Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (VM)

Mangalore, Nov 9: The district JD(S) condemned the arrest of journalist Naveen Soorinje. A press meet was held in this regard, here at Hotel Woodlands on Thursday November 8.

Addressing the media persons, M B Sadhashiv said that Naveen’s arrest has affected the freedom of the journalists. This is backed by some fascist powers and we should strongly oppose this, he added.

He said that the act of arresting a journalist for no wrong has been witnessed in the state for the first time, which shows that the whole BJP system is corrupt. He urged the people to have a serious thought over this.

Sadhashiv said that journalists should be let free to do their work as they are mainly responsible for uplifting values in the society.

"From the day the BJP government has come to power, it has gone against the farmers. They have been doing moral policing in the name of Hindutva along with Hindu organizations and are mainly responsible for communal fights and many others," said MG Hegde. This shows the fascist behavior of BJP which is worse than the British rule," he added.

Speaking about Naveen Soorinje’s arrest, he said that the arrest has been made mainly to destroy witnesses of Home stay attack as he was the only eye witness. "There is no such law which states that journalists should be informants," he said.

"We will soon hold a protest against the arrest," he added.

Amarnath Shetty, Nagaraj Shetty, Shashiraj Shetty, Vasanth Poojary, Sushil Noronha and Mohammed Kunhi were present among others.