This stance of the Pune Police is disturbing given the fact that there were four violent attacks on the car carrying Nikhil Wagle and his colleagues in the space of half an hour from Prabhat Road, as they made their way to the Nilu Phule auditorium at the Rashtra Seva Dal campus, Singhad Road, Pune scheduled for 6 p.m. on Froday, February 9.

Wagle, Vishwambhar Chaudhary and Asim Sarode were to address a meeting titled “Fight for Democracy, Freedom of Expression” under the aegis of the Nirbhay Bano Andolan (NBA). In the detailed complaint made by Wagle and his colleagues post the attack, dated February 14, 2024, to the Pune police, they have outlined all details related to the harrowing experience and asserted that the following sections need to be inserted as sections in the first information report (FIR):

Section 307 for assault with intent to kill, Section 338 of IPC, Section 353 for obstruction of police office, Section 120B for conspiracy to commit serious offense against all those involved in various deadly attacks on their vehicle between 7 and 8 PM on February 9, 2024. The aggrieved complainants have demanded in the written complaint that the case also be registered under Sections 149, 147, 148 for rioting, 152 for assaulting police trying to stop riots and other sections of the Information Technology Act for assault with weapons and deadly objects.

The police has not recorded Nikhil Wagle’s statement so far.

A video of the attack posted by The Indian Express can be viewed here:

Nikhil Wagle has suffered six previous attacks, the last one being in 2009. By all accounts this one has been the most serious and life threatening. Post January 1993, Wagle and several others formed Nirbhay Bano Andolan in the wake of the terror prevalent in Mumbai (then Mumbai) by the mob violence generated by those belonging to the Shiv Sena against hapless minorities. This organisation has been revived post 2022 with Dr Viswambhar Chaudhary, advocate Asim Sarode and Nikhil Wagle addressing meetings against India’s growing intolerance and authoritarianism all over Maharashtra. So far, there have been 40 meetings of the NBA all over the state with only the one at Sinnar (Nashik) attracting any dissension,

As a backdrop to the targeted violence against Wagle and his colleagues on the evening of February 9, is his outspoken remark on twitter criticizing the grant of the Bharat Ratna by Narendra Modi’s government to former BJP President, Lal Krishna Advani. Thereafter, as their complaint narrates, on the morning of February 7, 2024, Sarode’s colleague, Utpal Chandawar informed the Parvati Police station of the proposed meeting and obtained a receipt. The police simply stated that “no inflammatory speeches should be made.” The same evening, a letter was given by the city BJP to the police that if Nikhil Wagle comes to Pune and delivers a speech, the meeting would be disrupted. Before that Dheeraj Ghate had publicly “opposed” Wagle’s meeting stating he was “hurt” by the latter’s statements.

Asserting in the complaint to the police, their right to free expression and criticise the government and its policies, Nikhil Wagle has also narrated the detailed happenings that happened that day.

Between 3-7 p.m. approximately, a posse of close to 40 plainsclothes police men (Special Branch, IB) accompanies senior officers from the police station (SP rank official, Senior PI, PSI) who tried to detain the speakers (claiming public order). “This was nothing short of an illegal detention or house arrest”, the complaint states since it was the legal obligation of the Pune police to detain and control disruptors and allow dissenting opinions free expression, states the complaint.

Finally, running out of patience, around 7 p,m. Wagle and others insisted on leaving for the meeting wherin first 50 odd SB policemen in plainclothes tried to physically prevent them. When they insisted that either you arrest us or allow us to go, they proceeded with no vocal assurance from the present policemen of any protection.

Caption: Senior Journalist Nikhil Wagle shares with Sabrang, how the deadly attack occurred, what took place before that, and why he thinks this happened.

Details of the attack:

It was around 7 p.m. that Nikhil Wagle, Asim Sarode, Adv. Shriya Awle and Dr Vishwambhar Chaudhary sat in the car (Nos MH 12 JM 5566 belonging to Balkrishna Nidhalkar) and driven by Vaibhav, left Sarode’s home around 7.30 p.m. Adv. Balkrishna Nidhalkar left with us in another Innova car. Starting with some police vehicles behind them from Prabhat Road and immeidtaely realised there was something seriously wrong. On the way, the car was attacked at four places on the road. The first attack took place near Irani Cafe on Prabhat Road. BJP goons on motorbikes and their street companions threw stones and eggs at the car. They were sitting in lane number 4. They were on a motorcycle beside our car.

Then, at the point where Bhandarkar Road meets Karve Road, near Rajhans Hair Salon, the second attack took place, Vaibhav took the car towards Khandoji Baba Chowk, Deccan Corner. Hoodlums from the BJP, ABVP, Patit Pawan Sanghanata and Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP reported climbed on the car bonnets, splashed ink, smashed eggs on the glass of the car, some plainclothes policemen were trying to remove these goons with police batons in their hands but we could see them from inside the car pushing these goons away. Another 25-30 mobsters, identified to be with the BJP, were stationed where Prabhat Road joins Karve Road. They stopped our car and started breaking the glass by hitting the car with sticks and rods. They were attacking the police.

The complainants were then forced to take the car in reverse as smoke bellowed out. There was also some firing from the police. A mobster named Raghavendra Bapu Mankar was identified flinging himself across the car and smashing the mirror on the side of the driver with a stick. Turning, the driver now drove the car towards the SM Joshi Hall through Karve Road, Garware College; there was a traffic jam, so we took the car from Vaikuntha and from there we headed towards Lal Bahadur Shastri Road. Through this whole bizarre effort where car traffic is visible, Advocate Balkrishna can be seen running in front of the car on the Nidhalkar road and guiding the driver where to take the car.

Then, a little further on they were again attacked on Lal Bahadur Shastri Street. Former MLAs in the state assembly, Yogesh Tilekar and Ganesh Ghosh have been identified as trying to obstruct the car and thereafter others like Datta Sagare, Swapnil Naik, Rahul Paigude, Girish Mankar too. Swapnil Naik was actually kicking at the car glass and pelting stones at the car. A big stone or paver block was thrown on the front glass, the car was smashed from behind and then some were trying to insert rods, sticks through the broken glass to hurt us.

At this time, activists of former mayor Prashant Jagtap of Nationalist Congress parent party, city president of Congress Arvind Shinde, Sunil More of Shiv Sena, Gajanan Tharkude and original Shiv Sainik Rahul Dumbale, Ambedkari activists, Jambuwant Manohar of Youth Revolution Dal were trying to stop the attack on the car. Apart from advocate Balkrishna who was running in front of our car risking her life while another woman activist, Bhakti Kumbhar was bravely guarding the car inmates, clearing the road and preventing the goons from coming near our car. Later in a video it has seen that she was also beaten up by the NCP Ajit Pawar group and BJP goons. Also these goons attacked and injured the girls Shraddha Jadhav, Rituja Deshmukh, Rupali Shinde, Payal Chavan who also tried to save Wagle and others, states the complaint.

Despite the sheer brutality and viciousness of the attack on Wagle and his colleagues as also women who tried bravely to step in to protect them, the Pune police is shockingly refusing to register the maginitude of the crime.

Finally, in the complaint Wagle concludes,

“We experienced street terror of thugs of BJP, ABVP, Patit Pawan Organization, Nationalist Congress Ajit Pawar group for about twenty five minutes. On three occasions we felt that we were dying. Imagine more than forty to fifty people chasing five people with sticks, rods, stones, bricks at different places. BJP goons created terror on the streets. The people around were watching this outcry with horror. When there were other naysayers on the street, these BJP thugs were loudly abusing me in my name…

“This attack was to kill me and it was a terrorist attack, deadly. But we all escaped and reached the synagogue. I gave my speech as planned.

After the attack, BJP goon Dheeraj Ghate tweeted that his intention was successful.

BJP’s Pune City president, Dheeraj Ghate, has proudly claimed to have engineered the attack on Nikhil Wagle, Asim Sarode & Vishwambhar Choudhary.

He’s even tagged home minister Devendra Fadnavis in his post.

I’m sure the police will not arrest him

If lawlessness had a face.. pic.twitter.com/L8GMdWT4xV

— Parth MN (@parthpunter) February 9, 2024

Wagle’s complaint also raises a pertinent issue that, “if a letter was given to the police by gangster Dheeraj Ghate two days before the meeting, why was no action taken against those who gave the letter then? Also a goon named Shivam Balavadkar has also threatened me through his Facebook.”

The Original Complaint may be read here.

[1] In Sudhir Bhaskarrao Tambe v. Hemant Yashwant Dhage and Others,[8] it was observed that if a person has a grievance that his FIR has not been registered by the police, proper investigation is not being done, then the remedy available to the aggrieved person is not to go to the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, but to approach the Magistrate concerned under Section 156(3) Cr.P.C.

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Speaking to reporters after the incident, Nitish Rane has made some controversial comments himself, stating that, “One note, Nikhil Wagle is not a journalist at all. Don’t let him insult you as a journalist. It is an aberration. So, as a journalist, you should not insult yourself by calling him a journalist. That’s an insult.” Furthermore, to the alarm of many viewers, he stated that Wagle ‘got away easily’, as he continues, “And I have to only say this, he got away very easily (without much trouble). You understand this, if you see in reality (in all honesty) the work of Pune BJP has remained incomplete. Some time (later) the work should be completed, (and if they can’t do it) otherwise they should call me here.”

Rane was recently in the news for making an inciteful speech at Mumbai’s Govandi, where he was seen calling for the demolition of mosques and madrasas in the area, and arguing that the area was filled increasingly with ‘Rohingya and Bangladeshis’.  Rane was also in the news prior to this for wanting to take out a Hindutva rally in the Mira Road neighbourhood right after its Muslims-owned shops and vehicles were attacked by the a mob. 

Meanwhile, a report by the Indian Express has stated that senior party leaders have rebuked the local leaders for the incident. Dheeraj Ghate, BJP president in Pune, had organised the protest against Wagle the day he was attacked. 

Meanwhile, on February 12, PTI reported that journalists from Mumbai and various other parts of Maharashtra came together and held a protest against the attack on Wagle. The protest was also attended by the Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad. 

Various press bodies, including the Editors Guild of India and Press Club of India, has condemned the incident and called for an arrest of the perpetrators. As per reports, over 10 BJP workers have been arrested in connection to the incident. The police have also registered a complaint against Nikhil Wagle as well as the Pune city unit presidents of the BJP, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress for reportedly violating section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

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After the attack, a second FIR was filed against Wagle at the Parvati police station in Pune where he and several others, which includes organisers of the Nirbhay Bano event in Pune, are now subjects of an FIR. The FIR is based on charges for violation of a police notice. The list of named people in the FIR has members of various political parties, such as Dhiraj Ghate, the Pune unit chief of the BJP along with 250 party members, Arvind Shinde, the Congress party city chief, Prashant Jagtap representing the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, and Sanjay More from Shiv Sena. Furthermore, the social media site X was also trending with people calling for his arrest. 

Meanwhile, on Saturday, ten members of the BJP were arrested in Pune in connection with the assault on senior journalist Nikhil Wagle. The arrested people have been identified as Deepak Pote, Ganesh Ghosh, Ganesh Sherla, Raghvendra Mankar, Swapnil Naik, Pratik Desarda, Dushyant Mohol, Datta Sagre, Girish Mankar, and Rahul Paygude. Several charges have been filed against them which include sections of the Indian Penal Code related to rioting and voluntarily causing harm.

Prior to the attack, BJP Pune’s president Dheeraj Ghate reportedly commented on the incident on X, associating Wagle with ‘naxalism’. There is thus far no news or reports of Ghate being arrested as of yet. 

*आम्ही जे बोलतो ते करतोच…!!*
स्वतःला पुरोगामी म्हणवणाऱ्या परंतु सत्यता बघितले तर नक्षलवादाला खतपाणी घालणाऱ्या निखिल वागळेने ऋषीतुल्य व्यक्तिमत्व भारतरत्न लालकृष्ण आडवाणी जी आणि देशाचे आदरणीय पंतप्रधान नरेंद्र जी मोदी यांच्या बद्दल स्वतःच्या प्रसिद्धीसाठी आक्षेपार्य विधान करून… pic.twitter.com/Dr8XypZqzA

— Dheeraj Ghate (@DheerajGhate) February 9, 2024

Meanwhile, the Indian Express has reported that Nikhil Wagle’s team, with Vishwambhar Choudhary and Asim Sarode, has called for the arrest of Dheeraj Ghate and other party figures purportedly after the attack on Wagle. 

On February 11, Sunil Deodhar from the BJP called for the arrest of journalist Nikhil Wagle who according to him has made “objectionable” remarks directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani.

According to reports, Deodhar has stated that he has lodged a formal complaint with the Pune police on February 8 against Nikhil Wagle, which he has done because of “offensive tweet” by Wagle posted on February 6. The FIR, filed at Vishrambaug police station, books Wagle for charges against his remarks under IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 500 (defamation) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief). 

According to the report, Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar stated that an investigation into the matter is currently ongoing. Furthermore, a senior police official has stated to the newspaper that there are no immediate plans to arrest Wagle in connection with the case and the decision to arrest him will only be made after the investigation is complete. 

Wagle’s car was brutally attacked on February 9 in Pune with scores of people hitting his car with hockey sticks, stone, and iron rods resulting in smashed windows of the car and injured passenger. Wagle was informed about a tense atmosphere after he made a tweet by the police.

The police have issued a public statement saying that they had asked Wagle not to leave for the event until all the protestors were detained. However, the police has stated, that due to traffic the detaining people began to take time, but Wagle did not take note and left for the event and even ‘changed routes.’ However the police has stated that they had plainclothes police personnel following him for his safety. About the attacked they have stated that, “When the car was attacked, the plainclothes policemen standing between agitators and Wagle’s car tried to stop the attack, but heavy traffic and bystanders ruled out the possibility of using force of evacuating him and his car immediately.”

Speaking to Sabrang India after the incident, Nikhil Wagle narrated about how the events took place, “The fact that we survived was a chamatkaar (miracle). We were about to die, but got saved. This was a mob lynching. We were surrounded in all directions and chased. I’ve been attacked even before this, but this was the worst.” Further, he says that the attack took place in police presence, “The police came with us, but the police did not protect us.”

“The police stopped us at Asim Sarode’s house – this was a house arrest. They kept telling us to stop for half an hour, ten minutes more. But finally I decided to leave and I told the police I have committed to the people.” He further goes on to say that the stone-pelting started soon after they took to the road.

Meanwhile a BJP leader from Pune has reportedly stated that the party workers agitated against Wagle because of his own statements. According to the Indian Express, BJP spokesperson Sandeep Khardekar has said that, “Both actions are condemnable. The attack on Wagle’s car is condemnable, and his disparaging remarks against PM Modi and LK Advani are even more condemnable. Our party workers would not have done what they did if they were not instigated by Wagle’s objectionable comment. Wagle stooped very low but no one took him to task. Why are people silent on his derogatory comment?”

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EGI statement on attack against journalist Nikhil Wagle in the city of Pune on Friday pic.twitter.com/vZyIHYZTRR

— Editors Guild of India (@IndEditorsGuild) February 10, 2024

Both the Press Club of India and the Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI) have vehemently condemned the assault on senior journalist Wagle.

Simultaneously, the NWMI has also highlighted how there is a concerning pattern of intolerance exhibited by the BJP towards journalists who dare to question the party. The use of brute force to stifle dissent, as witnessed in Wagle’s case, the statement argues, a part of the party’s unwillingness to engage in civilised debate.

NWMI has urged authorities to take immediate and urgent action against the culprits who organised the attack on Wagle. Moreover, the NWMI’s statement further described that the assault on Wagle is a manifestation of a broader issue which is the growing targeting of journalists in India for practising journalism.

We at @NWM_India strongly condemn the assault on senior journalist @waglenikhil in Pune on Friday, and extend unwavering support to him. This assault is further evidence of the BJP’s recurring pattern of intolerance toward journalists. https://t.co/penlDE661d

— NWMIndia (@NWM_India) February 10, 2024

Meanwhile, news reports have further come in that there is another FIR filed against Wagle. The Indian Express has reported that this time, more people, which includes the organiser of the Nirbhay Bano event at the Rashtra Seva Dal premises in Pune are the subjects of an FIR. According to the report, a police constable named Aniruddha Anerao filed the FIR for allegedly violating a police notice. The FIR also has included members of different parties, including Dhiraj Ghate, the Pune unit chief of the BJP and with 250 party members, Arvind Shinde, the Congress party city chief, Prashant Jagtap from the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party, and Sanjay More from Shiv Sena.

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According to Hindustan Times, BJP workers were reportedly staging a protest in response to journalist Nikhil Wagle’s comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and LK Advani after Advani had recently received the Bharat Ratna accolade.

Videos circulating on social media captured the tense moment when BJP activists surrounded Wagle’s vehicle, causing damage to the windscreen and side panes. In a disturbing escalation, some individuals reportedly threw ink on the car, further intensifying the chaotic scene.

The car was surrounded and pelted with eggs and ink, and one person can even be heard saying in one of the videos that “Get Wagle out of the car.” The glass windows and shields of the car were visibly smashed in the videos that have come from the event.

Prior to the event, Wagle himself had reported on February 8 on his X account that Ghate, a BJP member, had stated that he would not allow Wagle to speak at the event.

This is BJP’s threat
—————————

Journalist Nikhil Wagle’s speech will not be allowed in Pune – Dheeraj Ghate

Pune: 06- Pune city president of Bharatiya Janata Party Dhiraj Ghate has demanded that the police should deny permission to the speech of journalist Nikhil Wagle, who has…

— nikhil wagle (@waglenikhil) February 8, 2024

Undeterred by the attack, Wagle later addressed the gathering at the event and exuded resilience and calm, saying. “I only want to say this much to those who attacked us, “Acharya Atre once said, ‘those who want to kill us will die, we will live. I want to change this a bit because I am a nonviolent person, those who attack us, should live and we will also live. I don’t wish their death and, I am telling you this today that I forgive them, I take the name of Babasaheb and forgive them,” he declared. Wagle went on to talk about the rich cultural heritage of Maharashtra, invoking figures like Shivaji Maharaj, Shahuji Maharaj, and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.

Wagle shared moments from the harrowing attack when one of his companions, Aseem, shielded his head from the attackers and saved him and their fellow activist Shruti who sat in the front seat. He showed undeterred resolve and determination to fight, “Let me tell you something, now, that I am okay. Till we are alive, we will fight you!”

He criticised the RSS, saying that, “This city (Pune) is actually Phule and Savitribai s city. But for the past 100 years, theses attackers have disrupted the history here. In 1942, it was the Sangh who had tried to disrupt the Sabha of Acharya Atre. Nathuram, a so revered amongst Ram Bhakts also came from this very city.”

He further stated, “This is the 7^th attack on me, call it superstition or whatever but when I was first attacked in the 1990s even then, the back windscreen of my car was smashed. I don’t understand the importance of that (laughter) but I have survived 7 attacks now. Ask the people who were with me in the car, what did I tell them? It was a very tense situation where people were jumping onto the car from the front, hitting the car with lathis. The police were trying, but no one was listening to them and we saw death in front of our eyes. We are only alive because of our driver, Vaibhav, who managed to take the car out of that situation. Till Nikhil Wagle, and we are alive, we will fight against fascism. You killed Kalburge, Pansare, Lankesh and you can kill us anytime. We don’t carry weapons in our hands, our weapon is love. You can take our life anytime but I have faith after having survived 7 attacks that those who walk on the path of truth, Phule, Ambedkar, Gandhi, people like them – are protecting those who walk the path of truth. I have faith.”

The opposition has condemned the incident and come out in support for Wagle. Working President of the National Congress Party and an MP, Supriya Sule took to X to say that this is not just an attack on one person but an attack on freedom of speech.

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Even though it has been seven decades since the death of Mahatma Gandhi’s killer, Nathuram Godse, his name and identity are still at the centre of the Indian political discourse. While, on the one hand, actor-turned-politician Kamal Hasaan referred to Godse as independent India’s first ever terrorist, on the other hand, BJP candidate and terror blast-accused Pragya Thakur has recently gone on record and called Godse a true patriot. This has been on the receiving end of criticism by many, including the BJP itself, which distanced itself from Thakur’s statement. In this episode of ‘Satta Se Sawal’, Nikhil Wagle explains why Godse still occupies a pivotal position in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s ideology and the politics behind the sudden mentions of his name.

Courtesy: News Click

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In discussion with Prabir Purkayastha, senior journalist Nikhil Wagle talks about how BJP is the political front of the Hindutva terror outfits. By projecting terror attack-accused Pragya Thakur as a candidate from Bhopal, BJP’s real agenda is now out in the open.

Courtesy: News Click

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