Anti-nuclear activist SP Udayakumar, known for leading the protest against Tamil Nadu's Kudankulam Nuclear Plant with his group People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), has written letters to Press Council of India chairperson Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad and the News Broadcasters Association, accusing the Arnab Goswami-led Republic TV of deceiving and harassing him and his family.
His complaint comes after Republic TV carried out a ‘sting operation’ against him, which the channel claims exposed his "willingness to accept money from abroad".
The sting operation involved the channel's reporter – Shweta Kothari – meeting the activist and identifying herself as a "research student", accompanied by her colleague Sanjeevee. During the course of interactions, Udayakumar was asked by the reporter whether he would be willing to accept money from a “foreign-based professor” in support of his movement.
Regarding what happened after this, both parties have their own versions to tell.
Republic's Claim
Republic's version stated that Udayakumar agreed to accept the money when asked by the reporter.
Here is what the Republic TV report on their website stated:
Udayakumar responded in the affirmative but added that the money should be routed through Indian contacts into his political party’s account, promising that it would be used for anti-nuclear protest. He added that there would be no problem if it was sent via cash, but if it had to be sent through a bank transaction, it could not be sent from abroad. He also mentioned how he had received money via a foreign transaction earlier.Republic TV report
You can watch the sting operation aired by the news channel from 2:50 onwards.
In addition to this, the channel also claimed that the activist had “gone into hiding”, along with branding him a secessionist, as they replayed some of his speeches where he allegedly spoke in favour of Tamil secessionism.
Moreover, the channel also quoted Udayakumar as saying, “Arnab is an agent of Indian nationalism, saffron brigade.”
To this, Republic TV tweeted the following response.
Udayakumar's Counter-Claim
On the other hand, in the letter to Press Council of India chairperson, Udayakumar reiterated his innocence and narrated the chain of events (after being asked whether he would accept money from the reporter's "British professors") as follows:
I told her that we did not accept money from foreigners and our movement had no bank account also. She then asked me if there was any other way of donating money to us. I told her that my personal account was frozen and that even our party account could not receive foreign funds. So I said she could not donate money from abroad but her parents could do it here in India if she sent the money to them. I also mentioned clearly that I would give proper receipt and the money will be accounted for. I also informed her that we were not interested in getting foreign funds.Udayakumar in his letter
Udayakumar further goes on to say that Republic TV accused him of receiving funds from the “Church with foreign donations”, adding that he was ill-treated when he participated in the news channel's panel discussion, with Goswami being "abhorrent, abrasive and even abusive".
He further went on to say that his family, including his parents, wife and son, were harassed and hounded by Republic reporter Sanjeevee.
Sanjeev (sic) showed up at my home again in the morning of June 21, 2017 and started harassing my family all over again. When my aged father objected to his ruthless behavior, he fraudulently reported on his TV that I personally had scolded him. I came to know about the whole incident when I came home in the evening.Udayakumar
Claiming that the news channel is "causing so much mental agony to me and my entire family", Udayakumar appealed to the chairperson to stop the "anti-people TV" from hurting him.
Udayakumar has also written a letter to the News Broadcasters Association.
In this letter posted on Facebook, he added:
As a result of Arnab Goswami’s slanderous campaign against me, my family and I fear for our safety and security. I hold Arnab Goswami, Shweta Kothari, Sanjeev and Hariharan (another Goswami-type anchor of Republic TV) solely responsible for any untoward incident that may happen to me.
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