Complaint filed against Indian journalist for interviewing Najam Sethi

A complaint has been filed in Delhi against prominent journalist Karan Thapar, associated with The Wire, for interviewing Pakistani analyst Najam Sethi after the Pahalgam incident in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). 

According to details, Indian advocate Gautam Sabharwal is the complainant against Thapar. 

The complainant, while terming Najam Sethi an “enemy alien,” alleged that Sethi would have taken a brief from Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)/General Headquarters Chaklala, Rawalpindi, before appearing on the program. 

“The fact was probably known to Mr. Karan Thapar, given his vast experience,” the complainant added.

In an interview on the YouTube channel The Pamphlet on Monday, Sabharwal objected to multiple questions which Thapar had asked Sethi, including “Whether Sethi believed that the Pahalgam incident was a false flag operation.”

“Let me ask you a personal question… many in your country have alleged that what happened in Pahalgam on Tuesday was a false flag operation… as an editor and former Punjab minister, do you believe that this is a false flag operation, or do you think your politicians are out of line in suggesting it could be,” Thapar asked  Sethi  

Sethi replied, “Though I personally think that the Indian deep state is involved, and I am absolutely clear in my mind about that. Whether it was the direct false flag operation… or some obscure group was instigated and lured into something like this.”

To this, the complainant argued that Thapar did not utter a single word in protest to Sethi’s extensive answer.

“Let him [Karan Thapar] be arrested under sections 152 and 153 of the PNS and sections three and four of the Official Secrets Act,” Sabharwal said. 

During the interview, Sethi also decried the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government for playing the Hindutva card, saying, “The situation that Pakistan pins is that since the BJP government has come to power in India, the Hindutva card is played and overplayed, and Muslims and other minorities are the direct threat.”

Last week, in his second interview following the Indian aggression on the night of May 6 and May 7, Sethi, citing an International media outlet, stated that at least one Rafale was shot down by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

Citing Indian military expert and editor of the defence magazine FORCE, Pravin Sawhney, Sethi highlighted that, owing to so much discontent in Kashmir and its unresolved issue, someone is going to stage such an attack in Kashmir, regardless of whether Pakistan is behind it or not.

It should be mentioned here that Sawhney’s recent video on India-Pakistan escalation and aerial strikes uploaded on the YouTube channel 'Force Magazine' was blocked in India.

He had been critical of the government’s recent decision to use air strikes against Pakistan.

Last week, the Indian government blocked access to thewire.in across their country.

Issuing a statement on May 9, The Wire protested that the Government of India, while violating the Constitutional guarantee of freedom of the press, blocked their outlet access in India.

“The internet service providers are saying multiple things. We have learnt it is per orders of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. We protest this blatant censorship at a critical time for India when sane, truthful, fair and rational voices and sources of news and information are among the biggest assets that India has,” the statement said. 

It added, “We will not be deterred from providing truthful and accurate news to all our readers.”