As the results of the 18th Lok Sabha elections came on June 4, Kerala’s Malayalam language media organisation, Media One, was reportedly attacked at their headquarters in Calicut. The attack reportedly took place at night during BJP’s celebrations marking a notable electoral victory for the party as it ‘opens bank’ in the state. According to Maktoob Media, the activists even allegedly attempted to vandalise the premises by throwing firecrackers and trying to enter into the studio.
A video of the alleged event showing the incident has been circulating around on social media where men can be seen throwing firecrackers.
Sabrang India spoke to the coordinating editor at Media One, N P Jishar, who stated yesterday night on June 4, a BJP procession took place in front of their office in Calicut. Some activists threw some fireworks on their building.” He said that the alleged perpetrators were drunk, and the police were called who made them go away. Some of the employees were there who questioned the people and then soon called the police to control the situation.
The BJP is celebrating its win in Kerala after the victory of popular Malayalam actor Suresh Gopi, a third time contestant who got a historic win for the National Democratic Alliance in Kerala. Gopi won the Thrissur seat with a majority of 74,686 votes.
MediaOne previously faced a ban in 2022. The MediaOne news broadcast channel was banned after the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting on January 31, 2022 had released an order which had cited a lack of security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs as the reason for the ban. The channel has been noted for its critical stance against the ruling powers. The channel had challenged the order in court and had called it ‘unconstitutional.’
However, in 2023 in a crucial decision, the Supreme Court did not let the Centre’s order of banning the broadcast channel stand. The apex court also criticised the central government for using national security claims in a “cavalier manner” to deny the renewal of the channel’s licence.
The Supreme Court gave the judgement against the ministry’s order and Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, leading the bench, made a crucial statement that “national security claims cannot be made out of thin air.” Media One is a popular Malayalam language news broadcast.
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