Twitter.

Shajile told Dool News that she was attacked while she was shooting photographs of BJP workers attacking other media persons and tearing down flexboards.

Dool News reports Shajila as saying, "I am not afraid of the BJP. I will continue to cover BJP demonstrations... Perhaps these people don't like seeing women in public."

Shajila told the news outlet that a BJP leader had later called to apologise to her.

Violence Against Media Persons at Sabarimala Protests

After at least 10 journalists faced the wrath of violent protesters since Wednesday, the Kerala Union of Working Journalists decided to boycott the press meets called by the saffron party. Journalists also staged a protest march.

The state's police chief Lok Nath Behera said a special team will probe the assault on media.

Hurling crude bombs and stones, Hindu fringe groups on Thursday, 3 January rampaged through the streets of Kerala, fighting pitched battles with police and political rivals, leaving scores of people injured including three BJP workers in a knife attack, officials said.

Hordes of right-wing activists were on the streets soon after the shutdown began, placing burning tyres and granite blocks on the roads, bringing vehicular traffic to a halt at several places.

The state was under siege as they attacked over 20 offices of the ruling CPI(M) and its other Left allies, and clashed with police, leaving at least 31 personnel injured.

Background

Bindu and Kanakadurga, two women in their 40s, had defied dire threats from saffron organisations and offered prayers at the temple, breaking the centuries-old tradition and infuriating the Hindu right.

BJP Rajya Sabha MP V Muraleedhaan, meanwhile, sought a probe by the NIA into the "conspiracy" of police escorting the two women with Maoist links to Sabarimala. The CPI(Maoist) is an underground naxalite organisation which is banned in several states.